Diesel Engines

[frogone]

Hi,

Does anyone know what the greatest HP diesel engine that's out on the market? I have seen a 120HP. Are there any 160HP or 200HP around?

Cheers,

EIDW

[malanda]

Well, my BMW 330d (3-litre turbodiesel) makes about 190hp, but I think you should look at marine engines for really big numbers.

Are you sure you're on the right BB?

[xmp]

I guess EIDW refers to the TAE diesel engines. According to <a href="http://www.thielert.com" target="_blank">their website</a>, their 135hp diesel is able to replace engines up to 180hp - but you should not exspect any more powerful diesel in the near future.

[ 05 February 2002: Message edited by: xmp ]</p>

[gasax]

Not quite correct! Thielert are working on a 310 hp engine, which I guess given their recent track record is actually likely to appear within the next 12 to 18 months.

Deltahawk are working on a 150hp prototype, which longer term is aimed at being a family of engines from 100 to 300 plus - they are unfortunately some way from production.

Finally (well probably not but) Wilksch are boasting about a 160 hp version being 'well underway' - again I suspect produciton versions are a very long way away.

Happy Landings!

[Captain Gash]

The French Company SMA have a 230hp diesel (based upon a renault unit) flying in a TB20 at the moment. This unit would also suit a Cessna 182.. .TBO is said to be around 3000hrs, with a fuel burn upto 50% less than the avgas equivalent (conti 0-470)+ fuel is red diesel or jet A costing around one fifth the price of avgas. Good news for light aviation all round.

[Track]

Volkswagen is building a VW Passat with a 313 hp, V10 diesel engine.

Smit internationale (the company that lifted the Koersk submariner) have in their fleet a trawler with 22.000 HP.

Trains have an average of between 1500 and 3000 HP.

[criticalmass]

Slow-speed marine diesels of 8-12 cylinders (2-stroke, reversible, turbocharged) are rated for Megawatts of output at the shaft. Also weigh hundreds of tonnes and have max RPM as low as approx 70-80RPM.

Sort of gives a new meaning to the term "heavy metal" :)

[Ian Fleming]

Not too sure about diesels in aviation. . .Yes they are more fuel efficient, mostly because diesel fuel contains more BTU's than petrol, but there again it weighs more. Vibration is another issue, as is cold starting, the need for larger batterys and a heavy duty starter, (compression ratio's are over 17:1, the smaller the engine, the higher they are). Diesels engines weigh more than a similar power output petrol engine, and generally need to be of greater capacity to produce the same power output, and last but not least, there is always the fuel gelling problem in cold temps. . .Over-the-hiway diesels use their cooling systems to warm the fuel in the tanks before pumping it to the engine. Using diesel fuel that does not gell in cold temps defeats the BTU advantage, as only the lighter fuel elements can be used (the heavier elements of course contain more BTU's), and the chemical additives to aid cold temp flow problems increase the cost of the fuel significantly.. .In short Diesels in aviation would be wonderful for fair weather flying, (if the vibration issue and the serious exhaust emission problems can be solved), but high altitude, cold weather flying contains serious disadvantages for diesel engines. (They also run a lot cooler, cabin heat?). .White Bear.