page_title: Rudolf Diesel
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Rudolf Diesel / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: Stamp description / Briefmarkenbeschreibung Deutsch: 100. Geburtstag von Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913) English: 100th day of birth of Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913) Graphics by Schardt Ausgabepreis: 12 Saar-Franken First Day of Issue / Erstausgabetag: 18. März 1958 Michel-Katalog-Nr: 432 (Saarland)
context_page_description: Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel was a German inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the Diesel engine, and for his suspicious death at sea. Diesel was the namesake of the 1942 film Diesel.
context_section_description: After Diesel's death, his engine underwent much development and became a very important replacement for the steam piston engine in many applications. Because the Diesel engine required a heavier, more robust construction than a gasoline engine, it saw limited use in aviation. However, the Diesel engine became widespread in many other applications, such as stationary engines, agricultural machines and off-highway machinery in general, submarines, ships, and much later, locomotives, trucks, and in modern automobiles.
  The Diesel engine has the benefit of running more fuel-efficiently than gasoline engines due to much higher compression ratios and longer duration of combustion, which means the temperature rises more slowly, allowing more heat to be converted to mechanical work. 
  Diesel was interested in using coal dust  or vegetable oil as fuel, and in fact, his engine was run on peanut oil. Although these fuels were not immediately popular, during 2008 rises in fuel prices, coupled with concerns about oil reserves, have led to the more widespread use of vegetable oil and biodiesel. 
  The primary fuel used in diesel engines is the eponymous diesel fuel, derived from the refinement of crude oil. Diesel is safer to store than gasoline, because its flash point is approximately 175 °F (79.4 °C) higher, and it will not explode.
caption: Rudolf Diesel on a 1958 German postage stamp
exif: {}