mal efficiency.2 Diesel engines can achieve thermal efficiencies in excess of 50 percent. The best conventional gasoline engines are approximately from 30 to 33 percent efficient, and then only at wide throttle openings. As a result, diesel engines have better fuel economy than gasoline engines. br/>
Disadvantages of Diesel Fuel
Diesel engines have no use for glow plugs for ignition, unlike gasoline engines, because the fuel is pumped directly into the cylinder, causing it to react (burn) when it encouters oxygen, thus producing power.a major drawback of this occurs in the winter. Diesel fuel viscosity increases when the temperature decreases, usually between - 15 degrees celsius (5 degree F) and - 19 degrees celsius (-2.2 degrees F). This was a major problem on older diesel engines, and made engines very difficult to start in the colder months of the year, but this is usually counteracted by plugging in an engine heater, or a block heater.problem is the rare runaway failure. Since diesel engines do not require a spark to achieve ignition, they can sustain power as long as diesel fuel is supplied to the cylinder. Fuel is typically supplied via a fuel pump, and if the pump gets stuck in the "open" position, the supply of fuel cannot be regulated, and the engine will "runaway", incapable of being shut down.to engine design, and improvements to fuel pump construction has also limited the likelihood of an engine runaway.
Environment hazards of sulfur
High levels of sulfur in diesel are harmful for the environment because they prevent the use of catalytic diesel particulate filters to control diesel particulate emissions, as well as more advanced technologies, such as nitrogen oxide (NOx) adsorbers (still under development), to reduce emissions. Moreover, sulfur in the fuel is oxidized during combustion, producing sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide, that in presence of water rapidly convert to sulfuric acid, one of the chemical processes that results in acid rain. However, the process for lowering sulfur also reduces the lubricity of the fuel, meaning that additives must be put into the fuel to help lubricate engines. Biodiesel and biodiesel/petrodiesel blends, with their higher lubricity levels, are increasingly being utilized as an alternative. The U. S. annual consumption of diesel fuel in 2006 was about 190 billion litres (42 billion imperial gallons or 50 billion US gallons).
Road hazard
Petrodiesel spilled on a road will stay there until washed away by sufficiently heavy rain, whereas gasoline will quickly evaporate. After the light fractions have evaporated, a greasy slick is left on the road which can destabilize moving vehicles. Diesel spills severely reduce tire grip and traction, and have been implicat...
