The major differences between a conventional gasoline-powered engine and a diesel engine lie in the critical process of ignition within the cylinders. In the system developed by Rudolf Diesel, a very high level of air compression is built up in the cylinder before atomized droplets of fuel are injected. High compression--about 40 bar, or some 600 pounds per square inch (psi), compared with about 200 psi in conventional gas engines--heats trapped air to temperatures high enough (about 1,000œ Fahrenheit, or 538œ Celsius) to ignite injected fuel without the need for an electrical spark.

Diesel's early engines used what are called air-blast injection nozzles. This involved a first-stage compression of fuel using an auxiliary gas engine, creating an atomized mixture at the time of injection. Later solid-injection engines would use a mechanical pump to compress fuel. This simplifies the injection process by using pressure-activated injectors that shoot a concentrated jet of fuel into the combustion chambers.

Diesel engines outperform standard engines in terms of both fuel efficiency and carbon monoxide output. Estimates of diesel fuel efficiency (which stems from the higher density of diesel fuel, which releases more energy per unit of volume than gasoline) suggest savings ranging from 20 to 40 percent compared to gasoline. This efficiency also extends to the critical realm of greenhouse gas emissions. Although diesel emits more greenhouse gases than gasoline, its higher miles-per-gallon efficiency results in less overall pollution. A recurrent but relatively easily resolved problem associated with diesel engines typically occurs at the time of starting. Because the ignition process depends  on achieving high temperature levels as quickly as possible inside each cylinder, it is sometimes necessary to prevent a drop in overall engine block temperature (especially in cold climates) from causing low temperatures in the cylinder walls, which could cause fuel to "gel," or solidify.

Diesel engines routinely require careful internal adjustments to avoid, or at least reduce, the emission of a blue-black smoke. This smoke is emitted usually for a short time while the engine is started because the optimum temperature inside the cylinders has not yet been reached. The phenomenon is more critical, however, if the engine is being "pushed" to higher revolutions per minute than it can accommodate. The smoke emitted in such cases represents lost fuel.

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