PETROL VS DIESEL

ENGINE
Auto-mechanics

JORON LEWIS
Name: Jordon Lewis

Teacher’s name: Mr. Rohan Boothe

Subject: Auto-Mechanics

Date: December 9, 2020

 INTRODUCTION

Both diesel and petrol engines utilize internal combustion to create power to move the vehicle but

they do it in different ways. A diesel engine uses highly compressed air in order combust while a petrol

engine uses a spark from a spark plug to cause combustion. They both have their pros and cons based on the

wat they are built and they have their own special uses, for example, diesels are mostly used in heavy duty

vehicles like: trucks, buses and tractors while petrol engines are used more in average vehicles: cars and

vans.
 POWER

In terms of power, diesel engines provide more power than petrol engines simply due to

the fact that diesel engines utilize higher compression ratio in the cylinders compared to that of a

petrol engine which Is why diesel engines are used in large vehicles like trucks which require a

lot of power to operate.

Petrol engines on the other hand might not give enough power as a diesel engine but having

control over the timing of the spark plug is highly beneficial whenever more power is needed and

when less power is required. Petrol engines take fuel as well as air into the cylinder on the intake

stroke whereas diesel engines take in fuel in the cylinder with the use of a fuel injector at the end

of the compression stroke.

 DURABILITY

A diesel engine is made up of high-end materials to handle the effects of intense

compression and uncontrolled combustions which occur in the cylinder of the engine to produce

power, if a petrol engine were to be exposed to the pressure a diesel engine endures it would

suffer internal damage. A petrol engine is still durable enough to handle heat and combustion

from the cylinder.

 FUEL ECONOMY

A diesel engine uses more flammable fuel to cause combustion in the engine, so

flammable the heat from compressed air is enough for it to combust. For this reason, less fuel is

used in diesel engine. This gas is injected into the cylinder when the air is most compressed

causing high temperatures which ignites the fuel when injected, while petrol engines take in a

mixture of air and fuel during the intake stroke of which the spark plug ignites on the combustion

stroke. Unlike diesel, petrol engines use a greater amount of fuel to create combustion in the

engine. This is why diesel engines are more fuel economic.

 MAINTENANCE

Petrol engines parts are lighter and easily accessible when maintenance is needed while

diesel engines are made up of heavy robust parts which are most times not easily accessible

Which makes maintenance difficult.

 ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY

Diesel engines are less environmentally friendly than petrol engines mainly due to the

fact that it emits more harmful fumes/exhaust gases into the atmosphere. Petrol engines emits

less harmful fumes into the atmosphere because it contains less harmful chemicals inside of the

fuel, but because diesel has so much energy inside of it, it emits more fumes.