Working in the company of Karl Linde, who was engaged in the creation of installations for air liquefaction, Rudolf Diesel came up with the idea of the possibility of sparkless filling of the gas mixture in the engine cylinder. In 1890, he moved from experiments with gases to experiments with combustible mixtures. In 1892, he filed an application for the invention of a new type of engine created by him, which was confirmed by a patent on February 23, 1893.
In 1897, Diesel demonstrated the work of the current engine of its design with a capacity of 25 horsepower. His invention interested many engineering companies. Commercial success came to Diesel: diesel engines proved to be more economical and efficient compared to gasoline and gas analogues.
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However, soon significant design errors appeared in the development of Diesel and his company was on the verge of bankruptcy. On September 29, 1913, Rudolf Diesel died during a steamboat accident in the English Channel, although there are versions that he committed suicide because of financial failures.
The errors corrected by other designers made diesel engines extremely popular in Europe and are still used on cars and trucks. In the USA, the first car with a diesel engine was released by General Motors only in 1977 during the period of the oil crisis caused by the Arab-Israeli war.