Bio Diesel: History of Biodiesel

Rudolf Diesel (1858 – 1913) created the engine which carries his name today. His early research into fuel efficiency led him to build a "steam engine" using ammonia vapour which during testing exploded with almost fatal consequences and a great deal of ill health (including several nervous breakdowns), and eye sight problems in later life. The process he created involved compressing air leading to an extreme rise in temperature to which fuel is then injected into the piston chamber which when ignited explodes forcing the piston down.

On February 27th 1892, Rudolf Diesel filed his patent at the Imperial Patent Office in Germany and on February 23, 1893, he was granted the first patent for his "Working Method and Design for Combustion Engines" originally designed to run on biodiesel, derived from peanut oil. In 1898 he was granted a US patent for an “internal combustion engine," the Diesel engine.

Working with Frederick Krupp and others Diesel produced his first model in 1893 and in 1897 Rudolf Diesel ran his first commercial diesel machine, demonstrated at the Exhibition Fair in Paris in 1989, running on Peanut oil, this energy source was used until the 1920's. Rudolf Diesel saw biodiesel as the future of smaller farming communities as a localised industry to reduce the monopoly of large controlling energy suppliers.

Improving Efficiency

Steam engines were typically 12% efficient
Rudolf Diesel’s first engine in 1893 was 26% efficient
His commercially viable engine in 1893 was 75% efficient

Due to size diesel engines were used in large machinery in industry and shipping in their early years and quickly gained considerable popularity.

This popularity may also have contributed to the disappearance of Rudolf Diesel from the SS Dresden on its way to England in 1913 during the build up to the Great War. There are various rumours as to the cause of his disappearance

It may have been suicide; he was in financial difficulties at the time
An accident due to bad weather in the channel
Germany did not want its engine used by the Royal Navy
The French did not want the Royal Navy to also have the Diesel engines for their submarines

His body was not found for several weeks, but the creator of the diesel engine and founder of Biodiesel has left a legacy which powers the world today.

In the 1920’s an injection pump was designed, allowing the metering of fuel and without the need of pressurizing the air resulting in smaller engine allowing more mobile engines suitable for vehicles. The first lorries appeared at the Berlin Motor fair in 1924 and first car in 1936, the Mercedes Benz Type 260D.

Today in Europe nearly 50% of all vehicles are diesel models reflecting that today’s diesel engines provide 20-to-40-percent better fuel economy and offer more power at lower rpm when compared to their petrol counterparts.

The average European car today still produces over 4 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.