diesel engines and its effects on the environment

Introduction

"There is nothing free in the world except air." We often hear this from people who complain that prices are getting high. It is ironic because air is such a vital part of the world and yet we tend to take it for granted. Have we ever stopped and actually thought of the importance of air? Only few of us will probably say yes. Air is so passive and inert that we actually forget that it exists. Of course strictly speaking we can never forget that it exists because it is the air that we breathe. We live in its expense. Instead of returning our gratitude we destroy it. We have become selfish human beings who only think about himself. Over the years our lives got more and more complicated. Here came the Renaissance period that brought vast improvements in technology. Leonardo da Vinci appeared and introduced machines and mechanical devices that were praised as great achievements. This advancement came in the price of environment. We took up Environmental Science last year and we saw how troubled our air is. Its quality is fast deteriorating because of our own doing. Why did we have to let it reach this far? We cannot just sit and watch the air die because if we do, then it is we who are going to die in the end. As one mother from New York said, "Our children would like to play baseball, but they can't because they can't breathe."

In relation to this advancement in technology, we will discuss one kind of engine. We will see how it works and how its emissions affect the air quality.

The diesel engine

In 1892, Rudolph Diesel, a German engineer developed the "diesel" engine. Unlike the gasoline engine, the diesel engine is capable of spontaneous...