All About Engines

The Oil Engine 235 a hundred horse-power were built and gave great satisfaction, but it was ten years before one of 500 horse-power was made, and in the meantime thou- sands of pounds were spent in experiments. All these efforts were not inspired by the desire to perfect a novelty. Success carried with it two very real advantages. The great demand for petrol for motor-cars had led to the production of large quantities of petroleum residue for which there was only a moderate sale ; and the engine promised to use the cheapest form of liquid fuel on the market. Again, the new engine converted over 38 per cent, of the heat obtainable from the fuel into useful work, using only J pint of crude oil per horse-power per hour. And a further advantage for both land and marine work lay in the fact that this heavy oil was difficult to ignite and far less dangerous on this account than the highly inflammable petrol. On sub- marines, for example, petrol has been responsible for several serious explosions with loss of life. And so men spent time and money in overcoming appar- ently insuperable difficulties. The first Diesel engine built in Great Britain was constructed by Mirrlees, Watson and Co., of Glasgow, in 1896, and in 1908 new works, under the manage- ment of Mirrlees, Bickerton and Day, were erected near Stockport, solely for the purpose of making Diesel engines. Meanwhile, many other firms also began their manufacture. We shall describe the Mirrlees Diesel in some detail because it is the one with which the writer is most fully acquainted, and