Diesel Cycle

The Diesel cycle is the thermodynamic cycle which approximates the pressure and volume of the combustion chamber of the Diesel engine, invented by Rudolph Diesel in 1897. It is assumed to have constant pressure during the first part of the "combustion" phase ( to in the diagram, below). This is an idealized mathematical model: real physical Diesels do have an increase in pressure during this period, but it is less pronounced than in the Otto cycle. The idealized Otto cycle of a gasoline engine approximates constant volume during that phase, generating more of a spike in a p-V diagram.