A Light Duty Diesel for America?

This paper describes a study which was carried out to determine the feasibility of the diesel as a light duty power plant for American use.

As a result of a literature survey and a specific configuration study, nine 96 kW diesel power plants were examined in detail. Further examination of the diesel power plants indicated that only the direct injection four-stroke configurations could meet the primary emission targets using current technology.

It was concluded, however, that the diesel engine could provide a viable power plant for light duty vehicles and that considerable improvements in fuel consumption and overall running costs could be obtained.