The Deltic is a two-stroke diesel engine which has three long cylinders
positioned in a equilateral triangle, and three crankshafts, one at each
apex. Inside each cylinder are *two* pistons, head-to-head, that move
back and forth together but with one lagging behind the other. There are
no valves but one cylinder periodically covers the inlet port and the
other the exhaust port.
Operation is that one piston uncovers the inlet port when the other
piston is at top and the fuel/air mixture is blown/drawn into the
cylinder. The inlet piston is then driven down to compress the mixture
which ignites, driving the exhaust piston down until it uncovers the
exhaust port and the cylinder is purged. The inlet piston is then
withdrawn with the exhaust piston following it back up the cylinder and
the cycle repeats. Each cylinder is arranged such that it operates one
third of a cycle away from the other two to give continuity of function
to its partners.
OK, that is one section through the engine, and there are a total of
eight similar sections, making a total of 24 cylinders giving
near-continuous power output.
Impressive, huh?
-- Steve Somers
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