A two stroke diesel is a diesel engine that works in two strokes. A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine which operates using the Diesel cycle. Invented in 1892 by German engineer Rudolf Diesel, it was based on the hot bulb engine design and patented on February 23, 1893. During the period of 1900 to 1930, four-stroke diesel engines enjoyed a relative dominance in practical diesel applications. Charles F. Kettering and colleagues, working at the various incarnations of Electro-Motive and at the General Motors Research Corporation during the 1930s, advanced the art and science of two-stroke diesel technology to yield engines with much higher power-to-weight ratios than the two-stroke diesels of old. This work was instrumental in bringing about the dieselisation of railroads in the 1940s and 1950s.
All diesel engines use compression ignition, a process by which fuel is injected after the air is compressed in the combustion chamber causing the fuel to self ignite. By contrast, gasoline engines utilize the Otto cycle, in which fuel and air are mixed before entering the combustion chamber and then ignited by a spark plug.
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Two-stroke internal combustion engines are more simple mechanically than four-stroke engines, but more complex in thermodynamic and aerodynamic processes. In a two-stroke engine, the four "cycles" of internal combustion engine theory (intake, compression, ignition, exhaust) occur in one revolution, while in a four-stroke engine it occurs in two complete revolutions. In a two-stroke engine, more than one function occurs at any given time during the engine's operation.
The Roots blower is commonly used on the two stroke diesel engine, which requires some form of forced induction. In this application, the blower does not provide significant compression and these engines are considered naturally aspirated; turbochargers are generally used when significant "boost" is needed.