Opposed-piston engine

Petrol and diesel opposed-piston engines have been used mostly in large-scale applications such as ships, military tanks, and factories.

Current manufacturers of opposed-piston engines include Cummins, Achates Power and Fairbanks-Morse Defense (FMDefense).

This added weight and complexity when compared to conventional piston engines, which use a single crankshaft as the power output.

This layout gives superior scavenging, as gas flow through the cylinder is axial rather than radial, and simplifies design of the piston crowns.

[9] This design of engine was also produced under licence by manufacturers including Deutsche Kraftgas Gesellschaft in Germany and William Beardmore & Sons in the United Kingdom.

The first diesel engine with opposed pistons was a prototype built at Kolomna Locomotive Works in Russia.

[20][21] After World War I, these engines were produced in a number of models, such as the P and J series, with outputs as high as 20,000 hp (14,914 kW).

This two-stroke opposed-piston engine retains the same extra-heavy-duty design and has a rated in-service lifespan of more than 40 years, but now the optional capability of burning dual fuels (gaseous and liquid fuels, with automatic switchover to full diesel if the gas supply runs out) is available.

[25] The Commer TS3 three-cylinder diesel truck engines, released in 1954, have a single crankshaft beneath the centre of the cylinders with both pistons connected by levers.

Beginning in 1962, Gibbs invited Mack Trucks to take part in designing FDNY’s super pumper and its companion tender.

[28] The Soviet T-64 tank, produced from 1963–1987, also used an opposed-piston diesel engine 5TD [uk] developed by Malyshev Factory in Kharkiv.