English Electric's K, RK and V type diesel engines were

manufactured Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...

by the

English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...

company of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for stationary,

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

and maritime use between 1934 and 1976.

History

Initially, the "K" type engine developed in the 1930s were offered in I4, I6, I7 and I8 variants, had 2-valve cylinder heads and ran at 600-680

rpm Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

. In 1940, turbocharging became an option, boosting power output by about 61%. Due to the demand of more power, the Mark I "RK" (Revised K) and "V" type were introduced in 1947. The "V" type were built in V8, V12 and V16 configurations. In 1951, the engines received 4-valve cylinder heads, thus creating Mark II "RK" and "V" types which ran at 750-850rpm.

Intercooling An intercooler is a heat exchanger used to cool a gas after compression. Often found in turbocharged engines, intercoolers are also used in air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration and gas turbines. Internal combustion engines Most ...

became an option in 1960, adding a "C" to the engine designation should it be equipped. More revisions saw the creation of the Mark III engines in 1962. Unlike other comparable engines (and unusually for its size), EE used timing chains instead of timing gears. This was changed in 1968 with the introduction of the RK3 series by Ruston-Paxman after the demise of EE in the same year.

Nomenclature

*4, 6, 7, 8, 12, 16 - Cylinder count *C - Intercooler *S - Supercharged (actually turbocharged) *K, RK, V - Engine type *M, T - Intended purpose **M - Maritime **T - Rail Traction

Variants

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:English Electric Diesel Engines Diesel locomotive engines English Electric locomotives Diesel engines by maker