Ludwig Elsbett (8 November 1913 – 28 March 2003) was the inventor of the

Elsbett The Elsbett engine is an 89 HP, direct-injection diesel engine designed to run on straight vegetable oil. The engine is also known as Elko engine (for "Elsbett Konstruktion") and was invented by Ludwig Elsbett. The design limits the loss of ener ...

Engine. Elsbett was one of nine children of the farmer Viktor Elsbett and his wife Maria. He grew up in agriculture, and was originally trained as a fitter for agricultural machinery. Later, he attended the technical schools in

Bad Frankenhausen Bad Frankenhausen (officially: Bad Frankenhausen/Kyffhäuser) is a spa town in the German state of Thuringia. It is located at the southern slope of the Kyffhäuser mountain range, on an artificial arm of the Wipper river, a tributary of the Uns ...

and

Neustrelitz Neustrelitz (; East Low German: ''Niegenstrelitz'') is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 ...

to study

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

and

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...

s, and became a mechanical

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

. In 1937, he was appointed department manager at the Junkers Aircraft Works in Dessau and developed combustion engines. In 1940, he married his wife Lieselotte, and had five children with her. He was a living legend of technology; he played a decisive role in the further development of

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

technology. After the war, Elsbett set up an independent factory in

Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven ''Oberzentren'' of Lower ...

for the production of a small two-stroke diesel engine. In 1973 Elsbett gained international recognition for the first ever serial-produced direct-injection diesel engine for cars. In 1977 Elsbett produced an engine fuelled by vegetable oil called the ''Elsbett-motor''. In 1980 Elsbett made the first conversion of standard diesel cars with prechamber engines to vegetable oil. In 1993 the ''Elsbett Mercedes'' won the first Eco Tour of Europe with the lowest consumption of fuel. In 1997 Elsbett won the

European Solar Prize {{notability, date=February 2018 The European Solar Prizes are a series of awards which have been given annually since 1994 by the European Association for Renewable Energy (EUROSOLAR) located in Bonn, Germany. The prizes are awarded to individu ...

. In 2002 Elsbett converted the standard common-rail car engine and unit-injector truck engine to run on bio-diesel. There is now an Elsbett Museum in the city of

Salz, Bavaria Salz is a municipality in the district of Rhön-Grabfeld in Bavaria in Germany. Notable people * Ludwig Elsbett Ludwig Elsbett (8 November 1913 – 28 March 2003) was the inventor of the Elsbett Engine. Elsbett was one of nine chil ...

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. History After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally r ...

External links

www.elsbett.com

Web site of Elsbett Museum (in German language)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elsbett, Ludwig 1913 births 2003 deaths People from Rhön-Grabfeld People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Engineers from Bavaria 20th-century German inventors German designers fr:Moteur Elsbett it:Motore Elsbett pl:Elsbett

See also

External links