[Pontiac]

Cargo ships employ diesel engines. How would you retrofit a diesel engine with laser ignition?

Your point makes this sound like a false claim.

I am not saying it could not be done but it wouldn’t as straight forward as a in a gasoline engine where you could unscrew a spark plug and screw in a laser plug.

In a diesel you would have to remove the cylinder heads to machine a new port for the laser to be fitted and a new timing system to fire the laser. Diesels do not have ignition systems because the heat of compression ignites the fuel air mixture not spark plugs.

And I am sure there are a lot of other details I am not thinking of having never worked on a diesel.

[thackney]

because the heat of compression ignites the fuel air mixture not spark plugs

So how would a laser replace a spark plug that does not exist? If igniting the fuel before it reaches that point of compression was more efficient, it would already be done that way. Diesel engines and spark ignition are very mature technologies.

[WayneS]

Since the heat of compression ignites the fuel air mixture in a diesel, how would a diesel engine benefit from a laser-operated ignition system?