I love my Chevy Truck.  Its got a great Duramax engine!
What is a duramax engine?
It is a GM V8 diesel engine built for their trucks
What makes it unique?
Diesel engines work by compressing only the air which increases the temperature enough that the fuel ignites spontaneously.
So how are they different from regular engines that dont use diesel?
Internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE) is a heat engine where the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high-pressure gases produced by combustion applies direct force to some component of the engine. The force is applied typically to pistons, turbine blades, rotor or a nozzle. This force moves the component over a distance
plug to ignite an air-fuel mixture. 
Diesel engines work by compressing only the air. This increases the air temperature inside the cylinder to such a high degree that atomised diesel fuel injected into the combustion chamber ignites spontaneously. With the fuel being injected into the air just before combustion, the dispersion of the fuel is uneven; this is called a heterogeneous air-fuel mixture. The process of mixing air and fuel happens almost entirely during combustion, the oxygen diffuses into the flame, which means that the diesel engine