INLEIDING TOT BINNEBRANDENJINS.

INTRODUCTION TO INTERNAL
COMBUSTION ENGINES.
(TERMODTNAMTKA B 314)
D E PARr n m N?t f,iliiXfl A* ENGTNE E RrN G
IINIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH
1. IxrRonUCTIoN
lnternal-combustion (IC) engines are designed to utilise the chemical energy of a fuel to
do mechanical work by following specific thermodynamic cycles. IC engines are thus
complex thermodynamic machines. The majority of IC engines utilise a crank-slider
(piston) mechanism to translate rotational motion into linear motion so as to compress
gasses and utilise the expansion work that results after combustion. Regardless of the
type of the fuel and the engine, fuel is always bumt to release heat in a compressed gas
mixture at a specific point in a cycle, thus, combustion theory is of great importance in
the analysis of IC engines. Since the working medium, namely air and fuel in the
combustion chamber of IC engines is burnt, it needs to be exchanged at the end of each
complete cycle. It is for this reason that the gas exchange and fuel introduction processes
in IC engines are of critical importance and significantly influence the nature of the cycle
that is actually achieved.
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)
Excrxn Tvpns
Engines are categorised in terms of : a) The manner in which the air is exchanged
b) The properties of the fuel, the manner in which it
is introduced into the engine and the type of
combustion that results.
2.L. Petrol Engines
Most passenger cars trtilise petrol engines for the following reasons :
a) Low engine mass and relatively high power output, (high power to weight ratio)
b) Wide useful speed range (typically 1 000 rev/min to 7 000 rev/min)
c) Smooth and quite operation (Low vibration and low noise)
d) Low engine production costs.
Some of the disadvantages of petrol engines are :
a) High overall fuel consumption
b) Relatively high exhaust emissions.
Petrol is a volatile hydrocarbon fuel which has a relatively low boiling range with
the initial boiling point at t30oc and the final boiling point at
<220"C.
The fuel is
introduced to the air charge in a fixed ratio while the air is being induced into the
engine and before the beginning of the compression stroke. The air-fuel mixture is
then compressed before being ignited by a spark from the spark plug and ignition
system. Thus the correct technical name for petrol engines is Spark-Ignition
Enqines. The most important property of the petrol fuel is it's ability to resist
ignition from any source or mechanism other than the actual spark at the spark plug.
This property is measured in terms of octane number and is a measure of the
ability of the fuel to resist "knock". The amormt of fuel bumt by the engine and
thus the engine power output is controlled and varied (by the driver) by throttline
the airlfuel intake with the aid of a butterfly valve (throttle). It is this throttling
process that leads to low efficiency and high fuel consumption at part load.
2.2. Diesel Engines
Diesel engines are used extensively in agricultural, industrial and transport
applications for the following reasons :
a) High efficiency and low overall fuel consumption. (fuel is also cheaper)
b) Exceptional engine durability
c) Low emission of toxic gasses.
Some of disadvantages of diesel engines are :
a) Heavy engines (Low power to mass ratio)
b) Nanow useful speed range
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c) Noise and vibration (Diesel Knock)
d) Particulate emissions or soot.
Diesel fuel is actually classified as an oil and has a far lower volatility than petrol.
The initial boiling point is well in excess of 100'C and the frnal boiling point is
well in excess of 300 'C. The fuel is introduced into the combustion chamber by
injection at the end of the compression stroke. Thus, only air is induced into the
engine and compressed. Ignition takes place after injection of the fuel as a result of
the spontaneous ignition of the fuel due to high air temperatures resulting from the
high compression ratio. The correct technical name for diesel engines is thus
compression-ignition engines. The most important property of the fuel is it's
ability to spontaneously ignite after injection and is measured in terms of cetane
number. The amount of fuel burnt by the engine and thus the engine power output
is controlled and varied (by the driver/governor) by varying the amount of fuel
injected. The air intake system is unaflected by the amount of fuel injected or the
power output, thus the air fuel ratio varies considerably with engine power output.
2.3. Four Stroke Engines
An engine stroke is defined as a single pass or sweep of the piston from the
minimum combustion chamber volume (Top Dead Centre - TDC) to maximum
volume
@ottom
Dead Centre - BDC) or visa versa. In other words two engine
strokes take place for each revolution of the crankshaft. Four stroke engines thus
utilise two full engine revolutions for each full thermodvnamic cycle.
The four stroke cycle begins with the piston at top dead centre. At this point a
mechanical inlet valve is opened in the cylinder head and air is induced (sucked)
into the cylinder by the first stroke
GnaucUgg
stroke) which involves the piston
moving down to BDC. At BDC the inlet valve closes to seal the cylinder before the
air is compressed by the second or compression stroke which involves the piston
moving back up to TDC. At TDC (minimum volume) the airifuel charge ignites
which results in the release of heat in the combustion chamber and thus a
significant rise in temperature and pressure. The third stroke is the expansion
stroke and involves ttre piston moving down to BDC. At BDC a mechanical inlet
valve opens to allow the gas to escape from the combustion chamber to the exhaust.
The fourth stroke is the exhaust stroke in which the piston moves up to TDC so as
to eject all the bumt gasses from the combustion chamber. At TDC the exhaust
valve closes and the inlet valve opens to begin a new cycie with the intake stroke
drawing in a new air charge.
During the induction stroke negative work is done by the engine in drawing air into
the combustion chamber (Pressure losses in the intake system). During the
compression stroke negative work is done by the engine to compress the gas.
During the expansion stroke the gas does positive work on the piston. During the
exhaust stroke negative work is done in ejecting gas from the engine (Pressure
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losses in the exhaust system). It can thus be seen that three out of four cycles
involve negative work and that only one cycle can be completed for every two
engine rotations.
The amount of work that can be done per cycle is primarily determined by the
amoturt of fuel and air that can be burnt which is determined by the swept volume
or displacement of the combustion chamber. The work done is secondarily
determined by the efficiency of the thermodynamic cycle. Since power output is
proportional to the product of the work per cycle and the cycle rate (Cycles per
second), there are three methods of increasing engine power output :
a) Increase work per cycle by increasing engine size (or mass of air and fuel by
turbo-charging or better aspiration)
b) Increase work per cycle by increasing the cycle efficiency
c) Increase engine speed to increase the number of cycles per second.
Recent developments have allowed greater cycle efficiency to be achieved at
increased engine speeds thus the engines are developing more power despite being
smaller than in the past.
Both Diesel and Petrol engine most commonly work on the four stroke cycle.
2.4. Two Stroke Engines
ln order to achieve higher power output from a given engine size at a given engine
speed it would be logical to eliminate the intake and exhaust strokes, and thus
enable one expansion stroke (work stroke) for each engine revolution. The result is
thus a situation in which the induction and exhaust processes must occur between
the end of the expansion stroke and the beginning of the compression stroke. This
can unfortunately only be achieved at the expense of a compromise to the
compression and expansion processes.
The two stroke cycle which involves a compression and an expansion stroke only is
as follows. Air in the combustion chamber is compressed to TDC (compression
stroke) where it is ignited in a manner identical to that of the fow stroke cycle
(whether petrol or diesel) before expanding as the piston moves downwards in the
expansion stroke. Before BDC an exhaust valve opens to allow the exhaust gas to
escape into the exhaust thus allowing the cylinder pressure to drop to a level
slightly above atmospheric presswe. Shortly after the exhaust valve opens and still
before BDC the inlet valve opens. At this point, if the inlet duct was not at a raised
pressure, the bum gasses would flow out of the cyliirder into the inlet which would
cause the engine to stall, thus some device is required to raise the inlet pressure to
above the exhaust pressrue. Devices typically used for compressing the inlet charge
are crank-case scavengers, super-chargers and turbo-chargers. Thus when the inlet
valve opens air rushes into the combustion chamber and forces the remaining burnt
gasses out of the combustion chamber. The inlet and exhaust valves close some
time after BDC and after the beginning of the compression stroke thus not only is
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the last portion of the expansion stroke lost but the first portion of the compression
stroke is also lost.
Two stroke engines are common at the extreme engine sizes. They are common in
the form of very large turbo-charged diesel ship engines where efficiencies as high
as 50%o are achieved due to the turbo-charging and complex valve gear. They are
also common in small petrol engines such as those used in motorcycles and chain
saws where very high power to weight ratios are achieved at very high speeds
although the efficiencies are very low (<20%)
3. Encrxg PnnronvraNcE P,qnAI{ETERS
Engines are typically tested to measure the following information :
a) Engine Speed
b) Crankshaft Torque
Speed
Torque
rev/min
Nm
c) Fuel Consumption Rate Fuel Cons. kg/trr (or litrr)
An engine is normally characterised by measwing these parameters at a wide variety of
engine speeds and loads. The term load is used to refer to the ratio of actual torque
relative to the maximum torque of the engine at the speed at which the engine is
operating. A number of parameters are typically calculated from the measured
parameters. They are :
a) Engine Power
:
(2
*
Pi
*
Speed/60)
*
Torque
b) Fuel Consumption: Fuel mass consumed ltime
c) Specific Fuel Consumption: Fuel Cons/Power
d) Break Thermal Efficiency
:
Power/Qleat of Combust
*
Fuel Cons/3600)
NOTE : The heat of combustion measrued with the aid of a bomb calorimeter is the
higher heat of combustion since the end temperature is below the boiling point of water
and the latent heat of evaporation of the water in the combustion products has been
released. However, in IC engines all gasses leave the engine at temperatures well in
excess of the boiling point of water. The lower heat of combustion is thus relevant to IC
engine calculations. The difference between the lower and higher heat of combustion is
proportional to the amount of water vapour in the reaction products which is dependent
on the C-H-O ratio of the fuel.
4. Iuner. (Gas) Cvcr.ns
In order to allow engineers to carry out theoretical analyses of internal combustion
engines, a number of ideal engine cycles have been developed on the basis of some
assumptions regarding the nature of the different processes in the engine. The ideal
kw
kg/hr.
ksl(kw.h)
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cycles allow engineers to investigate the effect of parameters such as compression ratio,
on engine performance. Although the ideal cyclei provide results which are surprisingly
accurate, more complex assumptions and cycles are used when detailed engine data is
required. The following basic assumptions are common to all the ideal (gas) cycles :
.
Isentropic compression and expansion - The compression and expansion processes are
assumed to be isentropic and thus reversible. There is thus no heat transfer in the
compression and expansion strokes which is the first major difference between the
ideal cycles and actual engines, where as much as 30o/o of the fuel energy is actually
transferred to the cooling system dwing compression and expansion.
.
Combustion is simplified to simple heat addition - Since actual combustion results in
the chemical conversion of the combustion products to COZ and H2O, the
thermodynamic properties of the gasses in the combustion chamber vary during
combustion. The presence of fuel and fuel vapour in the combustion chamber also
influences the thermodynamic properties of the gasses druing the compression stroke
of actual engines. Ideal gas is assumed in the ideal cycles and heat is released in, or
transferred to, the gas without any change in properties.
.
The ideal cycles are intended to concentrate on the compression and expansion
processes and do not pay much attention to the gas exchange process (intake and
exhaust stroke). The gas exchange processes are thus simplified to be represented by
the cooling of the hot gas at the end of the expansion stroke without exchanging it.
Thus by cooling the gas at the end of the expansion stroke the gas is returned to it's
original state (pressure and temperature) as at the beginning of the compression
stroke. This is possible since combustion does not actually take place. The ideal
cycles are equally representative of both two and four stroke engines.
4.1. Otto Cycle
The Otto cycle represents the best possible conditions that could exist in an IC
engine in every respect and thus the predicted efficiency represents the highest
possible value. The actual efficiency will always be lower than that of a Otto cycle.
The four processes of the Otto cycle are as follows :
a) Isentropic Compression
b) Constant volume heat addition - All the heat is transfened to the gas at
minimum volume before any expansion takes place. In reality this would
require and infinite combustion rate and is unattainable.
c) Isentropic Expansion'
d) Constant volume heat transfer or cooling - the gas exchange processes are
avoided by cooling the gas to it's original state (pressure and temperature).
The Otto cycle can only be approached by engines which have an extremely fast
combustion rate and low heat rejection to the cooling system.
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4.2. Diesel Cycle (as in Rudolph Diesel and not diesel Engine)
The Diesel cycle gives a better representation of the cycle which takes place in
engines with slower combustion rates. The Diesel cycle represents the worst
possible situation in so far as combustion or heat release rate is concerned. For this
reason, actual engines fall between the Otto and Diesel cycles in so far as
combustion is concemed. However, due to the absence of heat loss the efficiency
of the Diesel cycle often exceeds that of actual engines despite inferior combustion.
Historically this cycle was most applicable to diesel engines but recent
developments in diesel engines to increase their combustion rate, have resulted in
diesel engines approaching the otto cycle to a greater extent than petrol engines.
The four processes of the Diesel cycle are as follows :
a) Isentropic compression
b) Constant Pressure heat addition. By transfening heat to the gas at constant
pressure, considerable expansion takes place before all the heat is transferred to or
released in the gas thus leading to reduced efficiency relative the Otto cycle.
c) Isentropic expansion.
d) Constant volume heat rejection to return the gas to the initial state.
4.3. Dual Cycle (Gekombineerde Kringloop)
Since the combustion in actual engines cannot achieve the infinite combustion rate
required for the Otto cycle, while actual combustion rates are superior to that of the
Diesel cycle, the Dual cycle was devised to represent actual engines more closely.
The four processes of the Dual cycle are as follows :
a) Isentropic compression
b) Constant volume heat addition occurs until a specified maximum presswe is
achieved where after constant pressure heat addition takes place. The heat
addition is thus a combination of the combustion in the Otto and
Diesel cycles and the resulting efficiency thus falls between that of
these cycles.
c) Isentropic expansion.
d) Constant volume heat rejection to return the gas to the initial state. (To simulate
gas exchange)
5. Spanr IcNrrIoN ENGINES
Spark-ignition engines are reciprocating piston engines which can take the form of either
two or four stroke engines in order to achieve gas exchange. Spark-ignition engines will
be discussed in terms of their most important properties which are as follows :
a) All the fuel is introduced to the inlet air charge before the beginning of the
compression stroke.
b) The compression stroke involves the compression of an airlfuel mixture and not
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c)
d)
e)
only air.
Ignition is achieved at the end of compression with the aid of an electric spark
from a spark-plug in the combustion chamber.
The air/fuel mixture is both homogeneous and close to stoichometric when
combustion takes place.
Combustion propagates through the combustion chamber as a result of laminar
flame propagation and turbulent mixing of the charge.
Engine power output is controlled by varying the amount of fuel burnt in the
combustion chamber which is in tum controlled by restricting the flow of airlfuel
mixture into the engine with the aid of a throttle valve in the inlet system of the
engine.
The properties of the fuel determine the maximum pressure and temperature that
can be tolerated in the combustion chamber without abnormal combustion taking
place.
5.1. Fuel Injection or Carburettion
Fuel is introduced into the air charge, normally in the inlet manifold, during the
intake stroke of the engine, either with the aid of fuel injectors or a carburettor. A
carburettor is a device which uses a venturi through which the inlet air flows to
meter the required amount of fuel into the inlet air charge. The pressure drop in a
venturi is proportional to the square of the air velocity. The pressure drop in the
venturi is used to draw fuel from a reservoir through a small orifice known as a
'Jet". The pressure drop across the orifice is also proportional to the squre of the
fuel flow velocity, thus a linear relationship exists between air flow in the venturi
and fuel flow in the
jet.
In other words if the air flow through the carburettor
venturi into the engine were to double, then the pressure difference between the
static pressure in the venturi and atmospheric pressr:re would increase by a factor of
four (delta P
:
Vel
2
;.
this pressure diflerence which is applied across the fuel
jet
or orifice causes the fuel flow rate to double (Fuel Vel: (delta P)0'5 as a result of
the air flow rate doubling. Thus, it can be seen that a carbruettor is a device which
attempts to ensure that the atrlfuel ratio of the mixture entering the engine is always
constant. However, pressure drop varies with both air or fuel density and along
with the inertia of the fuel in the system causes the airlfuel ratio to deviate from the
optimal value. It is for this reason that electronic fuel injection is rapidly replacing
carburettors.
Electlonic fuel injection involves the electronic sensing of air flow rate and the
subsequent electronic metering (injection) of the required amount of fuelto ensure
the optimal air fuel ratio at all times and under all conditions. Electronic "Engine
Management Systems" also measure numerous parameters such as air temperature,
engine temperature and even unbumed air or fuel in the exhaust, thus allowing
them to compensate for most variables, even unknown fuel properties.
g)
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5.2. Compression of air fuel mixture
The duration of the intake stroke of a four stroke engine is + I 80' crank angle. Fuel
is introduced into the inlet air during the intake stroke and will only be partially
evaporated by the beginning of the compression stroke. Fuel is thus in the form of
vapour, suspended droplets and a liquid stream which impinges on the hot walls of
the combustion chamber and on the piston crown. During the compression stroke
which involves +180" crank angle, the remaining fuel in the liquid phase is likely to
evaporate completely. The engine is thus compressing a varying mixture of fuel
and air and the process is likely to difFer significantly from the isentropic
compression of an ideal gas.
5.3. Ignition near Top Dead Centre (TDC)
Towards the end of the compression stroke an electrical or electronic ignition
system causes current to arc across the spark-plug which initiates combustion.
Because actual combustion requires a finite period of time to consume the entire
charge, ignition is deliberately initiated before TDC so as to ensure that combustion
is complete shortly after TDC and that the full expansion stroke is utilised to do
work with the highest efficiency. The longer the duration of combustion, the more
the spark must be advanced to achieve best efEciency.
5.4. Combustion of Homogeneous Mixfure
When the piston reaches TDC, the fuel would have been in contact with the air (hot
- compression) and the combustion chamber walls for as long as 360' crank angle
thus it can be stated with certainty that all the fuel is evaporated and that a
homogeneous mixture exists. At any given temperature and pressure, there is a
tolerance band of airlfuel mixture ratio's, located around stoichometric airlfuel ratio,
outside which ignition will not take place. In other words, if the mixture is either
too rich (low A/F ratio) or too lean (Iligh A/F ratio), then ignition will not take
place and the engine will misfire. Spark-ignition engines thus typically operate
with air fuel mixture ratio's in the region of the stoichometric air fuel ratio.
5.5. Flame Propagation
After ignition of the airlfuel mixtue at the spark plug, the flame spreads in three
dimensions on a front in a manner similar to a veld fire. As is the case of a veld
fire, air motion or turbulence have a dramatic and almost overriding effect on the
rute at which the flame propagates to the outer extremes of the combustion
chamber.
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5.6. Engine Speed and Load Control
For a given engine, the power developed, and thus the acceleration of the vehicle
and/or the engine will be directly determined by the amount of fuel bumt in the
combustion chamber. Thus in order to reduce power output and slow the vehicle
and/or engine down it is necessary to reduce the amount of fuel entering the engine.
If this were to be done by only reducing the amount of fuel injected or induced, then
the ratio of fuel to air would soon reach the lean limit for combustion and misfire
would occur. It is thus necessary to reduce the amount of fuel induced while
maintaining a constant airlfuel ratio which can only be done by simultaneously
reducing the air induced as well as the fuel. In spark-ignition engines this is
achieved with the aid of a throttle valve which results in a reduction in the inlet
manifold pressure and density. The engine thus induces airlfuel mixture at lower
density which results in a lower mass of mixture being induced and thus less heat
being released by combustion and consequently less power being developed.
5.7. Critical Fuel Properties
During the end of the compression stroke and the beginning of combustion,
combustion chamber pressures rise to an extremely high levels (5 to 10 MPa). It is
an important property of the fuel that it should not ignite spontaneously before
being consumed by the normal flame which propagates from the spark-plug.
Should the fuel ignite spontaneously then a phenomenon known as "Spark-Ignition
Knock" occurs which manifests itself as an audible knocking sornd which is often
referred to as "pinging". The resulting sound is similar to that of a dull bell ringing
and is often mistaken for mechanical impact in the engine.
Spark-Ignition knock should always be avoided at all costs and can rapidly lead to
the catastrophic destruction of an engine in extreme cases (30 seconds). Different
designs of engine require fuel with difFerent resistance to knock and it is for this
reason that knock is quantified in terms of the octane scale and is clearly indicated
on the petrol pumps at the petrol stations. As a rule engines with higher
compression ratio require fuels with higher resistance to knock or higher octane
number, although there are numerous other factors that influence the knock
resistance of a engine.
From the study of both the Otto and Diesel cycles it is apparent that increased
compression ratio results in increased cycle efficiency. The same applies to spark-
ignition engines where the compression ratio's of production engines have increased
from values in the region of 8:1 up to values as high as 11:1 over the last two
decades in order to achieve dramatic reductions in fuel consumption. The
compression ratio of an engine is largely limited by the spark-ignition knock
resistance or octane number of the available fuels. As a result of improved
combustion chamber design, the increased compression ratio's have been achieved
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despite the fact that the octane number of the fuel has dropped from 98 to 95 in the
same period.
6. CovrpnrssroN-IcNrrroNENcrn-ns
Compression-ignition engines are reciprocating piston engines which can take the form of
either two or four stroke engines in order to achieve gas exchange. Compression-ignition
engines will be discussed in terms of their most important properties which are as follows
:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
0
s)
h)
Air is induced into the combustion chamber without any restriction
The air charge is compressed without fuel
Fuel is injection into the combustion chamber at the end of the compression stroke
The fuel ignites spontaneously due to the high pressures and temperatures
Rapid initial combustion is responsible for the audible diesel knock
Combustion involves a non-homogenous mixture at variable average airlfuel ratio
The engine is controlled by varying the amount of fuel injected and thus the
average air to fuel ratio.
The properties of the fuel are of critical importance and are relied on to achieve
ignition, combustion and lubricity of the fuel injection equipment.
6.1. Unrestricted Air Induction
Air is drawn into the combustion cha:nber without the restrictions of a carburettor
or throttling valve and without the addition of any fuel. The result is that
compression-ignition engines have very simple yet efficient induction systems or air
intake manifolds.
6.2. Compression of Pure Air Charge
The air induced dwing the intake stroke is compressed to TDC before any fuel is
introduced. The compression stroke thus involves the compression of air without
fuel or fuel vapour. The compression ratio of diesel engines is significantly higher
than that of spark-ignition engines and a typical value is 16:1 although engines with
compression ratio's as high as 23:I and as low as 13:1 exist for special applications.
6.3. Fuel Injection at TDC
Owing to the high compression ratio, air pressrues and temperatures are extremely
high at the end of the compression stroke (5,5 MPa, 500'C), at which point the fuel
is injected into the combustion chamber at extremely high pressures (50 MPa) so as
to achieve fine atomisation and distribution within the combustion chamber. At the
high temperature the fuel rapidly evaporates and mixes with the air.
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6.4. Spontaneouslgnition
Shortly after fuel has been injected a situation exists where the airlfuel ratio in the
close proximity of the combustion chamber is very low indicating a very rich
mixture while firrther away from the fuel sprays the mixture is leaner. Lr the
extreme locations of the combustion chamber there would in fact be no fuel at all.
The airlfuel mixture in the combustion is thus not at all homogeneous and in fact
varies from zero (pwe fuel) to an infinite value (prue air). Shortly after fuel is
injected into the combustion chamber, mixtrue at a location where the airlfuel ratio
is at a value in the region of stoichometric will wrdergo spontaneous ignition. The
delay period between the moment when the fuel was first injected and the moment
when ignition occurred is known as the ienition delay and is a very important
parameter in diesel engines.
6.5. Rapid Initial Combustion (Premixed Combustion)
When ignition takes place at one point it is followed by ignition at other points
which results in a situation where all the evaporated fuel is burn in a short space of
time. This combustion does not involve the propagation of a flame front through
the mixture as in the case of spark-ignition engines but involves the simultaneous
ignition and combustion of mixture throughout the combustion chamber which
results in an extremely rapid rate of presswe rise which can be heard as the
characteristic diesel knock.
6.6. Combustion of Remaining Fuel
Even after the rapid initial stage of combustion, the airlfuel mixture is still non-
homogeneous and the remaining fuel is burnt as it evaporates from the droplets.
Initial combustion results in pressures and temperatures that are so high that the
tolerance between the rich and lean limits for combustion is extended dramatically.
All compression ignition engines require a significant amount of excess air in order
to operate and the maximum overall fuel to air ratio is typically 80% of
stoichometric.
6.7. Engine Speed Control
Diesel engines are equipped with a mechanical govemor which is a device which
varies the engine power output in order to maintain a con'stant engine speed.
Engine power output is controlled by varying the amowrt of fuel that is injected into
the combustion chamber while the amount of air is unchanged. The result is that
the overall airlfuel ratio is increased. However, owing to the fact that the mixture in
the combustion chamber is not homogeneous, ignition in compression-ignition
engines is not effected by the overall air fuel ratio since it occurs in a localised
region where the air fuel ratio is close to stoichometric. Thus by reducing the
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amount of fuel injected engine power output decreases without any need to reduce
the amount of air induced. The overall airlfuel ratio thus becomes leaner as the
power output is reduced.
6.8. Fuel Ignition
Quality
Compression-ignition engines depend on the fuel to ignite spontaneously, and thus
do not have a specific ignition device except for their high compression ratio. The
ability of the fuel to ignite spontaneously is thus of critical importance to
compression ignition engines. The ignition quality of diesel fuels is measured in
terms of the cetane scale. konically, the cetane scale and the octane scale are
practically opposite in that any fuel with a high cetane number will have a low
octane number and visa versa.
7. CovrpanrsoN oF SpARK-IcmrrroN AND ConnpnnssloN-
IcmrrroN ENGTNES
The two different engine types will be compared in terms of their advantages and
disadvantages.
7.1. Compression Ratio
The compression ratio of spark-ignition engines is limited by "knock" while high
compression ratios are necessary to achieve ignition in compression-ignition
engines. It is for this reason that the compression ratio of compression-ierition
engines is significantly higher than spark-ignition engines thus giving the diesel
engine higher thermal effrciency.
7.2. Throttling Losses
By throttling the intake air of a spark-ignition engine the intake manifold pressure
can be forced as low as 60 kPa below atmospheric pressure. It is then necessary for
the engine to efflectively ptunp the air back up to above atmospheric pressure to get
it to flow out of the exhaust. Thus, at part load, spark-ignition engines suffer a
significant drop in thermal efficiency due to the irreversible pressure drop across
the throttle valve. Compression-ignition engines do not suffer from this problem.
7.3. Combustion Rate
By only introducing the fuel into the combustion chamber at the end of the
compression stroke, the rate of combustion in compression-ignition engines is
limited by the rate of fuel injection. Thus as the load decreases the duration of
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combustion decreases and the cycle approaches the Otto cycle to a greater extent.
This effect is firttrer enhanced by the fact the airlfuel ratio increases as the load is
decreased thus firrther accelerating combustion.
The opposite applies in spark-ignition engines, where at maximum load the mixture
is homogeneously mixed and combustion is limited only by the rate of flame
propagation and chemical reaction kinetics. However, as the load is reduced, the
inlet manifold pressure is reduced by throttling which reduces charge density and so
also temperature and pressure dwing combustion. As with any chemical reaction,
combustion rate is reduced by reduced pressure and temperature leading to a longer
combustion duration and causing the cycle to move firrther from the ideal Otto
cycle.
7.4. Engine Speed
Owing to the fact that the combustion rate in spark-ignition engines is influenced
predominately by turbulence, and that turbulence increases with increasing engine
speed, the burn angle remains relatively constant as speed increases, thus allowing
spark-ignition engines to operate at speeds in excess of 20 000 rev/min with
production engines running at speeds of up to 10 000 rev/min. On the other hand,
the combustion rate in compression-ignition engines is limited by the rate of
injection at higher engine speeds thus limiting the speed of production engines to
below 5 000 rev/min with typical engines being limited to below 2 500 rev/min.
Owing to the higher pressures and temperatures, the components of compression-
ignition engines need to be far heavier. The acceleration forces related to these
components is responsible for a mecharrical limitation of engine speed.
7.5. Specific X'uel Consumption
The high compression ratio of compression-ignition engines is responsible for them
being slightly more efficient at maximum load. The absence of throttling and inlet
fuelling makes compression-ignition engines ideally suited to turbo-charging which
is responsible for significant improvements in efficiency in practice. The reduced
bum rate at part load is responsible for good efficiency despite the fact that the
mechanical efficiency approaches zero as load is decreased.
Although being relatively efficient at full.load, the increasing throttling losses and
extended burn angle in spark-ignition engines as the load is decreased, is
responsible for a substantial drop in efficiency as the load is reduced. The overall
effect is that while there is not a very significant difference between the efficiency
of the two engine types at part load, there is a dramatic difference at part load
conditions. The fact that most vehicles operate for much of the time at part load
results in a situation in which the fuel consumption of a diesel powered vehicle can
be as low as half that of an equivalent petrol powered vehicle. The fact that the
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8.
calorific value of diesel is significantly higher than that of petrol also contributes to
this difFerence.
Suiuvra,ny oF Spam-IcNrrroN AltD CovrpnnssroN
[CXrrrON ENGINES
The two different engine types have different advantages and disadvantages:
The compression ratio of spark-ignition engines is limited by the knock resistance of the
fuel used and is thus lower than that of compression ignition engines resulting in lower
thermal efficiency wrder ideal conditions. To make matters worse, spark-ignition engines
require throttling for part load operation which not only increases the wasteful pumping
work of the engine, but it also increases the duration of combustion which both result in a
dramatic loss of efficiency at part load. Compression-ignition engines are controlled by
reducing the amount of fuel injected, thus increasing the airlfuel ratio which frrther
improves the thermal efficiency at part load. Compression-ignition engines are thus far
more fuel efficient than spark-ignition engines. This trend is further increased by the fact
that turbo-charging has become a corlmon and cost ef[ective practice in compression-
ignition engines.
Typically, the rated operating speed of diesel engines is less than half that of petrol
.engines. Engine mechanical friction losses increase disproportionately with increased
engine speed while the gas friction losses increase even more dramatically. The friction
losses of diesel engines is thus considerably lower owing to their lower operating speed.
However, the heavy construction of diesel engines partly eliminates this benefit by
increasing friction. The overall eflect is that a diesel engine with a given power output
has significantly lower friction than a petrol engine with equivalent power.
The high pressures in compression ignition engines necessitate strong and heavy
components which in tum limit the engine speed due to acceleration forces. Engine speed
is also iimited by the fact that combustion rate cannot exceed the rate of fuel injection.
Spatk-ignition engines are thus able to run at speeds which are twice as high as those of
compression ignition engines. The result is that although they develop slightly less work
per cycle, the cycle rate of spark-ignition engines is far higher thus the power developed
by spark-ignition engines can be double that of compression-ignition engines for a given
engine size.
The high pressures in compression-ignition engines necessitates a stronger structure
which is responsible for these engine being extremely heavy. The noise emissions from
compression ignition engines is also high while they are also difficult to balance owing to
the high component masses.
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