Lecture-24

Prepared under
QIP-CD Cell Project

Internal Combustion Engines

Ujjwal K Saha, Ph.D.

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

1

Break-up of Energy
The energy released in the combustion
chamber of an internal combustion engine is
dissipated in three different ways.

About 35 % of the fuel energy is converted

to useful crankshaft work, and about 30 %
energy is expelled with the exhaust. This
leaves about one-third of the total energy
that must be transmitted from the enclosed
cylinder through the cylinder walls and head
to the surrounding atmosphere.

Combustion Chamber Temperature

The temperature in the combustion

chamber of an engine goes up to

2700 K, and the materials used in the
engine cannot withstand this.

Further,

this high temperature

destroys the lubricating properties of
the oil film on the cylinder walls. At the
same time, thermal stresses will be
developed thereby distorting the
cylinders, head and piston.
4

Energy Distribution
P = m f Q f
bth =

bp
m f Q f c

Power generated = bp + Q exhaust + Q loss + Pacc

where Q exhaust = energy lost to exhaust

Q loss = energy lost to surroundings by heat transfer

Pacc

= power required to drive engine accessories

Temperature Distribution

Exhaust
flow
450 C

Exhaust
valve
650 C

Spark plug
600 C

Piston face
300 C

Intake valve
250 C
Intake
m anifold
60 C

Cylinder wall
185 C

Piston
ring
220 C

Piston
skirt
190 C

Oil 70 C

Modes of Heat Transfer

In general, heat transfer by conduction takes
place through the cylinder head, cylinder walls,
and piston; through the piston rings to the cylinder
wall; through the engine block and manifolds.

Heat transfer by forced convection occurs

between the in-cylinder gases and cylinder
head, valves, cylinder walls, and piston during
the engine cycle.

Heat transfer by radiation occurs through the

emission and absorption of electromagnetic
waves. Radiative heat transfer occurs from the
high temperature combustion gases and the
flame region to the combustion chamber walls.

Heat Transfer in Intake System

The walls of the intake manifold are hotter
than the flowing gases, heating them by
convection:

Q = hA (Twall Tgas )

where, T = temperature
h = convection heat transfer coefficient
A = inside surface area of intake manifold

The manifold is hot, either by design on

some engines or just as a result of its
location close to other hot components in
the engine compartment.

Heating the Manifolds

Some are designed such that the flow
passages of the runners come in close thermal
contact with the hot exhaust manifold. Others
use hot coolant flow through a surrounding
water jacket. Electricity is used to heat some
intake manifolds.

Some
systems
have
special
localized
hot
surfaces, called hot spots,
in optimum locations, such
as immediately after fuel
addition or at a tee where
maximum
convection
occurs.

Heating the Manifolds

Engine systems using multipoint port
injectors have less need for heating the
intake manifold, relying on finer fuel droplets
and higher temperature around the intake
valve to assure necessary fuel evaporation.
This results in higher volumetric efficiency for
these engines.

Often, the fuel is sprayed directly onto the

back of the intake valve face. This not only
speeds evaporation, but cools the intake
valve, which can reach cyclic temperatures
up to 400C. Steady-state temperature of
intake valves generally is in the 200-300C
range.

10

Heat Transfer in Combustion Chambers

During

combustion,
peak
gas
temperature on the order of 3000 K
occur within the cylinders, and effective
heat transfer is needed to keep the
cylinder walls from overheating.
Convection and conduction are the

main heat transfer modes to remove

energy from the combustion chamber
and keep the cylinder walls from
melting.
11

Heat Transfer through a Cylinder Wall

12

Heat Transfer through a Cylinder Wall

Heat transfer per unit surface area will be:

q = Q / A = (Tg Tc ) / (1/ hg ) + ( x / k ) + (1/ hc )

where, Tg = gas temperature in the combustion
chamber
Tc = coolant temperature
hg = convection heat transfer coefficient
on the gas side
hc = convection heat transfer coefficient
on the coolant side
x = thickness of the combustion
chamber wall
k = thermal conductivity of cylinder wall
13

Convective Heat Transfer

Convection

heat transfer on the

inside surface of the cylinder is:

q = Q / A = hg (Tg Tw )
Wall temperature should not exceed

180-200C to assure thermal stability of

the lubricating oil and structural
strength of the wall.

14

Reynolds Number
There are number of ways of identifying a

Reynolds number to use for comparing flow

characteristics and heat transfer in engines
of different sizes, speeds, and geometries.
Choosing the best characteristic length and
velocity is sometimes difficult.

One way of defining a Reynolds number

for engines that correlates data fairly well is:

Re = ( m a + m f ) B / ( Ap g )
where, m a = air mass flow rate into the cylinder
 f = fuel mass flow rate into the cylinder
m
B = bore
Ap = area of piston face
g = dynamic viscosity of gas in cylinder

15

Nusselt Number
A Nusselt number for the inside of the

combustion chamber can be defined

using the Reynolds number:
Nu = hg B / k g = C1 ( Re )

c2

where,
C1 and C2 = constants
k g = thermal conductivity of cylinder gas
k g = average convective heat transfer
coefficient

The

Nusselt number and convection

heat transfer coefficient on the coolant
side of the cylinder walls can be
approximated by conventional methods
of forced convection heat transfer.
16

Radiation Heat Transfer

Radiation heat transfer between cylinder

gas and combustion chamber walls is:

q = Q / A = (Tg4 Tw4 ) / (1g ) / g +[1/ F12 ] + (1w ) / w

where, Tg = gas temperature
Tw = wall temperature
= Stefan-Boltzmann constant
g = emissivity of gas
w = emissivity of wall
F1 2 = view factor between gas and wall

17

Radiation Heat Transfer

Even though gas temperatures are very

high, radiation to the walls only amounts

to about 10% of the total heat transfer in SI
engines. This is due to the poor emitting
properties of gases, which emit only at
specific wavelength.

N2 and O2, which make up the majority

of the gases before combustion, radiate

very little, while the CO2 and H2O of the
products do contribute more to radiation
heat transfer.
18

Radiation Heat Transfer

The solid carbon particles that are
generated in the combustion products of a CI
engine are good radiators at all wave lengths,
and radiation heat transfer to the walls in these
engines is in the range of 20-35% of the total.

A large percent of radiation heat transfer to

the walls occurs early in the power stroke. At
this point the combustion temperature is
maximum, and with thermal radiation potential
equal to T4, a very large heat flux is generated.
This is also the time when there is a maximum
amount of carbon soot in CI engines, which
further increases radiative heat flow.

19

Local heat flux variation experienced at one

location in a single cylinder of a typical
engine for three consecutive engine cycles.

20

Local heat flux variation experienced at

three
different
locations
within
the
combustion chamber of a single cylinder
during one cycle of a typical engine.

21

The piston face (A) is one

of the hottest surfaces in a
combustion chamber. Cooling
is mainly done by convection
to the lubricating oil on the
back side of the piston face,
by conduction through the
piston rings in contact with
cylinder
walls,
and
by
conduction
down
the
connecting rod to the oil
reservoir. High conduction
resistance occurs because of
lubricated
surfaces
at
cylinder walls (X) and the rod
bearings (Y).

Cooling of Piston

22

Heat Transfer in Exhaust System

Pseudo-steady-state exhaust temperatures

of SI engines are generally in the range of

400-600C, with extremes of 300-900C.
Exhaust temperatures of CI engines are lower
due to their greater expansion ratio and are
generally in the range of 200-500C.
Some large engines have exhaust valves

with hollow stems containing sodium. These

act as heat pipes and are very effective in
removing heat from the face area of the
valve.
23

Effect of Variables on Heat Transfer

1. Engine Size: If two geometrically similar
engines of different size (displacement) are run
at the same speed keeping all other variables
(temperature, AF, fuel etc.) as close as possible,
the larger engines will have a greater absolute
heat loss but will be more thermal efficient.
2. Engine Speed: As engine speed is increased,
gas flow velocity into and out of the engine goes
up, with a resulting rise in turbulence and
convective heat transfer coefficient. This
increases heat transfer during intake and exhaust
strokes and even early part of the compression
strokes. During combustion and power strokes,
gas velocities within the cylinders are fairly
independent of engine speed.
24

Effect of Variables on Heat Transfer

3. Load: As the load on an engine is increased
(going uphill, pulling a trailer), the throttle must
be further opened to keep the keep the engine
speed constant. This causes less pressure drop
across the throttle and higher pressure and
density in the intake system. Mass flow rate of air
and fuel, therefore, goes up with load at a given
engine speed. The percentage of heat loss goes
down slightly as engine load increases.
CI engines run unthrottled, and total mass flow
is almost independent of load. When speed or
load is increased and more is needed, the
amount of fuel injected is increased. This
increases the total mass flow in the latter part of
each cycle by about 5 %. Thus, convection heat
transfer coefficient within the engine is fairly
independent of load.
25

Effect of Variables on Heat Transfer

4. Inlet Air Temperature: Increasing inlet
air temperature to an engine results in a
temperature increase over the entire
cycle, with a resulting increase in heat
increase in inlet
loss.
A
1000C
temperature will give a 10-15 % increase
in heat losses.
5. Swirl and Squish: Higher swirl and
squish velocities result in a higher
convection heat transfer coefficient
within the cylinder. This results in better
heat transfer to the walls.
26

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YR (1992), Engineering Thermodynamics, Addison
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27

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