MEP 404 Internal Combustion Engines

Part 01: Internal Combustion Engines

WS 2012
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Contents

1 Engine Classification 3

2 Notation 11

3 The Pressure-Crankangle Diagram 12

4 Combustion in Internal Combustion Engines 14

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1 Engine Classification

Internal combustion engines can be classified in many different ways. For example,
they can be classified according to:

1. Field of application (automotive, marine, aircraft, stationary, etc.).

2. Cycle of operation (two-stroke; four-stroke)
3. Intake and exhaust: through Valves, or through ports, overhead cams, etc.)
4. Fuel (Gasoline, natural gas, diesel fuel)
5. Fuel/Air Mixing (carburetor, fuel injection)
6. Ignition (spark-ignition (SIE), compression-ignition (CIE))
7. Load Control (fuel quantity control, air quantity control)
8. Cooling (water-cooled, air-cooled, adiabatic)
9. Design (rotary, reciprocating)

A set of educational videos will be presented during the lecture

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1.1 Four-Stroke Cycles

1.1.1 Spark-Ignition Engines

Figure 1: Schematic of four-stroke SIE

• Four strokes: intake, compression, ignition and power (expansion), and ex-
haust.
– During intake: inlet valve open (IVO), exhaust valve closed (EFC),
– During compression: both valves closed.
– During expansion (power): both valves closed.
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– During exhaust: inlet valve closed (IVC), exhaust valve open (EVO)
• Shortly before top dead center, the spark plug is actuated, starting the com-
bustion process, as shown on the p-V diagram of the actual cycle below.
• The inlet and exhaust valves require time to reach their maximum lift. There-
fore, the exhaust valve opens shortly before BDC.

1.1.2 Actual Cycle of SIE

Figure 2: Actual cycle of SIE

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Note that:

• Idealized cycle of operation is the Otto Cycle. Combustion takes place nearly
at constant volume.
• The fresh charge during the suction stroke is a mixture of fuel and air (pre-
mixed).
• The premixed mixture is ignited through an electric spark (12-35 kV).
• Premixed combustible mixtures ignite within a narrow range of air-fuel (AF)
ratios; typically 12-18.
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1.1.3 Four-Stroke CIE

Figure 3: Schematic of four-stroke CIE

• Idealized cycle is the dual (limited pressure) cycle. Only low-speed CIEs run
on the diesel cycle.
• The fresh charge during the suction stroke is air only.
• The compression ratio is higher than that of SIE in order to ensure at the end
of compression temperatures that are high enough to ensure auto-ignition
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of the fuel-air mixture.

• Fuel is introduced into the engine cylinder through a fuel injector. By the
end of compression stroke, the pressure is around 30 bar or higher. Fuel
injection pressures ranging between 80 – 600 bar are used to ensure good
atomization of fuel and fast evaporation and mixing of fuel vapor and air.
• Some modern CIEs with electronic diesel control (EDC) have injection pres-
sures up to 2000 bar, with very sophisticated fuel injection strategies to re-
duce particulate and gaseous pollutant emissions to meet the respective
national emission standards.
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1.1.4 Two-Stroke Engines

Figure 4: Two-stroke engine arrangements

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• Figure 4 shows some two-stroke engine arrangements. The idea of a two-

stroke engine is to replace the suction and exhaust strokes of the four-stroke
cycle by a scavenging process accomplished by pumping air through a suc-
tion port at a pressure that is higher than the exhaust pressure.
• At the same speed, the two-stroke engine has twice as much power strokes
as a four-stroke engine running at the same speed. If both engines have
equal effective piston displacements, the two-stroke engine should deliver
almost double the power a four-stroke engine.
• Thus, the two stroke engine has a higher specific output compared with the
four-stroke engine.
• Two-stroke engines have a great disadvantage of burning oil with fuel.
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2 Notation

• 𝑉𝑠 = 𝜋4 𝐷2 𝐿 = Stroke Volume
• 𝑙/𝑎 = connecting rod to crank radius ra-
tio.
• 𝑙/𝑎 ≈ 3-4 for small engines; 5-9 for
large low-speed engines.
• 𝐿/𝐷 stroke to bore ratio (0.8 – 1.2 for
small engines; ≈ 2 for large low-speed
engines)
• TDC stands for top dead center
• BDC stands for bottom dead center
• There is a relation between piston dis-
placement and the crank angle 𝜃 , de-
pending on the geometric variables Figure 5: Two-stroke engine arrangements
𝑙, 𝑎.
• Note that 𝐿 = 2𝑎
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3 The Pressure-Crankangle Diagram

• Using the relation between the piston
displacement and the angle of crank
rotation 𝜃 , the p-V diagram to the right
can be converted into the pressure-
crank-angle diagram as shown in Fig-
ure 6.
• In modern high-speed ICEs, mod-
ern measuring equipment facilitates
the measurement of the pressure-time
history of the engine cycle; from which
it is very easy to obtain the pressure-
crank-angle diagram directly.
• Note that 1 bar = 14.5 psi; psi stand for
Figure 6: SIE actual cycle's pressure-volume diagram
pounds per square inch. This is the old
British unit of pressure.
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The resulting pressure-crankangle diagram is shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: SIE actual cycle's pressure-crankangle diagram

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4 Combustion in Internal Combustion Engines

Combustion is defined as the rapid, exothermic reaction between a fuel and an

oxidizer which converts them to hot gaseous products. The visible light emitted
during combustion is known as “flame”.
The combustion process starts shortly before TDC at the end of compression
stroke. The principles of availability and maximum work require that the peek pres-
sure should be achieved at TDC or very shortly thereafter.
Experience, however, shows that the best efficiency is achieved when the peak
pressure is achieved a few degrees crank-angle after TDC.
Therefore, the time available to accomplish the combustion process is very short
and decreases with the increase of engine speed.

4.1 The Combustion Process in SIEs

• Mixture preparation in SIE’s starts during the suction stroke (carbureted and
fuel-injection engines), or early during the compression stroke (Gasoline Di-
rect Injection engines, GDI), giving sufficient time to create a homogenous
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mixture of fuel vapour and air before ignition.

• Flames propagating through a premixed mixture of fuel and air are known as
premixed flames. These flames dominate the combustion process in SIEs.
• The time available for combustion in SIE is very short. The combustion
period in SIEs is typically 40-50°. At a speed of 2000 rpm, this period is
equivalent to about 0.004 s (4 ms).
• If the speed is doubled, the combustion period would last 2 ms.
• Thus, the higher the engine speed, the faster should the combustion process
take place.
• For premixed flames:
– 12 < 𝐴/𝐹 < 18; the stoichiometric ratio 𝐴/𝐹 ∗ ≈ 14.7 for gasoline
(often approximated to 𝐶8 𝐻17 )
– To achieve maximum fuel economy; 𝐴/𝐹 must not exceed 𝐴/𝐹 ∗ .
– To achieve maximum power, 𝐴/𝐹 ratio must be lower than 𝐴/𝐹 ∗ (i.e.,
nearer to 12).
– Therefore, over most of the operating range, 𝐴/𝐹 would be around
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the stoichiometric value.

– How can the engine power then be controlled? ⇒ Via control of air
flow rate. Derivation follows later.
– This is the reason why the SIE is called “a mixture-quantity-control
engine”.

Figure 8: Schematic of combustion process in SIE

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• Spark ionizes the fuel-air mixture between the spark plug electrodes
• Combustion is initiated and the flame propagates from the spark plug loca-
tion outwards, leaving burned mixture behind and transferring heat to the
yet unburned mixture, as shown in figure.
• Details of the combustion process will be given later.

4.2 Combustion Process in CIEs

• In diesel engines, the fresh charge during suction

stroke is composed of air only.
• Fuel is injected late in the compression stroke.
• Injection occurs under high pressures ( 80 – 600
bar; up to 2000 bar in modern diesels with elec-
tronic diesel control (EDC)).
• The fuel spray is injected through a number of
orifices and penetrates the combustion chamber
forming a cloud of small droplets.
• Atomization dramatically increases the surface-
to-volume ratio of the injected liquid; thus enhanc-
ing evaporation. The fuel vapor mixes with the air
and wherever the local A/F is suitable, combus-
tion takes place. Figure 9: Schematic of combustion process in SIE
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• In diesel engines, the fresh charge

during suction stroke is composed of
air only.
• Fuel is injected late in the compression
stroke.
• Injection occurs under high pressures
( 80 – 600 bar; up to 2000 bar in mod-
ern diesels with electronic diesel con-
trol (EDC)).
• The fuel spray is injected through a
number of orifices and penetrates the
combustion chamber forming a cloud
of small droplets.
• Atomization dramatically increases the
surface-to-volume ratio of the injected Figure 10: Schematic of combustion process in SIE
liquid; thus enhancing evaporation.
• The fuel vapor mixes with the air and
wherever the local A/F is suitable,
combustion takes place.
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Quiz

The following questions are designed to enhance the student’s understand-

ing of this module. They are not a substitute of the problem sheets which
are provided separately.

1. Stationary engines are used for power generation (e.g., standby generator
sets). They are mostly .............
2. Automotive engines can be either SIE or CIE because .............
3. Two-stroke engines are mostly CIEs because .............
4. The power requirements in CIE are controlled through varying ............. be-
cause ..............
5. The power requirements in SIE are controlled through varying ............. be-
cause .............
6. The power requirements in CIE are controlled through varying ............. be-
cause .............
7. Two-stroke engines are expected to have more cooling problems than four-
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stroke engines because .............

8. Two-stroke SI engines are limited to motor cycles because .............
9. Four-stroke engines are steadily replacing two-stroke engines for motor cy-
cles in order to .............
10. In your opinion; which type of engines is more suitable: air cooled or water
cooled engines? Why?
11. Deduce the relation between the piston displacement x (measured from TDC
or BDC and the crank angle 𝜃 .
12. Given the pressure crank-angle diagram of an engine, show how you can
calculate the engine work and the indicated power.
13. Express the crank-angle rotation 𝜃 in seconds.