TOPIC

11

Engine Heat Transfer

Chapter 12

Importance of engine heat transfer

Peak gas temperature is about 2500 K
Heat flux from gases to combustion chamber walls can reach
10 MW/m2
Combustion chamber surface temperatures must be less than
400C for cast iron and 300C for aluminum alloys to prevent
fatigue cracking
Gas-side surface of the cylinder wall must be kept below
180C to prevent deterioration of the lubricating oil film
Spark plugs and valves must be kept cool to avoid knock and
preignition
In general, heat transfer affects engine performance, efficiency
and emission

Heat transfer and engine energy balance

m&f h f m&a ha Pb Q&cool Q&misc m&f m&a he

& e ,s m&f QLHV

Pb Q&cool Q&misc H&e ,ic mh

Heat transfer and engine energy balance

Modes of heat transfer

Conduction

q& k T

Convection

q& hc T Tw

Radiation

4
4
&
q T1 T2

Overall heat transfer process

Gas side

q& q&CV q&R hc , g Tg Tw, g Tg4 Tw4, g

Wall
q& q&CN

k Tw, g Tw,c
tw

Coolant side
q& q&CV hc ,c Tw,c Tc
Heat flow across cylinder wall

Convective heat transfer

Dimensional analysis
Functional form of relationships which govern the gas-side heat transfer
coefficient is of the form

hc B S p B c p B

q&ch
F
,
,
, ,
, rc , R, y1 , ..., ym , , u1 , ..., un 0
k

k L c p NT

Formulas for calculation heat transfer coefficient are based on relationship

Nu a Rem Pr n

Heat transfer correlations

Heat transfer correlations fall into three types intended to
predict
time-averaged heat flux to combustion chamber walls
instantaneous spatially averaged heat flux to walls
instantaneous local heat fluxes

Main parameters used are

velocity to calculate Reynolds number
gas temperature at which gas properties are calculated
gas temperature used in convective heat transfer equation

Correlations for time-averaged heat flux

Taylor and Toong. Data from 19 different engines
Assumptions: coolant and wall temperatures vary little between designs and
effects of geometry is small
Thus, at a given fuel/air ratio, convective part of heat flux correlate with Re
Average effective gas temperature (governing temperature)

Ah T T d 0
c

Nusselt

4Q&
Nu

2
B 4 Tg ,a Tc k g Bk g Tg ,aTc

Reynolds

g ,a

Re

&
QB

&
mB

B2 4

4m&
g B

Correlations for instantaneous spatial

averaged coefficients

Correlations for instantaneous spatial

averaged coefficients

Correlations for instantaneous spatial

averaged coefficients

Correlations for instantaneous spatial

averaged coefficients

Correlations for instantaneous local

coefficients
LeFeuvre, Dent and Sulaiman. Applied to DI diesel with swirl.
correlation formula

vl
hc l

0
.
036

0.8

c p

0.333

heat flux at radius r

k r 2
q& r 0.023

0.8

Tg r Tw r

Alternative approach is to use zonal modeling. Zonal models are more accurate
than global ones

Radiative heat transfer

Two sources of radiative heat transfer are
high-temperature burned gases
soot particles in the diesel engine flame

Radiation from soot particles in the diesel engine flame is

about five times the radiation from gaseous combustion
products
Radiative heat transfer in conventional SI engines can be
neglected
In diesel engines radiative heat transfer is 20 to 35 percent of
the total heat transfer
Radiative heat transfer term is usually incorporated into
correlations for convective heat transfer

Thermal loading and component temperatures

Heat flux to combustion chamber walls varies with engine
design and operating conditions
Heat flux to various parts of combustion chamber is not the
same
Nonuniform heat flux and the different thermal resistances
between locations on the combustion chamber surface and
cooling fluid result in nonuniform temperature distribution
within engine components

Component temperature distribution

Normally heat flux is the highest
in the center of the cylinder head
in the exhaust valve seat region
to the center of the piston

Heat flux is lowest to the cylinder walls

Piston temperature distribution

Cylinder head temperature distribution

Cylinder liner temperature and heat flux

distribution

Exhaust valve temperature distribution

Effect of engine variables

Speed, load, equivalence ratio, compression ratio, spark or
injection timing, charge motion, mixture inlet temperature,
coolant temperature and composition, wall material, wall
deposits effect the magnitude of heat flux and temperature
distribution in the engine components
Woshni correlation and relation for heat transfer flux may be
used for predicting trends

hc W m K 3.26 B m
2

0.2

p kPa

q& hc T Tw

0.8

T K

0.55

w m s

0.8

Effect of engine variables (SI engines)

Speed and load
Relative importance of heat losses
per cycle decreases as speed &
load increase, but average heat
transfer per unit time increases

Effect of engine variables (SI engines)

Equivalence ratio

Effect of engine variables (SI engines)

Compression ratio
Increasing compression ratio decreases total heat flux to the
coolant until rc<10, thereafter heat flux increases slightly as rc
increases
Effect of changes in compression ratio on component
temperature depends on location. Generally, with increasing
compression ratio:
head and exhaust valve temperature decrease due to lower expansion
and exhaust stroke temperatures
piston and spark plug electrode temperatures increase (at constant
throttle settings) due to higher peak combustion temperatures

Effect of engine variables (SI engines)

Spark timing

Effect of engine variables (SI engines)

Swirl and squish

Increased gas velocities, due to swirl of squish motion, result in

higher heat fluxes

hc W m K 3.26 B m
2

0.2

p kPa

q& hc T Tw

0.8

T K

0.55

w m s

0.8

Effect of engine variables (SI engines)

Inlet temperature
Heat flux increases linearly with increasing inlet temperature
Increase of 100 K gives 13 percent increase in heat flux

Effect of engine variables: coolant temperature

Heat transfer calculation

For conduction and convection heat flow
rate through material layer

Q& hA Th Tc
Heat transfer rate is equal for all layers

Q& htot a Thg Tc hg A Thg Twh hw A Twh Twc hc A Twc T

Q& Thg Tc Rtot Thg Twh Rg Twh Twc Rw Twc Tc Rc
where

R 1 hA for convection

Total thermal resistance

R L kA for conduction

Rtot Rg Rw Rc

Heat transfer calculation

For cylinder gas-wall boundary layer fro

any instant

Q& hg A Tg Tw
Cycle averaged values

Q& Q& CYCDUR

hg hg CYCDUR

Tg Tw Q& hg A

Simplest level is to assume average thickness and conductivity for the cylinder
wall and coolant boundary layer. Then

Q& hg A Tg Tw 1 Rw Tw Tc k w A Lw Tw Tc

Heat transfer network

For isolated cylinder head

TwH Tc
&
QH
hg A Tg TwH
H

Heat transfer network

For connected liner and piston heat balances, at point TwL

at point TNODE

at point TwP

T T
T T
T
TwL
Q&out wL c Q&f gL wL NODE
F
A
D
TNODE TwL TNODE Toil TgP TNODE

D
G
EB
TNODE TwP TgP TwP

E
B

Heat transfer network

Thermal resistances:
F

1
1

h1 AL h2 AL

B 1 hg AP

A 1 hg AL

Heat transfer and engine energy balance

Ratio of coolant heat flow rate to

brake power as a function of
engine speed.
Different size and types of engines:
(a) small automotive diesels;
(b) larger automotive diesels;
(c) various diesels
(d) spark-ignition engines