Module 4
4.1 Introduction and Important Terms
Internal Combustion Engines
Definition of Heat Engine
A machines or device which derives heat from the combustion of fuel and converts
part of this energy into mechanical work is called a Heat Engine.
Internal combustion s reciprocating heat engine in which fuel is mixed with correct
amount of air is burnt inside a cylinder. The gaseous products of combustion from
the working substance which mass the piston move and produce mechanical work at
the engine crankshaft.
Classification of I.C. Engine
I.C engine are classified on the basis of following systems and their variations.
1. Number of strokes required for the completion of one cycle.
i. Two stroke engine in which the engine cycle is completed in two strokes of the
piston i.e. in one revolution of crank- shaft.
ii. Four stroke engine in which the engine cycle is completed in four strokes of
the piston i.e. in two revolution of crank- shaft.
2. Thermodynamics cycle:- The thermodynamics cycles commonly used are
i. otto cycle :- most of the petrol engines work on this cycle.
ii. Diesel cycle: - Low speed diesel engines work on this cycle.
iii. Mixed or limited pressure (Dual cycle):- The high speed diesel engines work
on this cycle.
Ignition system: - The following two methods are used for the ignition of fuel.
i. Spark ignition: - Petrol engine use a spark for the ignition of compressed
charge (mixture of air & petrol) and the spark may be produced by magnet &
battery.
ii. Compression ignition: - Diesel engines have a high compression ratio. The
resulting high temp. is utilized to burn the fuel.
Engine parts and their functions
1. Cylinder & cylinder head: The cylinder is the main body of the engine where
combustion of fuel takes place. The cylinder is a stationary component and the
piston reciprocates inside it. The cylinder head closes one end of the cylinder.
Cylinder head contains the valve seats and ports.
2. Piston and piston rings: The function of the piston and piston ring are to confine
the gases in the combustion space and thus transmit the full force of expansion
to the connecting rod and crank shaft.
Materials used: pistons are usually made of grey iron or of aluminum alloys.
3. Connecting Rod: Connecting rod converts the reciprocating motion of the piston
into rotary motion of the crankshaft.
The connecting rod connects the piston at one end and the crank at the other
end. The piston end is called the small end and the crank end is called the big
end. The reciprocating motion of the piston is converted into rotary motion of
the crank shaft.
Materials used: Plain carbon steel.
4. Crank and crank shaft: The crank shaft, connecting rod combination converts
the reciprocating of the piston into rotary motion.
5 Bore: The diameter of the cylinder.
TDC (Top Dead center) – The position of the piston in the cylinder at which the
volume is minimum.
BDC (Bottom Dead centre) – The position of the piston in the cylinder at which
the volume is maximum.
Stroke: The distance travel by a piston from one dead centre to another dead
centre.
(Vi) Clearance volume: The minimum volume when the piston is at T.D.C.
(Vs) Swept volume / Displacement volume/ Stoke volume: Volume covered
during one stroke.
Camshaft and Valve Mechanism: The camshaft operates the intake and
exhaust valves through the cams, cam followers, push and rocker arms.
The valves are usually mushroom shaped (known as poppet valve) with conical
seating surfaces.
Valve Materials: Steel containing a small percentage of nickel and chromium is
the usual valve material.
6. Flywheels: Flywheel stores excess energy during the power stroke and returns
this stored energy for use during the auxiliary strokes. It reduces cyclic variation
of speed and ensures uniform rotation of crankshaft.
Materials used: Cast iron.
7. Governor: A governor is used to adjust the power output from an engine
according to the external load and to make the engine operate at a constant
speed.
8. Fuel pump and injector: In diesel engine fuel pump is used to deliver the
correct quantity of fuel, for a wide range of loads and speeds.
9. Carburetor and Spark plug: The carburetor delivers the chemically correct air-
fuel mixture to the engine cylinder. The process of mixture formation is called
carburetion.
Towards the end of compression stroke, the combustible mixture is ignited by a
spark plug.
4.2 Four Stoke Petrol Engine
Four strokes refer to the number of strokes of the piston required to complete the
cycle. A piston reciprocating inside a cylinder is connected to the crankshaft through
connecting rod and the rank .The cylinder head is provided with inlet valves, exhaust
valves and an electric spark plug.
The four strokes namely suction, compression, expansion & exhaust are completed
in two revolution of crankshaft.
Suction Stroke
Initially the piston is at the top dead centre (TDC)
position, the inlet valve is open and the outlet valve
is closed. The piston moves downwards towards
bottom dead centre (BDC) position and the
pressure inside the cylinder is reduced to a value
below the atmospheric pressure. The change thus
created causes the charge to rush into the cylinder.
The charge consists of a mixture of (air + petrol)
prepared by the carburetor.
Compression Stroke
In compression stroke both the valves (inlet & outlet)
are closed and the movement of the piston is from
B.D.C. to T.D.C. position. The (air+petrol) mixture
inside the cylinder is compressed and there is a rise
in temperature and pressure of the mixture.
Expansion Stroke
When the position reaches TDC positions, the air-
petrol mixture is ignited by causing an electric
spark between the electrodes of a spark- plug.
During this, the chemical energy of the fuel is
released and there is rise both in temperature and
pressure of the gases at almost constant volume.
During expansion stroke, both the valves are
closed. The gases at increased pressure and
temperature expand, push the piston down the
cylinder and work is done by the system.
Exhaust Stroke
The inlet remains closed but the exhaust valve
opens when the piston reaches B.D.C position
towards the completion of power stroke. In the
exhaust stroke the piston moves upwards from
B.D.C to T.D.C. and this upward movement of the
piston pushes the gases into atmosphere through
exhaust valve.
Indicator Diagram for S.I. Engine
Process 1-2: Suction stroke
Process 2-3: Compression stroke
Process 3-4: Combustion (At constant volume)
Process 4-5: Expansion process
Process 5-6: The exhaust valve opens and the pressure drops to the initial pressure
Process 6-1: Exhaust
Process 1-2 : Reversible adiabatic expression process
Process 2-3: Heat supplied at constant volume.
Process 3-4 : Reversible adiabatic expansion process.
Process 4-1: Heat rejection at constant volume.
Qout mc (T T )
Efficiency 1 1 u 4 1
Qin mcu (T3 T2 )
4.3 Diesel Cycle
It is also known as compression, ignition engine. In CI engines, only air is
compressed during the compression stroke. Therefore, diesel engines can operate
at much higher compression ratios, typically between 12 and 24. The spark plug and
carburetor (for mixing fuel and air) are replaced by a fuel injector in diesel engines.
The temperature of air after compression must be high enough so that the fuel
sprayed into the hot air burns spontaneously. The rate of burning can be controlled
by the rate of injection of fuel. An engine operating in this way is called a
compression ignition (C.I.) engine.
The events taking place in I.C. engine are as follows:
1. Suction stroke 2. Compression stroke
3. Power stroke 4. Exhaust stroke
Suction stroke
During suction stroke inlet valve opens and the piston moves downward that is from top
dead centre (TDC) to bottom dead centre (BDC). Only air are drawn inside the cylinder
through the inlet valve as the pressure in the engine cylinder is less than atmospheric
pressure during this stroke. The fluid drawn in the cylinder is known as charge. The exhaust
valve remains in closed position during this stroke. The operation is represented on 5-1 on
PV Diagram of diesel cycle.
Compression stroke (Process 2-3 on PV Diagram )
During this stroke the piston moves from BDC to TDC. Both valves are in closed position.
The charge taken in the cylinder is compressed by the upward movement of piston. Only air
is compressed and diesel is injected at the end of the compression stroke by a fuel
injector and ignition of fuel takes place due to high pressure and temperature of the
compressed air.The operation is represented on 1-2 on PV Diagram of diesel cycle. At the
end of compression stroke fuel starts burning at constant pressure shown by the line
2-3.
Power stroke
After ignition of fuel, tremendous amount of heat is generated, causing very high pressure in
the cylinder which pushes the piston downward that is from TDC to BDC. At Point 3 fuel
supply is cutoff. The burnt hot gases in the cylinder expand adiabatically to point 4. The
downward movement of the piston at this instant is called power stroke. The connecting rod
transmits the power from piston to the crank shaft and crank shaft rotates. Mechanical work
can be taped at the rotating crank shaft. Both valves remain closed during power stroke.
Exhaust stroke
During this stroke piston moves upward (from BDC to TDC ). Exhaust valve opens and
exhaust gasesgo out through exhaust valves opening. All the burnt gases go out of the
engine and the cylinder becomes ready to receive the fresh charge. During this stroke inlet
valve remains closed. This stroke is represented by the line 1-5
4.4 Difference between S.I. Engine and C.I. Engine
SI Engine
1. Works on otto cycle
2. Petrol is used as working fluid
3. During suction air- petrol mixture from the otto goes to the cylinder.
4. Spark plug is required for ignition
5. Lighter wt because of Low Compression ratio.
6. Maximum efficiency is low.
CI Engine
1. It works on diesel cycle.
2. Diesel is used as working fluid.
3. In CI engine only air from the air filter goes to the cylinder during suction.
4. Fuel is supplied from the fuel pump and gets ignited while it comes in contact
with the high temperature compressed air.
5. Heavier wt. because of high compression ratio.
6. Maximum efficiency is high.
Difference between two stroke and four stroke engine
Four stroke
1. Cycle is completed in four strokes of the piston or two revolutions of the crank.
2. Size of the engine is heavy & bulky
3. Value mechanism is present
4. Volumetric efficiency is more.
5. Thermal efficiency is higher.
Two stroke
1. Cycle is completed in 2 stroke of the piston or one revolution of the crank.
2. Size of the engine is light & compact for same power.
3. Value mechanism is not there. Three ports are present in two stroke engine.
4. Volumetric efficiency is low.
5. Thermal efficiency is lower.
4.5 Working of Two stroke Petrol Engine
Upward Stroke
Intake: The fuel/air mixture is first drawn into the crankcase by
the vacuum created during the upward stroke of the piston
through the reed valve. The fuel/air mixture is first drawn into
the crankcase by the vacuum created during the upward stroke
of the piston through the reed valve.
Compression. The piston then rises, driven by flywheel
momentum, and compresses the fuel mixture. (At the same
time, another intake strokes happening beneath the piston).
Downward Stroke
Power. At the top of the stroke the spark plug ignites the fuel mixture. The burning
fuel expands, driving the piston downward.
Exhaust/Transfer: Toward the end of the stroke, the piston exposes the intake port,
allowing the compressed fuel/air mixture in the crankcase to escape around the
piston into the main cylinder. This expels the exhaust gasses out the exhaust port,
usually located on the opposite side of the cylinder.
4.7 Working Principle of Thermal Power Plant
• Process 1-2
Water enters the pump at state 1 as saturated liquid and is compressed
isentropically to the operating pressure of the boiler. The water temperature
increases somewhat during this isentropic compression process due to slight
decrease in the specific volume of the water. The vertical distance between state 1
and 2 on the T-s diagram is greatly exaggerated for clarity.
• Process 2-3
Water enters the boiler as a compressed liquid at state 2 and leaves as a
superheated vapor at state 3. The boiler is basically a large heat exchanger where
the heat originating from combustion gases, is transferred to the water essentially at
constant pressure. The boiler together with the section where the steam is
superheated (the super heater), is often called the steam generator.
• Process 3-4
The superheated vapor at state 3 enters the turbine, where it expands isentropically
and produces work by rotating the shaft connected to an electric generator. The
pressure and the temperature of the steam drops during this process to the values at
state 4, where steam enters the condenser
• Process 4-1
At this state, the steam is usually a saturated liquid-vapor mixture with a high quality.
Steam is condensed at constant pressure in the condenser which is basically a large
heat exchanger, by rejecting heat to a cooling medium from a lake, or a river. Steam
leaves the condenser as saturated liquid and enters the pump, completing the cycle.
4.8 Working Principle of Refrigerator
• There are four principal control volumes involving these components:
• Evaporator
• Compressor
• Condenser
• Expansion valve
Vapor Compression Cycle
Process 4-1: two-phase liquid-vapor mixture of refrigerant is evaporated through
heat transfer from the refrigerated space.
Process 1-2: vapor refrigerant is compressed to a relatively high temperature and
pressure requiring work input.
Process 2-3: vapor refrigerant condenses to liquid through heat transfer to the
cooler surroundings.
Process 3-4: liquid refrigerant expands to the evaporator pressure
Compressor :
The low pressure and temperature vapour refrigerant from evaporator is drawn into the
compressor through the inlet or suction valve, where it is compressed to a high pressure and
temperature. This high pressure and temperature vapour refrigerant is discharged into the
condenser through the delivery or discharge valve.
Condenser:
The condenser or cooler consists of coils of pipe in which the high pressure and temperature
vapour refrigerant is cooled and condensed. The refrigerant, while passing through the
condenser, gives up its latent heat to the surrounding condensing medium which is normally
air or water.
Expansion Valve:
It is also called throttle valve or refrigerant control valve. The function of the expansion valve
is to allow the liquid refrigerant under high pressure and temperature to pass at a controlled
rate after reducing its pressure and temperature. Some of the liquid refrigerant evaporates
as it passes through the expansion valve, but the greater portion is vaporized in the
evaporator at the low pressure and temperature.
Evaporator:
An evaporator consists of coils of pipe in which the liquid-vapour. Refrigerant at low pressure
and temperature is evaporated and changed into vapour refrigerant at low pressure and
temperature. In evaporating, the liquid vapour refrigerant absorbs its latent heat of
vaporization from the medium (air, water or brine) which is to be cooled.
The performance of refrigerators and heat pumps is expressed in terms of coefficient
of performance (COP), defined as
Desired output Cooling effect QL
COPR
Required input Work input Wnet ,in
Desired output Heating effect Q
COPHP H
Required input Work input Wnet ,in
Both COPR and COPHP can be larger than 1. Under the same operating
conditions, the COPs are related by
COPHP COPR 1
Refrigeration systems are also rated in terms of tons of refrigeration. One ton of
refrigeration is equivalent to 12,000 Btu/hr or 211 kJ/min. It is defined as the amount
of cooling effect produced by cooling one ton of water at 0 0C to ice at 0 0C at 1
atmospheric pressure.
