Internal Combustion Engines

Historical facts: (1
st
IC engine 1860s (no
compression cycle) , prototype Otto engine: 1876.
Diesel engine: 1892-1897)
Engine types:
working cycle (two-stroke, four-stroke)
Fuel type: petrol, diesel, natural gas, hydrogen
Ignition type: Spark or compression ignition
Fuel control: throttling, direct injection
Engine components (thermal consideration):
cylinders, pistons, valves, intake & exhaust
manifolds, combustion chambers
Operating Parameters

b (bore)
TDC (Top Dead Center, =0)
BDC (Bottom Dead Center, =180)
a
l
S (Stroke)
V
p
: piston speed, : mean piston speed
P
V
P
1/ 2
2
P
2
Show that:
V cos
sin 1
2 V
sin
l
a

1
1
1
+
1
_
1
_

1

,
1
,
]
Operating Parameters
Piston speed (V
p
): 20 m/s represents a practical limit for most
engines (choking at the intake valve(s)), V
p
=S/(1/2 N)=2NS
(note: from now on V
p
represents the mean piston speed for
simplicity)
Compression ratio: r = V
BDC
/V
TDV
Displacement Volume: V
d
=A
p
S=(/4)b
2
S
Fuel/Air ratio: F=(fuel mass flow)/(air mass flow)
Volumetric efficiency (
v
): the volume flow rate of air into
the intake system divided by the rate at which volume is
displaced by the piston:
,
,
2( / )
a a i
a
V
d a i d
m
m
V N V

&
Engine Operating Parameters
Mean Effective Pressure (mep, bmep, imep, fmep)
bmep (brake) = imep (indicated) - fmep (friction)
P=FV=(mep)(A
p
)(n)(S/t)=(mep)A
p
(S)(n)(N/X) (S:
stroke, n: #cylinders, N: rotational speed of engine, X=2 for
four-stroke engine, 2 rotations per power cycle; X=1 for two-
stroke engine)
Efficiencies
Air cycle efficiency (Otto efficiency ,
r: compression ratio, k: specific heat ratio)
Real gas efficiency (
o
), indicated efficiency (
i
)

i
=(
o
)(
ac
)
1
1
1
k
ac
r

_


,
Operating Parameters
Torque (): a measure of the work done per unit rotation
(radians) of the crank Td = 4T = PdV = (mep)V
d
(for 4
stroke engines)
Power (P): the rate at which work is done, P=(2N)T since
the engine rotates at a rate of 2N, N: rotational speed
P=(mep)V
d
(N/2) (for 4 stroke engines)
Specific Power: the power produced per unit piston area
P=(mep)(nA
p
S)(N/2)=(mep)(nA
p
)(V
p
/4)
P/(nA
p
)=(power)/(size)=(mep)(V
p
/4)
higher effective pressure and higher piston speed (V
p
)
lead to higher P/(nA
p
) desirable but with technical
limitations (knocking, choking, et al.)
Operating Parameters
Stroke/Bore Ratio (S/b): engine displacement V
d
=A
p
nS
P=(mep)(nA
p
)(V
p
/4)=(mep)V
d
[V
p
/(4S)]
Power per unit displacement (P/V
d
)=(mep) [V
p
/(4S)]: for
fixed mep and V
p
, a shorter stroke (smaller S) will lead to
higher power per unit displacement it is desirable to
reduce the stroke/bore ratio
Specific fuel consumption (sfc): fuel flow rate divided by
the power, a measure of engine efficiency (lower the better)
sfc=(fuel mass flow rate)/power
sfc
Cylinder bore
Larger bore size gives
better engine
efficiency, lower sfc
Operating Parameters
Bore size factor:
surface area to volume ratio (A/V)1/b, therefore, less heat
loss to surface as the bore increases. (less mechanical friction
(relative to its size) also but its influence is at a much lesser
extent)
rotational speed decrease N (1/b), therefore, more time for
effective combustion
Large volume means the volume is relatively unaffected by
combustion (constant volume assumption is more valid)
Design Considerations
Volumetric efficiency: dominated by fluid mechanics such
as flow separation, viscous losses, Mach number, manifold
design. Possible improvements thru valve design (# and
shape, and timing), manifold tuning, etc.
Inlet density: the higher the better. Improved thru
supercharging, turbocharging, intercooling, water injection,
etc.
Displacement, stroke/bore ratio: smaller displacement and
decreasing S/b.
Compression ratio: higher compression ratio leads to higher
thermal efficiency. (limitations due to structural
considerations, knocking, ..)