ATD Unit-I Notes
ATD Unit-I Notes
Om
UNIT-I
ENGINE: An engine is a device which transforms one form of energy into another form.
HEAT ENGINE is a device which transforms the chemical energy of a fuel into thermal energy
and utilizes this thermal energy to perform useful work.
EC and IC Engines: External Combustion (EC) engines are those in which combustion takes
place outside the engine whereas in Internal Combustion (IC) engines, combustion takes within
the engine.
CLASSIFICATION OF IC ENGINES
The internal combustion engines may be classified in many ways, but the following are
important from the subject point of view
(a) Petrol engines. (b) Diesel engines or oil engines, and (c) Gas engines.
(a) Spark ignition engines (briefly written as S.1. engines), (b) Compression ignition
engines (briefly written as C.I. engines), and (c) Hot spot ignition engines
(a) Four stroke cycle engines, and (b) Two stroke cycle engines.
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(a) Otto cycle (also known as constant volume cycle) engines, (b) Diesel cycle (also
known as constant pressure cycle) engines, and (c) Dual combustion cycle (also known as semi-
diesel cycle) engines.
(a) Slow speed engines, (b) Medium speed engines, (c) High speed engines.
(a) Air-cooled engines. (b) Water-cooled engines. (c) Evaporative cooling engines.
(a) Carburetor engines, (b) Air injection engines, (c) Airless or solid injection engines.
(a) Vertical engines, (b) Horizontal engines, (c) Radial engines, (d) In-line multi cylinder
engines, (e)V-type multi-cylinder engines, (j) Opposite-cylinder engines, (g) Opposite- piston
engines.
1. Cylinder Block: It is the heart of the engine. It consists of three parts. (i) The cylinders in
which the piston slides up and down. (ii) The ports or openings for valves. (iii) The passages
(water jackets) for the flow of cooling water.
Function: In the bore of the cylinder, the charge is compressed by piston, ignited and
expanded to give power to piston.
2. Cylinder Head: It is fitted on the top of the cylinder. It has inlet valve, exhaust valve and the
spark plug or fuel injector.
Function: Through inlet valve fresh charge is admitted and through exhaust valve burnt
gases are send out
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3. Piston: It is the main active part of the engine. It is cylindrical in construction and slides tip
and down inside the cylinder. It has piston rings to provide good seal between the cylinder wall
and the piston. There are three grooves to accommodate piston rings.
Function: (i) to compress the fresh charge during the compression stroke. (ii) To
transmit the force exerted due to combustion of the charge to the connecting rod finally to the
crankshaft during the power stroke.
Material: Aluminium alloy cast steel, cast iron and chrome nickel
4. Combustion Chamber: The space enclosed in the upper part of the cylinder, by the cylinder
head and the piston top during the combustion process, is called the combustion chamber.
Combustion chamber is the closed space in which combustion of fuel takes place.
5. Inlet and Exhaust Valves: There are two valves in the cylinder of IC engines inlet and
exhaust valve. The inlet valve is located at the junction of intake port and cylinder. The exhaust
valve is located at the junction of exhaust port and cylinder.
Function: (i) Inlet valve allows the fresh charge into the cylinder. (ii) Exhaust valve
provides passages for the burnt gases to escape from the cylinder.
Material: Inlet valve is made of nickel chromium steel Exhaust valve is made of
silchrome steel.
6. Inlet and Exhaust Manifolds: The pipe through which air or air fuel mixture is drawn into
the cylinder is called the inlet manifold. The pipe through which the flue gases (i.e., exhaust
gases) escape into the atmosphere is called the exhaust manifold.
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7. Piston Rings: Piston rings are fitted into the grooves of the piston to maintain good seal
between the piston and the cylinder walls. There are two types of pistons rings. Upper rings are
called compression rings and the lower rings are called oil rings.
Function: Compression rings are used to provide gas tight sealing to prevent leakage of
the lubricating oil into the engine cylinder. The oil rings, also called as scrapper rings are used to
scrap the used lubricating oil into the crank case.
Material: Alloy cast iron containing silicon, manganese, and alloy steels, etc.
8. Connecting Rod: The connecting rod interconnects the piston to the crankshaft. The upper
end of the connecting rod is fitted to the piston and lower end to the crankshaft.
Function: (i) It transmits the power produced in the cylinder to the crankshaft. (ii) It
converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into rotary motion of tile crankshaft.
9. Piston Pin: The piston pin is a pin that connects the small end of the connecting rod to the
piston. It is also known as gudgeon pin or wristpin.
10. Crank Pin: Crank pin connects the connecting rod big end to the crankshaft
11. Crank and Crankshaft: The crank is a lever that is connected to the end of the connecting
rod by a pin joint with its other end connected rigidly to a shaft, called crankshaft. The
crankshaft is the principle rotating part of the engine. The crankshaft is provided with suitable
holes to help in the lubrication system.
Function: It converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into useful rotary motion of
the Output Shaft.
12. Camshaft: A camshaft is a shaft on which cams are mounted. The camshaft is driven by
crankshaft through timing gears. This shaft also provides the drive to the ignition system.
Function: It is used to operate the intake and exhaust valves through cam follower, push
rod and rocker arm.
13. Cams: Cams are integral parts of the camshaft. Function: Cams are designed in such a way
to open the valves at the correct timing and to keep them open for the necessary duration.
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14. Flywheel: The flywheel is a heavy wheel that is connected to the extreme end of the
crankshaft. The size of the flywheel depends upon the number of cylinders and the general
construction of the engine.
Function: The flywheel stores the excess energy during the power stroke of the engine
and supply the energy for the movement of the piston during the remaining stroke. Thus its
function is to maintain Uniform rotation of the crankshaft.
Use of Flywheel: The net torque exerted to the crankshaft during one complete cycle of
operation of the engine fluctuates causing a change in the angular velocity of the shaft. In order
to achieve a uniform torque an inertia mass in the form of wheel is attached to the output shaft
and this wheel is called the flywheel. A single cylinder engine will have a larger flywheel
whereas a multi cylinder engine will have a smaller flywheel. This is due to the reason that the
variation of net torque decreases with increase in the number of cylinders in the engine and
thereby the size of the flywheel also becomes smaller.
15. Crankcase: It is a cast iron case, which holds the cylinder and the crankshaft. It also serves
as sump for the lubricating oil.
1. Bore:
The extreme position of the piston at the top of the cylinder of the vertical engine is
called top dead center (TDC), In case of horizontal engines. It is known as inner dead center
(IDC).
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The extreme position of the piston at the bottom of the cylinder of the vertical engine
called bottom dead center (BDC). In case of horizontal engines, it is known as outer dead center
(ODC).
4. Stroke (L):
The distance travelled by the piston from TDC to BDC is called stroke. In other words,
the maximum distance travelled by the piston in the cylinder in one direction is known as stroke.
It is equal to twice the radius of the crank.
The volume contained in the cylinder above the top of the piston, when the piston is at top dead
center is called the clearance volume.
The volume swept by the piston during one stroke is called the swept volume or piston
displacement. Swept volume is the volume covered by the piston while moving from TDC to
BDC.
L = Stroke in m, and
Compression ratio is a ratio of the volume when the piston is at bottom dead center to the volume
when the piston is at top dead center.
Mathematically,
8. CC or engine capacity= Vs X K
Here, Vs= Swept Volume
K= No.of clylinders
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Petrol engine is also known as Spark Ignition (SI) engine. Invented by Nicolaus A. Otto
in 1876that is why petrol engine is also known as Otto engine. Since ignition occurs due to a
spark petrol engines are called spark ignition (SI) engines. A four stroke engine gives a power
stroke in every set of four strokes of the piston or two revolution of the crankshaft. The petrol
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engine operates on theoretical Otto cycle. It is also called as constant volume combustion cycle
as the combustion takes place at constant volume with increase of pressure.
The cycle of operation of a four stroke petrol engine consists of the following strokes:
2. Compression stroke,
4. Exhaust stroke.
1. Suction or charging stroke: In this stroke, the inlet valve opens and charge is sucked
into the cylinder as the piston moves downward from top dead center (T.D.C.). It continues till
the piston reaches its bottom dead centre (B.D. C.) as shown in (a).
2. Compression stroke: In this stroke, both the inlet and exhaust valves are closed and
the charge is compressed as the piston moves upwards from B.D. C. to TD. C. As a result of
compression, the pressure and temperature of the charge increases considerably (the actual
values depend upon the compression ratio). This completes one revolution of the crank shaft.
The compression stroke is shown in (b).
3. Expansion or working stroke: shortly before the piston reaches T.D.C. (during
compression stroke), the charge is ignited with the help of a spark plug. It suddenly increases the
pressure and temperature of the products of combustion but the volume, practically, remains
constant. Due to the rise in pressure, the piston is pushed down with a great force. The hot burnt
gases expand due to high speed of the piston. During this expansion, some of the heat energy
produced is transformed into mechanical work. It may be noted that during this working stroke,
as shown in (c), both the valves are closed and piston moves from T.D.C. to B.D.C
4. Exhaust stroke: In this stroke, the exhaust valve is open as piston moves from B.D.C.
to T.D.C. This movement of the piston pushes out the products of combustion, from the engine
cylinder and are exhausted through the exhaust valve into the atmosphere, as shown in (d). This
completes the cycle, and the engine cylinder is ready to suck the charge again.
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The cycle of operation of a four stroke diesel engine consists of the following strokes:
2. Compression stroke: In this stroke, both the valves are closed and the air is compressed as
the piston moves upwards from BDC to TDC. As a result of compression, pressure and
temperature of the air increases considerably (the actual value depends upon the compression
ratio). This completes one revolution of the crank shaft. The compression stroke is shown in (b).
3. Expansion or working stroke: Shortly before the piston reaches the TDC (during the
compression stroke), fuel oil is injected in the form of very fine spray into the engine cylinder,
through the nozzle, known as fuel injection valve. At this moment temperature of the compressed
air is sufficiently high to ignite the fuel. It suddenly increases the pressure and temperature of the
products of combustion. The fuel oil is continuously injected for a fraction of the revolution. The
fuel oil is assumed to be burnt at constant pressure. Due to increased pressure, the piston is
pushed down with a great force. The hot burnt gases expand due to high speed of the piston.
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During this expansion, some of the heat energy is transformed into mechanical work. It may be
noted that during this working stroke, both the valves are closed and the piston moves from TDC
to BDC.
4. Exhaust stroke: In this stroke, the exhaust valve is open as the piston moves from BDC to
TDC. This movement of the piston pushes out the products of combustion from the engine
cylinder through the exhaust valve into the atmosphere. This completes the cycle and the engine
cylinder is ready to suck the fresh air again.
During the upward movement of the piston from BDC to TDC, both the transfer and
exhaust ports are covered by the piston. The petrol air mixture which is already transferred into
the engine cylinder is compressed by the moving piston. Thus, the pressure and temperature of
the charge increases at the end of compression. The compression process is continued until the
piston reaches TDC. At the same time, the inlet port is uncovered by the moving piston and the
fresh petrol air mixture enters the crankcase through the inlet port.
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After the piston almost reaches the TDC, the compressed petrol air mixture is ignited by
means of an electric spark produced by a spark plug. The admission of fresh charge into the
crankcase continues till the piston reaches the TDC.
The ignited gases expand and forces the piston to move down, thus useful work is obtained.
When the piston moves down, the petrol air mixture is partially compressed in the crankcase.
Thus compression is known as crankcase compression.
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Almost at the end of expansion, the exhaust port is uncovered and the combustion products
escape to the atmosphere. Immediately, the transfer port is also uncovered and the partially
compressed air fuel mixture from the crankcase enters the cylinder through transfer port. The
crown of the piston is made of a deflected shape, so the fresh air – petrol mixture entering the
cylinder is deflected upward in the cylinder. Thus the escape of fresh charge along with the
exhaust gases is reduced. The cycle of operations are then repeated.
During the upward movement of the piston from BDC to TDC, both the transfer and exhaust
ports are covered by the piston. The air which is already transferred into the engine cylinder is
compressed by the moving piston. This increases the pressure and temperature of the air. The
compression process is continued until the piston reaches TDC. At the same time, the inlet port is
uncovered by the moving piston and the fresh air enters the crankcase through the inlet port.
After the piston almost reaches the TDC, the fuel (diesel) is injected through the fuel injector in
the cylinder. The combustion of fresh fuel injected into the cylinder takes place due to the high
temperature already developed in the cylinder during compression of the air. The admission of
fresh air into the crankcase continues till the piston reaches the TDC.
The burnt gases expand and forces the piston to move down, thus useful work is obtained. When
the piston moves down, the air is partially compressed in the crankcase. This compression is
known as crankcase compression.
Nearly at the end of expansion, the exhaust port is uncovered and the combustion products
escape to the atmosphere. Immediately the transfer port is also uncovered and the partially
compressed air from the crankcase enters the cylinder through the transfer port. The cycle of the
operations are then repeated.
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Advantages:
1) The two-stroke cycle engine gives one working stroke for each revolution of the crankshaft.
Hence theoretically the power developed for the same engine speed and cylinder volume is twice
that of the four-stroke cycle engine, which gives only one working stroke for every two
revolutions of the crankshaft. However, in practice, because of poor scavenging, only 50-60%
extra power is developed.
2) Due to one working stroke for each revolution of the crankshaft, the turning moment on the
crankshaft is more uniform. Therefore, a two-stroke engine requires a lighter flywheel.
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3) The two-stroke engine is simpler in construction. The design of its ports is much simpler and
their maintenance easier than that of the valve mechanism.
4) The power required to overcome frictional resistance of the suction and exhaust strokes is
saved, resulting in some economy of fuel.
5) Owing to the absence of the cam, camshaft, rockers, etc. of the valve mechanism, the
mechanical efficiency is higher.
6) The two-stroke engine gives fewer oscillations.
7) For the same power, a two-stroke engine is more compact and requires less space than a four-
stroke cycle engine. This makes it more suitable for use in small machines and motorcycles.
8) A two-stroke engine is lighter in weight for the same power and speed especially when the
crankcase compression is used.
9) Due to its simpler design, it requires fewer spare parts.
10) A two-stroke cycle engine can be easily reversed if it is of the valve less type.
Disadvantages:
1. The scavenging being not very efficient in a two-stroke engine, the dilution of the charges
takes place which results in poor thermal efficiency.
2. The two-stroke spark ignition engines do not have a separate lubrication system and normally,
lubricating oil is mixed with the fuel. This is not as effective as the lubrication of a four-stroke
engine. Therefore, the parts of the two-stroke engine are subjected to greater wear and tear.
3. In a spark ignition two-stroke engine, some of the fuel passes directly to the exhaust. Hence,
the fuel consumption per horsepower is comparatively higher.
4. With heavy loads a two-stroke engine gets heated up due to the excessive heat produced. At
the same time the running of the engine is riot very smooth at light loads.
5. It consumes more lubricating oil because of the greater amount of heat generated.
6. Since the ports remain open during the upward stroke, the actual compression starts only after
both the inlet and exhaust ports have been closed. Hence, the compression ratio of this engine is
lower than that of a four-stroke engine of the same dimensions. As the efficiency of an engine is
directly proportional to its compression ratio, the efficiency of a two-stroke cycle engine is lower
than that of a four-stroke cycle engine of the same size.
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The analysis based on the actual properties of the working medium viz., fuel and air is called the
fuel-air cycle analysis and even this analysis has simplifying assumptions.
By fuel-air cycle analysis it will be possible to bring out the effect of fuel-air ratio on thermal
efficiency and also study how the peak pressures and temperatures during the cycle vary with
respect to fuel-air ratio.
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(i) The actual composition of the cylinder gases: The cylinder gases contain fuel, air, water vapour
and residual gas. The fuel-air ratio changes (luring the operation of the engine which changes the
relative amounts of CO2, water vapour, etc.
(ii) The variation in the specific heat with temperature: Specific heat increase with temperature
except for mono-atomic gases. Therefor the value of γ also changes with temperature.
(iii) The effect of dissociation: The fuel and air do not completely combine chemically at high
temperatures (above 1600 K) and this leads to the presence of CO, H2, H and O2 at equilibrium
conditions.
(iv)The variation in the number of molecules: The number of molecules present after combustion
depends upon fuel-air ratio and upon the pressure and temperature after the combustion.
Besides taking the above factors into consideration, the following assumptions are commonly made:
Assumptions:
In an actual engine, the working fluid is a mixture of air, fuel vapour and residual gases from the
previous cycle.
The specific heats of the working fluid are not constant but increase with temperature.
The products of combustion are subjected to certain dissociation at high temperatures.
The actual cycle efficiency is much lower than the air-standard efficiency due to various losses
occurring in the actual engine operation.
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(i) The working substance being a mixture of air and fuel vapour or finely atomized liquid fuel in air
combined with the products of combustion left from the previous cycle.
(ii) The change in chemical composition of the working substance.
(iii) The variation of specific heats with temperature.
(iv) The change in the composition, temperature and actual amount of fresh charge because of the
residual gases.
(v) The progressive combustion rather than the instantaneous combustion.
(vi) The heat transfer to and from the working medium.
(vii) The substantial exhaust blowdown loss, i.e., loss of work on the expansion stroke due to early
opening of the exhaust valve.
(viii) Gas leakage, fluid friction etc., in actual engines.
1. Time loss factor: Loss due to time required for mixing of fuel and air and also for combustion.
3. Exhaust blowdown factor: Loss of work on the expansion stroke due to early opening of the exhaust
valve.
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the effect of spark timing on p-V diagram from a typical trial. With spark at TDC (Fig.4.2) the peak
pressure is low due to the expansion of gases, If the spark is advanced to achieve complete
combustion close to TDC (Fig.4.3) additional work is required to compress the burning gases.
0
Fig 4.1 Effect of time losses shown on p-v diagram Fig 4.3 combustion completed at TDC, advance 35
Fig 4.2 spark at TDC, advance 00 Fig 4.4 optimum advance 15-300
This represents a direct loss. In either case, viz., with or without spark advance the work area is less
and the power output and efficiency are lowered. Therefore, a moderate or optimum spark advance
(Fig.4.4) is the best compromise resulting in minimum losses on both the compression and
expansion strokes. Figure 4.5 shows the effect of spark advance on the power output by means of
the p-V diagram. As seen from Fig.4.6, when the ignition advance is increased there is a drastic
reduction in the imep and the consequent loss of power. However, some times a deliberate spark
retardation from optimum may be necessary in actual practice in order to avoid knocking and to
sirnultaneously reduce exhaust emissions of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.
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Daring the combustion process and the subsequent expansion stroke the heat flows from the
cylinder gases through the cylinder walls and cylinder head into the water jacket or cooling fins
Some heat enters the piston head and flows through the piston rings into the cylinder wall or is
carried away by the engine lubricating oil which splashes on the underside of the piston.
The heat loss along with other losses is shown on the P-V diagram in Fig.
Heat loss during combustion will naturally have the maximum effect on the cycle efficiency
while heat loss just before the end of the expansion stroke can have very little effect because of its
contribution to the useful work is very little.
The heat lost during the combustion does not represent a complete loss because, even under ideal
conditions assumed for air-standard cycle, only a part of this heat could be converted into work
(equal to Q.ƞth} and the rest would be rejected during the exhaust stroke.
About 15 per cent of the total heat is lost during combustion and expansion. Of this, however,
much is lost so late in the cycle to have contributed to useful work.
EXHAUST BLOWDOWN:
Blowdown loss is due to the early opening of exhaust valves. This results in drop in pressure, & a
loss of work output during expansion stroke. Too early opening results in loss of expansion work. Best
compromise is between 40° - 60° bBDC.
i) Blowdown
ii) Displacement
Blowdown–At the end of the power stroke, when the exhaust valve opens the cylinder pressure is much
higher than the exhaust manifold pressure which is typically at 1atm(P4>Pe),so the cylinder gas flows out
through the exhaust valve and the pressure drops to Pe.
Displacement–Remaining gas is pushed out of the cylinder by the piston from BDC moving to TDC.
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The cylinder pressure at the end of expansion stroke is high as 7 bar depending on the
compression ratio employed.
If the exhaust valve is opened at BDC, the piston has to do work against high cylinder pressure
during the early part of the exhaust stroke.
If the exhaust valve is opened too early, a part of the expansion stroke is lost.
The best compromise is to open the exhaust valve 400 to 700 before BDC thereby reducing the
cylinder pressure to halfway (say 3.5 bar) before the exhaust stroke begins.
BLOWBY LOSSES:
The blowby loss is due to the leaking of gas flow through crevices/gaps between the piston, piston rings
and cylinder walls. The gas usually leaks/flows through them to the crankcase.
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The difference of work done in expelling the exhaust gases and the work done by the fresh charge
during the suction stroke is called the pumping work.
In other words loss due to the gas exchange process (pumping loss) is due to pumping gas from
lower inlet pressure pi to higher exhaust pressure pe.
The pumping loss increases at part throttle because throttling reduces the suction pressure.
Pumping loss also increases with speed.
The gas exchange processes affect the volumetric efficiency of the engine. The performance of
the engine, to a great deal, depends on the volumetric efficiency.
VOLUMETRIC EFFICIENCY:
The volumetric efficiency is affected by many variables, some of the important ones are:
(i) The density of the fresh charge: As the fresh charge arrives in the hot cylinder, heat is transferred
to it from the hot chamber walls and the hot residual exhaust gases, raising its temperature. This
results in a decrease in the mass of fresh charge admitted and a reduction in volumetric efficiency.
The volumetric efficiency is increased by low temperatures (provided there are no heat transfer
effects) and high pressure of the fresh charge, since density is thereby increased, and more mass of
charge can be inducted into a given volume.
(ii) The exhaust gas in the clearance volume: As the piston moves from TDC to BDC on the intake
stroke, these products tend to expand and occupy a portion of the piston displacement greater than the
clearance volume, thus reducing the space available to the incoming charge. In addition, these exhaust
products tend to raise the temperature of the fresh charge, thereby decreasing its density and further
reducing volumetric efficiency.
(iii) The design of the intake and exhaust manifolds: The exhaust manifold should be so designed
as to enable the exhaust products to escape readily, while the intake manifold should be designed so
as to bring in the maximum possible fresh charge. This implies minimum restriction is offered to the
fresh charge flowing into the cylinder, as well as to the exhaust products being forced out.
(iv) The timing of the intake and exhaust valves: Valve timing is the regulation of the points in the
cycle at which the valves are set to open and dose. Since, the valves require a finite period of time to
open or close for smooth operation, a slight "lead" time is necessary for proper opening and closing.
The design of the valve operating cam for the smooth transition from one position to the other, while
the cam setting determines the timing of the valve.
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These losses are due to friction between the piston and the cylinder walls, friction in various
bearings and also the energy spent in operating the auxiliary equipment such as cooling water
pump, ignition system, fan, etc.
The piston ring friction increases rapidly with engine speed.
It also increases to a small extent with increase in mean effective pressure.
The bearing friction and the auxiliary friction also increase with engine speed.
The efficiency of an engine is maximum at full load and decreases at part loads. It is because the
percentage of direct heat loss, pumping loss and rubbing friction loss increase at part loads.
The approximate losses for a gasoline engine of high compression ratio, say 8:1 using a chemically
correct mixture are given in Table, as percentage of fuel energy input.
In the diesel cycle the losses are less than in the otto cycle.
The main loss is due to incomplete combustion and is the cause of main difference between fuel-
air cycle and actual cycle of a diesel engine. This is shown in Fig. In
a fuel-air cycle the combustion is supposed to be completed at the end of the constant pressure
burning whereas in actual practice after burning continues up to half of the expansion stroke.
The ratio between the actual efficiency and the fuel-air cycle efficiency is about 0.85 in the diesel
engines.
In fuel-air cycles, when allowance is made for the presence of fuel and combustion products,
there is reduction in cycle efficiency.
In actual cycles, allowances are also made for the losses due to phenomena such as heat transfer
and finite combustion time. This reduces the cycle efficiency further.
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PERFORMANCE OF IC ENGINES
Indicated Power:
The indicated power (briefly written as I.P.) is the power actually developed by the engine
cylinder. It is based on the information obtained from the indicator diagram of the engine.
Pm= Actual mean effective pressure as obtained from the indicator diagram in bar;
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100 k Pm . ALn
I .P K .W
60
Mean Effective Pressure: Defined as the constant pressure acting on the piston during the
working stroke. It will be able to do the same amount of work, as done by the actual varying
pressure, produced during the cycle. It is ratio of work done to the stroke volume or piston
displacement volume.
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Brake Power:
The power available at the crankshaft of an engine is called power output or brake power (briefly
written as B.P.). It has been observed that all the power generated by the engine cylinder is not
available at the crankshaft for doing useful work.
Frictional power:
The power is utilised in overcoming the internal friction of the moving parts of the engine is
known as frictional power.
Types of dynamometers:
1) Absorption dynamometer:
This dynamometers measure and absorb the power output of the engine to which
they are coupled, the power absorbed is usually dissipated as heat by some means.
2) Transmission dynamometer:
In transmission dynamometers, the power is transmitted to the load coupled to the
engine after it is indicated on some type of scale. These are also called torque-meters.
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A helical spring is provided between the nut and the upper block to adjust the pressure on
the pulley to control its speed.
The upper block has a long lever attached to it and carries a weight W at its outer end. A
counter weight is placed at the other end of the lever which balances the brake when
unloaded. Two stops S, S are provided to limit the motion of the lever.
When the brake is to be put in operation, the long end of the lever is loaded with suitable
weights W and the nuts are tightened until the engine shaft runs at a constant speed and
the lever is in horizontal position. Under these conditions, the moment due to the weight
W must balance the moment of the frictional resistance between the blocks and the
pulley.
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It is another form of absorption type dynamometer which is most commonly used for
measuring the brake power of the engine, it consists of one, two or more ropes wound
around the flywheel or rim of a pulley fixed rigidly to the shaft of an engine.
The upper end of the ropes is attached to a spring balance while the lower end of the
ropes is kept in position by applying a dead weight, as shown in Fig. In order to prevent
the slipping of the rope over the flywheel, wooden blocks are placed at interval around
the circumference of the flywheel.
In the operation of the brake, the engine is made to run at a constant speed. The frictional
torque, due to the rope, must be equal to the torque being transmitted by the engine.
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(W S ) ( D d ) N
B.P watts
60
If the diameter of the rope (d) is neglected, then brake power of the engine,
(W S )DN
B.P watts
60
Hydraulic dynamometer:
• It works on the principle of dissipating the power in fluid friction rather than in dry friction.
• It consists of an inner rotating member or impeller coupled to the output shaft of engine, this
impeller rotates in a casing filled with fluid.
• The heat developed due to dissipation of power is carried away by a continuous supply of
working fluid, usually water.
• The output can be controlled by regulating the sluice gates which can be moved in and out to
partial or wholly obstructive flow of water between impeller and the casing.
1. Willan’s Line Method:- This method is also known as fuel rate extrapolation method. I
n this method a graph of fuel consumption (vertical axis) versus brake power (horizontal
axis) is drawn and it is extrapolated on the negative axis of brake power (see Fig. 1).The
intercept of the negative axis is taken as the friction power of the engine at that speed. As shown
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in the figure, in most of the power range the relation between the fuel consumption and brake
power is linear when speed of the engine is held constant and this permits extrapolation.
Further when the engine does not develop power, i.e. brake power = 0.
The main drawback of this method is the long distance to be extrapolated from data measured
between 5 and 40% load towards the zero line of fuel in put.
This is an ideal method by which friction power is obtained by computing the difference between
the indicated power and brake power. The indicated power is obtained from an indicator diagram
and brake power is obtained by a brake dynamometer. This method requires elaborate equipment
to obtain accurate indicator diagrams at high speeds.
IP= BP+FP
FP=IP-BP
3. Morse Test:
The Morse test is applicable only to multi cylinder engines. The test is carried out as
follows :
Consider a four cylinder engine. First of all, the brake power of the engine, when all the
cylinders are in operation, is measured accurately (by means of a brake dynamometer) at
a constant speed and load.
Now, one of the cylinders (say cylinder I) is cut-off so that it does not develop any
power. This is done by short circuiting the spark plug of the cylinder in petrol engines
and cutting-off individual fuel supply in diesel engines.
The speed of the engine decreases and in order to bring the speed back to the original
speed, the load on the engine is reduced.
The brake power is now measured in this new condition which gives the brake power of
the remaining three cylinders.
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In the similar way, each cylinder is cut-off one by one and the brake power of the
remaining three cylinders is determined by correcting the engine speed, if necessary.
4. Retardation Test:
This test involves the method of retarding the engine by cutting the fuel supply. The engine is
made to run at no load and rated speed taking into all usual precautions. When the engine is
running under steady operating conditions the supply of fuel is cut-off and simultaneously the
time fall in speeds by say 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% of the rated speedy recorded. The tests are
repeated once again with 50% load on the engine. The values are usually tabulated in an
appropriate table. A graph connecting time to fall in speed (x--axis) and speed (y-axis) at no load
as well as 50% load conditions is draw as shown in Fig.
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From the graph the time required to fall through the same range (say 100 rpm) in both, no load
and load conditions are found. Let t2 and t3 be the time of fall at no load and load conditions
respectively. The frictional torque and hence frictional power are calculated as shown below.
Moment of inertia of the rotating parts is constant throughout the test.
5. Motoring Test:
•In the motoring test, the engine is first run up to the desired speed by its own power and
allowed to remain at the given speed and load conditions for some time so that oil, water, and
engine component temperatures reach stable conditions.
•The power of the engine during this period is absorbed by a swinging field type electric
dynamometer, which is most suitable for this test.
•The fuel supply is then cut-off and by suitable electric-switching devices the dynamometer is
converted to run as a motor to drive for ‘motor’ the engine at the same speed at which it was
previously running.
•The power supply to the motor is measured which is a measure of the fhp of the engine. During
the motoring test the water supply is also cut-off so that the actual operating temperatures are
maintained.
•This method, though determines the fp at temperature conditions very near to the actual
operating temperatures at the test speed and load.
FUEL CONSUMPTION
There is two ways of expressing fuel consumption viz. by volume or by weight during a
specified time. For automobiles it is expressed in terms of kilometers per litre.
The simplest method of measuring volumetric fuel consumption is using glass bulbs of known
volume and having a mark on each side of the bulb. Time taken by the engine to consume this
volume is measured by a stop watch. Volume divided by time will give the volumetric flow rate.
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Burette Method: It consists of two spherical glass bulbs having 100 cc and 200 cc capacity
respectively (Fig. 15.14). They are connected by three way cocks so that one may feed the
engine while the other is being filled. The glass bulbs are of different capacities so as to make the
duration of the tests approximately constant irrespective of the engine load whilst the spherical
form combines strength with a small variation of fuel head which is most' important particularly
in case of carburettor engines.
Automatic Burette Flow meter: Figure 15.15 shows an automatic volumetric type fuel flow
measuring system which is commercially available. It consists of a measuring volume (A) which
has a photocell (B) and a light source (C) fitted in tubular housings. These housings are put
opposite to each other at an angle such that a point of light is formed on the axis of the measuring
volume as shown in Fig.15.15 and one each is put on lower and upper portions of the measuring
cylinder. An equalization chamber (D) is connected to the measuring tube via the air tube (E)
and magnetic valve (F) and equalization pipe (G) to provide an air cushion at supply line
pressure and to store fuel during measurement.
On pressing the start button the lamps in the two photoelectric systems up and the magnetic
valve stops the flow through the instrument. The fuel level in the measuring volume starts falling
at a rate depending upon the engine consumption. At the same time an equal amount of the flows
through the equalization tube to the equalization chamber. When the fuel level reaches the upper
measuring level (li), the focused beam of light from the lamp is reflected on to the opposite
photocell and converted into an electrical signal to start a timer counter. When the fuel level has
fallen further to reach the lower measuring level the new signal generated stops the timer
counter. The lamps are automatically switched off and the valve opened and the regular flow is
restored. The time period for the consumption of the chosen volume of fuel is thus recorded.
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Orifice Flow meters: Sometimes flow meters are also used for this purpose. Flow meters
depend on the pressure drop across an orifice. Two orifices, X and 'Y' are shown in Fig.15.16.
These orifices are pre-calibrated in terms of the fuel being used and direct observations in terms
of volume of fuel supplied per hour may be recorded. One or two orifices may be used at a time.
Orifices can also be changed for different rates of flow. In that case calibration scales have also
got to be changed.
The method involves weighing the fuel supplied to the engine by an arrangement as shown in
Fig. 15.17. In this method the valve A is opened whenever the engine is to be run without
measuring the rate of fuel supply and valve B is closed so that fuel from tank directly flows to
the engine. The fuel from the tank is supplied to the flask by opening valves A and B whenever
measurement of the fuel is to be done. On the balance the amount of fuel is weighed. Keeping
the valve B open the valve A is closed so that the fuel from flask is syphoned off to the engine.
This method avoids separate determination of the specific gravity of the fuel. The time taken to
syphon off the weighed fuel completely is noted by means of a stop watch. Thus the fuel
consumption in gravimetric units is obtained.
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Measurement of air
The supply of air to an I.C. engine may be measured experimentally by passing the air through a
sharp edged orifice into a large tank (the volume being 500 times the swept volume of the
engine). The air is then passed to the engine. It is a cheap and simple method of estimating the
air supply to an engine.
The air is drawn into a large tank through an orifice whose diameter and coefficient of discharge
are known. The engine now draws air from this tank as shown in Fig. The pressure of air in the
tank is less than the atmospheric pressure due to the powerful engine suction. Since the tank is
relatively large, the air pressure may be assumed to remain constant.
The outside air is assumed to flow continuously, through orifice, with a constant velocity.
This velocity depends upon the difference of pressure between the air in the tank and the
atmospheric air. This pressure difference is measured by a U-tube containing water, whose one
limb is connected to the inside of the chamber while the other end is open to the atmosphere. The
temperature of atmosphere and barometer reading is also taken.
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The use (Fig.15.20) of viscous flow air meter gives accurate reading for pulsating flows. This
meter uses an element where viscous resistance is the principal source of pressure loss and
kinetic effects are small. This gives a linear relationship between pressure difference and flow
instead of a square-law. From this it follows that a true mean-flow indication is obtained under
pulsating flow conditions.
The viscous element is in the form of a honeycomb passage (a very large number of passages,
Reynolds number being less than 200). The passages are triangular of the size approximately 0.5
x 0.5 x 75 mm. The chief source of error in viscous meters arises from surface contamination of
the small triangular passages. However, by ensuring good filtration at the entry to the meter, and
not passing air through the meter unless readings are required, this trouble can be minimized. An
advantage of viscous-flow meter is that larger range of flow can be measured without pressure
head being too small.
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