GE109

Introduction to Engineering Products

(Module 3)

Title: Introduction to IC engines and their categorization.

Group Members:
● Dhruv Singh Negi 2021CSB1167
● Edgar Aditya Thorpe 2021CSB1169
● Hardik 2021CSB1173
● Kritika Bansal 2021CSB1184
● Virat Jain 2021CSB1220
● Komalpreet Singh 2021CSB1237
● Asad Alam 2021CSB1271
● Harshdeep Singh 2021MCB1044

Objective:
1. To get familiar with the concept of IC engines.
2. To compare various types of engines available in the market.

Individual Contributions:
● Dhruv Singh Negi - Detailed Working with Diagram
● Edgar Aditya Thorpe - Working principle
● Hardik - Brief History/Evolution of IC Engine
● Kritika Bansal - Key Technologies in IC engines, Applications
● Virat Jain - Types of IC engine
● Komalpreet Singh - Limitations and precautions
● Asad Alam - Report format, Components of IC Engine
● Harshdeep Singh - Differentiate between petrol & diesel engine, Conclusion
Working Principle:

An internal combustion engine (ICE) converts fuel into mechanical energy through a series of small explosions
or combustions. These explosions occur inside the engine's cylinders and drive a piston, which in turn rotates
the crankshaft and powers the vehicle.
The four main components of an ICE are the cylinders, spark plug, fuel system, and exhaust system. The cylinders
contain pistons that move up and down as the engine runs. The spark plug creates a spark that ignites the fuel-
air mixture in the cylinder, causing combustion. The fuel system delivers fuel to the engine, and the exhaust
system removes the waste products of combustion.
The process of combustion in an ICE can be broken down into four main stages: intake, compression, power,
and exhaust. During the intake stage, a mixture of fuel and air is drawn into the cylinder. In the compression
stage, the fuel-air mixture is compressed by the upward movement of the piston. This causes the temperature
and pressure of the mixture to increase. Next, the spark plug creates a spark, igniting the fuel-air mixture and
causing combustion. The pressure from the combustion pushes the piston downward, creating an air stroke.
Finally, during the exhaust stage, the waste products of combustion are removed from the cylinder through the
exhaust valve.
Overall, an IC engine's working principle is based on fuel combustion, which creates pressure and movement to
power the vehicle.
Brief History/Evolution of IC Engine:
In 1860, Belgian engineer Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir produced a gas-fired internal combustion engine. In
1864, Nicolaus Otto patented the first atmospheric gas engine. In 1872, American George Brayton invented
the first commercial liquid-fuelled internal combustion engine. In 1876, Nicolaus Otto began working with
Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach and patented the compressed charge, four-cycle engine. In 1879, Karl
Benz patented a reliable two-stroke gasoline engine. Later, in 1886, Benz began the first commercial
production of motor vehicles with an internal combustion engine, in which a three-wheeled, four-cycle engine
and chassis formed a single unit. In 1892, Rudolf Diesel developed the first compressed charge, compression
ignition engine.
Let us take a brief look at its technological evolution over the years:
Fuel Injection (1955): Before fuel injection, meting out gasoline into a combustion chamber was an imprecise
and finicky process. Carburetors frequently needed cleaning and rebuilding and were affected by weather
conditions, temperature, and elevation. By comparison, fuel injection was simple: it helped an engine run
smoother, idle steadier, and more efficiently.
Cylinder Deactivation (1981): The fewer cylinders firing, the more mileage you get. The engines started using
electronically controlled solenoids to close the valves on two or four cylinders which increased the efficiency.
Compression Ratios (2012): Inside an engine’s cylinder, the smaller you can compress the air and fuel, the
more power you get when it explodes. The volume the piston can squeeze is the compression ratio. But
manufacturers can’t crank up the compression ratios too high, or the mixture will ignite by itself; the
subsequent “knocking” will tear an engine apart. With electronic fuel management and a better
understanding of emissions control, engines began to produce more power while shrinking in displacement. In
2012, Mazda’s SKYACTIV-G engine entered production with the highest compression ratio for a mass-
produced engine, an astounding 14:1, enabling it to extract energy from almost every drop of gasoline.
Components:
The IC Engine comprises various parts: -

IC Engine Components

● Cylinder block: It is also known as the engine block. An engine block is the main structure that holds
and contains the cylinder and other components of an IC Engine.
● Piston: It is an important part of reciprocating engines, that converts the exhaust gas forces into
mechanical power by reciprocating motion
● Valves: These are used for intaking a mixture of air and fuel, and for removing the exhaust burned
gases.
● Connecting rod: This rod connects the top and bottom end bearings, facilitating the conversion of the
Piston’s forces into the crankshaft’s rotating power.
● Gudgeon Pin: In the Piston, it performs the crosshead function in the trunk Piston engine.
● Crankshaft: The crankshaft is a component enclosed in the crankcase that converts the reciprocation
motion of the piston to the rotary motion of the output shaft.
● Inlet manifold: - The pipe which connects the inlet system to the inlet valve is known as the inlet
manifold.
● Exhaust manifold: - The manifold through which exhaust gas pass from the exhaust valve is called the
Exhaust manifold.

Detailed Working:
In an IC engine, the fuel ignition process occurs inside the engine. As the combustion process takes place, the
engine converts the thermal energy of the fuel into rotatory motion. The IC engine has a crankshaft, camshaft,
reciprocating piston, and a fixed cylinder. An internal combustion engine works in the following way:
1. Suction Stroke: First of all, the engine sucks air from the environment into the compression cylinder.
2. Compression Stroke: After the suction stroke, the reciprocating piston inside the compression cylinder
compresses the air pressure and temperature. The piston compresses the air up to such a high temperature
that when the fuel pump injects fuel and mixes fuel with the compressed air, the air-fuel mixture ignites itself
and generates power.
3. Expansion/Power Stroke: The expansion stroke starts after the combustion process. In this stroke, the
combusted air-fuel mixture passes through an expansion valve which expands the mixture. As the air-fuel
mixture expands, it forces the piston to move up and down. The movement of the piston moves the
crankshaft, which further moves the wheels of the vehicle. 4. Exhaust Stroke: In this stroke, the exhaust gases
are expelled from the engine cylinder, new air is introduced, and the whole cycle repeats.

Working of an IC Engine

Types of IC Engines:
1. On the basis of the NUMBER OF STROKES PER CYCLE:
● FOUR-STROKE CYCLE ENGINE: This engine makes four piston strokes i.e., intake, compression, power,
and exhaust to complete an operating cycle. The operating cycle requires two crankshaft revolutions
(720 degrees).
● TWO-STROKE CYCLE ENGINE: This engine requires two piston strokes to complete an operating cycle.
Those strokes are compression and expansion strokes.
● SIX STROKE CYCLE ENGINE- In this engine, one of the cylinders makes two strokes and the other makes
four strokes, in total making six strokes per cycle.
2. On the basis of TYPES OF FUEL USED:
● PETROL OR GASOLINE ENGINE-This engine generates power by burning gasoline
● DIESEL ENGINE -This engine makes use of diesel as fuel, where fuel ignition takes place on its own,
without any spark.
● BI-FUEL ENGINE-This engine can run on either natural gas or gasoline which means it follows the
natural gas system and gasoline system i.e., dual fuelling system.
3. On the basis of METHOD OF IGNITION:
● SPARK IGNITION ENGINE: In S.I. engines, the ignition takes place with the help of a spark plug.
● COMPRESSION IGNITION ENGINE: A CI engine follows the auto-ignition or self-ignition process where
the fuel charge is ignited by its own heat of compression.
4. On the basis of NUMBER OF CYLINDERS:
● SINGLE-CYLINDER ENGINE: It is a basic piston-cylinder configuration of an engine in which only one
engine cylinder is used.
● MULTI-CYLINDER ENGINE: Here, more than one cylinder system is used. It is used to provide a more
continuous flow of power.
5. On the basis of METHOD OF COOLING:
● AIR-COOLED ENGINE: In this type of engine, the heated cylinder walls are cooled by a continuous flow
of air
● WATER-COOLED ENGINE: In this type of engine, water is used for cooling the heated cylinder walls.
Petrol vs Diesel Engines:

Key Technologies in IC Engines:

● HYBRID: Hybrid simply means a combination of two power sources. This mostly consists of a normal
petrol combustion engine receiving support from an electric-driven motor, although some use a diesel
engine.
● CYLINDER DEACTIVATION: This technology is predominately applied to larger engines such as V6 and
V8s. Cylinder deactivation effectively switches off two or four cylinders, automatically, when there are
low demands from the driver.
● ACTIVE ALTERNATOR: The alternator is the generator that recharges a car's battery when the engine is
running. It uses the engine's revolutions to turn a pulley and generate and convert rotational energy
into a battery charge.
● ELECTRIC VEHICLE(EV): These run solely on electric power, much like any other battery-operated
device. The electric motor turns the wheels, propelling the car forward. The main benefit is zero fuel
consumption and zero exhaust emissions.
● DIRECT INJECTION: Direct injection works by precisely spraying air and fuel directly into each cylinder
(combustion chamber). It only sprays the mixture into the intake manifold and then it is sucked into
each cylinder as the valve/s opens.
 ● VARIABLE VALVE TIMING: It works by continuously adjusting valve control to the conditions to provide
more usable power and torque throughout all parts of the rev range, helping to reduce emissions and
lower fuel consumption by around seven percent.
● TURBOCHARGING: Turbochargers have become an essential component in improving efficiency,
lowering fuel consumption, and reducing emissions. They work by blowing the air and fuel mixture into
the engine using a fan which is driven by the exhaust gases.

Applications:

IC machines are used in:

● Gasoline Engines: A gasoline engine is a kind of internal-combustion engine that generate power by
burning a volatile liquid fuel (gasoline or a gasoline mixture such as ethanol) with ignition initiated by
an electric spark.
● Diesel Engines: A type of internal combustion engine that ignites the fuel by injecting it into hot, high-
pressure air in a combustion chamber.
● Gas Turbine: A gas turbine is an internal combustion engine that can convert natural gas or other liquid
fuels to mechanical energy
● Gas Engines: A gas engine is an internal combustion engine that runs on a gas fuel, such as coal gas,
producer gas, biogas, landfill gas, or natural gas.
● Steam Engines: A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its
working fluid.
● Stirling engine: A Stirling engine is a heat engine that operates by cyclic compression and expansion of
air or other gas (the working fluid) at different temperatures
● Steam Turbines: It is a rotary heat engine that converts thermal energy contained in the steam to
mechanical energy or electrical energy.
● Closed Cycle Gas Turbine: It is a turbine that uses a gas (e.g., air, nitrogen, helium, argon, etc.) as the
working fluid.

Limitations:
Internal combustion engines have several limitations such as:
● Efficiency: They are not very efficient as they convert only some portion of fuel into useful energy.
● Significant pollution: ICE produces a significant amount of pollutants such as carbon monoxide,
nitrogen oxides, and unburnt fuel.
● Noise: ICE produces a lot of noise which can be a problem in residential areas where noise pollution is
a problem
● Vibration: These engines produce a lot of vibration which can be a problem in areas such as boats and
aircraft.
● Limited operating range: Not suitable for low-speed or high-altitude operations.
● High maintenance cost: Require frequent maintenance such as oil changes, spark plug replacements,
and other adjustments which can be costly.
Precautions:

Precautions to be taken care of when working with ic engines are:

● Always read and follow the manufacturer’s instruction guide for proper maintenance of the engine.
● Never operate the engine in a poorly ventilated area as it could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.
● Wear appropriate safety gear including eye protection and hearing protection.
● Always shut the fuel supply before performing any maintenance on the engine.
● Always use the proper grade and type of fuel recommended by the manufacturer.
● Always follow proper handling and disposal of hazardous waste such as oils. Coolant and battery.

Conclusion
From the above discussion, we can conclude the following -:
● An IC engine is compact & lighter.
● An IC engine can be started immediately.
● Compression ratio, expansion ratio & combustion duration are parameters that determine the
performance of an IC engine.
● Two-stroke engines are used in scooters, motorcycles, military tanks, and also in ship propulsion. Four-
stroke engines are used in cars, motorboats, modern bikes, and aircraft.

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