Energy Conversion and Management 151 (2017) 11–22

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

The effects of the engine design and operation parameters on the MARK
performance of an Atkinson engine considering heat-transfer, friction,
combustion efficiency and variable specific-heat
⁎
Jinxing Zhao , Yuanhui Li, Fangchang Xu
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 800 Jungong Rd., Shanghai 200093, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Atkinson cycle engines have become particularly popular because of high energy efficiency. A novel model
Atkinson cycle engine considering heat-transfer, friction, and variable specific-heat has been established for an Atkinson cycle engine
Finite-time thermodynamics based on the finite-time thermodynamics. Different from the ones in previous investigations, the heat-transfer
Cycle performance and friction losses are computed considering the effects of the cycle conditions, and the design and operation
Heat-transfer
parameters. In this way, the study can have practical physical meanings and is closer to real conditions. The
Friction
effects of mean piston speed, friction coefficient, cylinder bore, stroke length, stroke-to-bore ratio, equivalence
Energy losses
ratio, and compression ratio on the energy losses and cycle performance have been investigated. The results
show that there are the optimum values of compression and equivalence ratios making the cycle performance the
best; the energy losses from friction, heat-transfer and exhaust process monotonously increase or decrease with
respect to increasing the compression ratio. Increasing the friction loss, cylinder bore and stroke length has
negative effects on the cycle performance. Increasing the mean piston speed has positive effect on the power
output and the power density but less effect on the energy efficiency. The study results could provide significant
guidance for designing a real Atkinson cycle engine and optimizing the performance.

1. Introduction
In 1882, an English engineer named James Atkinson invented the
first ACE (Atkinson cycle engine, ACE) [1,2]. The original ACE, with a
long expansion stroke and short intake and compression strokes, was
realized with a complex linkage mechanism. High thermal efficiency of
the original ACE was achieved at the expense of reduced power density
and increased complexity. Minimal attention from the automotive in-
dustry was focused on the Atkinson cycle engine for many years. In
recent years, Atkinson cycle engines realized via VVT (Variable valve
timing, VVT) technology have been widely applied in hybrid vehicles.
An ICE (Internal combustion engine, ICE) in a hybrid vehicle is so
crucial that it considerably determines the vehicle fuel consumption
and emissions [3,4]. When the hybrid vehicle such as the Toyota Prius
adopts an over-expansion Atkinson cycle SI engine as one of primary
power sources, significant reduction in fuel consumption can be
achieved [5,6]. In a hybrid vehicle, the ACE can achieve a lower BSFC
value than its baseline Otto cycle engine; and the ACE can be controlled
to work cross over the low fuel consumption region for reducing the
vehicle fuel consumption. When running under a high load or with high
speed, if the required power exceeds the engine efficient power or the
maximum value, the driven motor can provide the leaving power. The
reduced power density for the ACE can be compensated by a driven
motor. Therefore, the ACE is the most suitable for hybrid vehicles.
Yoshiharu Yamamoto stated that, “If we hit the 45% efficiency mark, the
ICE will long remain a worthy being.” One possible way to increase the
efficiency of ICEs is the usage of the Atkinson cycle [7,8].
Many investigations have been published to confirm the thermo-
dynamic merits of Atkinson cycles and study the effects of important
engine parameters on the cycle performance. Cycle models describing
general characteristics in the real process of ICEs can be established by
using the FTT (Finite-time thermodynamics, FTT) [9]. A series of study
achievements [10–41] for Atkinson and other thermodynamic cycles
have been published since the FTT was used to analyze and optimize
the performance of real ICEs [10,11]. In Ref. [9], Ge et al introduced
the origin and development of the FTT, and reviewed the applications
of the FTT in ICE cycles such as Otto, Miller, Atkinson and so on. Chen
et al. [12] investigated the efficiency of an Atkinson engine at MPD
(Maximum power density, MPD) basing on the FTT. Ge et al. [13]
analyzed the influences of heat-transfer and friction on the cycle

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jinxing831018@163.com (J. Zhao).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2017.08.066
Received 12 July 2017; Received in revised form 23 August 2017; Accepted 23 August 2017
0196-8904/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Zhao et al. Energy Conversion and Management 151 (2017) 11–22

Nomenclature tr transfer
r reference
FTT finite time thermodynamics m mean
MP maximum dimensionless power ACE Atkinson cycle engine
MPD maximum dimensionless power density VVT variable valve timing
MEF maximum energy efficiency BSFC brake specific fuel consumption
TDC top dead center FMEP friction mean effective pressure
R ratio of energy loss (–) B cylinder bore (m)
ICE internal combustion engine P effective power (kW)
rc compression ratio (–) ṁ c mass rate of intake charges (kg/s)
T temperature (K) L stroke length (m)
Pd power density (kW/L) V volume (m3 )
Cv constant volume specific heat (kJ/kg·K) Cp constant pressure specific heat (kJ/kg·K)
N engine rotating speed (r/s) SP mean piston speed (m/s)
QLHV low heat value of fuel (kJ/kg) Rg gas constant (kJ/kg·K)
Q̇ rate of heat added (kJ/s) Pf friction lost power (kW)
A cc surface area of combustion chamber (m2 ) hc convective heat-transfer coefficient (kJ m2·K·s)
p instantaneous cylinder pressure (bar) P cylinder pressure (bar)
a, b, C constants (–) Apeff effective area of piston skirt (m2 )
w average in-cylinder charge velocity (m/s)
Greek letters ϕ equivalence ratio (–)
max maximum
η effective efficiency (–) f fuel
a air
Subscripts out output
m motored
d displacement com combustion
T total w wall
c charges
in input

performance of an air-standard Miller cycle. Moreover, the performance
for the lower limits and the upper limits of the Miller cycle, which are
the Otto and Atkinson cycle respectively, are also presented. Ge et al.
[14] analyzed the performance of an irreversible dual cycle based on a
FTT model. Furthermore, the performance for the Diesel and Otto cy-
cles, as the maximum and minimum envelope lines of the Dual cycle,
were also demonstrated. Chen et al. [15] investigated the effects of
heat-transfer and a friction-like term loss on the performance of an ir-
reversible dual cycle. Lin et al. [16] analyzed the performance of an
irreversible air-standard Miller cycle in a four-stroke free piston engine
using the FTT.
Zhu et al. [17] proposed turbocharged Dual and Miller cycle models
considering all the irreversible losses of a real cycle. Their results prove
that the Miller cycle always needs a high efficiency turbocharger and an
efficient charge air cooling system to realize the low temperature cycle
and guarantee the fuel economy at the same time. Dobrucali [18]
performed a thermodynamic analysis and investigated the effects of
engine design and running parameters on the cycle performance for an
irreversible Otto-Miller cycle by taking into account heat transfer,
frictions, time-dependent specific-heats, internal irreversibility re-
sulting from compression and expansion processes. Mousapour et al.
[19] discussed the effects of various design parameters on the power
output and the first and second-laws efficiencies of a Miller cycle with
the consideration of the linear specific-heat, the internal irreversibility,
the friction and the heat-transfer losses. In Ref. [20], Ust et al. carried
out a comparative performance analysis and optimization for an irre-
versible Dual-Miller Cycle cogeneration system.
Zhao and Chen conducted the performance analysis and presented
the parametric optimum criteria for an Atkinson cycle heat-engine [21],
a Miller cycle heat-engine [22] and a Dual cycle including two special
conditions of Diesel and Otto cycle heat-engines [23], respectively.
Especially, the power output and the efficiency in Refs. [21–23] were
derived as function of pressure ratio, and the compression and
expansion efficiency that indicate the adiabatic process irreversibility.
Hou [24] compared the performance of an Atkinson and an Otto
cycle with heat-transfer consideration. Wang and Hou [42] conducted
the performance analysis and comparison based on the MP (Maximum
power, MP) and MPD conditions for an Atkinson cycle using classic
thermodynamic analysis methodology. Lin and Hou [25–27] analyzed
the effects of heat loss, friction and variable specific heats on the per-
formance of an air standard Otto cycle, an Atkinson cycle and a Miller
cycle respectively. They characterized the heat loss as a percentage of
fuel’s energy like that in Ref. [28].
Gonca et al. [29–34] conducted some significant investigations on
performance analyses, optimizations and comparisons for some irre-
versible thermodynamic cycles such as the irreversible Otto-Miller
cycle, Diesel-Miller cycle and Dual-Miller cycle [29], and Dua-
l–Atkinson cycle [33]. In these investigations, those irreversible losses
in a real cycle were all considered, such as the irreversibility due to
irreversible-adiabatic compression and expansion, heat-transfer, fric-
tion losses, and incomplete combustion. In Refs. [29–31], the perfor-
mance analyses, optimizations and comparisons for different kinds of
Miller, Diesel and Atkinson cycles were conducted based on the MP
output, MPD and MEF (Maximum energy efficiency, MEF) criteria; the
engine design and operation parameters at the MP, MPD and MEF
conditions were investigated and optimized. The results demonstrate
that the best results are obtained for MP, MPD and MEF with Atkinson,
Diesel and Miller cycles, respectively. In Ref. [33], Gonca investigated
the effects of the engine design and operating parameters on the per-
formance parameters and energy losses of the irreversible Dua-
l–Atkinson cycle. The results demonstrate that the effective power,
power density and effective efficiency increase up to a determined
value and then start to decrease with increasing mean piston speed,
equivalence ratio and compression ratio; and the losses depend on in-
complete combustion are constant, while heat-transfer losses increase,
exhaust output losses and friction losses decrease with increasing

12
J. Zhao et al.
compression ratio.
The studies in Refs. [13–26,28] all assumed the specific-heat con-
stant in the cycle process. However, constant specific-heat model is only
suitable for the cycle models with very small temperature variation.
Abu-Nada et al. [35,36] compared the cycle performance with fourth-
order variable specific-heat model to that with constant specific-heat
value. They concluded that the difference between the results obtained
by using temperature-dependent specific-heat and those at constant
specific-heat values is significant. Therefore, variable specific-heat
models should be used in cycle analysis to achieve more realistic and
precise results. While the temperature variation in the cycle process is
moderate, the linear specific-heat model may be applied. Al-Sarkhi
et al. [37] investigated the influences of linear temperature-dependent
specific-heat on the performance of a Miller engine. Ge et al. also stu-
died on the performance characteristics of an Atkinson cycle [38] and a
Dual cycle [39] with heat-transfer, friction and variable specific-heat of
work fluids. Their results all show that the effect of the temperature-
dependent specific-heat on the performance is significant. However, it
is worth noting that the temperature variation in a real engine is sig-
nificant, and a high-order nonlinear temperature-dependent specific-
heat model is more precise in predicting the cycle performance
[35,36,40,41]. For example, Al-Sarkhi et al. [36] compared the per-
formance of a Miller engine under constant, linear, and forth-order
polynomial specific-heat model respectively. They found that the
fourth-order polynomial is essential for accurate prediction of cycle
performance. Ebrahimi [41] applied a second-order variable specific-
heat ratio model in an irreversible Atkinson engine and analyzed the
effects of mean piston speed, equivalence ratio and cylinder wall tem-
perature on the cycle performance.
Although the four-order specific-heat model is more precise, it has
different forms in the low and high temperature range and is more
complex in computation [35]. A more general form of second-order
nonlinear variable specific-heat model [18,35] that is suitable for the
low to high temperature range and precise enough is applied here.
In those cycle models introduced above, most considered the effects
of the irreversible factors on the cycle performance, such as the heat-
transfer, friction, and adiabatic process irreversibility. In the most
previous publications, the heat-transfer and friction losses were ob-
tained in particularly simple forms. For example, the heat-transfer
losses were previously computed by a simple linear-relation such as
Qtr = MB(T2 + T3−2T0) [40] or Q̇tr = ṁ f B∅−1 (∅ + (ma + mf )s)
(T2 + T3−2T0) [41]. The heat-transfer coefficients were constant and the
effects of the specific engine design parameters and/or cycle conditions
were not taken into account, which has large difference from a real
2
situation. The friction lost power was also simply computed as Pf = μSP
[33,41]; and did not consider the effects of some design and running
parameters such as the peak cylinder pressure. As a result, some model
parameters such as the heat-transfer coefficients in the previous re-
searches lack real physical meanings. The effects of some engine design
and operation parameters such as the compression ratio on the heat-
13
Energy Conversion and Management 151 (2017) 11–22
transfer coefficient and friction cannot be correctly considered; and the
prediction for the energy losses and the final cycle performance also has
significant difference. In a real ICE, the heat-transfer coefficient
changes responding to the variations of the charge pressure, tempera-
ture, mean piston speed and so on. Moreover, the friction lost power in
a real ICE concludes not only the viscous friction relevant with the
mean piston speed; the boundary friction affected by the peak cylinder
pressure is also significant. The effects of the design and operation
parameters on the heat-transfer coefficient and boundary friction
should be considered when establishing the FTT models of an Atkinson
or other cycles. In this way, the study on the effects of the engine design
and operation parameters on cycle performance of an ICE cycle can
have practical meanings and provide guidance for the design and op-
timization of a real engine in a more direct way.
The objective of this paper is to study and clarify the effects of the
design and operation parameters on the energy losses and cycle per-
formance of an Atkinson cycle; the results are expected to have real
physical meanings and provide guidance for the design and optimiza-
tion of an Atkinson cycle engine in a more direct way. First, the FTT
models for the Atkinson cycle are established. The external irreversible
losses that are the heat-transfer and friction, and a second-order tem-
perature-dependent variable specific-heat model are used. The classical
heat-transfer model is adopted in order to consider the effects of the
cycle conditions and geometrical parameters on the heat-transfer
coefficient and thus the final heat-transfer loss. The friction item loss
concludes the boundary and viscous frictions; the effects of the peak
cylinder pressure, mean piston speed and design parameters are spe-
cially considered. The effects of mean piston speed, friction coefficient,
cylinder bore, stroke length, stroke-to-bore ratio, equivalence ratio, and
compression ratio on the energy losses and cycle performance have
been investigated and presented.
2. Thermodynamic models of the Atkinson cycle
Fig. 1 shows the P-V and T-S diagrams for an Atkinson cycle and an
Otto cycle, respectively. In the figure, 1–2 is a reversible adiabatic
compression process; 2–3 is an isochoric heat-addition process; 3–4A is
a reversible adiabatic expansion process for the Atkinson cycle while
3–4O is a reversible adiabatic expansion process for the Otto cycle;
4O–1 is an isochoric heat rejection process for the Otto cycle while
4A–1 is an isobaric heat rejection process for the Atkinson cycle. As
shown in Fig. 1, the Atkinson cycle is a full expansion cycle; and thus
more heat energy (1–4O–4A–1) is converted to useful output work. As a
result, the Atkinson cycle can achieve a higher energy efficiency com-
pared to the Otto cycle.
The displacement volume for the Otto cycle can be computed as:
1 2
Vd O = πB L
4 (1)
where B is the cylinder bore, and L is the piston stroke for the Otto
Fig. 1. P-V and T-S diagrams for an Atkinson cycle
and an Otto cycle.
J. Zhao et al. Energy Conversion and Management 151 (2017) 11–22

cycle. In Eq. (12), the T is mean gas temperature, which is the same as the
The piston stroke and displacement volume for the Atkinson cycle Tm in Eq. (11). The average in-cylinder charge velocity w in Eq. (12)
can be computed as: may be expressed as:
T4A
r −1 VT
LA =
T1 c
L w = ⎡C1 Sp + C2 d r (p−Pm)⎤
⎢
⎣ Pr Vr ⎥
⎦ (13)
rc−1 (2)
In Eq. (13), Vd is the displaced volume; p is the instantaneous cy-

Vd A
1
= πB2
( T4A
r −1
T1 c )L linder pressure; and Pr , Vr , Tr are the working-fluid pressure, volume and
4 rc−1 (3) temperature at a reference state. Pm is the motored cylinder pressure at
the same crank angle as p . As shown in Fig. 1, under ideal conditions Pm
where rc is the compression ratio for the Otto and Atkinson cycles. is equal to P2 . Select the point 2 as a reference state; and use mean in-
As depicted previously, the temperature variation in a real engine cylinder pressure to substitute for the instantaneous cylinder gas pres-
cycle process is quite large and the assumption of constant specific-heat sure. Thus, these values are given as:
for ideal gas is not valid in this situation [35,40,41]. According to Refs.
[18,35], it is supposed that the working fluids are ideal gas mixture Pm = P2 (14)
containing 78.1% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.92% argon, and 0.03% p = (P3 + P2)/2 (15)
carbon dioxide. In the temperature range of 300–3500 K, the variable
specific-heat model with temperature-dependent for constant pressure Pr = P2 (16)
can be written as:
1 2 L
Vr = V2 = πB
Cp = 2.506 × 10−11T 2 + 1.454 × 10−7T1.5−4.246 × 10−7T 4 rc−1 (17)
+ 3.162 × 10−5T 0.5 + 1.3303−1.512 × 10 4T −1.5 + 3.063 × 105T −2 Tr = T2 (18)
−2.212 × 107T −3 (4)
The combustion chamber surface area is approximately estimated
According to the relation between the specific-heat with constant as:
pressure and the specific-heat with constant volume, the variable spe- 1 2 1
cific-heat model for constant volume can be computed by: Acc = πB + πBL
2 rc−1 (19)
Cv = Cp−Rg (5)
The heat added to the work fluids per second can also be written as:
where Rg = 0.287 kJ/kg·K is the gas constant of the working fluids. ̇ = ηcom ṁ f QLHV −hc Acc (Tm−Tw )
Qin (20)
Total fuel energy per second into the engine, of a fossil type fuel, can
be written as: where the combustion efficiency ηcom and Tm may be respectively ex-
pressed as [41]:
QṪ = ṁ f QLHV (6)
ηcom = −1.44738 + 4.18581ϕ−1−1.86876ϕ−2 (21)
where QLHV is the lower heat value of the fossil type fuel, and the ṁ f is
the mass flow rate of the fuel. The mass flow rate of the air into the T2 + T3
Tm =
cylinder can be defined as: 2 (22)
ṁ f = (ṁ a / ṁ f )−s 1ϕṁ a (7) According to the following equation that is the energy conservation
law for a reversible close system:
Thus, the total mixture flowing into the cylinder can be expressed
as: T dS = δQ w + p dV = Cv dT + p dV = Cp dT −V dp (23)

ṁ c = ṁ a + ṁ f = ṁ a (ϕ (ṁ a / ṁ f )−s 1 + 1) (8) where δQ w is the heat energy added to the work fluids due to the
temperature variation dT . Substitute the ideal gas state equation, divide
where ϕ is the equivalence ratio, ṁ a / ṁ f is the air-fuel ratio, and the T for both sides of the equation, and integrate the equation:
subscript s denotes the stoichiometric condition. The heat added to the
working fluids per second by combustion during the process 2–3 can be Tj Cv Vj Tj Cp p
Sj−Si = ∫T T
dT + Rg ln =
Vi
∫T T
dT −Rg lnp|pji = 0
(24)
computed as: i i

T3 For the adiabatic compression processes 1–2, the following equa-

̇ = ṁ c
Qin ∫T 2
Cv dT
(9) tions can be achieved:
The heat rejected to the environment per second during the process T2 Cv
4A–1 can be computed as:
∫T1 T
dT = Rg lnrc
(25)
T4A
Cp
̇ 4A − 1 = ṁ c
Qout ∫T 1
Cp dT
(10) ∫T
T2
dT = Rg ln
P2
1 T P1 (26)
The heat loss through the cylinder wall to the coolant is very
For the adiabatic expansion process 3–4A, the following equations
complicated in a real combustion process. It is assumed that the cy-
can be achieved:
linder wall temperature is constant. Thus, the heat loss through the
cylinder wall per second can be evaluated as [43]: T3 Cv T
∫T4A T
dT = Rg ln 4A rc
T1 (27)
Qtṙ = hc Acc (Tm−Tw ) (11)
T3 Cp
where the hc is the convective heat-transfer coefficient; the Acc is the ∫T4A T
dT = Rg lnP3
(28)
approximate surface area of combustion chamber; Tm and Tw are mean
cylinder gas temperature and cylinder wall temperature, respectively. Piston assemblies are the dominant source of engine friction losses,
The heat-transfer coefficient hc can be expressed as: which is primarily dominated by the piston ring. The piston ring tension
and the gas pressure pc behind the compression ring cause radial force
hc = CB −0.2p0.8 w 0.8T −0.55 (12)
and lead to the boundary friction. The piston ring tension is almost

14
J. Zhao et al. Energy Conversion and Management 151 (2017) 11–22

constant while the gas pressure pc is related with the engine design and where the N is engine rotating speed and can be expressed as:
operation parameters. Moreover, an angle between the connection rod
N = Sp /2L (32)
and cylinder central axis produces the side-thrust on the cylinder wall
contributing to partial piston assembly friction. As a result, the power output can be computed as:
As the compression ratio and load increases, the cylinder pressure pc
̇ −Qout
P = Qin ̇ −Pf (33)
and side-thrust force also accordingly increase. As a result, the lubricant
film thickness decreases; and the friction substantially increases. Just and the energy efficiency can be computed as:
after the combustion TDC, the peak cylinder pressure arrives; the side-
thrust force, the pc and thus the FMEP (Friction mean effective pressure, ̇ −Qout
Qin ̇ −Pf
η=
FMEP) reach the maximum. This introduces that the peak pressure has QṪ (34)
significant effect on the FMEP. The high side-thrust force and pc result
and the power density for the Atkinson cycle can be computed as:
in the breakdown of the lubricant film, and the boundary friction
dominates. P
Pd =
The boundary friction may be expressed as: Vd A (35)
L When rc and T1 are known, T2 and P2 can be obtained by solving Eqs.
(FMEP )boundary = a × A2 × Pmax
B (29) (25) and (26) for the Atkinson cycle. When a , b , ϕ , B , L , ṁ f and Sp are
where the coefficient a is multiplied to consider the influence of peak known, T3 , P3 and T4A can be obtained by combining Eqs. (9), (20), (27)
and (28). Substituting T2 and T3 into Eq. (9) can achieve Qin ̇ . Substituting
cycle pressure Pmax ; and can be calibrated to include the pressure-af-
T3 and T4A into Eq. (10) can yield Qouṫ . The friction lost power can be
fected friction in camshaft and crankshaft system in a real engine.
The viscous piston friction under hydrodynamic lubrication condi- computed by substituting Pmax (P3 ) and Sp into Eq. (31). As a result, the
tions is primarily related with mean piston speed. The viscous piston power output, energy efficiency and power density for the Atkinson
cycle can be obtained by substituting Qiṅ , Qout
̇ , Pf and Vd A into Eqs. (33)-
friction is correlated by:
(35).
Ap,eff
(FMEP )hydrodyn = b × × Sp
LA B2 (30) 3. Assumptions and simplifications
where Ap,eff is the effective area of piston skirt in contact with the cy-
linder liner. The coefficient b is multiplied to include speed-dependent In order to simplify the FTT model and the computation process,
friction in the camshaft and crankshaft system in a real engine. some assumptions and simplifications have been applied. All in-
Therefore, the friction-lost power for the Atkinson cycle can be stantaneous cylinder pressure and charge temperature in the models are
expressed as [43]: replaced by respective mean values such as in Eq. (12). The cylinder
wall temperature is assumed constant in the heat addition and transfer
FMEP (kpa) × Vd A (dm3) × N (r / s ) process, and denoted as: Tw = 400 K . The air mass flow rate is assumed
Pf (kW ) =
2 × 103 (31) as linear relationship with the mean piston speed and defined as:

Fig. 2. Effects of the friction losses on the cycle performance.

15
J. Zhao et al. Energy Conversion and Management 151 (2017) 11–22

ṁ a = 0.00082∗Sp (kg/s) . These parameters are fixed in the computation: increase the effective range of the rc .
T1 = 350 K , (ṁ a / ṁ f )s = 14.7 , QLHV = 44,000 (kJ/kg) ; and the other model Figs. 4 and 5 show the effects of the lbr values on the cycle per-
parameters are all calibrated to make the computed results approach for formance and the energy losses, respectively. The B, L and lbr have
real cycle processes and can be found in the following figures. significant effects on the P , Pd , η and energy losses. As increasing the B
and L from 0.08 to 0.11 (lbr = 1), the Rh greatly increases; the R e de-
creases; and the Rf also increase a little in the low rc range (rc < 38). The
4. Results and discussions
increment of the Rh + Rf is more than the decrement of the R e ; thus the
η decreases. In this way, the maximum values of the P , Pd and η de-
A cycle calculation has been performed to study the effects of the
crease by 9.9%, 66.2% and 9.3%, respectively. As increasing the lbr
engine design and operation parameters on the cycle performance of
from 1 to 1.3 (B = 0.08), the Rh and R e are almost unchanged, and the
the Atkinson cycle engine. The corresponding results have been pre-
Rf obviously increases in the whole rc range; thus the η decreases. As a
sented in the Figs. 2–11.
result, the maximum values of the P , Pd and η decrease by 2.1%, 25.7%,
Fig. 2 shows the effects of the friction losses on the P , Pd and η.
1.7%, respectively. As increasing the lbr values from 1 to 1.3
When b = 0.52, the variations of the a values have great influences on
(L = 0.11), although the R e and Rf all increase in the whole rc range, the
the cycle performance. As increasing the a value from 0 to 0.013, the
great decrement of the Rh improves the η. Thus the maximum values of
maximum values of the P , Pd and η decrease by 5.8%, 11.9% and 6.1%,
the P , Pd and η increase by 6.3%, 84%, 6.5%, respectively.
respectively; as increasing the a value from 0.013 to 0.026, the max-
According to the results shown above, it is found that the B, L and
imum values of the P , Pd and η further decrease by 6.2%, 12.2% and
lbr have significant effects on the energy losses and the cycle perfor-
6.1%, respectively. Furthermore, increasing the a value reduces the
mance. Increasing the B and/or L values has negative effects on the
effective range of the rc and the rc values corresponding to the optimum
cycle performance. When the B is constant, increasing the L values leads
cycle performance.
to less decrement of the power and energy efficiency but significant
Fig. 3 demonstrates the effects of the a and b values on the friction
decrement of the power density. When the L is constant, increasing the
loss Rf . The a values have great influences on the ratios of the friction
B values leads to significant decrement of the cycle performance.
loss Rf . As an example of rc = 20 , as the a = 0 → 0.013 → 0.026 the Rf
Therefore, under the same mass flow rate of the air and fuel into the
increases by 200% and 71.7%, respectively. It is shown in Figs. 2 and 3
cylinder a compact and small engine size can achieve better cycle
that the b values have obviously less effects on the Rf and thus the cycle
performance for a real Atkinson cycle engine.
performance when increasing the b values from 0.52 to 0.72
Figs. 6 and 7 show the effects of the mean piston speed Sp on the
(a = 0.013).
cycle performance and energy losses, respectively. As increasing the Sp
The a values represent the level of the boundary frictions. Therefore,
from 8, 11 to 14, the power increases by 37.5% and 26.9%, respec-
the results demonstrate that the boundary frictions have great effects on
tively; the power density increases by 37.6% and 26.7%, respectively;
the cycle performance; and should be taken into account when estab-
and the energy efficiency is almost unchanged in the low rc range and
lishing the thermodynamic models of an Atkinson cycle engine. The
improves slightly in the high rc range, as shown in Fig. 6(c). As in-
boundary frictions are significantly affected by the peak cylinder
creasing the Sp , the Rf increases in the whole rc range because of the
pressure as shown in Eq. (29). In a real Atkinson cycle engine, some
increased viscous frictions; the Rh decreases in the whole rc range be-
measures, such as symmetrical crankshaft and connection-rod me-
cause of the decreased heat-transfer time; and the R e hardly changes but
chanism, may be taken to reduce the effect of the peak cylinder pressure
still increases a little.
on the boundary friction in order to improve the cycle performance and

Fig. 3. Effects of the a and b values on the friction loss.

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J. Zhao et al. Energy Conversion and Management 151 (2017) 11–22

Fig. 4. Effects of the lbr values on the cycle performance.

Fig. 5. Effects of the lbr values on the energy losses.

When the equivalence ratio ϕ is constant, the mass flow rate of the of the Rf and R e discounts the decrement of the Rh , and the η is almost
fuel ṁ f is directly related with the Sp . As a result, as shown in unchanged. In the range of the rc more than 12, the increment of the Rf
Fig. 6(a) and (b) as the Sp increases the ṁ f accordingly increases; thus and R e is less than the decrement of the Rh , and the η improves a little.
the P and Pd increase. In the range of the rc less than 12, the increment Therefore, the mean piston speed has less effect on the energy

17
J. Zhao et al. Energy Conversion and Management 151 (2017) 11–22

Fig. 6. Effects of the Sp on the cycle performance.

Fig. 7. Effects of the Sp on the energy losses.

efficiency. power and the power density all accordingly increase. The power in-
Fig. 8 shows the influences of the equivalence ratio ϕ on the cycle creases from 6.86 kW to 9.06 kW, and the power density increases from
performance. As shown in Fig. 8(a) and (b), as increasing the ϕ from 0.8 6.87 kW/L to 8.07 kW/L. Moreover, as increasing the ϕ , the increment
to 1.1 the fuel amount into the cylinder continues to increase; and the degree for the power and the power density gradually decreases. As

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J. Zhao et al. Energy Conversion and Management 151 (2017) 11–22

Fig. 8. Effects of the ϕ on the cycle performance.

Fig. 9. Effects of the ϕ on the energy losses.

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J. Zhao et al.
shown in Fig. 8(c), as the ϕ increases from 0.8 to 1.1, the energy effi-
ciency η first increases and then decreases. When ϕ = 0.9 the ϕ -af-
fecting combustion efficiency ηcom arrives the maximum; and thus the η
reaches the maximum. As increasing the ϕ more than 0.9 the energy
efficiency sharply decreases; thus the increment degree for the power
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Energy Conversion and Management 151 (2017) 11–22
Fig. 10. Effects of the ϕ on the P , η and T4.
Fig. 11. Effects of the rc on the T4 for the Otto and Atkinson cycles.
and the power density decreases even though the fuel amount into the
cylinder continues to increase.
Under any ϕ value there are the optimum rc values that achieve the
maximum values of the P , Pd and η ; and the rc value for the maximum Pd
is far more than the ones for the maximum P and η. The effects of
J. Zhao et al.
different ϕ values on the optimum rc values for the maximum P , Pd and η
are negligible.
Fig. 9 demonstrates the influences of the ϕ on the energy losses. As
the ϕ increases from 0.8 to 0.9, the Rf and R e are almost unchanged, the
Rf decreases and the ηcom improves in this range. As a result, the energy
efficiency improves. As the ϕ increases more than 0.9, the Rf , R e and Rf
all decrease but the η declines because the ηcom sharply decreases. It is
obvious that the ηcom has dominant effect on the η in this situation.
Fig. 10 presents the effects of the ϕ on the power, the energy effi-
ciency and the temperature T4 . As shown in Fig. 10(a) and (b), the ϕ
value for the maximum power is obviously different from the one for
the maximum energy efficiency. Moreover, as shown in Fig. 10(c) the T4
value for the maximum power (ϕ = 1.15) is higher than the one for the
maximum energy efficiency. The T4 value corresponding to the max-
imum power is 1001 K (< 1200 K).
Fig. 11 shows the effects of the rc on the T4 for the Otto and Atkinson
cycles. It is seen in Fig. 11 that under the same operation condition the
T4 for the Otto cycle is 1433 K (ϕ = 1.15, rc = 15), which is obviously
higher than the one for the Atkinson cycle. As a result, in a real At-
kinson cycle engine the high power output can be achieved without the
risk of over-high exhaust gas temperature.
5. Conclusions
The FTT models for an Atkinson cycle engine are established con-
sidering heat-transfer, friction, combustion efficiency and variable
specific heat. The heat-transfer and friction losses are computed with
the effects of the cycle conditions, and the design and operation para-
meters. The effects of the design and operation parameters on the en-
ergy losses and cycle performance of the Atkinson cycle engine have
been investigated based on the FTT models; and some significant con-
clusions are obtained.
(1) The boundary friction has significantly negative effect on the cycle
performance; and should be considered when establishing the cycle
models. Increasing the boundary friction coefficient significantly
increases the friction loss; and decreases the power output, power
density, efficiency, and the effective range of the compression ratio.
(2) There are the optimum compression ratio values that make the
power, power density and energy efficiency the best. The ratios for
the friction, heat-transfer and exhaust losses (Rf , Rh , R e ) mono-
tonously increase or decrease with respect to increasing the com-
pression ratio.
(3) The equivalence ratio has significant effects on the combustion ef-
ficiency (ηcom ), the energy losses, and the cycle performance. The
optimum equivalence ratio for the highest efficiency is less than 1
and the optimum one for the highest power is more than 1.
Comparing with Otto cycle engines, an Atkinson cycle engine can
operate on the highest power without the risk of over-high exhaust
temperature.
(4) When the equivalence ratio is constant, the power and the power
density increase as increasing the mean piston speed. The mean
piston speed has less effect on the cycle efficiency. As increasing the
mean piston speed the increment of the friction and exhaust losses
discounts the decrement of the heat-transfer loss; and thus the ef-
ficiency hardly varies.
(5) Increasing the cylinder bore and/or stroke has negative effects on
the net energy losses and final cycle performance. Under the same
mass flow rate of the air and fuel into the cylinder a compact and
small engine size can achieve better cycle performance for a real
Atkinson cycle engine.
Acknowledgments
This paper was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (No. 51506130).
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Energy Conversion and Management 151 (2017) 11–22
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