Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles☆

Sebastian Verhelst, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This is an update of KG Duleep, Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles, In Encyclopedia of Energy, edited by CJ Cleveland, Elsevier, New York, 2004.

Introduction 1
Vehicle Energy Efficiency 1
Improving Efficiency by Reducing Tractive Energy Required 3
Improvement of Engine Efficiency 4
Theoretical Maximum Engine Efficiency 4
Actual Versus Theoretical Efficiency 6
Increasing the Efficiency of Spark Ignition Engines 7
Design Parameters 7
Thermodynamic Efficiency 9
Reduction in Mechanical Friction 9
Reduction in Pumping Loss 10
Increasing the Efficiency of Compression Ignition (Diesel) Engines 12
Design Parameters 12
Thermodynamic Efficiency 12
Friction and Pumping Loss 13
Intake Charge Boosting 13
Turbochargers 13
Superchargers 14
Alternative Heat Engines 14
Further Reading 15

Glossary
Engine efficiency Amount of energy produced by the engine per unit of fuel energy consumed.
Fuel economy Vehicle distance traveled per unit volume of fuel consumed.
Internal combustion engine vehicle Vehicle where primary motive power is derived from an engine that converts fuel energy
to work using the air–fuel mixture as the working fluid.
Light duty on highway vehicles Cars and light trucks with a fully loaded weight below 6000 k (13,200 lbs).
Off-highway vehicle Vehicles designed to operate primarily on unpaved surfaces.

Introduction

The on-highway fleet of vehicles accounts for over 95% of all vehicles in operation worldwide (which is in excess of a billion
vehicles). The remainder is composed of off-highway vehicles, equipment such as forklifts or bulldozers, and motorcycles. Annual
sales of on-highway vehicles exceeded 97 million units worldwide in 2017 with 73.5 million units classified as passenger cars and
about 24 million units classified as commercial vehicles. The distinction between cars and commercial vehicles is not always clear
(especially for light trucks) but trucks are usually used for cargo hauling or for carrying more than six passengers. Cars span the gross
vehicle weight (GVW) range from 1 to 3 tons, while trucks typically span the GVW range of 2 to 40 tons. Off-road and specialized
vehicles can be much heavier.
The majority of cars and light trucks (under 5 tons GVW) are powered by spark ignition engines, while most trucks that weigh
more than 5 tons GVW are powered by diesel engines. In the early 1990s, diesel engines became more popular for cars and light
trucks in the European Union (EU). The diesel engines’ share in the new car market was over 60% in 2010 in countries such as
France and Austria. In contrast, few diesel engine–powered cars and light trucks are sold elsewhere. Recent emission scandals have
caused sales of diesel engine cars to start dropping in Europe.

☆
Change History: June 2018. Sebastian Verhelst updated this article. The complete text has been slightly revised for structure and updated to reflect current engine
and vehicle technology.

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11357-0 1

2 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles

Vehicle Energy Efficiency

Vehicle energy efficiency is generally defined in terms of fuel economy measured in miles per gallon (mpg) or kilometers per liter of
fuel. It can also be measured in terms of fuel consumption, which is the inverse of fuel economy, in units of liters per 100 km or
gallons per 100 miles. The fuel economy of a vehicle is strongly dependent on the vehicle’s overall weight and size (aerodynamic
resistance), but is also dependent on the efficiency of the engine, as well as the matching of the engine characteristics to the vehicle’s
operational requirements. The fuel economy of a particular vehicle is dependent on the load carried, the driving cycle, the ambient
temperature, and the characteristics of the road such as its gradient and surface roughness. Hence, the fuel economy of a specific
vehicle can vary widely depending on how and where it is used.
In most developed countries, on-road light vehicles (cars and light trucks) are certified for emissions and fuel economy by the
government. The fuel efficiency rating is measured in a laboratory-controlled environment and on a specified driving cycle. In the
United States and Canada, for example, light vehicle fuel economy is measured on a “city cycle” with an average speed of about
20 mph and a “highway cycle” with an average speed of about 50 mph. All aspects of the fuel economy test, ranging from the
ambient temperature to the specification of the fuel used, are tightly controlled and this results in a fuel economy measurement that
is repeatable to within
2%, typically. While this measured fuel economy may differ significantly from the fuel economy for the
same vehicle in any specific use, the measured value provides a comparative benchmark for vehicle fuel economy that is useful from
a vehicle buyer’s perspective and from an engineering perspective.
The average fuel economy in the United States was about 23.4 mpg for cars and 17.2 mpg for light trucks (2015 numbers). Much
of this difference between car and light-truck fuel economy is attributable to the fact that light trucks are larger and heavier than cars,
but some of the difference is also attributable to the fact that cars utilize higher levels of efficiency enhancing technology. Fuel
economy levels in Australia and Canada are similar to the United States levels, but cars in the European Union have about 25%
higher fuel economy, on average. The higher fuel economy in the European Union is partly due to the smaller size and weight of cars
sold and partly due to the higher penetration of diesel engines, which are more efficient than spark ignition engines.
Studies conducted by technical agencies have concluded that vehicle fuel economy can be increased substantially from average
values without any reduction of attributes such as interior space or cargo carrying ability. The sources of energy loss and the
technology available to reduce these losses are described later.
A simple model of energy consumption in conventional automobiles provides insight into the sources and nature of energy
losses. In brief, the engine converts fuel energy to shaft work. This shaft work is used to overcome the tractive energy required by the
vehicle to move forward, as well as to overcome driveline losses and supply accessory drive energy requirements. The tractive energy
can be separated into the energy required to overcome aerodynamic drag force, rolling resistance, and inertia force. It is useful to
consider energy consumption on the US city and highway test cycles, which are reference cycles for comparing fuel economy.
Denoting the average engine brake specific fuel consumption over the test cycle as bsfc (a measure of the fuel consumption rate
relative to the power produced by the engine, described in more detail later), we have fuel consumption, FC, given by

bsfc
FC ¼ ½ER þ EA þ EK  þ bsfc EAC þ Gi ðti þ tb Þ

d

where
d is the drive train efficiency, ER is the energy to overcome rolling resistance, EA is the energy to overcome aerodynamic drag,
EK is the energy to overcome inertia force, EAC is the accessory energy consumption, Gi is idle fuel consumption per unit time, and ti,
tb are the time spent at idle and braking.
The first term in the above equation represents the fuel consumed to overcome tractive forces. Since the federal test procedure
(FTP) specifies the city and highway test cycle in terms of speed versus time, ER, EA, and EK can be readily calculated as function of
the vehicle weight, the tire rolling resistance, body aerodynamic drag coefficient, and vehicle frontal area. Weight reduction reduces
both inertia force and rolling resistance.
Braking energy loss is approximately 35% in the city cycle and 7% on highway cycle. The fuel energy is used not only to supply
tractive energy requirements but also to overcome transmission losses, accounting for the transmission efficiency that is in the
first term.
The second term in the equation is for the fuel consumed to run the accessories. Accessory power requirements are required to
run the radiator cooling fan, alternator, water pump, oil pump, and power steering pump. Air conditioners also absorb power but
are not reflected in official fuel economy estimates since they are not turned on during the FTP. Idle and braking fuel consumption
are largely a function of engine size and idle RPM, while transmission losses are function of transmission type (manual or
automatic) and design. The engine produces no power during idle and braking but consumes fuel, so that factor is accounted for
by the third term. Table 1 shows the energy consumption (as a percentage) by all of these factors for a typical US midsize car of mid-
1990s vintage, with a 3-L displacement s.i. engine, four-speed automatic transmission with lock-up, and power steering.
The values in Table 1 can be utilized to derive sensitivity coefficients for the reduction of various loads. For example, reducing the
weight by 10% will reduce both rolling resistance and inertia weight forces, so that tractive energy is reduced by (30.35 þ 40.22) 
0.1 or 7.06% on the composite cycle. Fuel consumption will be reduced by 7.06%  0.6544, which is the fraction of fuel used by
tractive energy, or 4.6%. This matches the common wisdom that reducing weight by 10% reduces fuel consumption by 4%–5%.
However, if the engine is also downsized by 10% to account for the weight loss, fuel consumption will be reduced by 5.8% since idle
and braking fuel consumption will be reduced in proportion to engine size. In addition, there will be some reduction (0.5%) in
transmission and drivetrain loss.
Fuel economy can be improved by two primary methods: (1) by reducing the power required to propel the vehicle and (2) by
increasing the engine efficiency. To estimate the effects of different technology improvements that affect engine power required or
 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles 3

Table 1 Energy consumption as a percentage of total energy requirements for a typical midsize cara

City Highway Compositeb

Percentage of total tractive energy

Rolling resistance 27.7 35.2 30.35
Aerodynamic drag 18.0 50.4 29.43
Inertia (Weight) force 54.3 14.4 40.22
Total 100 100 100
Percentage of total fuel consumed
Tractive energy 57.5 80.0 65.44
Accessory energy 10.0 6.5 8.76
Idle þ braking consumption 15.0 2.0 10.41
Transmission þ driveline loss 17.5 11.5 15.39

Midsize car of inertia weight ¼ 1588 kg, CD ¼ 0.33, A¼ 2.1 m2, CR ¼ 0.011, 3L OHV V-6, power steering, four-speed automatic transmission with lock-up, air conditioning.
a
b
Highway fuel economy is 1.5 times city fuel economy, and composite figures are based on the US EPA 55% city/45% highway fuel consumption weighting.

the efficiency of the engine, it is useful to keep certain vehicle attributes constant. Vehicle attributes of interest to consumers are
passenger room, cargo space or payload capability, acceleration performance, and vehicle comfort/convenience features. The impact
of technology on fuel economy is typically measured while keeping these attributes constant.
Reducing the power required to propel the vehicle reduces engine load and can be accomplished by reduction of weight,
aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance, or accessory loads. Engine efficiency increases can be accomplished not only by engine
technologies but also by improved drivetrain technologies that improve the match between engine operating point and vehicle
power requirements. Spark ignition engines convert only about 20%–25% of fuel energy to useful work during typical driving so
that a doubling of engine efficiency is theoretically possible without changing the basic Otto cycle.

Improving Efficiency by Reducing Tractive Energy Required

Since vehicle weight is one of the most important variables determining fuel economy, weight reduction is an important method of
improving fuel economy. The vehicle’s weight is distributed between the body structure, the drivetrain, the vehicle’s interior, and
vehicle suspension/tires. The first two component groups account for over 75% of a vehicle’s weight. Weight can be reduced in all
four component groups by improved structural design as well as by the use of alternative materials.
Improved structural design and packaging has been made possible through advanced computer simulations of structural
strength, so that material use and shape can be optimized for the loads encountered. Most modern cars feature unibody designs
where the body panels carry the structural loads, but several older models as well as many light trucks continue to use a separate
chassis to carry structural loads. Heavy trucks, however, almost always utilize a separate chassis on which body components are
mounted. A new architecture called space frame designs have emerged where structural loads are carried on skeletal frame from
which body panels are hung. Improved packaging by optimization of component placement, body layout, and drivetrain location
can also yield weight benefits. The placement of the engine transversely between the front wheels and driving the front wheels
provides significant packaging benefits over front engine, rear-wheel-drive packages for light-duty vehicles.
The use of alternative materials such as ultra-high-strength steel, aluminum, and plastic composites is another way to reduce
weight. Because of its low cost, steel, and cast iron continue to be the material of choice for body structures. Aluminum is already
widely used for engine blocks and cylinder heads, and it is also used in critical suspension components. Some luxury cars feature all-
aluminum bodies, which weigh 30%–35% less than their steel counterparts. Plastic composites are also widely used in body
closures such as fenders, hood, and decklid with weight savings of 20%–25% relative to steel parts. Such composites also see wide
usage for lightweight interiors in the vehicle dashboard, seats, and door panels. Specially constructed prototypes maximizing the use
of lightweight alternative materials have shown that weight reduction of 25%–30% (relative to a conventional average steel vehicle)
is possible, although with higher cost and with manufacturability constraints. The use of alternative materials in heavy trucks may
not reduce loaded weight but will permit a larger payload to be carried.
Aerodynamic drag can be reduced by styling the vehicle’s exterior shape and guiding the vehicle’s interior airflow. At the speeds
experienced by a typical vehicle, low drag shapes are a result of careful attention to airflow at the front of the vehicle, rear wheel wells
and outside mirrors, and at the end of the roof. A measure of the drag is the aerodynamic drag coefficient, CD, which is defined as

Drag force
CD ¼
2 rn A
1 2

where r is the density of air, v is the velocity of airflow, and A is the vehicle frontal area.
In the early 1980s, cars had drag coefficients of 0.45–0.5. By 2000, the most aerodynamic cars had drag coefficient of 0.25–0.28.
Trucks typically have higher drag coefficients because of their boxy shape and increased ground clearance, relative to cars. Prototype
4 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles

cars with drag coefficients as low as 0.15 have been built, but such designs typically involve reduction of vehicle attributes such as
reduced rear passenger headroom, reduced rear visibility, or reduced cargo space. Nevertheless, drag reduction still offers oppor-
tunities to reduce fuel consumption.
The tires’ rolling resistance is the third major contributor to overall load. The tire rolling resistance coefficient (CR) is a measure of
tire energy loss, and is defined as
T
CR ¼
LR’
where T is the torque required at any speed, R the tire radius, and L the vertical load on the tire. Typically, most modern tires have a
CR in the range of 0.009–0.012.
The tire rolling resistance results from a combination of tire-to-road friction and hysteresis. As the tire deforms, heat is dissipated
in the tire’s sidewall and tread due to the visco-elastic nature of rubber. In comparison, a steel wheel riding on steel rails has about
one-tenth the rolling resistance of a rubber tire. Tire rolling resistance can be reduced by improved design of the tire tread, shoulders,
and belts. In addition, the tire material formulation can significantly reduce hysteresis loss. The use of silica compounds mixed with
rubber has been found to reduce rolling resistance, without affecting other desirable properties such as braking and wet traction.
Design improvements and changes in belt material are also capable of reducing CR with limited or no reduction of desirable
attributes. It appears possible to reduce CR by 15%–25% in the short term and by up to 40% over the long term ( 25 years).

Improvement of Engine Efficiency

Engine efficiency on the driving cycle is the most significant determinant of vehicle fuel economy for a vehicle of a specific weight.
Heat engine efficiency can be stated in several ways. One intuitively appealing method is to express the useful energy produced by an
engine as a percentage of the total heat energy that is theoretically liberated by combusting the fuel. This is sometimes referred to as
“the first law” efficiency, implying that its basis is the first law of thermodynamics, the law of conservation of energy. Another
potential, but less widely used, measure is based on the second law of thermodynamics, which governs how much of that heat can
be converted to work. Given a maximum combustion temperature (usually limited by engine material considerations and by
emission considerations), the second law postulates a maximum efficiency based on an idealized heat engine cycle called the Carnot
cycle. The ratio of the first law efficiency to the Carnot cycle efficiency can be utilized as a measure of how efficiently a particular
engine is operating with reference to the theoretical maximum based on the second law of thermodynamics. However, the most
common measure of efficiency used by automotive engineers is termed brake specific fuel consumption (bsfc), which is the amount
of fuel consumed per unit time per unit of power. In the United States, the bsfc of engines is usually stated in pounds of fuel per
brake horsepower hour, whereas the more common metric system measurement unit is in grams per kilowatt-hour (g/kwh). The
term brake here refers to a common method historically used to measure engine shaft power output. Of course, all three measures of
efficiency are related to each other.
The efficiency of Otto and diesel cycle engines is not constant but depends on the operating point of the engine as specified by its
torque output and shaft speed (revolutions per minute or RPM). Engine design considerations, frictional losses, and heat losses
result in a single operating point where efficiency is highest. This maximum efficiency for an s.i. engine usually occurs at relatively
high torque and at low to mid-RPM within the operating RPM range of the engine. At idle, the efficiency is zero since the engine is
consuming fuel but not producing any useful work. When considering efficiency in a vehicle, the maximum efficiency need not, by
itself, be an indicator of the average efficiency under normal driving conditions, since engine speed and torque vary widely under
normal driving. The maximum efficiency of an engine is of interest to automotive engineers, but a more practical measure of
efficiency is its average efficiency during “normal” driving or during the official city and highway fuel economy test.

Theoretical Maximum Engine Efficiency

The characteristic features common to all piston internal combustion engines are as follows:

1. intake and compression of the air or air–fuel mixture

2. raising the temperature (and hence, the pressure) of the compressed air by combustion of fuel
3. the extraction of work from the high-pressure products of combustion by expansion
4. exhaust of the products of combustion.

Combustion of the homogenous air–fuel mixture in a spark ignition engine takes place very quickly relative to piston motion and is
represented in idealized calculations as an event occurring at constant volume. According to classical thermodynamic theory, the
thermal efficiency,
, of an idealized Otto cycle, starting with intake air–fuel mixture drawn in at atmospheric pressure, is given by,

¼ 1  1=r n1 , (1)

where r is the compression (and expansion) ratio and n is the ratio of specific heat at constant pressure to that at constant volume for
the mixture. The equation shows that efficiency increases with increasing compression ratio.
 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles 5

Fig. 1 Pressure–volume diagram for a gasoline engine. Compression ratio ¼ 8.7:1.

Using an n value of 1.4 for air, the equation predicts an efficiency of 58.47% at a compression ratio of 9:1. A value of n ¼ 1.26 is
more correct for products of combustion of a stoichiometric mixture of air and gasoline. A stoichiometric mixture corresponds to an
air–fuel ratio of 14.7:1, and this air–fuel ratio is typical for most spark ignition engines sold in the United States. At this air–fuel
ratio, calculated efficiency is about 43.5%. Actual engines yield still lower efficiencies even in the absence of mechanical friction, due
to heat transfer to the wall of the cylinder and the inaccuracy associated with assuming combustion to be instantaneous. Fig. 1
shows the pressure–volume cycle of a typical spark ignition engine and its departure from the ideal relationship.
Compression ratios are limited by the octane number of gasoline, which is a measure of its resistance to autoignition or knock.
At high compression ratios, the heat of compression of the air–fuel mixture becomes high enough to induce spontaneous
combustion of small pockets of the mixture, usually those in contact with the hottest parts of the combustion chamber. These
spontaneous combustion events are like small explosions that can damage the engine and can reduce efficiency depending on when
they occur during the cycle. Higher octane number gasoline prevents these events, but also costs more and requires greater energy
expenditure for manufacture at the refinery. The octane number is measured using two different procedures resulting in two
different ratings for a given fuel, called motor octane and research octane number. Octane numbers displayed at the pump are an
average of research and motor octane numbers, and most engines sold in the United States require regular gasoline with a pump
octane number of 87. Typical compression rates for engines running on regular gasoline are around 10:1.
The diesel, or compression ignition, engine differs from the spark ignition engine in that only air, rather than the air–fuel
mixture, is compressed. The diesel fuel is sprayed into the combustion chamber at the end of compression in a fine mist of droplets
and the diesel fuel ignites spontaneously upon contact with the compressed air due to the heat of compression. The sequence of
processes (i.e., intake, compression, combustion, expansion, and exhaust) is similar to that of an Otto cycle engine. However, the
combustion process occurs over a relatively long period and is represented in idealized calculations as an event occurring at constant
pressure (i.e., combustion occurs as the piston moves downward to increase volume and decrease pressure at a rate offsetting the
pressure rise due to heat release). Fig. 2 shows the pressure–volume cycles for a typical diesel engine and its relationship to the ideal
diesel cycle. If the ratio of volume at the end of the combustion period to the volume at the beginning of the period is rc, or the
cutoff-ratio, the thermodynamic efficiency of the idealized constant-pressure combustion cycle is given by
 n 
1 rc  1

¼ n1 (2)
r nðrc  1Þ

It can be seen that for rc ¼ 1, the combustion occurs at constant volume and the efficiency of the diesel and Otto cycle are
equivalent.
The term rc also measures the interval during which fuel is injected, and it increases as the power output is increased. The
efficiency equation shows that as rc is increased, efficiency falls so that the idealized diesel cycle is less efficient at high loads. The
combustion process also is responsible for a major difference between diesel and Otto cycle engines. In an Otto cycle engine, intake
is air throttled to control power while maintaining a near constant air–fuel ratio; in a diesel engine, power control is achieved by
varying the amount of fuel injected while keeping the air mass inducted per cycle at near constant levels. In most operating modes,
6 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles

Fig. 2 Pressure–volume diagram for a diesel engine. Compression ratio ¼ 17:1.

combustion occurs with considerable excess air in a c.i. engine, while combustion occurs at or near stoichiometric air–fuel ratios in a
modern s.i. engine.
At the same compression ratio, the Otto cycle has the higher efficiency. However, diesel cycle engines normally operate at much
higher compression ratios, since there are no octane limitations associated with this cycle. In fact, spontaneous combustion of the
fuel is required in such engines, and the ease of spontaneous combustion is measured by a fuel property called cetane number. Most
c.i. engines require diesel fuels with a cetane number over 40.
In practice, there are two kinds of c.i. engines, the direct injection type (DI) and the indirect injection type (IDI), with the first
being the most common one nowadays as it offers better efficiency. The DI type utilizes a system where fuel is sprayed directly into
the combustion chamber. The fuel spray is premixed and partially combusted with air in a prechamber in the IDI engine, before the
complete burning of the fuel in the main combustion chamber occurs. DI engines generally operate at compression ratios of 15 to
20:1, while IDI engines operate at 18 to 23: 1. The theoretical efficiency of a c.i. engine with a compression ratio of 20:1, operating at
a cutoff ratio of 2, is about 54% (for combustion with excess air, n is approximately 1.3). In practice, these high efficiencies are not
attained, for reasons similar to those outlined for s.i. engines.

Actual Versus Theoretical Efficiency

Four major factors affect the efficiency of s.i. and c.i. engines. First, the ideal cycle cannot be replicated due to thermodynamic and
kinetic limitations of the combustion process, and the heat transfer that occurs from the cylinder walls and combustion chamber.
Second, mechanical friction associated with the motion of the piston, crankshaft, and valves consume a significant fraction of total
power. Since friction is a stronger function of engine speed rather than torque, efficiency is degraded considerably at light load and
high RPM conditions. Third, aerodynamic frictional losses associated with airflow through the air cleaner, intake manifold and
valves, exhaust manifold, silencer, and catalyst are significant, especially at high airflow rates through the engine. Fourth, pumping
losses associated with throttling the airflow to achieve part-load conditions in spark ignition engines are very high at light loads.
Note that c.i. engines do not usually have throttling loss, and their part load efficiencies are superior to those of s.i. engines.
Efficiency varies with both speed and load for both engine types.
Hence, production spark ignition or compression ignition engines do not attain the theoretical values of efficiency, even at their
most efficient operating point. In general, for both types of engines, the maximum efficiency point occurs at an RPM that is
intermediate to idle and maximum RPM and at a level that is 60%–75% of maximum torque. On-road average efficiencies of
engines used in cars and light trucks are much lower than peak efficiency, since the engines generally operate at very light loads
during city driving and steady-state cruise on the highway. High power is utilized only during strong accelerations, at very high
speeds, or when climbing steep gradients. The high load conditions are relatively infrequent, and the engine operates at light loads
much of the time during normal driving.
During normal driving, the heat of fuel combustion is lost to a variety of sources and only a small fraction is converted to useful
output, resulting in the low values for on-road efficiency. Fig. 3 provides an example of the heat balance for a typical small car with a
spark ignition engine under a low speed (25 mph or 40 kph) and a high-speed (62 mph or 100 kph) condition. At very low driving
 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles 7

Fig. 3 Heat balance of a passenger car equipped with 1500 cc engine.

speeds typical of city driving, most of the heat energy is lost to the engine coolant. Losses associated with other waste heat include
radiant and convection losses from the hot engine block and heat losses to the engine oil. A similar heat loss diagram for a diesel c.i.
would indicate lower heat loss to the exhaust and coolant and an increased fraction of heat converted to work, especially at the low
speed condition. During stop-and-go driving conditions typical of city driving, efficiencies are even lower than those indicated in
Fig. 3 because of the time spent at idle where efficiency is zero. Under the prescribed US city cycle conditions, typical spark ignition
engines have an efficiency of about 18%, and DI diesel have an efficiency of about 23%.
Another method of examining the energy losses is by allocating the power losses starting from the power developed within the
cylinder. The useful work corresponds to the area that falls between the compression and expansion curve depicted in Figs. 1 and 2.
The pumping work that is subtracted from this useful work, referred to as indicated work, is a function of how widely the throttle is
open and, to a lesser extent, the speed of the engine. Fig. 4 shows the dependence of specific fuel consumption (or fuel consumption
per unit of work) with load, at constant (low) engine RPM. Pumping work represents only 5% of indicated work at full load, low
RPM conditions, but increases to over 50% at light loads of less than two-tenths of maximum power.
Mechanical friction and accessory drive power, on the other hand, increase nonlinearly with engine speed but do not change
much with the throttle setting. Fig. 5 shows the contribution of the various engine components as well as the alternator, water pump
and oil pump to total friction, expressed in terms of mean effective pressure, as a function of RPM. The brake mean effective pressure
is a measure of specific torque, or torque per unit of engine displacement; typical engine brake mean effective pressure (bmep) of
spark ignition engines that are not supercharged range from 10 to 13 bar. Hence, friction accounts for about 25% of total indicated
power at high RPM ( 6000) but only for about 10% of indicated power at low RPM ( 2000) in spark ignition engines. Friction in
a c.i. engine is higher because of the need to maintain an effective pressure seal at high compression ratios, and the friction mean
effective pressure is 30%–40% higher than that for a dimensionally similar s.i. engine at the same RPM. Since the brake mean
effective pressure of a (noncharged) diesel is also lower than that of a gasoline engine, friction accounts for 15%–16% of indicated
maximum power even at 2000 RPM. Typical bmep values for a naturally aspirated c.i. engine range from 6.5 to 7.5 bar.

Increasing the Efficiency of Spark Ignition Engines

Design Parameters
Engine valvetrain design is a widely used method to classify spark ignition engines. The first spark ignition engines were of the side-
valve type, but such engines have not been used in automobiles for several decades, although some engines used in off-highway
applications, such as lawn mowers or forklifts, continue to use this design. The overhead valve (OHV) design supplanted the side-
valve engine by the early 1950s, and continues to be used in many US engines in much improved form. The overhead cam engine
8 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles

Fig. 4 Specific fuel consumption versus engine load.

Fig. 5 Friction distribution as a function of engine speed.

(OHC) is the dominant design used in the rest of the developed world. The placement of the camshaft in the cylinder heads allows
the use of simple, lighter valvetrains, and valves can be opened and closed more quickly as a result of the reduced inertia. This
permits better flow of intake and exhaust gases, especially at high RPM, with the result that an OHC design typically can produce
greater power at high RPM than an OHV design of the same displacement.
A more sophisticated version of the OHC engine is the double overhead cam (DOHC) engine where two separate camshafts are
used to activate the intake and exhaust valves, respectively. The DOHC design permits a very light valvetrain as the camshaft can
actuate the valves directly without any intervening mechanical linkages. The DOHC design also allows some layout simplification,
especially in engines that feature two intake valves and two exhaust valves (4-valve). The 4-valve engine has become popular since
the mid-1980s and Japanese manufacturers, in particular, have embraced the DOHC 4-valve design. The DOHC design permits
higher specific output than an OHC design, with the 4-valve DOHC design achieving the highest specific output, in excess of
70 BHP/L of displacement.
 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles 9

Thermodynamic Efficiency
Increases in thermodynamic efficiency within the limitations of the Otto cycle are obviously possible by increasing the compression
ratio. However, compression ratio is also fuel octane limited, and increases in compression ratio depend on how the characteristics
of the combustion chamber and the timing of the spark can be tailored to prevent knock while maximizing efficiency.
Spark timing is associated with the delay in initiating and propagating combustion of the air–fuel mixture. To complete
combustion early in the expansion stroke, the spark must be initiated a few crank angle degrees (advance) before the piston reaches
its top position. For a particular combustion chamber, compression ratio, load, speed and air–fuel mixture, there is an optimum
level of spark advance for maximizing combustion chamber pressure and, hence, fuel efficiency. This level of spark advance is called
MBT, for minimum advance for best torque. However, MBT spark advance can result in knock if fuel octane is insufficient to resist
autoignition at the high pressures achieved with this timing. Hence, there is an interplay between spark timing and compression
ratio in determining the onset of knock. Retarding timing from MBT reduces the tendency to knock but decreases fuel efficiency.
Emissions of hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) are also dependent on spark timing and compression ratio, so that
emission constrained engines require careful analysis of the knock, fuel efficiency, and emission trade-offs before the appropriate
value of compression ratio and spark advance can be selected.
Electronic control of spark timing has made it possible to set spark timing closer to MBT relative to engines with mechanical
controls. Due to production variability and inherent timing errors in a mechanical ignition timing system, the average value of
timing in mechanically controlled engines had to be retarded significantly from the MBT timing. This protects the fraction of engines
with higher than average advance due to production variability from knock. The use of electronic controls coupled with magnetic or
optical sensors of crankshaft position has reduced the variability of timing between production engines and also allowed better
control during transient engine operation. Engines have been equipped with knock sensors, which are essentially vibration sensors
tuned to the frequency of knock. These sensors allow for advancing ignition timing to the point where trace knock occurs, so that
timing is optimal for each engine produced regardless of production variability.
High-tumble, fast-burn combustion chambers have been developed to reduce the time taken for the air–fuel mixture to be fully
combusted. The shorter the burn time, the more closely the cycle approximates the theoretical Otto cycle with constant volume
combustion and the greater the thermodynamic efficiency. Reduction in burn time can be achieved by having a turbulent vortex
within the combustion chamber that promotes flame propagation and mixing. The circular motion of the air–fuel mixture
perpendicular to the cylinder axis is known as tumble, and turbulence is also enhanced by shaping the piston so that gases near
the cylinder wall are pushed rapidly towards the center in a motion known as squish. Improvements in flow visualization and
computational fluid dynamics have allowed the optimization of intake valve, inlet port, and combustion chamber geometry to
achieve desired flow characteristics. Typically, these designs have resulted in a 2%–3% improvement in thermodynamic efficiency
and fuel economy. The high-tumble chambers also allow higher compression ratios and reduced spark advance at the same fuel
octane number. The use of these types of combustion chambers has allowed compression ratio from about 8:1 in the early 1980s to
10:1 in the early 2000s, and further improvements have been obtained by an increased use of gasoline direct injection (GDI).
Through injecting fuel directly into the combustion chamber rather than in the intake ports, the heat required for evaporating the
fuel is taken from the combustion chamber thus lowering temperatures and reducing the likelihood of knock occurrence. In engines
of the 4-valve DOHC type, the sparkplug is placed at the center of the combustion chamber, and the chamber can be made very
compact by having a nearly hemispherical shape. Engines incorporating these designs have compression ratios of 10:1 while still
allowing the use of regular 87 octane gasoline. Increases to 12:1 have been made possible through GDI. Further increases are
expected to have diminishing benefits in efficiency and fuel economy and compression ratios beyond 13:1 are not likely to be
beneficial unless fuel octane is raised simultaneously.

Reduction in Mechanical Friction

Mechanical friction losses are being reduced by converting sliding metal contacts to rolling contacts, reducing the weight of moving
parts, reducing production tolerances to improve the fit between pistons and bore, and improving the lubrication between sliding or
rolling parts.
Friction reduction has focused on the valvetrain, pistons, rings, crankshaft, crankpin bearings, and the oil pump. Valvetrain
friction accounts for a larger fraction of total friction losses at low engine RPM than at high RPM. The sliding contract between the
cam that activates the valve mechanism through a pushrod in an OHV design, or a rocker arm in an OHV design, can be substituted
with a rolling contact by means of a roller cam follower. Roller cam followers have been found to reduce fuel consumption by
2%–4% during city driving and 1%–2% in highway driving. The use of lightweight valves made of ceramics or titanium is another
possibility for the future. The lightweight valves reduce valve train inertia and also permit the use of lighter springs with lower
tension. Titanium alloys are also being considered for valve springs which operate under heavy loads. These alloys have only half the
shear modulus of steel and fewer coils are needed to obtain the same spring constant. A secondary benefit associated with lighter
valves and springs is that the erratic valve motion at high RPM is reduced, allowing increased engine RPM range and power output.
The pistons and rings contribute to approximately half of total friction. The primary function of the rings is to minimize leakage
of the air–fuel mixture from the combustion chamber to the crankcase, and oil leakage from the crankcase to the combustion
chamber. The ring pack for most engines is composed of two compression rings and an oil ring. The rings have been shown to
operate hydrodynamically over the cycle, but metal-to-metal contact occurs often at the top and bottom of the stroke. The outward
10 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles

radial forces of the rings are as a result of installed ring tension and contribute to effective sealing as well as friction. Various low-
tension ring designs were introduced in the 1980s, especially since the need to conform to axial diameter variations or bore
distortions have been reduced by improved cylinder manufacturing techniques. Reduced tension rings have yielded friction
reduction in the range of 5%–10%, with fuel economy improvements of 1%–2%. Elimination of one of the two compression
rings has also been tried on some engines, and two-ring pistons may be the low friction concept for the future.
Pistons have also been redesigned to decrease friction. Prior to the 1980s, pistons had large “skirts” to absorb side forces
associated with side-to-side piston motion due to engine manufacturing inaccuracies. Pistons with reduced skirts diminish friction
by having lower surface area in contact with the cylinder wall, but this effect is quite small. A larger effect is obtained for the mass
reduction of a piston with smaller skirts and piston skirt size has seen continuous reduction since the 1980s. Reducing the
reciprocating mass reduces the piston-to-bore loading. Secondary benefits include reduced engine weight and reduced vibration.
Use of advanced materials also result in piston weight reduction. Lightweight pistons use hypereutectic aluminum alloys, while
future pistons could use composite materials such as fiber-reinforced plastics. Advanced materials can also reduce the weight of the
connecting rod, which also contributes to the side force on a piston.
The crankshaft bearings include the main bearings that support the crankshaft and the crankpin bearings and are of the journal
bearing type. These bearings contribute to about 25% of total friction, while supporting the stresses transferred from the piston. The
bearings run on a film of oil and detailed studies of lubrication requirements has led to optimization of bearing width and
clearances to minimize engine friction. Studies on the use of roller bearings rather than journal bearings in this application has
shown further reduction in friction is possible. Crankshaft roller bearings are used only in some two-stroke engines such as
outboard motors for boat propulsion, but their durability in automotive applications has not been established.
Coatings of the piston and ring surfaces with materials to reduce wear also contribute to friction reduction. The top ring, for
example, is normally coated with molybdenum, and new proprietary coating materials with lower friction are being introduced.
Piston coatings of advanced high temperature plastics or resin are used widely and are claimed to reduce friction by 5% and fuel
consumption by 1%.
The oil pumps generally used in most engines are of the gear pump type. Optimization of oil flow rates and reduction of the
tolerances for the axial georotor clearance has led to improved efficiency, which translates to reduced drive power. Friction can be
reduced by 2%–3% with improved oil pump designs for a gain in fuel economy of about half of a percent.
Improvements to lubricants used in the engine also contribute to reduced friction and improved fuel economy. There is a
relationship between oil viscosity, oil volatility, and engine oil consumption. Reduced viscosity oils traditionally resulted in
increased oil consumption, but the development of viscosity index (VI) improvers had made it possible to tailor the viscosity
with temperatures to formulate multigrade oils such as 10W-40 (these numbers refer to the range of viscosity covered by a
multigrade oil). These multigrade oils act like low-viscosity oils during cold starts of the engine, reducing fuel consumption, but
retain the lubricating properties of higher viscosity oils after the engine warms up to normal operating temperature. The develop-
ment of 5W-20 oils and 5W-40 oils can contribute to a fuel economy improvement by further viscosity reduction. Friction modifiers
containing molybdenum compounds have also reduced friction without affecting wear or oil consumption. Future synthetic oils
combining reduced viscosity and friction modifiers can offer good wear protection, low oil consumption, and extended drain
capability along with small improvements to fuel economy in the range of 1%–3% over current oils.

Reduction in Pumping Loss

Reductions in flow pressure loss can be achieved by reducing the pressure drop that occurs in the flow of air (air–fuel mixture) into
the cylinder and the combusted mixture through the exhaust system. However, the largest part of pumping loss during normal
driving is due to throttling, and strategies to reduce throttling loss have included variable valve timing and lean-burn systems.
The pressure losses associated with the intake system and exhaust system have been typically defined in terms of volumetric
efficiency, which is a ratio of the actual airflow through an engine to the airflow associated with filling the cylinder completely. The
volumetric efficiency can be improved by making the intake airflow path as free of flow restrictions as possible through the air filters,
intake manifolds, and valve ports. The shaping of valve ports to increase tumble in the combustion chamber can lead to reduced
volumetric efficiency, leading to a trade-off between combustion and volumetric efficiency.
More important, the intake and exhaust processes are transient in nature as they occur only over approximately half a revolution
of the crankshaft. The momentum effects of these flow oscillations can be exploited by keeping the valves open for durations greater
than half a crankshaft revolution. During the intake stroke, the intake valve can be kept open beyond the end of the intake stroke,
since the momentum of the intake flow results in a dynamic pressure that sustains the intake flow even when the piston begins the
compression stroke. A similar effect is observed in the exhaust process, and the exhaust valve can be held open during the initial part
of the intake stroke. These flow momentum effects depend on the velocity of the flow which is directly proportional to engine RPM.
Increasing the valve opening duration helps volumetric efficiency at high RPM but hurts it at low RPM. Valve timing and overlap are
selected to optimize the trade-off between high and low RPM performance characteristics.
Efficiency improvements can be realized by changing the valve overlap period to provide less overlap at idle and low engine
speeds and greater overlap at high RPM. In DOHC engines, where separate crankshafts actuate the intake and exhaust valves, the valve
overlap period can be changed by rotating the camshafts relative to each other. Such mechanisms show low RPM torque improve-
ments of 7%–10% with no sacrifice in maximum horsepower attained in the 5500–6000 RPM range. Variable valve overlap period is
just one aspect of a more comprehensive variable valve timing system. Exploiting fully variable valve timing to benefit volumetric
efficiency at higher RPM can result in engine output levels of up to 100 BHP/L with little or no effect on low-speed torque.
 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles 11

The oscillatory intake and exhaust flows can allow volumetric efficiency to be increased by exploiting resonance effects
associated with pressure waves similar to those in organ pipes. The intake manifolds can be designed with pipe lengths that
resonate, so that a high-pressure wave is generated at the intake valve as it is about to close, to cause a supercharging effect. Exhaust
manifolds can be designed to resonate to achieve the opposite pressure effect to purge exhaust gases from this cylinder. For a given
pipe length, resonance occurs only at a certain specific frequency and its integer multiples so that, historically, tuned intake and
exhaust manifolds could help performance only in certain narrow RPM ranges. The incorporation of a resonance tank using the
Helmholtz resonator principle in addition to tuned length intake pipes has led to improved intake manifold design that provides
benefits over broader RPM ranges. Variable resonance systems have been introduced, where the intake tube lengths are changed at
different RPM by opening and closing switching valves to realize smooth and high torque across virtually the entire engine speed
range. Typically, the volumetric efficiency improvement is in the range of 4%–5% over fixed resonance systems.
Another method to increase efficiency is by increasing valve area. A 2-valve design is limited in valve size by the need to
accommodate the valves and spark plugs in the circle defined by the cylinder base. The active flow area is defined by the product of
valve circumference and lift. Increasing the number of valves is an obvious way to increase total valve area and flow area, and the
4-valve system, which increases flow area by 25%–30% over 2-valve layouts, has gained broad acceptance. The valves can be
arranged around the cylinder bore and the spark plug placed in the center of the bore to improve combustion.
Under most normal driving conditions, the throttling loss is the single largest contributor to reduction in engine efficiency. In s.i.
engines, the air is throttled ahead of the intake manifold by means of a butterfly valve that is connected to the accelerator pedal. The
vehicle’s driver demands a power level by depressing or releasing the accelerator pedal, which in turn opens or closes the butterfly
valve. The presence of the butterfly valve in the intake air stream creates a vacuum in the intake manifold at part throttle conditions,
and the intake stroke draws in air at reduced pressure, resulting in pumping losses. These losses are proportional to the intake
vacuum and disappear at wide open throttle.
Measures to reduce throttling loss are varied. The horsepower demand by the driver can be satisfied by any combination of
torque and RPM since

Power ¼ Torque  RPM:

The higher the torque, the lower the RPM to satisfy a given power demand. Higher torque implies less throttling, and the lower
RPM also reduces friction loss so that the optimum theoretical fuel efficiency at a given level of horsepower demand occurs at the
highest torque level the engine is capable of. In practice, the highest level is never chosen because of the need to maintain a large
reserve of torque for immediate acceleration and also because engine vibrations are a problem at low RPM, especially near or below
engine speeds referred to as lugging RPM. Nevertheless, this simple concept can be exploited to the maximum by using a small
displacement high specific output engine in combination with a multispeed transmission with five or more forward gears. The larger
number of gears allows selection of the highest torque/lowest RPM combination for fuel economy at any speed and load, while
maintaining sufficient reserve torque for instantaneous changes in power demand. A specific torque increase of 10% can be utilized
to provide a fuel economy benefit of 3%–3.5% if the engine is downsized by 8%–10%. In light vehicles, the number of forward
gears has been increasing from 5 to 7 and more, and six-speed transmissions are likely to be the standard in the near future. The
continuously variable transmission is another development that allow continuous change of gear ratios over a specific range.
Lean-burn is another method to reduce pumping loss. Rather than throttling the air, the fuel flow is reduced so that the air–fuel
ratio increases, or becomes leaner. (In this context, the c.i. engine is a lean-burn engine.) Most s.i. engines, however, do not run well
at air: fuel ratios leaner than 18:1, as the combustion quality deteriorates under lean conditions. Engines constructed with high
turbulence in the intake charge can run well at air: fuel ratios up to 21:1. In a vehicle, lean-burn engines are calibrated lean only at
light loads to reduce throttling loss, but run at stoichiometric or rich air:fuel ratios at high loads to maximize power. The excess air
combustion at light loads has the added advantage of having a favorable effect on the polytropic coefficient, n, in the efficiency
equation. Modern lean-burn engines do not eliminate throttling loss, but the reduction is sufficient to improve vehicle fuel
economy by 8%–10%. The disadvantage of lean burn is that such engines cannot use the robust and cheap catalytic controls of
stoichiometric engines to reduce emissions of oxide of nitrogen (NOx), and the in-cylinder NOx emission control from running lean
is insufficient to meet stringent NOx emissions standards. Hence, they need to use lean NOx catalysts with implications for cost,
complexity and efficiency (in case of NOx traps that need periodic regeneration).
Another type of lean-burn s.i. engine is the stratified charge engine. In some GDI engines the fuel is sprayed into the combustion
chamber late in the compression stroke. Typically, this enables the air: fuel ratio to vary axially or radially in the cylinder, with the
richest air: fuel ratios present near the sparkplug or at the top of the cylinder. Stratification requires very careful design of the
combustion chamber shape and intake tumble, as well as of the fuel injection system. Advanced direct injection systems have been
able to maintain stable combustion at total air: fuel ratios as high as 40:1. Such engines have been commercialized since 2000 in
Europe and Japan. As mentioned above, widespread use is hindered by aftertreatment complexity.
Variable valve timing is another method to reduce throttling loss. By closing the intake valve early, the intake process occurs over
a smaller fraction of the cycle, resulting in a lower vacuum in the intake manifold. It is possible to completely eliminate the butterfly
valve that throttles air and achieve all part load settings by varying the intake valve opening duration. However, at very light load, the
intake valve is open for a very short duration, and this leads to weaker in-cylinder gas motion and reduced combustion stability. At
high RPM, the throttling loss benefits are not realized fully. Throttling occurs at the valve when the valve closing time increases
relative to the intake stroke duration at high speeds, due to the valvetrain inertia. Hence, throttling losses can be decreased by 80% at
light load, low RPM conditions, but by only 40%–50% at high RPM, even with fully variable valve timing.
12 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles

Variable valve timing can also provide a number of other benefits, such as reduced valve overlap at light loads/low speeds
(discussed earlier) and maximized output over the entire range of engine RPM. In comparison to an engine with fixed valve timing
that offers equal performance, fuel efficiency improvements of 7%–10% are possible. The principal drawback has historically been
the lack of a durable and low-cost mechanism to implement valve timing changes. In recent years, a fairly large number of systems
have been introduced that are ingenious mechanisms with the required durability.

Increasing the Efficiency of Compression Ignition (Diesel) Engines

Compression ignition engines, commonly referred to as diesel engines, are in widespread use. Most c.i. engines in vehicle
applications are the direct injection type. Historically, c.i. engines operated at much lower brake mean effective pressures compared
to s.i. engines, of (typically) about 7–8 bar at full load. Maximum power output of a c.i. engine is limited by the rate of mixing
between the injected fuel spray and hot air. For naturally aspirated c.i. engines, at high fueling levels inadequate mixing leads to high
black smoke, and the maximum horsepower is then smoke limited. Such naturally aspirated diesel engines for light-duty vehicle use
had specific power outputs of 25–35 BHP/L, which was about half the specific output of an s.i. engine. However, fuel consumption
was significantly better, and c.i. engines were preferred over s.i. engines where fuel economy is important. Over the past two decades
however, diesel technology rapidly developed, with turbocharging using up to 4 turbos on a single engine (further explained
below), and injection pressures exceeding 2000 bar. This has led to specific power outputs over 100 BHP/L and peak bmeps
approaching 30 bar.
Due to the combustion process, as well as the high internal friction of a c.i. engine, maximum speed is typically limited to less
than 4500 RPM, which explains why specific output of c.i. engines is typically still lower than that of s.i. engines. In light-duty
vehicle use, an IDI engine displayed between 20% and 40% better fuel economy depending on whether the comparison is based on
engines of equal displacement or of equal power output in the same RPM range. The improvement is largely due to the superior part
load efficiency of the c.i. engine, as there is no throttling loss. At high vehicle speeds (>120 km/h), the higher internal friction of the
c.i. engine offsets the reduced throttling loss, and the fuel efficiency difference between s.i. and c.i. engine narrows considerably.
Most of the evolutionary improvements for compression ignition engines in friction and pumping loss reduction are concep-
tually similar to those described for s.i. engines, and this section focuses on the unique aspects of c.i. engine improvements.

Design Parameters
Note that c.i. engines have also adopted some of the same valvetrain designs as those found in s.i. engines. While most c.i. engines
were of the OHV type, European c.i. engines for passenger car use are of the OHC type. The c.i. engine is not normally run at high
RPM, so that the difference in specific output between an OHV and an OHC design is small. The OHC design does permit a simpler
and lighter cylinder block casting, which is beneficial for overcoming some of the inherent weight liabilities. OHC designs also
permitted the camshaft to directly activate the fuel injector in unit injector designs, which were capable of high injection pressure
and fine atomization of the fuel spray. Four-valve OHC or DOHC designs allow central placement of the fuel injector in the
cylinder, which enhances uniform mixing of air and fuel.

Thermodynamic Efficiency
The peak efficiency of an IDI engine was comparable to or only slightly better than the peak efficiency of an s.i. engine, based on
average values for engines in production. The contrast between theoretical and actual efficiency is notable, and part of the reason is
that the prechamber in the IDI diesel was a source of energy loss. The design of the prechamber was optimized to promote swirl and
mixing of the fuel spray with air, but the prechamber increased total combustion time. Its extra surface area also resulted in more
heat transfer into the cylinder head. Due to injection system development, the introduction of fuel and the fuel–air mixing could be
greatly sped up and thus IDI engines have been replaced by DI engines.
Direct injection (DI) systems avoid the heat and flow losses from the prechamber by injecting the fuel into the combustion
chamber. The combustion process in DI diesels consists of two phases. The first phase consists of an ignition delay period followed
by spontaneous ignition of the fuel–air mixture that has formed since injection. The second phase is characterized by diffusion
burning of the subsequently introduced fuel. The fuel injection system must be capable of injecting very little fuel during the first
phase and provide highly atomized fuel and promote intensive mixing during the second. Historically, the mixing process has been
aided by creating high swirl in the combustion chamber to promote turbulence. However, high swirl and turbulence also lead to
flow losses and heat losses, thus reducing efficiency. The current concept is the quiescent chamber where all of the mixing is achieved
by injecting fuel at very high pressures to promote fine atomization and complete penetration into the air in the combustion
chamber. New common rail fuel injection systems using can achieve pressures in excess of 2000 bar, and allow multiple injection
events. Quiescent combustion chamber designs with high-pressure fuel injection systems have proved to be very fuel efficient and
are in widespread use in heavy-duty truck engines. These systems have the added advantage of reducing particulate and smoke
emissions.
DI engines have also become standard in the light-duty vehicle market, but these engines still utilize swirl type combustion
chambers to ensure adequate mixing at the light loads these engines are typically working in. In combination with turbocharging
 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles 13

(see “Intake Charge Boosting” section), the new DI engines have attained peak efficiencies of over 44%. Fuel economy
improvements in the composite cycle relative to IDI engines are in the 12%–15% range, and are up to 40% higher than naturally
aspirated s.i. engines with similar torque characteristics. It is not clear if quiescent combustion chambers will be ever used in DI
engines for cars, since the ignition delay at light loads is rather high and thus spray-induced turbulence has decayed by the time
combustion starts. Thus, swirl is needed to ensure sufficient turbulence for mixing.
Although the efficiency equation shows that increasing compression ratio has a positive effect on efficiency, practical limitations
preclude any significant efficiency gain beyond 16–18 compression ratio (exact number depending on the engine size). At high
compression ratios, heat losses increase due to the increase of combustion chamber surface area to volume ratio, and because of the
higher pressures frictional losses increase. Compression ratios for IDI engines were higher than optimal to provide enough heat of
compression so that a cold start at low ambient temperature was possible.

Friction and Pumping Loss

Most of the friction reducing technologies that can be adopted in s.i. engines are conceptually similar to those that can be adopted
for diesels. There are limitations to the extent of reduction of ring tension and piston size due to the high compression ratio of c.i.
engines, but roller cam followers, optimized crankshaft bearings, and multigrade lubricants have also been adopted for c.i. engine
use. Since friction is a larger fraction of total loss, a 10% reduction in fraction in a c.i. engine can lead to a 3%–4% improvement in
fuel economy.
Pumping losses are not as significant a contributor to overall energy loss in a c.i. engine, but tuned intake manifolds and
improved valve port shapes and valve designs have also improved volumetric efficiency of modern c.i. engines. Four-valve designs
with a centrally mounted injector have become standard in DI engines since it allows for symmetry in the fuel spray with resultant
good air utilization.
Variable valve timing or any form of valve control holds little benefit for c.i. engines due to the lack of throttling loss, and lack of
high RPM performance. Valve timing can be varied to reduce the effective compression ratio, so that a very high ratio can be used for
cold starts, but a lower, more optimal, ratio for fully warmed up operation. Variable exhaust timing can also be beneficial for raising
exhaust temperature in the interest of after-treatment light-off or regeneration.

Intake Charge Boosting

Historically, most c.i. and s.i. engines for light vehicles used intake air at atmospheric pressure. One method to increase maximum
power at wide open throttle is to increase the density of air supplied to the intake by precompression. This permits a smaller
displacement engine to be substituted without loss of power and acceleration performance. The use of a smaller displacement
engine reduces pumping loss at part load and friction loss. However, intake charge compression has its own drawbacks. Its effect is
similar to raising the compression ratio in terms of peak cylinder pressure, but maximum cylinder pressure is limited in s.i. engines
by the fuel octane. Charge boosted engines generally required premium gasolines with higher octane number if the charge boost
levels are more than 0.2–0.3 bar over atmospheric in vehicles for street use. Racing cars use boost levels up to 1.5 bar in conjunction
with a very high octane fuel such as methanol. This limitation is not present in a c.i. engine, and charge boosting is much more
common in c.i. engine applications. All c.i. engines for vehicle applications now use charge boosting. For s.i. engines, with the
increased use of direct injection and/or variable valve systems which help cool the combustion chamber, boosting has gained
significant importance.
Intake charge boosting is normally achieved by the use of turbochargers or superchargers. Turbochargers recover the wasted heat
and pressure in the exhaust through a turbine, which in turn drives a compressor to boost intake pressure. Superchargers are
generally driven by the engine itself and are theoretically less efficient than a turbocharger. Many engines that use either device also
utilize an aftercooler that cools the compressed air as it exits from the supercharger or turbocharger. The aftercooler increases engine
specific power output by providing the engine with a denser intake charge, and for s.i. engines the lower temperature also helps in
preventing detonation, or knock.

Turbochargers
Turbochargers in automotive applications are of the radial flow turbine type. The turbine extracts pressure energy from the exhaust
stream and drives a compressor that increases the pressure of the intake air. A number of issues affect the performance of
turbomachinery, some of which are a result of natural laws governing the interrelationship between pressure, airflow, and
turbocharger speed. Turbochargers do not function at light load because there is very little energy in the exhaust stream. At high
load, the turbocharger’s ability to provide boost is a nonlinear function of exhaust flow. At low engine speed and high load, the
turbocharger provides little boost, but boost increases rapidly beyond a certain flow rate that is dependent on the turbocharger size.
The turbocharger also has a maximum flow rate, and the matching of a turbocharger’s flow characteristics to a piston engine’s flow
requirements involves a number of trade-offs. If the turbocharger is sized to provide adequate charge boost at moderate engine
speeds, high RPM boost is limited and there is a sacrifice in maximum power. A larger turbocharger capable of maximizing power at
high RPM sacrifices the ability to provide boost at normal driving conditions. At very low RPM (for example, when accelerating from
14 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles

a stopped condition), no practical design provides boost immediately. Moreover, the addition of a turbocharger to a s.i. engine
requires the engine compression ratio to be decreased by 1.5–2 points (or 1–1.5 with an aftercooler) to prevent detonation. The net
result is that turbocharged engines have lower brake specific fuel efficiencies than engines of equal size, but can provide some
efficiency benefit when compared to engines of equal mid-range or top end power. During sudden acceleration, the turbocharger
does not provide boost instantaneously due to its inertia, and turbocharged vehicles can have noticeably different acceleration
characteristics than naturally aspirated vehicles. New variable geometry turbochargers have improved response and better boost
characteristics over the operating range and variable valve timing has also improved this.
Turbochargers are much better suited to c.i. engines since these engines are unthrottled and the combustion process is not knock
limited. Airflow at a given engine load/speed setting is always higher for a c.i. engine relative to an s.i. engine, and this provides a less
restricted operating regime for the turbocharger. The lack of a knock limit also allows increased boost and removes the need to cap
boost pressure under most operating conditions. Turbocharged c.i. engines offer up to double the specific power and torque, and
about 10% better fuel economy than naturally aspirated c.i. engines of approximately equal torque capability.

Superchargers
Most s.i. engine superchargers are driven off the crankshaft and are of the Roots blower or positive displacement compressor type. In
comparison to turbochargers, these superchargers are bulky and weigh considerably more. In addition, the superchargers are driven
off the crankshaft, absorbing 3%–5% of the engine power output depending on pressure boost and engine speed.
The supercharger, however, does not have the low RPM boost problems associated with turbochargers and can be designed to
nearly eliminate any time lag in delivering the full boost level. As a result, superchargers are more acceptable to consumers from a
driveability viewpoint. The need to reduce engine compression ratio and the supercharger’s drive power requirement detract from
overall efficiency. In automotive applications, a supercharged engine can replace a naturally aspirated engine that is 30%–35%
larger in displacement, with a net pumping loss reduction. Overall, fuel economy improves by about 8% or less, if the added weight
effects are included.
Superchargers are less efficient in combination with c.i. engines, since these engines run lean even at full load, and the power
required for compressing air is proportionally greater. Supercharged c.i. engines are not commercially available, since the turbo-
charger appears far more suitable in these application.

Alternative Heat Engines

A number of alternative engines types have been researched for use in passenger cars but have not yet proved successful in the
market place. A brief discussion of the suitability of four engines for automotive power plants is provided next.
The Wankel engine is the most successful of the four engines in that it has been in commercial production in limited volume
since the 1970s. The thermodynamic cycle is identical to that of a four-stroke engine, but the engine does not use a reciprocating
piston in a cylinder. Rather a triangular rotor spins eccentrically inside a figure eight–shaped casing. The volume trapped between
the two rotor edges and the casing varies with rotor position, so that the intake, compression, expansion, and exhaust stroke occur as
the rotor spins through one revolution. The engine is very compact relative to a piston s.i. engine of equal power, and the lack of
reciprocating parts provides smooth operation. However, the friction associated with the rotor seals is high, and the engine also
suffers from more heat losses than an s.i. engine. For these reasons, the Wankel engine’s efficiency has always been below that of a
modern s.i. piston engine.
The two-stroke engine is widely used in small motorcycles but was thought to be too inefficient and polluting for use in
passenger cars. One development is the use of direct injection stratified charge (DISC) combustion with this type of engine. One of
the major problems with the two-stroke engine is that the intake stroke overlaps with the exhaust stroke resulting in some intake
mixture passing uncombusted into the exhaust. The use of a DISC design avoids this problem since only air is inducted during
intake. Advanced fuel injection systems have been developed to provide a finely atomized mist of fuel just prior to spark initiation
and to sustain combustion at light loads. The two-stroke engines of this type are thermodynamically less efficient than four-stroke
DISC engines, but the internal friction loss and weight of two-stroke engine is much lower than a four-stroke engine of equal power.
As a result, the engine may provide fuel economy equal or superior to that of a DISC (four-stroke) engine when installed in a vehicle.
Experimental prototypes have achieved good results, but the durability and emissions performance of advanced two-stroke engines
is still not established.
Gas turbine engines are widely used to power aircraft, and considerable research has been completed to assess its use in
automobiles. Such engines use continuous combustion of fuel, which holds the potential for low emissions and multifuel
capability. The efficiency of the engine is directly proportional to the combustion temperature of the fuel, which has been
constrained to 1200 C by the metals used to fabricate turbine blades. The use of high-temperature ceramic materials for turbine
blades coupled with the use of regenerative exhaust waste heat recovery were expected to increase the efficiency of gas turbine
engines to levels significantly higher than the efficiency of s.i. engines.
In reality, such goals have not yet been attained partly because the gas turbine components become less aerodynamically
efficient at the small engine sizes suitable for passenger car use. Part load efficiency is a major problem for gas turbines due to the
nonlinear efficiency changes with airflow rates in turbomachinery. In addition, the inertia of the gas turbine makes it poorly suited
 Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles 15

to vehicle applications, where speed and load fluctuations are rapid in city driving. As a result, there is little optimism that the gas
turbine powered vehicle will be a reality in the foreseeable future.
Stirling engines have held a particular fascination for researchers since the cycle closely approximates the ideal Carnot cycle,
which extracts the maximum amount of work theoretically possible from a heat source. This engine is also a continuous combustion
engine like the gas turbine engine. While the engine uses a piston to convert heat energy to work, the working fluid is enclosed and
heat is conducted in and out of the working fluid by heat exchangers. To maximize efficiency, the working fluid is a gas of low
molecular weight like hydrogen or helium. Prototype designs of the Stirling engine have not yet attained efficiency goals and have
had other problems, such as the containment of the working fluid. The Stirling engine is, like the gas turbine, not well suited to
applications where the load and speed change rapidly, and much of the interest in this engine has faded.

Further Reading

Amman C (1989) The automotive engine—A future perspective. GM Research Publication GMR-6653.
Lichty C (1967) Combustion engine processes. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.
National Academy of Sciences (2001) Effectiveness and impact of corporate average fuel economy standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Office of Technology Assessment (1995) Advanced Automotive Technology—Visions of a Super—Efficient Family Car. Report to the U.S. Congress, OTA-ETI-638.
Weiss MA (ed.) (2000) On the Road in 2020, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Report MIT-EC00-003.