Internal Combustion Engines

Heat Transfer in Engines

 Heat Transfer in Engines

•Heat transfer occurring in an IC engine, is

extremely important for proper operation.
• About 35% percent of the total fuel chemical energy in
an engine is converted to useful crankshaft work,

• about 30% of the fuel energy is carried away in the

exhaust flow in the form of enthalpy and chemical
energy.
• about one-third of the total energy must be dissipated
to the surroundings by some mode of heat
transfer.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
•Temperatures within the combustion chamber
reach values on the order of 2700 K and up.
• Materials in the engine cannot tolerate this kind of
temperature and would quickly fail without a proper heat
transfer.

•Removing heat is highly critical in keeping an

engine and engine lubricant from thermal failure.

•On the other hand, it is desirable to operate an

engine as hot as possible to maximize thermal
efficiency
 Heat Transfer in Engines
10.1 Energy Distribution
The amount of energy available for use in an engine is:

W  m
 f QHV
Where m f = fuel flow rate into the engine
QHV = heating value of the fuel

Brake thermal efficiency the gives % of this total energy

the useful output:

t brake  W /( m f QHV c )

Heat Transfer in Engines
 Heat Transfer in Engines
Power generated, PG, in an SI engine is
PG  Wshaft  Wexhaust  Wloss  Wacct
W shaft = brake power

Wexhaust = energy lost in the exhaust to the surroundings

Wloss = all energy lost to the surroundings by heat transfer

Wacc = power to run engine accessories

 Heat Transfer in Engines
Fig. 10.2 Typical
temperature values
found in an SI engine
operating at normal
conditions in oC.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
10-3 Heat Transfer in the intake system
As the air fuel mixture enters an engine through the
intake system, its temperature rises from room
temperature to around 60o C. the walls of the intake are
hotter than the gas”:


Q  hA Twall  Tgas 
T = temperature
h = convection heat transfer coefficient
A = inside surface area of intake manifold
 Heat Transfer in Engines
10-4 Heat Transfer in the combustion chamber
Modes of heat transfer in IC engines applied to the air-fuel
mixture is in the cylinders:
the three primary modes of heat transfer play an important part:
Which are:
• Conduction
• convection
• Radiation

In addition, the temperature within the cylinders is also affected

by a phase change-evaporation of the remaining
liquid fuel.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
• State of The air-fuel mixture:

• During the intake:

The air-fuel mixture entering a cylinder may be:
• hotter or cooler than the cylinder walls,
• Therefore heat transfer can be in either direction.
• End of compression stroke:
the gas temperature is high and convective heat transfer to
the cylinder walls occurs.

•Effect of the evaporative cooling in the cylinder:

the evaporation of the remaining liquid fuel
droplets reduces partially the compressive
heating
 Heat Transfer in Engines
Figure 10-5 shows heat transfer through a cylinder wall.
Heat transfer per unit surface area will be:
 Heat Transfer in Engines
Convection and conduction are the main heat transfer modes to remove
energy from the combustion chamber and keep the cylinder walls from
melting.

 
q  Q / A  Tg  Tc / 1 / hg  x / k  1 / hc 
where Tg = gas temperature in the combustion chamber
Tc = coolant temperature
hg = convection heat transfer coefficient on the gas side
hc = convection heat transfer coefficient on the coolant side
Δx = thickness of the combustion chamber wall
k = thermal conductivity of the cylinder wall

Heat transfer in the above equation is cyclic. Tg in the combustion

chamber varies greatly over an engine cycle, ranging from
maximum values during combustion to minimum during intake.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
Convection heat transfer on the inside surface of the
cylinder is:
q = Q/A = hg(Tg - Tw)
Radiation cylinder gas and combustion chamber walls
  
q  Q / A   Tg  Tw / 1   g  /  g  1 / F1 2   1   w  /  w g
 4 4

where Tg = gas temperature

Tw = wall temperature
σ = Stefan-Boltzmann constant
εg = emissivity of gas
εw = emissivity of gas
F1-2 = View factor between gas and wall
 Heat Transfer in Engines
10-7 AIR-COOLED ENGINES
Many small engines and some medium-sized engines are
air cooled. This includes most small-engine tools and
toys like lawn mowers, chain saws, model airplanes, etc.
This allows both the weight and price of these engines to
be kept low.

Some motorcycles, automobiles, and aircraft have air-

cooled engines, also benefitting from lower weight.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
When compared with liquid-cooled engines, air-cooled
engines have the following advantages:
1. lighter weight,
2. less costly,
3. no coolant system failures (e.g., water pump, hoses),
4. no engine freeze-ups, and
5. faster engine warmup.
Disadvantages of air-cooled engines are that they
1) are less efficient,
2) are noisier, with greater air flow requirements and no
water jacket to dampen noise, and
3) need a directed air flow and finned surfaces.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
10-8 LIQUID-COOLED ENGINES
The engine block of a water-cooled engine:
• is surrounded with a water jacket through which
coolant liquid flows (Fig. 10-12).
• It allows much better control of heat removal
• at a cost of added weight and a need for a water pump.
• The cost, weight, and complexity of a liquid coolant
system makes this type of cooling very unrealistic on
small and/or low-cost engines.
• Very few water-cooled engines use just water as the
coolant fluid in the water jacket.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
10-8 LIQUID-COOLED ENGINES
water make it a very good heat transfer fluid, but it has some
drawbacks:

•Pure water has a freezing point of 0 oC,

•It is unacceptable in northern winter climates.
•Its boiling temperature, even in a pressurized
cooling system, is lower than desired,
•without additives it promotes rust and corrosion
in many materials.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
10-8 LIQUID-COOLED ENGINES
Most engines use a mixture of water and ethylene glycol.
• It has the heat transfer advantages of water
• It also improves on some of the physical properties.

Ethylene glycol (C2H602)- called antifreeze: ethylene glycol

concentrations is from a small amount up to about 70%.
• acts as a rust inhibitor and
• a lubricant for the water pump,
• it lowers the freezing temperature and raises the boiling
temperature, both desirable consequences.
Note: the freezing temperature again rises at high concentrations.
The desirable heat transfer properties of water are also lost at high
concentrations. Pure ethylene glycol should not be used as an engine
coolant.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
Fig. 10.14 schematic of cooling system of water cooled 1982, 1.8
liter Chevrolet engine
 Heat Transfer in Engines
Fig. 10-15 Radiator of a liquid cooled engine used to remove heat
from the coolant loop of the engine
Heat Transfer in Engines
 Heat Transfer in Engines
A thermostat is installed in the coolant loop, usually at the engine
flow entrance.
It keeps the coolant fluid temperature from dropping below a minimum
value, and so keeping the engine operating at a higher temperature and
efficiency
• A thermostat is a thermally activated go-no go valve.
• When the thermostat is cold, it is closed and allows no fluid flow
through the main circulation channel.
• As the engine warms up, the thermostat also warms up, and thermal
expansion opens the flow passage and allows coolant circulation.
• The higher the temperature, the greater the flow passage opening, with
the greater resulting coolant flow.
• The coolant temperature is, therefore, controlled fairly accurately by
the opening and closing of the thermostat.
Heat Transfer in Engines
 Heat Transfer in Engines
Pressure cap and reserve tank
As coolant gets hot, it expands.
• The cooling system is sealed,
• the expansion of water causes an increase
in pressure in the cooling system,
• It is normal and part of the design.

When coolant is under pressure, the boiling

temperature of the liquid is considerably
higher.

This pressure, coupled with the higher

boiling point of ethylene glycol, allows
the coolant to safely reach temperatures
in excess of 250 oF (121 oC).
 Heat Transfer in Engines
Heater Core
The hot coolant is also used to provide heat to the
interior of the vehicle when needed.
It is a system that includes a heater core, which
looks like a radiator, connected to the cooling
system with a pair of rubber hoses.

One hose brings hot coolant from the water pump to the heater
core and the other hose returns the coolant to the top of the
engine.
There is usually a heater control valve in one of the hoses to
block the flow of coolant into the heater core when maximum
air conditioning is called for.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
Freeze Plugs
When an engine block is manufactured, a
special sand is molded to the shape of the
coolant passages in the engine block.
This sand sculpture is positioned inside a
mold and molten iron or aluminum is poured
to form the engine block.
When the casting is cooled, the sand is removed through holes in the
engine block leaving the passages that the coolant flows through.
Obviously, if we don't plug up these holes, the coolant will pour right out.
To plug these holes freeze-out plug are used.
These plugs are steel discs or cups that are press fit in the holes in the side
of the engine block and normally last the life of the engine with no
problems.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
Freeze Plugs
But why they are called freeze-out plugs.
• In the early days, many people used plain water in their
engines, usually after replacing a burst hose or other cooling
system repair.
• In summer they add pure water thinking that when weather
changes they will change it into antifreeze water
• But people forget to change the water into antifreeze water
mixture and motors are suffered the fate of the water freezing
inside the block.
• Often, when this happened the pressure of the water freezing
and expanding forced the freeze-out plugs to pop out, relieving
the pressure and saving the engine block from cracking.
 Heat Transfer in Engines
Freeze Plugs
But why they are called freeze-out plugs-continue
• Another reason for these plugs to fail was the fact that they
were made of steel and would easily rust through if the vehicle
owner was careless about maintaining the cooling system.
• Antifreeze has rust inhibitors in the formula to prevent this from
happening, but those chemicals would lose their effect after 3
years, which is why antifreeze needs to be changed
periodically. The fact that some people left plain water in their
engines greatly accelerated the rusting of these freeze plugs.
Heat Transfer in Engines

Thanks