Engines, Motors, and

Mobility
[ME F317]
BITS Pilani Dr. Saket Verma
Department of Mechanical Enginerring
Pilani Campus
 BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

Lecture No.: 10
Conventional Fuels
Necessity to study about fuels

• Engine – converts chemical energy of fuel to heat energy to mechanical energy.

Chemical energy Heat Energy Mechanical energy

of fuel

• Characteristics of fuels influence design, efficiency, output, reliability and

durability and also atmospheric pollution.

• Hence it is necessary to study about fuels.

 Types of Fuels

Solid fuels:
• Finely powdered coal solid fuel was attempted in the early stages.
• Have problems in handling, storing, disposing, solid residue, ash after combustion.
• Hence very little practical application.
Gaseous fuels:
• Ideal, mix homogeneously with air, hence no starting or distribution problems as
encountered in liquid fuels.
• Have problems in handling, storing, hence not used in automobiles but used in
stationary power plants.
• Liquifying gaseous fuels is expensive and risky.
Liquid fuels:
• Ease of storage and handling. Used in modern IC engines.
• Types of liquid fuels – Benzyl, Alcohol and petroleum products with petroleum
products being the most significant.
 Chemical Structure of Petroleum

• Chemical composition of different hydrocarbons affect the combustion process, and

hence the proportion of fuel and air required in the engine.

• Carbon and hydrogen combine in different proportions and molecular structures to

form different hydrocarbons.
• C to H ratio and their nature of bonding determines the energy characteristics.
• Petroleum fuels exhibit the characteristics of that type of hydrocarbon which forms
a major constituent of the fuel.
 Paraffin Series
(Alkanes)
• Straight chain molecular structure with single bonds are called normal paraffin.
• Open chain structure with an attached branch are called branched chain paraffin.

• For eg., Isobutane has same chemical formula and molecular weight but different
molecular structure and physical characteristics.

• Valency of carbon atoms is fully utilized by single bonds with hydrogen atoms,
hence saturated and highly stable.
 Olefin Series
(Alkenes)

• Straight chain molecular structure but unsaturated due to double bonds.

• Mono-olefins have one double bond and di-olefins have two.

• Not as stable as paraffins. Readily oxidized in storage to form gummy deposits.

Hence olefin content is kept low by specification.
 Naphthene Series
(Cyclanes)

• Have same chemical formula as olefins but have ring structure, hence are called
cyclo-paraffins.
• Saturated and hence stable.

• Eg., - Cyclopentane.
 Aromatic Series

• Ring structured having benzene as their central structure.

• Peculiar nature of double bond causes them to be more stable than other
unsaturated compounds.
• Hydrogen is replaced with organic radical such as paraffins, olefins to get various
aromatic compounds.
• Adding Methyl group (CH3), benzene is converted to Toluene, which is used in the
preparation of TNT (Trinitrotoluene).
 General Characteristics

• For SI engines, normal paraffins exhibit poor antiknock quality. However it increases
with increase in number of Carbon atoms and compactness of molecular structure.
Aromatics offer best antiknock quality in SI engines.

• For CI engines, normal paraffins are the best fuel and aromatics are least desirable.

• The boiling temperature increases as the number of atoms in the molecular

structure increase. Fuels with fewer atoms tend to be volatile.

• The heating value increases as the proportion of hydrogen atoms to carbon atoms in
the molecule increases. Thus paraffins have the highest heating value and
aromatics have the least.
 Petroleum Refining Process

Crude = mixture of different small amounts of impurities like

+ +
petroleum hydrocarbons sulphur, oxygen, nitrogen water and sand
• Fractional distillation on crude petroleum is done to separate into gasoline, kerosene,
fuel oil etc.,.
• The boiling points of the various
constituents increase more or
less regularly with the increase
in molar mass.
Products of petroleum refining
process
 Petroleum Refining Processes

• The demand ratio of certain components, such as gasoline is much higher.

• Therefore, refinery processes are used to ‘crack’ the larger molecules into smaller
molecules and ‘polymerize’ small molecules into larger molecules to get the boiling
points of the resulting components in the gasoline range.

• Cracking – Breaking down complex and large hydrocarbons into simpler compounds.
• Thermal cracking – Cracking done using high temperature & pressure.
• Catalytic cracking – Cracking done using catalysts at relatively lower temperature
& pressure. Better anti-knock property for gasoline as compared to thermal
cracking
• Hydrogenation – Addition of hydrogen atoms to hydrocarbons under high pressure
& temperature to produce desirable compounds.
• Polymerization – Converting olefins into heavier and stable compounds.

• Alkylation – Combining olefin with an iso-paraffin to produce branched chain iso-

paraffin.
iso-butylene + iso-butane iso-octane
 Petroleum Refining Process

• Isomerization – Changing the relative position of atoms within the molecule

of hydrocarbon without changing its molecular formula.
n-butane iso-butane

• Cyclization – Joining together the ends of straight chain molecule to form a ring
compound of naphthene family.

• Aromatization – Similar to cyclization, except that the product is an aromatic

compound.

• Reformation – Type of cracking process to convert low antiknock quality stocks into
gasolines of higher Octane rating.

• Blending – Obtaining a product of desired quality by mixing certain products in

suitable proportion.
 Qualities of SI Engine Fuels

• Volatility – Since gasoline is a mixture of different hydrocarbons, volatility

depends on the fractional composition of the fuel.

How volatility is measured?

Distillation of the fuel in a special

device (ASTM distillation test) at
atmospheric pressure and in the
presence of its own vapor. The
fraction that boils off at a definite
temperature is measured. The
characteristic points are the
temperatures at which 10, 40, 50 and
90% of the volume evaporates as
well as the temperature at which
Fractional distillation curve of gasoline for
boiling of the fuel terminates..
both winter and summer grade gasoline
 Qualities of SI Engine Fuels (contd.)

Volatility requirements by the engine

• Starting and warm up (Front-end volatility: it covers 0 to 20% of volatility of

fuel) – Certain part of gasoline should vaporize at room temperature. Hence
portion of distillation curve between 0% and 10% boiled off should have relatively
low boiling temperatures. On the other hand, during hot starting, Vapor Lock
Characteristics are important.

• Operating temperature performance (Mid-end volatility: it covers 20 to 80% of

volatility of fuel) – Low distillation temperatures are desirable throughout the
range of distillation curve to get good vaporization of gasoline.

• Crankcase dilution (Tail-end volatility: it covers 80 to 100% of volatility of

fuel) – Liquid gasoline causes loss of lubricating oil by washing away oil. Hence,
the upper portion of distillation curve should exhibit low distillation temperature so
that all gasoline is vaporized by the time combustion starts.
 Qualities of SI Engine Fuels (contd.)

• Sulphur content – Sulphur is corrosive element and can corrode fuel lines,
carburettors and injection pumps and the fuel should be free from it.

• Gum deposits – Reactive hydrocarbons and impurities tend to oxidize upon storage
and form liquid and solid gummy substances which will deposit in manifold, clogging
of carburettor. Paraffin, naphthene and aromatic families form little gum while
cracked gasoline containing unsaturated hydrocarbons are worse. Gum deposits
increase with increase in temperature and oxygen, exposure to sunlight and also
contact with metals.

• Antiknock quality – The antiknock quality should be high such that it resists
abnormal burning or detonation. The antiknock property of a fuel depends on the
self-ignition characteristics of the mixture and vary largely with chemical
composition and molecular structure.
Rating of SI engine fuels

• The ability to resist knocking depends on the chemical composition. In addition

fuel-air ratio, ignition timing, dilution, engine speed, shape of the combustion
chamber, ambient conditions, compression ratio etc affect the tendency to knock.

• The anti knock of an SI engine is determined by comparing its anti knock property
with a mixture of 2 reference fuels, namely iso-octane and n-heptane.

• Iso-octane, being a very good antiknock fuel, is assigned Octane number 100.
n – heptane, being poor antiknock fuel, is assigned Octane number 0.

• The Octane number fuel is defined as the percentage, by volume, of iso-octane in

a mixture of iso-octane and normal heptane, which exactly matches the knocking
intensity of the fuel in a standard engine under a set of standard operating
conditions.
Rating of SI engine fuels (Contd.)

• There are two common procedures for determining the octane rating of fuels—
1. Research method (Testing code: ASTM D – 2699) and
2. Motor method (Testing Code: ASTM D – 2700).

Fuel sensitivity = RON - MON Antiknock index = (RON + MON)/2

Road octane number

Automobile engines run on the road under variable speed, load and weather
conditions
Rating of SI engine fuels (Contd.)

Performance Number (PN) :

The performance number is the ratio of the knock-limited indicated mean effective
pressure (klimep) of the test fuel to the knock-limited indicated mean effective pressure
(klimep) of isooctane. That is,

Type equation here.

klimep of test fuel
𝑃𝑁 =
𝑘𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑝 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒

Octane number (ON) and performance number (PN) can be related approximately
by the following relation:

𝑃𝑁 − 100
𝑂𝑁 = 100 +
3
21
 Qualities of CI Engine Fuels

• Viscosity – CI engine fuels should be able to flow through fuel system and
strainers even at lower temperatures the engine is subjected to. Viscosity of oil is
determined using Saybolt Universal (SU) viscosimeter .

• Volatility – The fuel should be sufficiently volatile in the operating range of

temperature to produce good mixing and combustion.
 Qualities of CI Engine Fuels (Contd.)

• Specific Gravity – The oil industry uses a scale adopted by the American
Petroleum Institute (API) for measuring the relative density of fuels, giving
readings in degrees API.

• Corrosion and wear – To avoid corrosion and wear, the fuel should be free from
sulphur, ash and residue in the fuel.
• Handling ease – The fuel should be a liquid that will readily glow under all
conditions which is measured by pour point and Cloud point of the fuel. The fuel
should also have high flash point and fire point.

• Knock characteristics – Knock in CI engine is due to ignition lag in the

combustion of fuel. Hence a good CI engine fuel should have short ignition lag and
ignite more readily. The cetane rating should be high.
Rating of CI engine fuels

• The ability to resist knocking depends on the chemical composition as well as on

the operating and design conditions of the engine.

• The anti knock of an CI engine is determined by comparing its anti knock property
with a mixture of 2 reference fuels, namely n-cetane (C16H34) and isocetane
(Hepta-methylnonane, HMN).

• n-cetane, being a very good antiknock fuel, is assigned Cetane number 100.
HMN, being poor antiknock fuel, is assigned Cetane number 15.

• Cetane number of a fuel is defined as the percentage by volume of normal cetane

in a mixture of normal cetane and HMN which has the same ignition
characteristics (ignition delay) as the test fuel when combustion is carried out in a
standard engine under specified operating conditions.

CN = per cent n-cetane + 15 per cent HMN

 Rating of CI engine fuels (Contd.)

• ASTM D613: Standard Test Method for Cetane Number of Diesel Fuel Oil
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