Page 1 of 3

Lecture 12a

Lecture 12a: The Internal Combustion

Engine (Otto & Diesel Cycle)
[VW, S & B: 9.13]

The Otto cycle is a set of processes used by spark ignition internal combustion engines (2-
stroke or 4-stroke cycles). These engines a) ingest a mixture of fuel and air, b) compress it, c)
cause it to react, thus effectively adding heat through converting chemical energy into
thermal energy, d) expand the combustion products, and then e) eject the combustion
products and replace them with a new charge of fuel and air. The different processes are
shown in Figure 12.1.

1. Intake stroke, gasoline vapour and air drawn into

engine(5 →1).
2. Compression stroke, p ,T increase(1 →2).
3. Combustion (spark), short time, essentially
constant volume(2 →3). Heat absorbed from a
series of reservoirs at temperatures T 2 toT 3.
4. Power stroke: expansion(3 → 4).
5. Valve exhaust: valve opens, gas escapes.
6. ( 4 →1) Rejection of heat to series of reservoirs at
temperatures T 4 toT 1.
7. Exhaust stroke, piston pushes remaining
combustion products out of chamber(1 →5). Figure 12.1: The ideal Otto

We model the processes as all acting on a fixed mass of air contained in a piston-cylinder
arrangement, as shown in Figure 12.2.

Figure 12.2: Piston and valves in a four-stroke Figure 12.3: Sketch of an actual Otto
internal combustion engine cycle

The actual cycle does not have the sharp transitions between the different processes that the
ideal cycle has, and might be as sketched in Figure 12.3.
 Page 2 of 3
Lecture 12a

Efficiency of an ideal Otto cycle

The starting point is the general expression for the thermal efficiency of a cycle:

work Q H −Q L QL
η= = =1−
heat input QH QH

The convention, as previously, is that heat exchange is positive if heat is flowing into the
system or engine, so Q Lis negative. The heat absorbed occurs during combustion when the
spark occurs, roughly at constant volume. The heat absorbed can be related to the temperature
change from state 2 to state 3 as:

Q H =Q23=ΔU 23(W 23 =0)

T3

¿ ∫ C v dT =C v ( T 3−T 2 )
T2

The heat rejected is given by (for a perfect gas with constant specific heats)

Q L=Q 41=ΔU 41=C v ( T 1 −T 4 )

Substituting the expressions for the heat absorbed and rejected in the expression for thermal
efficiency yields
T 4−T 1
η=1−
T 3−T 2

We can simplify the above expression using the fact that the processes from 1 to 2 and from 3
to 4 are isentropic:
γ −1 γ −1 γ−1 γ−1
T 4 V 1 =T 3 V 2 , T 1 V 1 =T 2 V 2
( T 4 −T 1 ) V γ1−1=( T 3−T 2 ) V 2γ−1

( )
γ −1
T 4−T 1 V 2
=
T 3 −T 2 V 1

The quantity V 1 /V 2=r is called the compression ratio. In terms of compression ratio, the
efficiency of an ideal Otto cycle is:
1 1
ηOtto =1− γ −1
=1− γ −1
( V 1 /V 2 ) r

The ideal Otto cycle efficiency is shown as a function

of the compression ratio in Figure 12.4. As the
compression ratio,r increases, ηOtto increases, but so
doesT 2 . If T 2is too high, the mixture will ignite without
a spark (at the wrong location in the cycle).

Figure 12.4: Ideal Otto cycle

thermal efficiency
 Page 3 of 3
Lecture 12a

Engine work, rate of work per unit enthalpy flux

The non-dimensional ratio of work done (power) to enthalpy flux through engine is given by
Power Ẇ Q̇23 ηOtto
= =
Enthalpy flux ṁc p T 1 ṁ c p T 1

There is often a desire to increase this quantity, because it means a smaller engine for the
same power. The heat input is given by
Q̇23=ṁfuel Δ h fuel ,
where

 Δ hfuelis the heat of reaction, i.e. the chemical energy liberated per unit mass of fuel,
 ṁfuel is the fuel mass flow rate.

The non-dimensional power is

Ẇ
ṁc p T 1
ṁ Δh
[
= fuel fuel 1− γ−1
ṁc p T 1 r
1
]
The quantities in this equation, evaluated at stoichiometric conditions are:
ṁfuel 1
≈
ṁ 15
Δ h fuel 4 × 107
≈
c p T 1 103 ×288
So
Ẇ
ṁc p T 1[ ]
≈ 9 1− γ −1
r
1

Diesel Cycle
The Diesel cycle is a compression ignition (rather than spark
ignition) engine. Fuel is sprayed into the cylinder at P2 (high
pressure) when the compression is complete, and there is
ignition without a spark. An idealized Diesel engine cycle is
shown in Figure 12.5. Figure 12.5: The ideal Diesel
The thermal efficiency is given by: cycle
Q C (T −T 4 )
η Diesel =1+ L =1+ v 1
QH C p (T 3−T 2)
T (T /T −1)
¿ 1+ 1 4 1
γ T 2 (T 3 /T 2−1)

This cycle can operate with a higher compression ratio than the Otto cycle because only air is
compressed and there is no risk of auto-ignition of the fuel. Although for a given compression
ratio the Otto cycle has higher efficiency, because the Diesel engine can be operated to higher
compression ratio, the engine can actually have higher efficiency than an Otto cycle when
both are operated at compression ratios that might be achieved in practice.