Practical #11

To study cutaway models of petrol and diesel engine

HEAT ENGINE:
Heat engine is a machine for converting heat, developed by burning fuel into useful work. It can be said
that heat engine is equipment which generates thermal energy and transforms it into mechanical energy.

CLASSIFICATION OF HEAT ENGINES

1.Based on combustion of fuel:
External combustion engine:
Here, the working medium, the steam, is generated in a boiler, located outside the engine and
allowed in to the cylinder to operate the piston to do mechanical work.

Internal combustion engine:

In internal combustion engine, the combustion of fuel takes place inside the engine cylinder and
heat is generated within the cylinder. This heat is added to the air inside the cylinder and thus the
pressure of the air is increased tremendously. This high-pressure air moves the piston which
rotates the crank shaft and thus mechanical work is done.

2. Based on fuel used

1. Diesel engine – Diesel is used as fuel
2. Petrol engine – Petrol is used as fuel
3. Gas engines – propane, butane or methane gases are used

3. Based ignition of fuel

1. Spark ignition engine (Carburetor type engines)
2. Compression ignition engine (Injector type engines)
PETROL ENGINE:
A petrol engine is an internal combustion engine with spark-ignition, designed to run on petrol
and similar volatile fuels. It was invented in 1876 in Europe. In most petrol engines, the fuel and
air are usually pre-mixed before compression. The pre-mixing was formerly done in a carburetor,
but now it is done by electronically controlled fuel injection, except in small engines where the
cost/complication of electronics does not justify the added engine efficiency. The process differs
from a diesel engine in the method of mixing the fuel and air, and in using spark plugs to initiate
the combustion process. In a diesel engine, only air is compressed, and the fuel is injected into
very hot air at the end of the compression stroke and self-ignites.
MAIN PARTS:
Both Petrol and Diesel Engines consists of all the same parts except in Petrol Engine Spark Plug
is used to Ignite the air fuel mixture. However, in Diesel engine there is no spark plug instead a
fuel injector is used. We will discuss all the parts in the below section:
➢ Spark Plug
➢ Fuel Injectors
➢ Cylinder
➢ Cylinder head
➢ Cylinder liner
➢ Piston
➢ Connecting rod
➢ Crankshaft
➢ Flywheel
➢ Crankcase
➢ Camshaft
➢ Timing gear
➢ Scavenging

i) Spark Plug:
Spark plugs are what supply the spark that ignites the air/fuel mixture, creating the explosion
which makes your engine produce power. These small but simple plugs create an arc of
electricity across two leads which are not touching, but close enough together that electricity can
jump the gap between them.

ii) Fuel Injectors:

Fuel injectors are small electrical components that are used to deliver fuel via a spray directly
into the intake manifold in front of the intake valve in a diesel engine.

iii) Cylinder:
It is a part of the engine which confines the expanding gases and forms the combustion space. It
is the basic part of the engine. It provides space in which piston operates to suck the air or air-
fuel mixture. The piston compresses the charge, and the gas is allowed to expand in the cylinder,
transmitting power for useful work. Cylinders are usually made of high-grade cast iron.

iv) Cylinder head:

It is a detachable portion of an engine which covers the cylinder and includes the combustion
chamber, spark plugs or injector and valves.
v) Cylinder liner:
It is a cylindrical lining either wet or dry type which is inserted in the cylinder block in which the
piston slides. Liners are classified as:
Dry liner ----Dry liner makes metal to metal contact with the cylinder block casing
Wet liner---- wet liners meet the cooling water, whereas dry liners do not come in contact with
the cooling water.

vi) Piston:
It is a cylindrical part closed at one end which maintains a close sliding fit in the engine cylinder.
It is connected to the connecting rod by a piston pin. The force of the expanding gases against
the closed end of the piston, forces the piston down in the cylinder. This causes the connecting
rod to rotate the crankshaft.

vii) Connecting rod:

It is special type of rod, one end of which is attached to the piston and the other end to the
crankshaft It transmits the power of combustion to the crankshaft and makes it rotate
continuously. It is usually made of drop forged steel.

viii)Crankshaft:
It is the main shaft of an engine which converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into rotary
motion of the flywheel. Usually, the crankshaft is made of drop forged steel or cast steel. The
space that supports the crankshaft in the cylinder block is called main journal, whereas the part to
which connecting rod is attached is known as crank journal.

ix) Flywheel:
➢ It stores energy during power stroke and returns the energy during the idle strokes,
providing a uniform rotary motion of flywheel.
➢ The rear surface of the flywheel serves as one of the pressure surfaces for the clutch
plate.
➢ Engine timing marks are usually stamped on the flywheel, which helps in adjusting the
timing of the engine.
➢ Sometime the flywheel serves the purpose of a pulley for transmitting power.

x) Crankcase:
➢ The crankcase is that part of the engine which supports and encloses the crankshaft and
camshaft.
➢ It provides a reservoir for the lubricating oil.
➢ The upper portion of the crankcase is usually integral with cylinder block.
➢ The lower part of the crankcase is commonly called oil pan and is usually made of cast
iron or cast aluminum
xi) Camshaft:
➢ It is a shaft which raises and lowers the inlet and exhaust valves at proper times.
➢ Camshaft is driven by crankshaft by means of gears, chains, or sprockets.
➢ The speed of the camshaft is exactly half the speed of the crankshaft in four stroke
engines.
➢ Camshaft operates the ignition timing mechanism, lubricating oil pump and fuel pump. It
is mounted in the crankcase, parallel to the crankshaft.

xii) Timing gear:

➢ Timing gear is a combination of gears.
➢ One gear of which is mounted at one end of the camshaft and the other gear at the
crankshaft. Camshaft gear.
➢ It is bigger in size than that of the crankshaft gear and it has twice as many teeth as that of
the crankshaft gear.
➢ For this reason, this gear is commonly called half time gear.
➢ Timing gear controls the timing of ignition, timing of opening and closing of valve as
well as fuel injection timing.

xiii) Scavenging:
The process of removal of burnt or exhaust gases from the engine cylinder is known as
scavenging. Entire burnt gases do not go out in normal stroke; hence some type of blower or
compressor is used to remove the exhaust gases in two stroke cycle engines

Working Principle of a Four Stroke Petrol Engine:

The principle used in a four-stroke petrol engine is commonly known as Otto Cycle. It states that
there would be one power stroke for every four strokes. Such engines use a spark plug which is
used for the ignition of the combustible fuel used in the engine. Most of the cars, bikes and
trucks use 4 stroke engines.
In every Otto cycle there is an adiabatic compression, addition of heat at constant volume, an
adiabatic expansion, and the release of heat at constant volume.
A stroke is the movement of the piston from the top to the bottom of the cylinder. As the name
suggest the Four Stroke Petrol Engine uses a cycle of four strokes and petrol as the fuel. Each
cycle includes 2 rotations of the crankshaft and four strokes, namely:

1. Intake Stroke
2. Compression Stroke
3. Combustion Stroke also called Power Stroke
4. Exhaust Stroke.

1.Intake Stroke:
As the name suggests in this stroke the intake of fuel takes place. When the engine starts, the
piston descends to the cylinder's bottom from the top. Thus, the pressure inside the cylinder
reduces. Now the intake valve opens, and the fuel and air mixture enter the cylinder. The valve
then closes.

2.Compression Stroke:
This stroke is known as compression stroke because the compression of the fuel mixture takes
place at this stage. When the intake valve closes (exhaust valve is already closed), the piston
forced back to the top of the cylinder and the fuel mixture gets compressed. The compression is
around 1/8th of the original volume. An engine is considered more efficient if its compression
ratio is higher.

3.Combustion/Power Stroke:
Now in case of petrol engine when the fuel mixture compresses to the maximum value the spark
plug produces spark which ignites the fuel mixture. The combustion leads to the production of
high-pressure gases. Due to this tremendous force the piston is driven back to the bottom of the
cylinder. As the piston moves downwards, the crankshaft rotates which rotates the wheels of the
vehicle.
4.Exhaust Stroke:
As the wheel moves to the bottom the exhaust valve opens up and due to the momentum gained
by the wheel the piston is pushed back to the top of the cylinder. The gases due to combustion
are hence expelled out of the cylinder into the atmosphere through the exhaust valve.
The exhaust valve closes after the exhaust stroke and again the intake valve opens and the four
strokes are repeated.

Advantages and disadvantages of Petrol Engines:

Advantages
➢ Petrol engines are generally powerful, by way of horsepower than diesel.
➢ Petrol engines naturally benefit from being easier to tune and tune up.
➢ It has a better ratio of price to power and burns fuel more eco-friendly than diesel does.
➢ Petrol is usually cheaper than diesel fuel.

Disadvantages
Despite the good advantages of gasoline engines, popularly known as petrol engines, it still
offers some limitations that can be overlooked in some specific regions. The followings are the
disadvantages of petrol engines.
➢ Generally, the petrol engine’s lifespan is almost always shorter than that of the diesel.
➢ Diesel engines usually have a higher residual (resale) value.
➢ Petrol engines get fewer miles-per-gallon (sometimes significantly) than their diesel
counterparts.
WORKING PRINCIPLE OF DIESEL ENGINE:

The basic components of diesel engine are cylinder, piston, injector, valves, connecting rod and
crankshaft. In diesel engines only air is drawn into the cylinder. The engine has high
compression ratio hence the air in the cylinder attains very high temperature and pressure at the
end of the compression stroke. At the end of the compression stroke, the fuel is sprayed into the
cylinder in atomized form using injectors. Due to high temperature, the fuel gets ignited, begins
to burn, and produce lot of heat. Due to the heat the gases expand, move the piston downward
and rotate the crank shaft. The torque available at the rotating crank shaft is used to do any
mechanical work
Special features of diesel engine
➢ Engine has high compression ratio ranging from 14:1 to 22:1.
➢ During compression stroke, the engine attains high pressure ranging from 30 to 45
kg/cm2 and high temperature of about 500°C.
➢ At the end of the compression stroke, fuel is injected into the cylinder through injectors
(atomizers) at a very high pressure ranging from 120 to 200 kg/cm2
➢ Ignition takes place due to heat of compression only.
➢ There is no external spark in diesel engine.
➢ Diesel engine has better slogging or lugging ability i.e. it maintains higher torque for
➢ longer duration of time at a lower speed.
How Diesel Engine Works?

➢ In diesel engine, only air is initially introduced into the combustion chamber. The
air is then compressed which causes the temperature of the air to rise.
➢ At about the top of the compression stroke, fuel is injected directly into the
compressed air in the combustion chamber.
➢ The fuel injector ensures that the fuel is broken down into small droplets, and that
the fuel is distributed evenly. The heat of the compressed air vaporizes fuel from
the surface of the droplets.
➢ The vapor is then ignited by the heat from the compressed air in the combustion
chamber, the droplets continue to vaporize from their surfaces and burn, getting
smaller, until all the fuel in the droplets has been burnt.
➢ Combustion occurs at a substantially constant pressure during the initial part of
the power stroke. The start of vaporization causes a delay before ignition and the
characteristic diesel knocking sound as the vapor reaches ignition temperature
and causes an abrupt increase in pressure above the piston.
 ➢ When combustion is complete the combustion gases expand as the piston
descends further; the high pressure in the cylinder drives the piston downward,
supplying power to the crankshaft.
➢ As well as the high level of compression allowing combustion to take place
without a separate ignition system, a high compression ratio greatly increases the
engine's efficiency.
➢ Increasing the compression ratio in a spark-ignition engine where fuel and air are
mixed before entry to the cylinder is limited by the need to prevent damaging
pre-ignition.
➢ Since only air is compressed in a diesel engine, and fuel is not introduced into the
cylinder until shortly before top dead center (TDC), premature detonation is not a
problem and compression ratios are much higher.

Advantages and disadvantages of Diesel Engines:

Advantages:
➢ Higher torque generation: - Due to the higher compression ratio, the diesel engine can generates
higher torque.
➢ High power generation: - The higher torque leads to the high power generation.
➢ No need of carburetion for mixing of air and fuel.
➢ Lower fuel cost in comparison with gasoline or petrol engine.
➢ The spark plug is not necessary for ignition.
➢ Higher thermal efficiency in comparison with petrol engines.
➢ Suitable for heavy load applications.
➢ Less fuel consumption.

Disadvantages:
➢ It requires high pressure fuel injection system.
➢ The engine works at higher compression ratio.
➢ The maintenance cost is higher in comparison with gasoline engines.
➢ Most of the diesel engines are noisy in operation.
➢ The diesel engines are bulky than petrol engines.
➢ During winter season, it becomes difficult to start the engine.
➢ It creates more vibrations.
➢ The heater is necessary during cold season to start engine.