MCL 812

Assignment 8

Problem 1
Consider the burning of ethanol, one of the most popular biofuels, in an SI engine, where combustion
takes place by the propagation of a laminar premixed flame following ignition by a spark. Assume that
fresh air-fuel mixture comes in at ambient conditions (no throttling losses) and gets compressed
adiabatically prior to combustion. The ratio of specific heats is given as 1.3.

1) Calculate the approximate ignition delay time under these conditions

2) Calculate the laminar burning velocity at the same conditions, and predict whether the engine is
likely to ‘knock’. If needed, assume the cylinder bore to be 10 cm.

Solve parts 1) and 2) each for three compression ratios – 6:1, 12:1, 18:1 and unity equivalence ratio.

Take the kinetics constants for ethanol combustion from Turns, Table 5. Make reasonable assumptions
as necessary.

Problem 8.13, 8.16 from Turns