Lab report no 11

Measurement of volumetric, thermal and mechanical

efficiencies of:
 Diesel engine
Volumetric efficiency:
Volumetric Efficiency is one of the most important factors of an internal
combustion engine’ performance parameters. It is the ratio of the volume of
air/charge drawn into the cylinder/s during the suction stroke to the
total displacement of all the cylinder/s at the atmospheric pressure. In simple
words, it denotes the engine’s ability to carry out the work efficiently. However, it
depends upon the engine speed and load. It also largely depends upon the layout
of the inlet and exhaust systems, sizes of the valve ports and valve timing.

A supercharged or turbocharged engine has greater volumetric efficiency than

a Naturally-Aspirated (NA) engine which does not use the forced induction
method. This is because the turbocharger forces the air into the cylinder at more
than the atmospheric pressure. However, the volumetric efficiency of a
turbo/supercharged engine depends upon the temperature and pressure in the
intake manifold.

Thermal efficiency:
Since Carnot’s principle states that no engine can be more efficient than a
reversible engine (a Carnot heat engine) operating between the same high
temperature and low temperature reservoirs, the Diesel engine must have lower
efficiency than the Carnot efficiency. A typical diesel automotive engine operates
at around 30% to 35% of thermal efficiency. About 65-70% is rejected as waste
heat without being converted into useful work, i.e. work delivered to wheels. In
general, engines using the Diesel cycle are usually more efficient, than engines
using the Otto cycle. The diesel engine has the highest thermal efficiency of any
practical combustion engine. Low-speed diesel engines (as used in ships) can
have a thermal efficiency that exceeds 50%. The largest diesel engine in the world
peaks at 51.7%.
In general the thermal efficiency, ηth, of any heat engine is defined as the ratio of
the work it does, W, to the heat input at the high temperature, QH.

The thermal efficiency, ηth, represents the fraction of heat, QH, that is

converted to work. Since energy is conserved according to the first law of
thermodynamics and energy cannot be be converted to work completely, the
heat input, QH, must equal the work done, W, plus the heat that must be
dissipated as waste heat QC into the environment. Therefore we can rewrite the
formula for thermal efficiency as:

Mechanical efficiency:
The ‘Mechanical Efficiency’ is the measured (theoretical) efficiency of the engine
compared to its actual (rated) efficiency. However, the engine cannot deliver 100
percent output that it produces. This is because of various factors such as thermal
losses to the cooling and exhaust systems, the operation of valves and bearings,
and wear and tear of the parts etc. The engine developers cannot achieve an ideal
efficiency in the real world. So, instead, some manufacturers specify the
mechanical efficiency based on the maximum result from the engine’s
performance.
You can achieve 100 percent mechanical efficiency only when the output power is
the same as the input energy of the engine. However, the engine loses some of its
power while moving the wheels. Some of the power loss takes place through the
clutch, transmission, axles, and bearings. Thus, in the end, the output results in
lower mechanical efficiency.