The power delivered by an engine depends on the amount of air and gasoline it

consumes, the more gasoline it can mix with the air, the more power it will obtain
and how a mixture greater than 12 parts of air to 1 part of gasoline is usually the
limit, to increase the power it is necessary to increase the air consumption, that
is why so much work is done in the cylinder heads and camshafts to improve the air
intake.

Knowing the air that consumes an engine you can know the amount of gasoline that
can be mixed and therefore the power that can be achieved, to calculate the air
consumption revolutions are multiplied by half the displacement, half the
displacement because a four-stroke engine needs two complete revolutions to make a
cycle, for example an engine of 2000 CC in which we think to have 100% volumetric
efficiency say at 5500 RPM, air consumption will be:

Air volume = RPM * displacement in liters / 2

Air Volume = 5500RPM * 2L / 2 = 5500 liters of air

This will be the air consumption in one minute, if you are looking for maximum
power, the mixture will be between 13 to 1 and 12 to 1 (a richer mixture of 12 to 1
will surely make the combustion is bad for lack of oxygen), knowing the air
consumption and the mixture ratio, you can calculate the amount of gasoline, just
keep in mind that the mixture is measured in mass, not volume, so you will have to
pass the liters of air and gasoline to grams.

One liter of air at sea level and a temperature of 10º C weighs 1.29 grams:

5500 L * 1.29 g = 7095 grams.

Since we are looking for a mixture of 12.5 parts of air to 1 part of gasoline:

7095 g / 12.5 = 567.6 grams of gasoline.

1 liter of gasoline weighs 760 grams, so 567.6 grams of gasoline = 0.746 liters.

This engine at 5500 revolutions with a volumetric efficiency of 100% and a mixture
of 12.5-1, will consume 5500 L of air and 0.746 L of gasoline per minute.

To get an idea of how much power that mixture can give in one minute, the calorific
value of gasoline is used, which is usually between 10400 and 10500 Kilo Calories /
kilo. The calorie is a measure of energy that is defined as the amount of heat
energy required to raise one degree Celsius the temperature of a gram of pure water
from 14.5 º C to 15.5 º C at a normal pressure of 1 atmosphere, one of its
equivalents is, 1 calorie / second = 4.188 watts.

If the engine consumes 567.6 grams of gasoline per minute, it should produce:

10500 Kcal/k *0.5676 k = 5959.8 kcal per minute.

If divided by 60 to convert to seconds:

5959.8 kcal * min / 60 = 99.33 kca * second.

As 1 kcal = 4.188 KW:

99.33*4.188 = 415.99 KW.

As 1cv = 735,5 W:
415,99 / 0,7355 = 565,59 HP

That would be the power that should give all that gasoline, 565 hp, but
unfortunately the engines are very inefficient and use a very low part of that
power.

THERMAL EFFICIENCY.

Thermal efficiency is easy to understand, what is spent divided by what is

extracted, thermal engines do not really take advantage of the energy produced by
combustion, it is usually quite low, between 0.25 and 0.3 is normal, the rest is
lost in raising the temperature of the engine metals, antifreeze and circulating
air, let's assume that this engine has a thermal efficiency of 0.28:

565.59 HP * 0.28= 158.36HP.

This seems more realistic, keep in mind that it is theoretical, only serves to get
an idea of the power that can deliver an engine, but imagine that you thought to
have a power of 280 hp in this engine, you can calculate the air consumption for a
mixture of 12.5 and see if it is realistic.

All calculations have been summarized in the following equation:

Power = Displacement * RPM * 0.051417 * Thermal efficiency.

Many conclusions can be drawn from it, for example, what power would a 2.3L engine
deliver at 4500RPM with an efficiency of 0.3.

Power = 2.3 * 4500 * 0.051417 * 0.3 = 159.64hp.

You can also see at what RPM it takes 100% efficiency to make 230 hp with a thermal
efficiency of 0.3.

RPM = Power / 2.3 * 0.051417 * 0.3 = 6483RPM

Another example, what volumetric efficiency is needed to yield 200hp at 4000RPM

with a thermal efficiency of 0.3 and the same 2.3L engine.

Displacement = 200 / 4000 * 0.051417 * 0.3 = 3.24L.

If 2.3L is 100% of the cylinder volume, 3.24 equals:

3.24 * 100 / 2.3 = 140% volumetric efficiency at 4000 RPM.

That would be impossible in a naturally aspirated engine, it would have to be

supercharged with a compressor or a turbo to have that volumetric efficiency at
those revolutions.

Let's go back to the example of the 2000CC engine, let's imagine that a thermal
efficiency of 0.3 and an efficiency of 110% has been achieved in a very narrow rev
range, but it is achieved at 7000 RPM, the result will be:

7000 RPM * 2L / 2 = 7000L * 10% more volumetric efficiency =7700L*1.29=9933 grams

of air.

That air will consume 9933 / 12.5 = 794.64 grams of gasoline.

According to the calculations it gives a performance of 237.54hp, but we must

realize that we are asking for a volumetric efficiency of 110% at 7000 RPM, will
that cylinder head be able to give that air flow at those revolutions? Let's
suppose that the cylinder head can be prepared for that air flow, is the engine
designed to withstand those revolutions?