Engines, Motors, and

Mobility
[ME F317]
BITS Pilani Dr. Saket Verma
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Pilani Campus
 BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

Tutorial No.: 3
Fuel-Air Cycles and their
Analysis
Numerical problems

Q: An engine working on an Otto cycle, having a compression

ratio of 8, uses octane C8H18 as a fuel. The lower heating value
of the fuel is 44000 kJ/kg. The air/fuel ratio is 15:1. Determine
the maximum pressure and temperature reached in the cycle
a) Without considering the molecular expansion
b) With molecular expansion

Assume cv= 0.71 kJ/(kg K), compression follows the law pV1.3
= constant, the pressure and temperature of the mixture at the
beginning of the compression being 1 bar and 60oC
respectively. Determine the percentage molecular expansion.

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Q2: An engine working on an Otto cycle, having a compression ratio of 8, uses octane C8H18 as
a fuel. The lower heating value of the fuel is 44000 kJ/kg. The air/fuel ratio is 15:1. Determine
the maximum pressure and temperature reached in the cycle
(a) Without considering the molecular expansion
(b) With molecular expansion
Assume cv= 0.71 kJ/(kg K), compression follows the law pV1.3 = constant, the pressure and
temperature of the mixture at the beginning of the compression being 1 bar and 60oC
respectively. Determine the percentage molecular expansion.

Solution:
Assumption:
1. Variation in specific heat is taken constant (or mean value)
2. Compression index is taken as 1.3 to account for real process.
3. Only few combustion products are considered for simplification.
4. Combustion efficiency is 100%, even in case of incomplete combustion.

Compression ratio, r = 8
The stoichiometric equation can be written as
C8H18 +12.5 (O2 + 3.76 N2) → 8 CO2 + 9 H2O + 47 N2

12.5( 32 + 3.76 ∗ 28.161 )

Stoichiometric air /fuel ratio =
( 12 ∗ 8 ) + ( 1 ∗ 18 )
= 15.12
With the given air/ fuel ratio as 15, the mixture is rich in fuel. Therefore the combustion will be
incomplete.
The chemical equation becomes:
C8H18 +Y (O2 + 3.76 N2) → x CO + ( 8 - x )CO2 + 9 H2O + 3.76Y N2
Note: As A/F ratio is slightly rich, only CO as the product of incomplete combustion is
considered. Furthermore, other species of dissociation (O, OH, NO etc.) are not considered.

𝑌( 32 + 3.76 ∗ 28.161 ) 𝑎𝑖𝑟

or = = 15
( 12 ∗ 8 ) + ( 1∗18 ) 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙

∴ Y = 12.4
𝑥
By oxygen balance: Y = + (8 - x) + 4.5
2
𝑥
12.5 - = 12.4
2
∴ x = 0.2

The chemical equation now becomes

C8H18 +12.4 (O2 + 3.76 N2) → 0.2 CO + 7.8 CO2 + 9 H2O + 46.624 N2

No. of moles before combustion = 1 + 12.4 + (12.4 x 3.76) = 60.024

No. of moles after combustion = 0.2 + 7.8 + 9 + 46.624 = 63.624

63.624−60.024
∴ Molecular expansion = x 100 = 6% Ans
60.024
(a) p1 = 1 bar, T1 = 60 + 273 = 333 K, n = 1.3
T2 = T1( r )n-1 = 333 (8)0.3 = 621.4 K
q2-3 = cv (T3 - T2)

Note: q2-3 shows heat added during constant volume combustion per unit mass of the system. If
we consider the calculation for 1 kg of the fuel – total mass of the system = 1kg fuel + 15 kg air
= 16 kg.

44000
= 0.71 (T3 - 621.4)
16
∴ T3 = 4495 K
𝑉 𝑇 4495
p3 = 𝑉1 x 𝑇3 x p1 = 8 x x 1 = 108 bar Ans
2 1 333

(b) Since the mass of the reactants and products is the same and the specific heats are assumed
the same, the temperature of the products with molecular expansion will remain the same as
without molecular expansion. Only pressure will change.
∴ T3 = 4495 K
pV = nRT
p∝n
𝑝′3 𝑛′3
𝑝3
=
𝑛

Where n is the number of moles of the products without molecular expansion and n’ is the
number of moles of the products with molecular expansion.

𝑛′3 63.624
∴ p’3 = p3 x = 108 x = 114.5 bar Ans
𝑛 60.024