Developing Engine Technology

Indication Graphs

Report done by:

Javier Rodríguez Romera – 270329
Rui Miguel Mesquita Azevedo – 270353

Professor:
Monika Magdziak-Tokłowicz 06/12/2022
Contents
Contents................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Indicator Diagrams ............................................................................................................................................ 3
3. Ignition advance angle ..................................................................................................................................... 3
4. Injection advance angle ................................................................................................................................... 4
5. Knocking burning............................................................................................................................................... 4
6. Classification of the basic parameters of the piston engine ............................................................. 5
6.1. Theoretical parameters ................................................................................................................................... 5
6.2. Indication parameters...................................................................................................................................... 6
7. Otto cycle with heat supply at constant volume ................................................................................... 6
8. Diesel cycle with heat supply at constant pressure ............................................................................. 7
8.1 The combustion process of a diesel engine ............................................................................................. 8
9. Cylinder pressure of the spark-ignition engine ..................................................................................... 9
10. Types of graphs .................................................................................................................................................10
11. Comparison of real cycle with theoretical cycle..................................................................................12
12. Analysis of our results and conclusions………………………………………………………………...…….13
13. References ...........................................................................................................................................................15

2
1. Introduction.
An indicator diagram is a chart used to measure the thermal, or cylinder, performance of
reciprocating steam and internal combustion engines and compressors. An indicator chart
records the pressure in the cylinder versus the volume swept by the piston, throughout the
two or four strokes of the piston which constitute the engine, or compressor cycle. The
indicator diagram is used to calculate the work done and the power produced in an engine
cylinder or used in a compressor cylinder.

The indicator diagram was developed by James Watt and his employee John Southern to help
understand how to improve the efficiency of steam engines. In 1796, Southern developed the
simple, but critical, technique to generate the diagram by fixing a board so as to move with the
piston, there by tracing the "volume" axis, while a pencil, attached to a pressure gauge, moved
at right angles to the piston, tracing "pressure".

2. Indicator Diagrams.
• The indicator diagram is very important to know the combustion in the cylinder and
also to adjust the engine.
• The diagram is taken periodically from the indicator valve equipped on the cylinder
head and combustion condition is to be confirmed.
• The compression pressure and maximum pressure in the cylinder can
be presumed from the indicator diagram.
• Engine indicator is the device used to take the indicator diagram, which can be
considered as a ‘stethoscope’ for diesel engines.
• Indicator diagrams give efficiency of combustion in the cylinder, condition of the
running gear, irregularities in fuel pumping and injection and a lot of things.

3. Ignition advance angle.

Ignition advance angle is the angle at which the crank of the crankshaft does not reach
the top dead center at the time a spark appears between the electrodes of the spark
plug. This interval is necessary because the combustion is not instantaneous in the entire
mixture, it takes a certain time to pass from the spark to the most peripheral zones of the
chamber. For this reason, it is convenient to start the explosion not at the end of the
compression phase, as deduced from the theoretical cycle, we must start the ignition before
the top dead center of the piston.
So, the best ignition timing depends on the relationship between the crankshaft speed and the
combustion rate of a mixture of a given composition.

3
4. Injection advance angle.
Injection angle is the angle at which the crank of the crankshaft does not reach the top
dead center at the time the fuel is spread into the chamber.
This angle has a decisive effect on the course of the fuel combustion process in the
combustion chamber, which determines the course of heat release in the combustion
chamber.
When the fuel injection advance angle is too large, the fuel preparation period will be longer
and the engine will work rough. If the fuel injection advance angle is too small, the combustion
process will be delayed too much, the maximum pressure value will drop, and the thermal
efficiency of the diesel engine will be significantly reduced. Therefore, in order to ensure good
performance of the diesel engine, the optimal fuel injection advance angle must be selected.

5. Knocking burning.
Knocking occurs when fuel burns unevenly in your engine's cylinders. This is crucially
important because it determines engine durability, fuel consumption, and power density, as
well as noise and emission performance.
When cylinders have the correct balance of air and fuel, fuel will burn in small, regulated
pockets instead of all at once.
This knocking burning can be caused by disturbed timing, inaccurate or broken Knock Sensor,
low-quality fuel or inappropriate octane number, worm timing belt and pullies or lean air/fuel
mixture. In addition, it could be caused by a not properly adjustment of ignition and injection
advance angle, therefore these angles are decisive in our combustion.

4
6. Classification of the basic parameters of the piston engine.
• One of the main features of the internal combustion engines is the cyclical change of
the working space. This fact allows to diagnose abnormal operating parameters of the
engine.
• In order to characterize the internal combustion engine, the parameters of its operation
must be precisely defines so that they can be interpreted unambiguously and
compared to different motors

Figure 1 - Basic Parameters

The basic parameters of the piston engine can be divided into theoretical, useful and indicative
parameters.

6.1. Theoretical parameters

Theoretical parameters are a group of computational parameters that usually refer to purely
theoretical cycles. Theoretical cycles are built exclusively from thermodynamic
transformations.

The purpose is to present the ideal route of the conversion of heat energy into
mechanical energy.

Theoretical cycle (hereinafter comparative), in relation in relation to the real process of

changes of the state of the medium in the internal combustion engine has a number of
simplifying assumption, i.e. .:

• Factor working is a perfect gas with constant specific heat;

• Comparator cycle delivers the constant amount of refrigerant with a constant chemical
composition.
• Comparator cycle consists only of typical reversible transformation.
• Friction and loss are ignored.
• Removal of exhaust gas from the engine is replaced by the dissipation of heat´s
unchanging the amount of refrigerant at constant volume.

5
 • Irreversible phenomenon of combustion is replaced by the supply of heat from outside
at constant volume, constant pressure, causing the same temperature increase as
combustion.

6.2. Indication parameters

In automotive engines, the working medium is not a perfect gas but a mixture of fuel and
air.

The actual engine work cycle is described by the so-called an indication chart of cylinder
pressure changes over one operating cycle, depending on:
• Angle of rotation of the shaft;
• Instantaneous volume of combustion chamber.

7. Otto cycle with heat supply at constant volume

An Otto cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle that describes the functioning of a
typical spark ignition piston engine. It is the thermodynamic cycle most commonly found in
automobile engines.

• Process 1–2 is an adiabatic (isentropic) compression of the charge as the piston

moves from bottom dead center (BDC) to top dead center (TDC).
• Process 2–3 is a constant-volume heat transfer to the working gas from an external
source while the piston is at top dead center. This process is intended to represent the
ignition of the fuel-air mixture and the subsequent rapid burning.
• Process 3–4 is an adiabatic (isentropic) expansion (power stroke).
• Process 4–1 completes the cycle by a constant-volume process in which heat is
rejected from the air while the piston is at bottom dead center.

Figure 2 - Otto Cycle

6
8. Diesel cycle with heat supply at constant pressure
The Diesel cycle is a combustion process of a reciprocating internal combustion engine. In
it, fuel is ignited by heat generated during the compression of air in the combustion chamber,
into which fuel is then injected. This is in contrast to igniting the fuel-air mixture with a spark
plug as in the Otto cycle (four-stroke/petrol) engine. Diesel engines are used
in aircraft, automobiles, power generation, diesel–electric locomotives, and both
surface ships and submarines.

• 1→2 : isentropic compression of the fluid.

• 2→3 : constant pressure heating.
• 3→4 : isentropic expansion.
• 4→1 : constant volume cooling .

Figure 3 - Diesel Cycle

7
8.1 The combustion process of a diesel engine

Figure 4 - The combustion process of a diesel engine

The combustion process of a diesel engine can be divided into four distinct periods:
I. delay of ignition, ieignition delay from fuel injection at point 1 to increase of pressure
at point 2,
II. spread of flame from 2 to 3, with a sudden rise in pressure,
III. combustion (controlled combustion) from 3 to 4,
IV. end period, iepost-combustion.

8
9. Cylinder pressure of the spark-ignition engine

Figure 5 - Evolution of the cylinder pressure of the spark-ignition engine depending on the angle of rotation of the
crankshaft

I. pre-term, called the induction period, starts at point 1 at the moment of spark ignition
sparking and ends at 2 when there is a visible increase in pressure,
II. correct combustion, which lasts from 2 to 3, iefrom the start of the pressure rise to the
maximum pressure (flame spread across the volume of the combustion chamber)III-
afterburning, post combustion

The pressure and temperature at theendof combustion:

• for gasolinep = 3-6.5 MPa, t = 2000-2800 degrees C
• for dieselp = 5-9 MPa, t = 1500-2200 degrees C

When the ignition is too early, a sharp increase in pressure occurs when the piston is still
far away from TDC, which overloads the system piston-crank causes off all of engine power
and the triggers, knocking combustion (detonation).

9
Too late ignition increases the third period of combustion (combustion occurs chronic).
Burning can stretch even on the stroke of the exhaust, and sometimes a fresh mixture entering
the cylinder ignites from the flames and burns in the inlet pipe.

Figure 6 - The course of the pressure in the combustion chamber at different angles of ignition timing

If the ignition is too late, the temperature of the exhaust system increases and the engine´s
efficiency decreases. If the speed is too high, the ignition can be triggered. Detonation and
consequent damage to the engine.

10. Types of graphs

We can distinguish the following types of graphs:

• Closed (p-V), represents the course of pressure in the cylinder depending on th

volume of the instantaneous combustion chamber or piston path.
To get the volume we need to use this formula:
𝜋·𝐵2 1
V(α)=Vc+ · 𝑟[(1 − cos α) + (1 − √1 − 𝜆2 · sin α )]
4 𝜆
B = 79.5 mm; 𝐵2 =6320.25 𝑚𝑚2
r = 47.5 mm; rc = 19 mm; L = 153 mm; Stroke = 95 mm
S= 2·r = 94,6 mm
𝜋·𝐵2 𝜋·6320.25
Volume = 4
· 𝑆→ Volume = 4
· 94.6 = 469586 𝑚𝑚3
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 469586
Vc (Clearance volume) = 𝑟 −1 → Vc= 19−1 = 26088.12 𝑚𝑚3
𝑐
𝑟 47.5 𝑚𝑚
λ (Connecting rad factor) = 𝐿→ λ= 153 𝑚𝑚 = 0.3105

So, we are going to add this formula to Excell to get a volume to such each alpha:

𝜋·6320.25 1
V(α)=(26088.12+ · 47.5[(1 − cos α) + 0.3105 (1 − √1 − 0.31052 · sin α )])
4
𝜋
Also, we must transform alpha degrees to radians (multiplying by ).
180

10
• Open (p-α), represent the course of the operating pressure of the engine in the cylinder
depending on the rotation angle of the shaft.

➢ Full.
➢ Partial – a part of a full indicator chart focusing on the largest increase in
pressure;
➢ Multiple.

Figure 7 - Graph closed

Figure 8 - Open indicator chart

11
 Figure 9 - Multiple indicator graph

The figure shows a condensed, open indicator graph for gasoline engines also called multiple.
a) Idle;
b) high engine load.

11. Comparison of real cycle with theoretical cycle

Figure 10 - Gasoline vs Diesel

The fields marked in blue represent the work used to replace the load in the cylinder, so it is
the negative work.

The red fields are a measure of the work done by the engine.

In a spark-ignition engine, the field is smaller than in a compression-ignition engine, so the

work done by the second engine is larger (larger red field). This is justified in practice -the
diesel engine has a higher efficiency, which means it is better able to convert the energy
contained in the fuel into mechanical energy.

The graphs can be used to determine what is the cylinder pressure in each stroke. In the
intake stroke (from point 6 to point 1), in the first phase the pressure is slightly higher than the
ambient pressure, but then falls below this pressure so that the load can be drawn into the

12
cylinder (negative pressure).In the compression stroke (1 to 2), the pressure starts to rise, and
at the moment of ignition, the pressure rises rapidly, reaching the maximum value at the
beginning of the stroke (from 3 to 5).In the exhaust stroke (5 to 6) the pressure is relatively
small (the piston pushes the exhaust from the cylinder).

12. Analysis of our results and conclusion.

In the open graph we can check that the maximum value of pressure is around 2300 rpm
and 16 N·m, near to these values we also find 2300 rpm and 16 N·m. In the other hand, we
can find that the worst results are around 1210 rpm and 16 N·m.

13
 3 4

6 5

Also, in the close graph we can find that the maximum value of pressure is around 2300 rpm
and 16 N·m. Really close to this maximum value is 2300 rpm and 60 N·m. However, the
worst maximum value of pressure is around 1210 rpm and 16 N·m. With this graph we can
analyze the stroke of our engine and how it works (1-2-3-4-5-6), in this way, we can adjust
the injection or ignition to improve his performance with the help of this close indicator
diagram.

14
13. References.
-Armin, M., Gholinia, M., Pourfallah, M. & Ranjbar, A. A. (2021). Investigation of the

fuel injection angle/time on combustion, energy, and emissions of a heavy-duty dual-

fuel diesel engine with reactivity control compression ignition mode. Energy Reports,

7, 5239-5247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2021.08.115

-Andrzej Ambrozik & Tomasz Ambrozik. (2014). The Influence of Injection Advance

Angle on Fuel Spray Parameters and Nitrogen Oxide Emissions for a Self-Ignition

Engine Fed with Diesel Oil and FAME. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, 23(6),

1917-1923.

- AVANCE DE INYECCION - Definicion - Significado. (2019). MOTORGIGA.

Recuperado 4 de diciembre de 2022, de

https://diccionario.motorgiga.com/diccionario/avance-de-inyeccion-definicion-

significado/gmx-niv15-con193060.htm

- Guerrero, C. (2016). Ángulo de Avance A La Inyección Y Al Encendido [Academic

article]. Technical University of Ambato.

https://es.scribd.com/document/565787843/Angulo-De-Avance-A-La-Inyeccion-Y-

Al-Encendido

- Wang, Z., Liu, H. & Reitz, R. D. (2017). Knocking combustion in spark-ignition

engines. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 61, 78-112.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecs.2017.03.004

15