TR 2019 Internal Combustion Engine

Chapter 4 - ICE Actual Cycle

Part 1b: SI Engine Combustion
 Tutorial Questions
 List out the properties of fuel for
(i) SI engine (ii) CI engine.

 What is Octane number?

 What is the role of Octane number in the performance of
engine?
 For higher performance of engine which rated fuels are to be
selected?
 Comparison of air standard and actual cycles
The actual cycles for internal combustion engines differ from air-standard cycles in
many respects. These differences are mainly due to:
 The working substance being a mixture of air and fuel vapour or finely
atomized liquid fuel in air combined with the products of combustion left
from the previous cycle.
 The change in chemical composition of the working substance.
 The variation of specific heats with temperature.
 The change in the composition, temperature and actual amount of fresh
charge because of the residual gases.
 The progressive combustion rather than the instantaneous combustion.
 The heat transfer to and from the working medium
 The substantial exhaust blowdown loss, i.e., loss of work on the expansion
stroke due to early opening of the exhaust valve.
 Gas leakage, fluid friction etc., in actual engines.
Most of the factors listed above tend to decrease the thermal efficiency and
power output of the actual engines. On the other hand, the analysis of the cycles
while taking these factors into account clearly indicates that the estimated thermal
efficiencies are not very different from those of the actual cycles
 Deviation of Actual cycle from Fuel-Air cycle
Major deviation from of actual cycle from the Fuel air cycle
is due to
− Variation in Specific heats
− Dissociation
− Progressive combustion
− Incomplete combustion of fuel
 Pumping losses
 Rubbing friction losses
− Time loss factor
 Burning time loss
 Spark Timing Loss
 Incomplete Combustion Loss
− Heat loss factor
− Exhaust blow-down factor
 SI Engine Fuels
Crude oil contains a large number of hydrocarbon compounds (25,000).

The purpose of refining is to separate crude oil into various fractions via a
distillation process, and then chemically process the fractions into fuels and
other products.

A still is used to heat a sample, preferentially boiling off lighter components

which are then condensed and recovered.

The group of compounds that boil off between two temperatures are referred
to as fractions.

The order of the fractions as they leave the still are naptha, distillate, gas oil,
and residual oil. These are further subdivided using adjectives light, middle,
and heavy.

The adjectives virgin or straight run are often used to signify that no chemical
processing has been done to a fraction.
Distillation Process

Refining Process
 Gasoline
Light virgin (or straight run) naptha can be used as gasoline.

Gasoline fuel is a blend of hydrocarbon distillates with a range of boiling

points between 25 and 225oC (for diesel fuel between 180 and 360oC)

Chemical processing is used to:

• Produce gasoline from a fraction other than light virgin, or

• Upgrade a given fraction (e.g., Alkylation increases the MW and

octane number of fuel: produce isooctane by reacting butene with
isobutane in the presence of a catalyst.
 Reformulated Gasoline
In order to reduce CO and HC the oxygen content of gasoline is
increased to about 3% by weight (U.S. oxygenated fuels program, winter
only).

The U.S. reformulated gasoline program is a year-round program used

to reduce ozone by requiring a minimum oxygen content of 2% by weight
and maximum benzene content of 1%.

The primary oxygenates are MTBE (CH3)OC(CH3)3 and ethanol (C2H5OH)

Also as part of the reformulated gasoline program sulfur is restricted to 31

ppm Note: gasoline with 10% ethanol by volume also marketed as
“gasohol”
 Energy balance for engines
• Energy supplied in chemical form.
• Released (mostly) as heat energy.
• Energy balance is useful to assess performance.
Combustion in Spark Ignition Engine
• Si-engine = Forced Ignition Of Air-fuel Mixture

• Air Fuel Ratio Within Ignition Borders = 12<afr<18

• Spark

• Flame Development
 IGNITION SYSTEMS
CONVENTIONAL COIL IGNITION (1890 by BOSCH)
 Spark

• With a potential difference of 12-30 kV across the spark

gap electrons are attracted by the anode (ground
electrode) the gap becomes ionized and conductive.
• Instantly a burst of electrodes rush through the gap
(spark) colliding and thereby heating everything in its
path.
• Fuel and oxygen are heated enough to begin
combustion creating a tiny little flame kernel in the gap.
 Spark

• If the tiny little flame kernel creates heat through

combustion faster than it loses to the nearby
electrodes and passing molecules it will grow and
maybe lead to general combustion.

• If not, misfires occures.

INITIAL FLAMEKERNEL
GROWTH
 Flame Propagation in SI Engine

• Schematic of flame in the engine cylinder during combustion is in

progress: unburned (U) to left of flame, burned to right. A denotes
adiabatic burned-gas core, BL denotes thermal boundary layer in
burned gas, W& is work-transfer rate to piston, Q& is heat-transfer rate
to chamber walls.
 Flame Propagation in SI Engine
After intake the fuel-air mixture is compressed and then ignited by a
spark plug just before the piston reaches top center

The turbulent flame spreads away from the spark discharge location.

Flow

N = 1400 rpm
Pi = 0.5 atm
 In-cylinder Parameters

Tu – unburned gas temperature

Tb,e – early burning gas elements
Tb,l – late burning gas elements
Flame Propagation in SI Engine
• The development of flame
from the vicinity of the spark
plug.
• The center plug location
gives approximate twice the
flame area of the side plug
geometry at a given flame
radius.
• The arrangement with two
spark plugs at opposite
sides gives on significantly
different in enflamed
volume from the single
center plug.
 Flame Propagation in SI Engine
• The mass fraction burned profiles as a function of crank
angle have a characteristic S-shape.
• The rate at which fuel-air mixture burns increases from a
low value immediately following the spark discharge to a
maximum about halfway through the burning process
and then decreases to close to zero as the combustion
process ends.

• It is convenient to use mass fraction burned curve to

characterize different stages of spark-ignition engine
combustion process by their duration in crank angle.
 Flame Development characteristics
Flame development angle Δd – crank angle interval during which
flame kernal develops after spark ignition.
Rapid burning angle Δb – crank angle required to burn most of
mixture
Overall burning angle Δ - sum of flame development and rapid
burning angles
Mass fraction burned
 Mixture Burn Time vs Engine Speed
The time for an overall burn is:

If we take a typical value of 50 crank angles for the overall burn

N (rpm) t90%(ms)
Standard car at idle 500 16.7

Standard car at max power 4,000 2.1

Formula car at max power 19,000 0.4

Note: To achieve such high engine speeds a formula car engine has a very
short stroke and large bore.
 Mixture Burn Time vs Engine Speed
How does the flame burn all the mixture in the cylinder at high engine speeds?

The piston speed is directly proportional to the engine speed, up ~ N

Recall the turbulent intensity increases with piston speed, ut = ½ up

Recall the turbulent burning velocity is proportional to the turbulent intensity

St ~ ut, so at higher engine speeds the turbulent flame velocity is also higher
and as a result need less time to burn the entire mixture

Combustion duration in crank angles (40-60 degrees) only increases a small

amount with increasing engine speed.

 = 1.0
Pi =0.54 atm
Spark 30o BTC
 Finite Heat Release Model
• In the Otto cycle it is assumed that the heat is release
instantaneously. A finite heat release model specifies
heat release as a function of crank angle.
• This model can be used determine the effect of spark
timing or heat transfer on engine work and efficiency.
• The cumulative heat release or “burn fraction” for SI
engines is given by:


where  = crank angle

s = start of heat release
d = duration of heat release
n = form factor
Used to fit experimental data
a = efficiency factor
 Finite Heat Release
A typical heat release curve consists of an initial spark ignition phase,
followed by a rapid burning phase and ends with burning completion phase

The curve asymptotically approaches 1 so the end of combustion is defined

by an arbitrary limit, such as 90% or 99% complete combustion where
xb = 0.90 or 0.99 corresponding values for efficiency factor a are 2.3 and 4.6

The rate of heat release as a function of crank angle is:

dQ dx
 in b
d d
 Finite Heat Release Model
Applying First Law to the closed system containing the gas in the cylinder
for a small crank angle change, d ,

dU  Q  W
assuming ideal gas PV  mRT and dU  mcvdT

Q  PdV  cv PdV  VdP

R
per unit crank angle
 Finite Heat Release Model
The cylinder volume in terms of crank angle, V(), is

V ( ) 
Vd Vd

r 1 2

R1 cos  (R 2  sin2  )1 2 
Differentiating wrt 

dV Vd
d

 sin 1 cos (R 2  sin 2  )1 2
2

Vd 
 B 2 S  displacement volume
where
4
r  compression ratio
2l
R
s
For the portion of the compression and expansion strokes with no heat
Release, where  < s and  > s + d  dQ/d = 0 and
 Finite Heat Release Model Results

Start of heat release:

Engine 1 - 20o bTC
Engine 2 - TC

Duration 40o
Finite Heat Release Model Results
 Heat Losses During Burn
During combustion the cylinder volume is very narrow.

Heat loss to the piston and cylinder head is very important

In order to reduce the heat loss want burn time to be small (high flame velocity)
accomplished by either increasing
a) laminar burning velocity, or
b) turbulence intensity.

Highest laminar burning velocity is achieved for slightly rich mixtures (for
isooctane maximum Sl = 26.3 cm/s at   1.13)
 Air-Fuel mixture for SI Engine

• Stoichiometric 14.5:1 (by mass)

Limited range of mixtures

• Too rich ...
– Waste fuel
– Pollute
– Reduce performance
• Typical max about 10:1
• Too lean (dilute) …
– Mis-firing due to inadequate fuel near spark
• Normal minimum fuel limit at ratios around 18:1
• Stratified charge allows better than 65:1
 Optimum F/A Composition
Maximum power is obtained for a F/A that is about 1.1 since this gives the
highest burning velocity and thus minimum heat loss.

Best fuel economy is obtained for a F/A that is less than 1.0
 Spark Timing
Spark timing relative to TC affects the pressure development and thus the
imep and power of the engine.

Want to ignite the gas before TC so as to center the combustion around TC.

The overall burning angle is typically between 40 to 60o, depending on engine

speed.

Engine at WOT, constant

engine speed and A/F

motored
 Maximum Brake Torque Timing
If start of combustion is too early work is done against piston and if too late
then peak pressure is reduced.

The optimum spark timing which gives the maximum brake torque, called
MBT timing occurs when these two opposite factors cancel.

Engine at WOT, constant

engine speed and A/F
 Effect of Engine Speed on Spark Timing
Recall the overall burn angle (90% burn) increases with engine speed, to
accommodated this you need a larger spark advance.

WOT

Fixed spark advance

Brake Torque

MBT

2600 rpm
N
 Effect of Throttle on Spark Timing
At part-throttle the residual gas fraction increases, and since
residual gas represents a diluent it lowers the laminar burning
velocity.

Because of lower burning velocity overall burn angle

increases so need to increase spark advance.

At idle, where the residual gas fraction is very high, the burn
time is very long and thus a long overall burn angle which
requires more spark advance.

In modern engines the onboard computer sets the spark

advance based on information such as the throttle position,
intake manifold pressure and engine speed.
Cyclic Variation in Pressure Development

With a lean mixture, With a rich mixture,

rpm= 2000, r= 9.0, variation of F/A=0.82. rpm=2000, r=9.0, variation of F/AR=1.25.
Throttle fully opened. Throttle fully opened.
Imep deviation +/- 4.5 per cent. Imep deviation +/- 3.6 per cent.
Peak-pressure deviation +/-28 per cent. Peak-pressure deviation +/-10 per cent
 Cyclic variations in Combustion
Cyclic variations in the combustion process are
important for two reasons:
• The optimum spark timing is set for the “average” cycle,
thus cycle variations either faster than average cycles
that have over-advanced spark timing or slower than
average cycles that have retarded timing causes losses
in power and efficiency.
• The cycle variations limit engine operation, faster
burning cycles are most likely to knock (thus it is
determined the engine’s fuel octane requirement), slower
burning cycles are most likely to burn incompletely (thus
it is set the practical lean operating limit of the engine).
 Cyclic variations in Combustion

Important measure of Cyclic variations in the

combustion, derived from pressure data, is the
coefficient of variation in indicated mean effective
pressure (COVimep).
• COVimep is the standard deviation in imep divided by
the mean imep (is usually expressed in percent)

 imep
COVimep  100
imep
Cyclic variations in Combustion :
Observations
RANDOM WALK OF THE
FLAME KERNEL
↓
COVimepnet
Cyclic variations in Combustion :
Observation

COVimepnet = 1.4 %
 Cyclic variations in Combustion :
Observation

• Variations of air/fuel ratio (left) and CO2 and unburned

HC (right) in vicinity of spark plug
Cyclic variations in Combustion : Causes

Cyclic variations in the combustion process are caused by

• Variation in mixture motion within the cylinder at the time
of spark,
• Variation in the amounts of air and fuel fed to the
cylinder each cycle,
• Variation in the mixing of fresh mixture and residual
gases within cylinder each cycle.
 Cyclic variations in Combustion :
Partial burning, Misfire, and Engine stability
Engine stable operating limit is the operating point where
the engine stable operating could be developed.
Quader set up the following terms to explain combustion
phenomena at the engine stable operating:
• Ignition-limited spark timing or ignition limit – the spark
timing advanced from MBT timing at which misfire first
occurs at a given mixture composition.
• Partial burn limited spark timing or partial burn limit – the
spark timing retarded from MBT timing at which incomplete
flame propagation occurs at a given mixture composition.
• Lean misfire limit at MBT spark – the leanest mixture at
which the engine could be stabilized to operate at MBT
timing with a misfire frequency below a specified value.
 Improving SI Engine Efficiency

• Increased compression ratio

– Problems
• Pre-ignition and detonation
 Improving SI Engine Efficiency
• Pre-ignition (End Gas Ignition):

Heating of unburnt mixture by compression and radiation

initiates premature combustion.
 Improving SI Engine Efficiency
• Detonation:
Shock wave carries flame front
Power loss due to excessive
turbulence
Extra bearing loads
Wipe off insulating boundary layer
Leads to overheating and hot
spots
Hot spots cause pre-ignition
 Improving SI Engine Efficiency
Control of SI Engines
• Need to control output to match load
• Diluting mixture insufficient
reduction
• Control by fuel quantity rather than
quality
• Throttling inlet flow
 Improving SI Engine Efficiency
Control of SI Engines – Effects
• Throttling:

• Pressure drops as air flows into

engine (up to 1 atm)

• Larger work input “pumping

losses”

• Reduces output power …also

reduces “part-load efficiency”.
 Improving SI Engine Efficiency
• Mixture needs:
• Max power and max efficiency at different mixture

• Mix must very with throttle setting

– Max throttle – need rich for max power
– Normal – need lean for best economy
– Closed throttle – need rich for reliable ignition

• Pollution limits now dominant constraint

especially immediately after startup.
Improving SI Engine Efficiency
Improving SI Engine Efficiency
Improving SI Engine Efficiency