FUELS

4.1 INTRODUCTION
The study of fuels for IC engines has been carried out ever since these engines came into existence. The engine
converts heat energy which is obtained from the chemical combination of the fuel with the oxygen, into
mechanical energy. Since the heat energy is derived from the fuel, a fundamental knowledge of types of fuels and
their characteristics is essential in order to understand the combustion phenomenon. The characteristics of the fuel
used have considerable influence on the design, efficiency, output and particularly, the reliability and durability of
the engine. Further, the fuel characteristics play a vital role in the atmospheric pollution caused by the engines
used in automobiles.
4.2 Fuels
Internal combustion engines call be operated on different types of fuels such as liquid, gaseous and even solid
fuels. Depending upon the type of fuel to be used the engine has to be designed accordingly.
4.2.1 Solid Fuels
The solid fuels find little practical application at present because of the problems in handling the fuel as well as in
disposing off, the solid residue or ash after combustion. However, in the initial stages of the engine development,
solid fuels such as finely powdered coal were attempted. Compared to gaseous and liquid fuels, solid fuels are quite
difficult to handle and storage and feeding are quite cumbersome. Because of the complications in the design of
the fuel feed systems these fuels have become unsuitable in solid form. Attempts are being made to generate
gaseous or liquid fuels from charcoal for use in IC engines.
4.2.2 Gaseous Fuels
Gaseous fuels are ideal and pose very few problems in using them in IC engines. Being gaseous, they mix more homogeneously
with air and eliminate the distribution and starting problems that are encountered with liquid fuels. Even though
the gaseous fuels are the most ideal for internal combustion engines, storage and handling problems restrict their
use in automobiles. Consequently, they are commonly used for stationary power plants located near the source of
availability of the fuel. Some of the gaseous fuels can be liquefied under pressure for reducing the storage volume
but this arrangement is very expensive as well as risky. Because of the energy crisis in the recent years
considerable research efforts are being made to improve the design and performance of gas engines which became
obsolete when liquid fuels began to be used.
4.2.3 Liquid Fuels
In most of the modern internal combustion engines, liquid fuels which are the derivatives of liquid petroleum are
being used. The three principal commercial types of liquid fuels are benzyl, alcohol and petroleum products.
However, petroleum products form the main fuels for IC Engines today.
4.3 Chemical Structure of Petroleum
Petroleum as obtained from the oil wells is predominantly a mixture of many hydrocarbons with differing molecular
structure. It also contains small amounts of sulphur, oxygen, nitrogen and impurities such as water and sand. The
carbon and hydrogen atoms may be linked in different ways in a hydrocarbon molecule and this linking influences
the chemical and physical properties of different hydrocarbon groups. Most petroleum fuels tend to exhibit the
characteristics of that type of hydrocarbon which forms a major constituent of the fuel. The carbon and hydrogen
combine in different proportions and molecular structures to form a variety of hydrocarbons. The carbon to
hydrogen ratio which is one of the important parameters and their nature of bonding determine the energy
characteristics of the hydrocarbon fuels. Depending upon the number of carbon and hydrogen atoms the petroleum
products are classified into different groups. The differences in physical and chemical properties between the
different types of hydrocarbon depend on their chemical composition and affect mainly the combustion processes
and hence, the proportion of fuel and air required in the engine. The basic families of hydrocarbons, their
general formulae and their molecular arrangement are shown in Table 3.1

Table 3.1 Basic Families of Hydrocarbons

Family of General Molecular Saturated/unsaturated Stability
hydrocarbons formula structure
Paraffin Cn H2n+2 Chain Saturated Stable
Olefin CnH2n Chain Unsaturated Unstable
Naphthene CnH2n Ring Saturated Stable
Aromatic CnH2n-6 Ring Highly unsaturated Most unstable

The above families of hydrocarbons exhibit some general characteristics due to their molecular structure which
are summarized below
(i) Normal paraffins exhibit the poorest antiknock quality when used in an SI engine. But the antiknock quality
improves with the increasing number of carbon atoms and the compactness of the molecular structure. The
aromatics offer the best resistance to knocking in SI Engines.
(ii) For C1 engines, the order is reversed i.e., the normal paraffins are the best fuels and aromatics are the least
desirable.
(iii) As the number of atoms in the molecular structure increases, the boiling temperature increases. Thus fuels
with fewer atoms in the molecule tend to be more volatile.
(iv) The heating value generally increases as the proportion of hydrogen atoms to carbon atoms in the molecule
increases due ·to the higher heating value of hydrogen than carbon. Thus, paraffins have the highest heating value
and the aromatics the least.
4.4 Petroleum Refining Process
Crude petroleum, as obtained from the oil wells contains gases (mainly methane and ethane) and certain
impurities such as water, solids etc. The crude oil is separated into gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil etc. by the process
of fractional distillation. This process is based on the fact that the boiling points of various hydrocarbons increase
with increase in molecular weight.
Figure 4.1 shows a simple diagram of the refining process of crude petroleum (the diagram does not show
the facilities for process utilization desulphurization etc.). In the first step, the petroleum is passed through
a separator in which the gases are removed and a product known as natural gasoline is obtained. The liquid
petroleum is then vaporized in a still, at temperatures of 600°C and the vapor is admitted at the bottom of the
fractionating tower. The vapor is forced to pass upwards along a labyrinth-like arrangement of plates which direct
the vapor through trays of liquid fuel maintained at different temperatures. The compounds with higher boiling
points get condensed out at lower levels while those with lower boiling points move up to higher levels where they
get condensed in trays at appropriate temperature. Generally the top fraction is called the straight-run gasoline
and the other fractions, kerosene, diesel oil, fuel oils etc. are obtained in the increasing range of boiling
temperatures. Details are shown in Fig.4.1. The important products of the refining process are given in Table 4.2

Fig. 4.1 Refining Process of Petroleum

Many processes can be used to convert some of these fractions to compounds for which there is a greater
demand. Some of the main refinery processes are as follows:
(i) Cracking consists of breaking down large and complex hydrocarbon molecules into simpler
compounds. Thermal cracking subjects the large hydrocarbon molecules to high temperature and
pressure and they are decomposed into smaller, lower boiling point molecules
(ii) Hydrogenation consists of the addition of hydrogen atoms to certain hydrocarbons under high
pressure and temperature.
(iii) Polymerization is the process of converting olefins, the unsaturated products of cracking, into heavier
and stable compounds.
(iv) Alkylation combines an olefin with an isoparaffin to produce a branched chain isoparaffin in the presence of
Alkylation
a catalyst. Example: isobutylene + isobutane (--) iso-octane.
(v) Isomerization changes the relative position of the atoms within the molecule of a hydrocarbon without
changing its molecular formula.
For example, isomerization is used for the conversion of n-butane into iso-butane for alkylation. Conversion
of n-pentane and n-hexane into isoparaffins to improve knock rating of highly volatile gasoline is another example.
(vi) Cyclization joins together the ends of a straight chain molecule to form a ring compound of the naphthene
family.
(vii) Aromatization is similar to cyclization, the exception being that the product is an aromatic compound.
(viii) Reformation is a type of cracking process which is used to convert the low antiknock quality stocks into
gasolines of higher octane rating (see section 4.6). It does not increase the total gasoline volume.
 (ix) Blending is a process of obtaining a product of desired quality by mixing certain products in some suitable
proportion.

4.5 IMPORTANT QUALITIES OF ENGINE FUELS

Fuels used in IC engines should possess certain basic qualities which are important for the smooth running of the
engines. In this section, the' important qualities of fuels for both SI and CI engines are reviewed.
4.5.1 SI Engine Fuels
Gasoline which is mostly used in the present day SI engines is usually a blend of several low boiling paraffins,
naphthenes and aromatics in varying proportions. Some of the important qualities of gasoline are discussed
below.
(i) Volatility: Volatility is one of the main characteristic properties of gasoline which determines its suitability for
use in an SI engine. Since gasoline is a mixture of different hydrocarbons, volatility depends on the fractional
composition of the fuel. The usual practice of measuring the fuel volatility is the distillation of the fuel in a special
device at atmospheric pressure and in the presence of its own vapor. The fraction that boils off at a definite
temperature is measured. The characteristic points are the temperatures at which 10, 40, 50 and 90% of the
volume evaporates as well as the temperature at which boiling of the fuel terminates. Figure 4.2 shows the
fractional distillation curve of gasoline for both winter and summer grade gasoline. The method for measuring
volatility has been standardized by the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) and the graphical
representation of the result of the tests is generally referred to as the ASTM distillation curve. The more important
aspects of volatility related to engine fuels are discussed in detail in conjunction with the distillation curve.
(ii) Starting and Warm up: A certain part of the gasoline should vaporize at the room temperature for easy
starting of the engine. Hence, the portion of the distillation curve between about 0 and 10% boiled off have
relatively low boiling temperatures. As the engine warms up, the temperature will gradually increase to the
operating temperature. Low distillation temperatures are desirable throughout the range of the distillation curve for
best warm-up.
(iii) Operating Range Performance: In order to obtain good vaporization of the gasoline, low distillation
temperatures are preferable in the engine operating range. Better vaporization tends to produce both more
uniform distribution of fuel to the cylinders as well as better acceleration characteristics by reducing the quantity of
liquid droplets in the intake manifold.
(iv) Crankcase Dilution: Liquid fuel in the cylinder causes loss of lubricating oil (by washing away oil from
cylinder walls) which deteriorates the quality of lubrication and tends to cause damage to the engine

Fig. 4.2 Typical Distillation Curves of Gasoline

Through increased friction. The liquid gasoline may also dilute the lubricating oil and weaken the oil film between
rubbing surfaces. To prevent these possibilities, the upper portion of the distillation curve should exhibit sufficiently
low distillation temperatures to insure that all gasoline in the cylinder is vaporized by the time the combustion
starts.
(v) Vapor Lock Characteristics : High rate of vaporization of gasoline can upset the carburettor metering or
even stop the fuel flow to the engine by setting up a vapor lock in the fuel passages. This characteristic, demands
the presence of relatively high boiling temperature hydrocarbons throughout the distillation range. Since this
requirement is not consistent with the other requirements desired in (a), (b) and (c), a compromise must be made
for the desired distillation temperatures.
(vi) Antiknock Quality: Abnormal burning or detonation in an SI engine combustion chamber causes a very high
rate of energy release, excessive temperature and pressure inside the cylinder adversely affects
its thermal efficiency. Therefore, the characteristics of the fuel used should be such that it resists the tendency to
produce detonation and this property is called its antiknock property. The antiknock property of a fuel depends on
the self-ignition characteristics of its mixture and vary largely with the chemical composition and molecular
structure of the fuel. In general, the best SI engine fuel will be that having the highest antiknock property, since
this permits the use of higher compression ratios and thus the engine thermal efficiency and the power output can
be greatly increased.
(vii) Gum Deposits: Reactive hydrocarbons and impurities in the fuel have a tendency to oxidize upon storage
and form liquid and solid gummy substances. The gasoline containing hydrocarbons of the paraffin, naphthene and
aromatic families forms little gum while cracked gasoline containing unsaturated hydrocarbons is the worst
offender. A gasoline with high gum content will cause operating difficulties such as sticking valves and piston rings
carbon deposits in the engine, gum deposits in the manifold, clogging of carburet tor jets and enlarging of the
valve stems, cylinders and pistons. The amount of gum increases with increased concentrations of oxygen, with
rise in temperature, with exposure to sunlight and also on contact with metals. Gasoline specifications therefore
limit both the gum content of the fuel and its tendency to form gum during storage.
(viii) Sulphur Content: Hydrocarbon fuels may contain free sulphur, hydrogen sulphide and other sulphur
compounds which are objectionable for several reasons. The sulphur is a corrosive element of the fuel that can
corrode fuel lines, carburettors and injection pumps and it will unite with oxygen to form sulphur dioxide that, in
the presence of water at low temperature, may form sulphuric acid. Since sulphur has a low ignition temperature,
the presence of sulphur can reduce the self-ignition temperature, then promoting knock in the SI engine.
4.5.2 CI Engine Fuels
(i) Knock Characteristics: Knock in the CI engine occurs because of an ignition lag in the combustion of the fuel
between the time of injection and the time of actual burning. As the ignition lag increases, the amount of fuel
accumulated in the combustion chamber increases and when combustion actually takes place, abnormal amount of
energy is suddenly released causing an excessive rate of pressure rise which results in an audible knock. Hence, a
good CI engine fuel should have a short ignition lag and will ignite more readily. Furthermore, ignition lag affects
the starting, warm up, and leads to the production of exhaust smoke in CI engines. The present day measure m
the cetane rating, the best fuel in general, will have a cetane rating sufficiently high to avoid objectionable knock.
(ii) Volatility: The fuel should be sufficiently volatile in the operating range of temperature to produce good
mixing and combustion. Figure 6.3 is a representative distillation curve of a typical diesel fuel.
(iii)Starting characteristics: easily This requirement demands high enough volatility to form a combustible
mixture readily and a high cetane rating in order that the self-ignition temperature is low.

Fig. 4.3 Typical Distillation Curve for Diesel

(iv)Smoking and Odour: The fuel should not promote either smoke odour in the engine exhaust. Generally, good
volatility is the first prerequisite to ensure good mixing and therefore complete combustion.
(v)Viscosity: CI engine fuels should be able to flow through the fuel system and the strainers under the lowest
operating temperatures to which the engine is subjected to.
(vi)Corrosion and Wear : The fuel should not cause corrosion and wear of the engine components before or after
combustion. These requirements are directly related to the presence of sulphur, ash and residue in the fuel.
(vii)Handling Ease : The fuel should be a liquid that will readily flow under all conditions that are encountered in
actual use. This requirement is measured by the pour point and the viscosity of the fuel. The fuel should also have
a high flash point and a high fire point.
4.6 RATING OF FUELS
Normally fuels are rated for their antiknock qualities. The rating of fuels is done by defining two parameters called
Octane number and Cetane number for gasoline and diesel oil respectively. The rating of fuels, both for SI and
CI engines is discussed in this section.
6.6.1 Rating of SI Engine Fuels
Resistance to knocking is an extremely important characteristic of fuel for spark-ignition engines. These fuels differ
widely in their ability to resist knock depending on their chemical composition. A satisfactory rating method for
comparing the antiknock qualities of the various fuels has been established. In addition to the chemical
characteristics of hydrocarbons in the fuel, other operating parameters such as fuel-air ratio, ignition timing,
dilution, engine speed, shape of the combustion chamber, ambient conditions, compression ratio etc. affect the
tendency to knock in the engine cylinder. Therefore, in order to determine the knock resistance characteristic
of the fuel, the engine and its operating variables must be fixed at standard values.
According to a standard practice, the antiknock value of an SI engine fuel is determined by comparing its
antiknock property with a mixture of two reference fuels, iso-octane and normal heptane. Isooctane chemically
being a very good antiknock fuel is arbitrarily assigned a rating of 100 octane number. Normal heptane, on the
other hand, has very poor antiknock qualities and is given a rating of a octane number. The Octane number of a
fuel is defined as the percentage, by volume of iso-octane in a mixture of iso-octane and normal heptane, which
exactly matches the knocking intensity of the fuel in a standard engine under a set of standard operating
conditions.
. The addition of certain compounds (e.g. tetraethyl lead) to iso-octane produces fuels of greater antiknock quality
(above 100 octane number). The antiknock effectiveness of tetraethyl lead, for the same quantity of lead added
decreases as the total content of lead in the fuel increases. Furthermore, each octane number at the higher range
of the octane sca1ewill produce greater antiknock effect compared to the same unit at the lower end of the scale .
For instance , octane number increase from 92 to 93 produces greater antiknock effect than a similar increase from
32 to 33 octane number. Because of this non-linear variation, a new scale was derived which expresses the
approximate relative engine performance and the units of this scale are known as the Performance Numbers, PN.
Octane numbers, ON above 100 can be computed by

28.28 A
ON(> 100) = 100 +
1.0+0.736 A+ √ 1.0+0.736 A−0.035216 A2
where A is TEL in ml/gal of fuel, or from the performance number, PN,

PN −100
Octane Number = 100 +
3
Laboratory Method: The engine is run at specified conditions with a definite compression ratio and a definite
blend of reference fuels. The intensity of knock at these standard conditions is called standard knock. The knock
meter is adjusted to give a particular reading under these conditions. The test fuel is now used in the engine and
air-fuel ratio is adjusted to give maximum knock intensity. The compression ratio of the engine is gradually
changed until the knock meter reading is the same as m the previous run (standard knock). The compression ratio
is now fixed and known blends of reference fuels are used in the engine. The blend· of reference fuels which gives
a knock meter reading equal to the standard value will match the knocking characteristics of the test fuel.
Percentage by volume of iso-octane in the particular blend gives the octane number.
6.6.2 Rating of CI Engine Fuels
In compression-ignition engines, the knock resistance depends on chemical characteristics as well as on the
operating and design conditions of the engine. Therefore, the knock rating of a diesel fuel is found by cooperative
the fuel under prescribed conditions of operation in a special engine with primary reference fuels. The reference
fuels are normal cetane, which is arbitrarily assigned a cetane number of 100 and alpha methyl naphthalene, with
an assigned cetane number of O. Cetane number of a fuel is defined as the percentage by volume of normal cetane
in a mixture of normal cetane and a-methyl naphthalene which has the same ignition characteristics (ignition
delay) as the test fuel when combustion is carried out in a standard engine under specified operating conditions.
Since ignition delay is the primary factor in controlling the initial auto ignition in the CI engine, it is reasonable to
conclude that knock should be directly related to the ignition delay of the fuel. Knock resistance property of diesel
Oil can be improved by adding small quantities of compounds like amyl nitrate, ethyl nitrate or ether.
Laboratory Method
The test is carried out in a standard single cylinder engine like the CFR engine or Ricardo single cylinder variable
compression ratio engine under the conditions shown in Table 4.3

Engine speed 900 Rpm

Table 4.3 Conditions for Ignition Quality Test on
Jacket water 1000 C
Diesel Fuels
temperature
Inlet air temperature 65.50 C
Injection advance Constant at 130 bTDC
Ignition delay 130

The test fuel is first used first used in the engine operating at the specified conditions. The fuel pump delivery is
adjusted to give a particular fuel-air ratio. The injection timing is also adjusted to give an injection advance of 13
degrees. By varying the compression ratio the ignition delay can be increased or decreased until a position is found
where combustion begins at T DC. When this position is found, the test fuel undergoes a 13 degree ignition delay.
The cetane number of the unknown fuel can be estimated by noting the compression ratio for 13 degree delay and
then referring to a prepared chart showing the relationship between cetane number and compression ratio.
However, for accuracy two reference fuel blends differing by not more than 5 cetane numbers are selected to
bracket the unknown sample. The compression ratio is varied for each reference blend to reach the standard
ignition delay (13 degrees) and, by interpolation of the compression ratios, the cetane rating of the unknown fuel is
determined.