Proceedings of ECOS 2005

Trondheim, Norway
June 2022, 2005

A SIMPLE SIMULATION TECHNIQUE FOR ENERGY BALANCE OF

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES UNDER VARIABLE LOAD
Ricardo Wilson Cruz1
Superior School of Technology State University of Amazon
Av. Getlio Vargas, 361/402, CEP 69020-010, Manaus, AM,
Brazil
Silvia Azucena Nebra2
State University of Campinas
Mechanical Engineering Faculty Energy Department
P.O. Box 6122, CEP 13083-970, Campinas, SP,
Brazil
Elizabeth Ferreira Cartaxo3
Technology Faculty Federal University of Amazon
Av. Rodrigo Otvio, 3000, CEP 69000-000, Manaus, AM,
Brazil

ABSTRACT
This paper reports a simple technique to perform simulations of Diesel engines, taking into account
the discrete variation of engine power load under constant speed. This simulation technique was
developed to be used in cogeneration systems simulation. To perform the model, some assumptions
were made: the combustion reaction was supposed to have only four combustion products and the
heat loss were treated through a bulk simple modeling. Some technical information introduced was
taken from manufacturers data spreadsheet.
Key-words: Engine simulation, Diesel engines, partial load.

Efficiency
Stoichiometric coeficients [kmol/kmol-fuel]
Irradiated heat / fuel energy ratio

, Alcock et al. equation coefficients

NOMENCLATURE
AF
bsfc
E
~
h, h
 , n
m

Q
Q
q
T

W

Air-to-fuel ratio
Brake specific fuel consumption [kg/kW.s]
Energy liberated by time unit [kW]
Specific enthalpy, [kJ/kg], [kJ/kmol]
Mass flux [kg/s], molar flux [kmol/s]

Subscripts and Superscripts

Heat flux [kW]

Fuel heating value [kJ/kg]
Engine power load ratio [%]
Temperature [K]
Power [kW]

air
b
exh.
f
gas

Corresponding author Phone: +55 92 8804 5758. E-mail: rcruz@uea.edu.br

E-mail: sanebra@fem.unicamp.br
3
E-mail: ecartaxo@ufam.edu.br
2

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air
Brake
Exhaust
Fuel, formation
gas

H2O
irrad.
i, j
LHV
lubr.
net

Water
Irradiated
Counter indexes (related to P and R)
Low heating value
Lubricating
Net value

P, R
|q
refr.
resid.
0

Products, reactants
Load set point
Refrigerant
Residual
Reference state (1 [atm], 298.15 [K])

INTRODUCTION

Power generation by internal combustion engines

is particularly dependent on fuel consumption
level, by environmental or economical reasons, as
it influences operational costs and gas emissions.
In the context of the present lack of fossil energy
resources, internal combustion engines are
evolving towards the reduction of this parameter.
In the Amazon region, Diesel engines are
responsible for power generation at villages and
towns. The fuel cost, including transportation, is a
very important factor. With these conditions, the
analysis should attempt to the additional problem
of the variation of engine power as a response to
the electric power demand, which usually happens
in autonomous power grids. A simple methodology
to simulate the engine performance is helpful for
energy generation planning and also to simulate
cogeneration systems. To get these objectives, in
this paper is presented a simple engine modeling
under variable load.

Figure 1: Engine energy balance

The above mentioned energy balance terms are
related to the variable load, which is herein defined
by the relation:
q


W
b|q

W

(3)

b|100

ENGINE BALANCES

To perform the energy and mass balances under

permanent conditions, a control volume
surrounding the engine and its admission system
and exhaust system is defined, see Figure 1:

(m f h f ) + (m air h air ) [W b + Q irrad. + (m exh.h exh. ) +

 refr. h refr. ) + (m
 lub r. h lub r. )] = 0 (1)
+ (m
 exh. = m
 air + m
f
m

Energy from Fuel under Variable Load

 f h f ) + (m
 air h air ) is the
In Equation (1) the sum (m

fuel energy furnished by unit time E . Taking into
f

account a reaction balance where only the four

main combustion products, enough for energy
balance purpose, H2O, CO2, N2 and O2, are
considered. The above mentioned sum may be
written as:

(2)

Manufacturers give data spreadsheets for brake

power upon load discrete values, usually set at 25
[%], 50 [%], 75 [%] and 100 [%]. The heat loss to
 lub r.h lub r. ) is small ([1], [2], [3], [4]),
lubricant (m
so it can be summed up to that of the cooling fluid
(m refr. h refr. ) .

E f = n f

i (h fo,i + h i ) j (h fo, j + h j ) =
~

 f Q LHV
=m

(4)

~ ~
~
where h = h (T) h (T0 ) is the sensible enthalpy
above the reference temperature (T0 = 298.15 [K])
of reactants (fuel and air) at TR and products at TP.

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And then the fuel conversion efficiency may be

determined as:
f =

1
bsfc Q LHV

(5)

Where the brake specific fuel consumption is

defined as:

m
bsfc f
(6)

W
b

The exhausted gas flux may be evaluated from the

air-to-fuel ratio:
AF

 air
 air
m
m
=

f
m
bsfc W
b

(7)

In general, AF is given by the manufacturers

spreadsheets, frequently only at 100 [%] load.
Assuming the engine running at its nominal speed
and that in fuel injected engines the air mass flux
remains constant as load varies (full throttle), for
discrete loads ranging from, say, 25 [%] to 100
[%], other air-to-fuel ratios may be inferred by:
AF|q
AF|100

 air|q m
 f |q
 f |100
m
m
=
 air|100 m
 f |100
 f |q
m
m

(8)

Radiation Heat Loss under Variable Load

This effect is a markedly small part of the energy
balance. The manufacturers provide data for 100
[%] load. Ferguson [4] reports values from 7% to
9% of E f , for every engine load for medium speed
engines at constant speed. So it may be assumed


that the relation Q
remains
irrad.|100 E f |100

constant for every engine load. It can be avaluated

from manufacturers data spreadsheet. For loads
others than 100 [%], the radiation heat loss can be
inferred by:



Q
irrad.|q = E f |q

any practical method. In general, as reported by

Ramos [5], even modern zero to multidimensional
simulation methods demand empirical and not
precise regressions for space averaged heat loss,
such as proposed by Annand and Whoschnnis. In
late fifties, Taylor [2] established one of the first
methods for estimating the average bulk cylinder
heat loss, to perform that, the author collected data
from a wide range of engine types, speeds and
conceptions, relating empirical parameters.
Taylors method at least explains this complex
phenomenon. However, Taylors methodology
does not approach satisfactorily the behavior of
Diesel engines under variable load.
A simpler method is reported by Stone [1], as a
correlation developed by Alcock et al. based on
extensive experiments, established as a exponential
correlation between the cylinder bulk heat loss and
the mass fuel consumption, which is:

 f |q
E refr.|q = m

(10)

It is obvious that this model should be viewed as a

curve regression, where the coefficients and
must be searched for any particular engine, as
these are dependent upon engines fuel injection
conception,
pressure,
velocity,
geometric
parameters, etc. Stone [1] reports also that Alcock
et al. got the value = 0.6 for a direct injected 1.8
litter Diesel engine. Equation (17) is Equation (10)
applied to the practical example of this paper.

Energy and Temperature of the Gases under

Variable Load
The heat rate exhausted by the combustion gases is
given by solving the balance Equation (1). The
exhausted gases energy must attempt to the
following equation:
 gas |q (h exh. h 0 )
E exh.|q = m

(11)

The solution of Equation (11), joined to the energy

balance, returns the exhaust gas temperature
T exh. | q ( h exh.|q ). Many algorithms may solve such

(9)

Cooling Fluid Heat Loss under Variable Load

The reciprocating nature of the internal combustion
engines makes evaluating the heat loss to the
cooling fluid and lubricant extremely difficult, by

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an iterative calculation which takes into account

that the gas enthalpy data may be adjusted to
polynomials, such as h = B 6 T 6 + B5 T 5 + ... + B 0 .
The available residual energy can be calculated
from the date of allowable minimum exhaustion

temperature, which is established in order to avoid

the formation of liquid sulfuric acid by Diesel oil.
See equation (12).
(12)

It is usually assumed for this minimum

temperature, under Amazon weather conditions,
the value Tresid. = 413.15 [K] (140 [C]). In such a
case, the available energy of the exhaust gases is:
 gas|q ( h exh . h resid . )
E net|q = m

+ 4,744 6 10 -2 q 2 - 1,882 0 10 -4 q 3


 150
Q
irrad.|q = E f |q 

E f |100

(13)

A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE
The equations were applied to a supercharged
Diesel engine of a national manufacturer working
on continuous basis, whose most important
technical data are related on the table bellow,
Table 1.

AF [6]
10-8 bsfc [6]
6 841
89.92
6 034
50.97
5 688
36.05
5 592
27.50
Performance at rated speed
Brake power [6]
1 200 [kW]
Heat rejected to cooling fluid
618 [kW]
and lubricant [6]
Environment Radiation Loss [6]
150 [kW]
Engine speed [6]
1 800 [rpm]
Diesel oil Q LHV [7]
40 270 [kJ/kg]
198,10
Diesel oil molecular mass [7]
[kmol/kg]
Diesel oil density [7]
850,0 [kg/m]
Average Diesel oil molecular
C14,4H24,9
composition [4]
q
25
50
75
100

(15)

In particular for the Diesel engine of the example,

Equations (9) and (10) were adjusted to the values
presented in equations (16) and (17):

 f |q
E refr .|q = 3 871 m

(16)

)0,68

(17)

In Equation (17), and were found by equaling

Equation (10) to environment radiation loss, see
value on Table 1.
Figure 2 shows the energy balance. Figure 3 shows
the energy balance ratios E E f . Figure 4 reports
the combustion products exhaust temperature,
obtained by solving Equation (11) as explained
above. All of them are in function of the engine
load. The solutions were obtained by solving the
precedent equations with the aid of the software
EES [8].
For the purpose of comparison from the simulated
results to actual data, in Figure 5, statistical data
from ASHRAE [10] are reported, compiled from
many types and sizes of supercharged Diesel
engines. Note how similar Figures 3 and 5 are,
despite the obvious statistical differences on each
discrete power load points.

3000

Energy time-rates [kW]

 gas|q (h resid. h 0 )
E resid.|q = m

AF|q = 1,705 2 10 2 - 4,292 9 q +

Table 1: Diesel engine data.

For the above mentioned bsfc and AF data, the
following polynomial regressions, equations (14)
and (15), can be obtained. In both cases, the
statistic parameters R are 100%:

Fuel

2500

Power

2000

Exhaust

1500

Ref r ig.

1000

Ir r adiat
.
Resid.

500

Net

0
25

37,5

50

62,5

75

87,5 100

113

125

138

q [%]

bsfc|q = 8,320 8 10 -5 - 7,545 7 10 -7 q +

Figure 2: Simulated energy balance for the Diesel

engine of the example [9].

+ 7,071 7 10 -9 q 2 - 2,254 7 10 -11 q 3 (14)

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energy fractions, both, Figure 3 and 5, show that

the available heat fraction of the exhaust gases
remain almost constant as the power load
enhances.. Moreover, despite of its higher energy
content, at low power loads, the combustion
products do not support high temperature levels at
that point, as shown in Figure 4. As the cooling
fluid temperature do not vary as extensively as
gases do, with the power load variation; it should
be noted that most of rejected heat at low loads is
concerning to the cooling fluid. At low power
loads, cogeneration cycles should attempt to the
low temperature of the combustion products.

Energy fractions [%]

50,0

40,0
Fuel ef f .
Exh.f r ct

30,0

Ref r i g.f r ct

20,0

Ir r ad.f r ct
Resi d.f r ct

10,0

0,0
25

40

55

70

85

100

115

130

145

q [%]

Figure 3: Simulated energy balance fractions for

the Diesel engine of the example [9].

CONCLUSIONS
The problem of simulating the performance of
internal combustion engines under variable load is
satisfactorily attempted by the simple procedure
presented in this paper. If it is taken into account
that most of the theoretical simulation procedures
are difficult, to not say unpractical, to be
implemented by daily engineering, the main
calculation difficulties related to the present
procedure may be promptly attained nowadays.
These difficulties are mainly to obtaining
performance data from engine manufacturers,
thermo-physical data for gases, fuel and water. To
facilitate the calculation, it is recommended the use
of a computer software package as, for instance,
EES [8], whose thermo-physical data bank and
equations solving algorithm can fully satisfy the
computational efforts demanded.

Temperature [K]

750
700
650
600
550
500
450
400
25

50

75

100

q [%]

Figure 4: Simulated temperature of the exhausted

gases for the Diesel engine of the example [9].

Energy fractions [%]

36

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

32
Ref r ger ant

28

The authors wish to thank Cummins do Brasil S.A.

for the kind permission for utilization of their
engine data sheets; as well as FUCAPI Foundation
in Amazon, State University of Amazon (UEA),
Federal University of Amazon (UFAM) and
National Bureau for Scientific and Technologic
Development (CNPq), for their financial support.

Exh. gases

24
Irr adiat ion

20
Power

16
12
25

37,5

50

62,5

75

87,5

100

112,5

125

137,5

q [%]

Figure 5: Supercharged Diesel engines energy

fractions from ASHRAE [10]).

REFERENCES

Figure 2 shows that the exhaust gases available

energy increases with the load, at a higher rate than
the cooling fluid available energy. Considering the

1357

[1] Stone Richard. Introduction to Internal

Combustion Engine. Warrendale: Society of
Automotive Engineers, Inc., 1999.

[2] Taylor C. F. Anlise dos Motores de Comb.

Interna. So Paulo: Ed. Edgard Blcher, 1988.
[3] Heywood J. B. Internal Combustion Engine
Fundamentals. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1988.
[4] Ferguson C. R. Internal Combustion Engines.
Applied Thermosciences. New York: John
Wiley & Sons, 1986.
[5] Ramos J. I. Mathematical Models of Diesel
Engines. In: Markatos N. C., Editor. Comp.
Simul. for Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass
Transfer, and Combustion in Reciprocating
Engine Prococess of the International Centre
for Heat and Mass Transfer, Hemisphere
Publishing Co., New York, 1989.
[6] Cummins Co. Inc. Engine performance report
FR-6250. Data sheet DS-6250. Columbus,
Ohio, 2000.
[7] Petrleo Brasileiro S.A. (PETROBRS).
Diesel Oil - Specifications Brochure (in
Portuguese) Rio de Janeiro: Lanna Grficos,
2000.
[8] F-Chart Software. Engineering Equation
Solver (EES). USA; January, 26, 2004. See
also: http://www.fchart.com/.
[9] Cruz Ricardo. Evaluation of the Introduction
of Cogeneration in the isolated electric
generation System of the Amazon State. (in
Portuguese) Doctoral thesis. Mechanical
Engineering Faculty, State University of
Campinas, 2004.
[10] American Society of Heating, Refrigeration
and
Air
Conditioning
(ASHRAE).
Cogeneration Systems and Engine and
Turbine Drives. In: Handbook for Heating,
Ventilating and Air-Conditioning Systems and
Equipment. SI Edition, Atlanta, 2000.

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