Heat Engine

An engine which uses heat to convert

the chemical energy of a fuel into
mechanical force and motion
Two general categories based on
design.

External combustion engine

Internal combustion engine

Ignition
• Spark
ignition

Compression ignition
Number of Strokes
• Four
stroke

Two stroke
 Cylinder Design
•Small engines usually have one or two
cylinders, but may have as many as four.
Three Common Cylinder Orientations
For Single Cylinder Engines
Vertical
Horizontal

Slanted
 Cylinder Design-
cont.
Three common cylinder configuration in multiple cylinder
engines:

V
Horizontally opposed

In-line
 Parts of an engine
• Cylinder- where the piston moves up and
down. Most lawnmowers are 1 cylinder
while automobiles are 4,6,8, and 10.
• Spark plug- supplies spark for the fuel/air
mixture.
 Parts of an engine
• Piston- cylindrical piece of metal that moves up
and down the cylinder.
• Piston rings- rings provide a sliding seal between
the piston and cylinder.
• Rings serve two purposes:
– prevent fuel/air from leaking into the sump
– prevent oil from entering the combustion
chamber
 Parts of an engine
• Combustion chamber- area where combustion
and compression takes place.
• Connecting rod- connects the piston to the
crankshaft.
• Crankshaft- the crankshaft turns the up and
down motion of the piston into circular motion
• Sump- (oil pan) contains and collects oil for
lubrication
• Valves
– Intake: open to admit air to
cylinder (with fuel in Otto
cycle)
– Exhaust: open to allow gases
to be rejected
• Camshaft & Cams
– Used to time the addition of
intake and exhaust valves
– Operates valves via pushrods
& rocker arms
 The four-stroke cycle
• Almost all engines use a four-stroke
combustion cycle to convert gasoline into
motion.
– This is also known as the Otto cycle in honor
of Nikolaus Otto who invented it in 1867.
– This process takes the basic example of a
cannon several steps further.
 The four-stroke cycle
• The four stroke
combustion cycle
consists of:
– 1. Intake
– 2. Compression
– 3. Combustion
– 4. Exhaust
 The four-stroke cycle
• The piston starts at • The piston then
the top, the intake moves up to
valve opens and the compress the
piston moves down to air/gasoline mixture.
let the engine take in This makes the
a full cylinder of air explosion more
and gasoline during powerful.
the intake stroke
 The four-stroke cycle
• When the piston • The the piston
reaches the top, the reaches the bottom of
spark plug emits a its stroke the exhaust
spark to ignite the valve opens and the
gasoline/air mixture. exhaust leaves out of
• The gasoline/air the tailpipe.
mixture explodes • The engine is ready
driving the piston for another cycle.
down.
 4 Cycle Process Exhaust Valve
1
Intake Valve
2 4
Intake Exhaust 3
Manifold Manifold

Spark
Cylinder Plug

Piston

Connecting
Crank
Rod
Crankcase

Power Stroke Exhaust Stroke

Intake Stroke
Intake valve opens,
admitting fuel and air.
Exhaust valve closed
for most of stroke
Compression Stroke
Fuel-air mixture burns, Exhaust valve open,
Both valves closed,
increasing temperature exhaust products are
Fuel/air mixture is
and pressure, expansion displaced from cylinder.
compressed by rising
of combustion gases Intake valve opens
piston. Spark ignites
drives piston down. Both near end of stroke.
mixture near end of
valves closed - exhaust
stroke.
valve opens near end
of stroke
•Since power is only produced during the power
stroke, an automobile engine typically has at
least four cylinders.
•The cylinders go through the four strokes
in a staggered fashion so that at least one
cylinder is in the power stroke at all times.
•A heavy flywheel is also attached to the
crankshaft to smooth its rotation between
firing cycles of the engine.
•The crankshaft supplies power out of the
engine, to the drive train and ultimately the
car’s wheels.
Indicator Diagram (Actual)

expansion

ignition

compression
intake
exhaust
Indicator Diagram (Ideal)