Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics ME 1052

Introduction to Internal Combustion Engines.

Name

: S.W.Amarasinghe

Index No.: 090019X Field : EE

Date of Practical : 30/09/2011

Introduction. The heat engines which are used in the world are mainly divided in to two main categories. They are external combustion engines and internal combustion engines. The external combustion engines burns the fuel outside the engine and the working fluid (ex: steam) is heated through a heat exchanger. The steam engines are external engines in which the steam is generated by the heat taken from a combustion chamber situated outside the engine. A fuel (eg: coal) is burned inside the furnace or combustion chamber. The external combustion engine is widely used in steam engine applications such as steam locomotives, steam boats, nuclear submarines.

In internal combustion engines the process of burning fuel is done with in the engine. The internal combustion engines are powered by petrol, diesel, hydrogen, methane, propane and etc. In the petrol engine the petrol gas mixture is sprayed to the cylinder, then compressed and then ignited by a spark caused by the spark plug. In the diesel powered IC engine the fuel is injected to the high pressured air. Due to the very high temperature in the pressured air, the fuel is self ignited.

4 Stroke Spark Ignited Internal Combustion Engine

The main components of a 4 stroke engine are shown in the above diagram. Intake valve Allow the air fuel mixture to enter the cylinder. Exhaust valve Allow the exhaust gas to exit from the cylinder. Head The upper part of the engine which contains the valve assembly and spark plug. Coolant Remove the excess heat out from the cylinder. Usually water is used as coolant. Engine block The lower part of the engine which contains the crank shaft assembly. Oil sump The bottom of the engine which contains the lubricant. Cam shaft The asymmetric shaft used to trigger rocker arms to open and close the valves. Spark plug Produce the spark to ignite the fuel air mixture. Crank shaft Converts the vertical movement of the piston to a rotary movement. Connecting rod Connects the piston and crank shaft. Rocker arm Open and close the valves.

A single vertical movement of the piston in the cylinder is known as stroke. The 4 stroke cycle is consisting of four main strokes. Intake stroke This is also known as suction stroke. In this stroke the piston is moving downwards. The intake valve is opened during this stroke and hence the air fuel mixture is sucked in to the cylinder. The system is open in this stroke. Compression stroke The piston moves upwards in this stroke. The intake and exhaust valves are closed. The fuel air mixture captured in the cylinder is compressed to a volume 7:1 in this stroke. The mixture is compressed to the clearance space of the cylinder at the end of this stroke. The system is close in this state. Power stroke The compressed fuel air mixture is ignited by the spark from the spark plug. The spark is generated before the piston is reached to the top dead center. Then the ignition is occurred and the power produced by the blast drives the piston downwards. Valves are closed and system is close in this state. Exhaust stroke. The piston moves upwards. The exhaust valve is opened and the exhaust gas in the cylinder is going out. It takes two cycles to complete the four strokes. The power stroke is occurring only once within these two cycles. The ignition of spark plug is coordinated with the piston movement from a separate ignition system. The petrol is usually used as the fuel in this type engines. These engines are used to low power applications with low vibration levels.

In this compressed ignition engine, the air is drawn to the cylinder in the intake stroke and air is compressed. The diesel is injected to the compressed air. Due to the high temperature in the compressed air the diesel is self ignited within the cylinder causing the power stroke. The air is compressed to a volume ratio of 15:1 in order to get the high pressure. Special fuel injecting mechanism is employed in these engines. When the engine is starting a preheating of the cylinder is needed in order to achieve the ignition temperature. The basic components of the engine are same as in the spark ignited engine. The spark plug is replaced by a diesel injector in compression ignition engine. The engine parts are made much stronger because the power of ignition is much higher than the spark ignited petrol engine. The main advantage of diesel engine is the inexpensive fuel. Then the cost difference between diesel fuel and petrol reaches the 20% level even the owners of expensive cars start to save. The fuel efficiency of diesel engines is 36% and higher. The efficiency of petrolpowered engine is only 25% that means that the diesel engine wastes less fuel than the petrolpowered engine. The diesel engine as compared to the petrol-powered engine of the equal volume of combustion chamber has advantage of higher torque. It is critically important for minivans and station wagons. No alternative engines are mounted now on trucks. High torque helps in the city traffic; it allows moving on minimal engine turnover in traffic jams.

Two Stroke engine

The two stroke engine cylinder has no valves as in a conventional four stroke engine. Intake and exhaust are accomplished by means of ports - special holes cut into the cylinder wall which allow fuel-air mixture to enter from the crankcase, and exhaust to exit the engine. These ports are uncovered when the piston is in the down position. Air-fuel mixture is drawn into the crankcase from the carburetor. When the piston is forced down, the exhaust port is uncovered first, and hot exhaust gases begin to leave the cylinder. As the piston is now in the down position, the crankcase becomes pressurized, and when the intake port into the cylinder is uncovered, pressurized air-fuel mixture enters the chamber. Both the intake and exhaust ports are open at the same time, which means the timing and air flow dynamics are critical to proper operation. As the piston begins to move up, the ports are closed off, and the air-fuel mixture compresses and is ignited; the hot gases increase in pressure, pushing the piston down with great force and creating work for the engine. The two-stroke type of internal combustion engine is typically used in utility or recreational applications which require relatively small, inexpensive, and mechanically simple motors (chainsaws, jet skis, small motorcycles, etc).

Reference [1] http://www.animatedengines.com

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-stroke_engine