AN EVALUATION OF A 2/4-STROKE

SWITCHABLE SECONDARY EXPANSION

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

Presented by,
Nirmal Joy,
M7B,
7412

Guided by,
Prof. Leena R.
Assistant Prof.
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

Introduction

The length of time for oil remaining to produce was only 52.9 years
based on the current oil production rate.

The vehicle IC engine is one of the main oil consumption products.

Therefore it is necessary to develop and optimize IC engine working

process for improving the total energy conversion efficiency to ease
the oil crisis.

The secondary expansion means the burned gas, after working in a

traditional 4-stroke combustion cylinder, is transferred into another
cylinder to expand again.

Introduction

The 2/4-stroke switchable secondary expansion IC engine is a 4cylinder engine with two combustion cylinders and two expansion
cylinders.

The expansion cylinder could switch its working mode between 2stroke and 4-stroke to perform different secondary expansion modes
just by varying the valve timing.

The 2-stroke secondary expansion mode has great advantages in high

load condition on both fuel efficiency and power output, but it is not
suitable in low load condition

The 4-stroke secondary expansion is applied to maintain the high

energy conversion efficiency in the low load condition.

The 2-stroke secondary expansion

mode

The burned gas is transferred into a 2-stroke secondary expansion

cylinder to expand again.

The combustion cylinder works on the traditional 4-stroke working

cycle.

The expansion cylinder only concludes two strokes, intake and

exhaust.

One expansion cylinder needs to cooperate with two combustion

cylinders to form a whole working cycle.

The exhaust valves of the combustion cylinders and the intake valve
of the expansion cylinder are connected by a chamber.

The 4-stroke secondary expansion

mode

The burned gas is transferred into an expansion cylinder, in which the

burned gas goes through four strokes without combustion .

One combustion cylinder and one expansion cylinder could form a

whole working cycle.

The exhaust valve of the combustion cylinder is connected with the

intake valve of the expansion cylinder by a connecting pipe directly.

The 4-cylinder 2/4-stroke switchable

secondary expansion IC engine

The 4-cylinder 2/4-stroke switchable secondary expansion IC engine 4stroke secondary expansion IC engine.

But the 2-stroke secondary expansion IC engine needs at least three

cylinders.

There are two combustion cylinders and two expansion cylinders.

Both combustion cylinders work on the traditional 4-stroke cycle, and

both expansion cylinders can switch its operation between 2-stroke and
4-stroke by just varying the valve timing.

The exhaust valves of both combustion cylinders and the intake valves
of both expansion cylinders are connected by a chamber to regulate the
pressure during the burned gas transferring process.

Experiment

2-stroke & 4-stroke secondary expansion engine has been developed.

Valve timing switching device not developed.

A 1D simulation model was established by GT-Power for evaluating the

2-stroke and 4-stroke secondary expansion mode to complete the
study.

The results show reasonable agreements between simulation and

experimental data.

Results and analysis

The most fuel saving area mainly concentrated in the high load
condition near 2000 RPM, which is the speed to shift for most
passenger vehicles.

In most area of the high load condition, the fuel saving rate was
usually larger than 8%.

Most fuel saving area of the 4-stroke secondary expansion mode

focused on the low load conditions below the speed of 2000 RPM.

For a vehicle driving in the urban traffic, the engine speed below
2000 RPM is the most frequently-used working condition, because of
the frequent stop and start.

In such working condition, the 4-stroke secondary expansion engine

could save fuel by over 10% compared with the traditional IC engine.

The fuel saving rate was over 10% in most working conditions for the
2/4-stroke switchable secondary expansion engine, which could cover
most frequently-used condition for a general vehicle engine.

The fuel saving rate was higher in the speed below 3000 RPM
compared with the high speed conditions, which means the secondary
expansion IC engine based on the burned gas transferring could obtain
higher fuel economic performance in the low speed condition.

Conclusion

A traditional 4-cylinder gasoline IC engine can be transformed into a

secondary expansion IC engine with two 4-stroke secondary expansion
working units by just redesigning the camshaft, intake, and exhaust
manifolds.

For the 2-stroke secondary expansion mode, it is more responsive to

operate in high load condition.

For the 4-stroke secondary expansion mode, the engine could achieve
high fuel economic performance in the load and low speed condition.

By combining the advantages of the 2-stroke and 4-stroke working

modes, the 2/4-stroke switchable secondary expansion IC engine could
obtain high economic performance in most working condition, which
covers all the frequently-used working conditions for a general vehicle.

References
[1] Yong Lu, Pucheng Pei, Yongfeng Liu, An evaluation of a 2/4-stroke switchable
secondary expansion internal combustion engine, (2014).
[2]R.H. Miller, Supercharging and internal cooling cycle for high output, Trans
ASME, 69(1947) 453.
[3]ILMOR Engineering, 5-Stroke Concept Engine,
http://www.ilmor.co.uk/capabilities/5-stroke-engine, 2013.9.10.
[4]J. Martinez, Ilmor engineering shows off 5-Stroke engine concept,
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1034099_ilmor-engineering-shows-off-5strost-engine-concept, 2013.8.9.

Thank You