DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL

ENGG:
PCET BELTHANGADY

A PRESENTATION OF
SEMINAR ON
TRANSONIC ENGINES
Presented by:

PCET ,Belthangady

SAJU JOHN
VIII SEM MECHANICAL
USN: 4PR10ME021

TRANSONIC ENGINES
Under The Guidance of

Dr. Chandra Rao Madane

B.E, M Tech, Ph.D, PGDMM, LMISTE, FIE

Principal

PCET ,Belthangady

INTRODUCTION
Internal combustion engines play a vital role in our
day to day life in many ways. The two terms which
are highly associated with an internal combustion
engine are ,
Efficiency and economy
Efficiency, which is simply defined by ratio of output
to input .
economy which is highly considered in automobile
sector defined by the distance that can be travelled by
the automobile by giving unit amount of fuel,
expressed in kilometers per liter(km/l).

PCET ,Belthangady

 Both are important for an internal combustion

engine, used in automobiles
For an SI engine where a spark plug is used for
igniting the charge has lesser efficiency than a CI
engine where fuel is injected by a fuel injector due to
the change in compression ratio.
As the times goes on there introduced many
technologies for increasing the efficiency and
economy of ac IC engine, particularly in SI engines.
The rapid change occurs in automobile industry as it
is growing than other sectors.
Some of these technologies are.

PCET ,Belhangady

 Laser treatment of piston surface

Advanced swirl flow induction technology (ASFS)
Advanced tumble flow induction technology (ATFi)
Gasoline direct injection (GDI)
Programmable fuel injection (PGM-fi )
Digital twin spark ignition (DTS-I )
Digital twin spark swirl ignition (DTS-si )
Multi point fuel injection (MPFi)
Laser fired engines
Out of which the latest technology is
transonic combustion technology (TSC), which is developed
by the transonic combustion in corporation. In TSC the fuel
is directly injected to cylinder in supercritical condition

PCET ,Belthangady

IGNITION SYSTEMS
Ignition system of an SI engine is used to ignite the
fuel air mixture (charge).
It mainly consists of a spark plug which is operated at
high voltage 20000-30000 V. The spark plug consists
of two electrodes which are separated at a small
distance (generally 0.1 mm).
As the piston compresses the charge then a high
voltage is passed between the electrodes and a spark
generates between the electrodes, as the gap is very
small which cause the combustion

PCET ,Belthangady

CONVENTIONAL SPARK IGNITION

ENGINES
As above explained conventional spark ignition
engines uses a spark plug and mostly the systems are
followed by battery ignition or the magneto ignition.
The spark is produced a bit earlier than when piston
reaches Top Dead Centre (TDC). The conventional
spark ignition engines are widely used now days in
light motor vehicles and especially in motorcycles

PCET ,Belthangady

LIMITATIONS OF CONVENTIONAL SPARK

ENGINES
a. Lower thermal efficiency (20-35%) under normal
conditions.
b. Incomplete combustion.
c. Knocking or Detonation.
d. High exhaust emissions of (CO2 & NO2).
e. Lead, this is used as an anti-knocking agent is
extremely toxic to the environment.

PCET ,Belthangady

TRANSONIC COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGY

(SUPERCRITICAL COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGY)

The

Transonic Combustion system (TSC) is a new

combustion process for the gasoline internal combustion
engine.
The TSC combustion process utilizes direct injection of
fuel into the cylinder as a supercritical fluid based on the
patented concept of injection-ignition.
Supercritical fuel promotes rapid mixing with the contents
of the cylinder which, after a short delay, results in
spontaneous ignition at multiple locations. Multiple
ignition sites and rapid combustion combine to result in
optimum heat release and high cycle efficiency
PCET ,Belthangady

TSC brings together the injection and ignition processes to

become Injection-Ignition.
TSC has inherently short combustion delay and rapid
combustion that result in heat release phasing for optimal
efficiency.
A characteristic of the TSC combustion process is that injection
of the fuel is delayed to the extent that the heat release
predominantly takes place after TDC of the engine power stroke.
In order to achieve this, the combustion process must have rapid
air-fuel mixing, followed by a short delay period and combustion.
Such characteristics can be achieved by injecting the fuel in the
form of a supercritical fluid.
Due to the supercritical conditions, gasoline ignites
automatically like in diesel engines.Direct injection of fuel in the
supercritical state enables significant fuel efficiency
improvements to be achieved. It results in efficiencies that are
equal to or better than todays Diesel engines

PCET ,Belthangady

SUPERCRITICAL FLUID
A supercritical fluid is any substance at a temperature and
pressure above its critical point; it is not a solid, liquid or a
gas.
Generally supercritical fluids have properties between those
of a gas and a liquid.
Supercritical fluids also have other unique properties such as
having no surface tension, the ability to solvate other liquids
and solids.
Supercritical fluids possess rapid mass transfer properties
with diffusion coefficients more than ten times that of a liquid
near the critical point.
The density ranges between one third and two thirds of that of
the corresponding fluid and varies significantly with
temperature and pressure.

CRITICAL TEMPERATURE (TC)

The maximum temperature at which a gas can be converted into a liquid
by an increase in pressure.
CRITICAL PRESSURE (PC)
The minimum pressure which would suffice to liquefy a substance at its
critical temperature.
CRITICAL POINT
The characteristic temperature (Tc) and pressure (Pc) above which a gas
cannot be liquefied.

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COMPONENTS OF TRANSONIC
ENGINE
HIGH PRESSURE PUMP
CATALYTIC CONVERTER
HEAT EXCHANGER
SUPERCRITICAL FUEL INJECTOR

PCET ,Belthangady

HIGH PRESSURE PUMP

It pressurizes the gasoline up to 42-300 bars.It

supplies the high pressurized gasoline to the
catalytic converter
The high pressure pump is used to increase the
pressure of gasoline above its critical pressure.
PCET ,Belthangady

CATALYTIC CONVERTER
Metal-oxide catalyst that breaks fuel molecules down
into simpler hydrocarbon chains.
Catalytic activity that is two to three times of
magnitude faster than the purely liquid form of the
substance.
Catalytic actions on the fuels reduce the amount of CO
in exhaust emission.
It oxidizes the fuel before the combustion by adding
oxidizers like ethanol.
PCET ,Belthangady

HEAT EXCHANGER

The heat exchanger increases the temperature of the

gasoline above its critical temperature (280-300C).
It transfers heat from exhaust gaseous to the high
pressure gasoline.
Thus we can use the heat energy of exhaust gaseous

SUPERCRITICAL INJECTORS

The Precision, high-speed injector whose resistance-heated pin

places the fuel in a supercritical state as it enters the cylinder.
Timing of fuel injection is controlled by an Electronic
Controlling Unit (ECU). It accurately measures the amount of
fuel according to the load conditions which is injected to the
combustion chamber
The compression ratio for the transonic engine is 13.5:1

OPERATION

SUPERCRITICAL INJECTION VS
NORMAL INJECTION
In super critical injection the fuel is readily mixed
with the air than normal injection.
The rapid mixing of the fuel enables the engine to
derive maximum efficiency than in normal injection.
The rapid mixing and multiple combustion sites are
the reasons of the greater efficiency of transonic
engines than in diesel engines

PCET ,Belthangady

ADVANTAGES OF TRANSONIC
ENGINES
The efficiency of gasoline engine can be increased up to
50 to 70%.
TSC decreases the amount of fuel needed to propel a
vehicle.
Like diesel engine, the Transonic Combustion technology
operates in gasoline engine without needing a spark plug.
Transonic injection is being developed for use with
gasoline engines at present, but will also be compatible
with advanced low carbon footprint bio-fuels in the future.
Convenient use of exhaust gas temperature.

PCET ,Belthangady

 This technology enables the use of low octane

number fuels in gasoline engines.
Considerable reduction in exhaust emissions.
TSC technology puts it into a supercritical state that
allows for very fast and clean combustion.

LIMITATIONS OF TRANSONIC
ENGINES
Manufacturing cost is high
Injectors must be made carefully

PCET ,Belthangady

SUPERCRITICAL COMBUSTION
IN DIESEL ENGINE
Super critical combustion in diesel engine is
achieved by heating diesel above 300C and
pressurizing it above 100 bar which is the critical
temperature and pressure of diesel fuel respectively.
Fuel is partially oxidized by coating the fuel lines
with catalytic materials like nickel & molybdenum.
Oxygen will be supplied for this oxidation process
by adding ethanol (2%) with diesel.
SC combustion in diesel engine gives a thermal
efficiency of 75-85%
PCET ,Belthangady

CONCLUSION
The thermal efficiency of an IC engine depends upon

compression ratio, quality of fuel etc.

Transonic combustion technology is the latest
technology used to improve the thermal efficiency of
IC engine.
It injects the fuel into the combustion chamber in
supercritical stage.
TSC gives rapid combustion & multiple combustion
sites, which improve the efficiency significantly.
This technology can increase the economy of an IC
engine.
TSC reduces the exhaust emissions
PCET ,Belthangady

T HA N
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