Lecture No: 2 (OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC)

This lecture examines the operating characteristic of reciprocating

internal combustion engines. Theses includes the mechanical output
parameters of work, torque, and power; the input requirements of air,
fuel and combustion efficiencies.
2.1 ENGINE PARAMETERES
For an engine of bore B shown in fig.(2.1), crank radius a, stroke length
S, turning at an engine speed of N(rpm)
S  2a
Average piston speed is: U p  2 S N

Vc
TDC
B
Vd S
BDC


a

Fig.(2.1) Piston and Cylinder geometry

Swept Volume or (stroke volume) or (displacement volume) can be given

for one cylinder engine: Vd   / 4  B 2 S

For an engine with Nc cylinders: Vd  N c  / 4 B 2 S

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Engine displacement volume can be given in m3, cm3, in3, and most
commonly in liters (L).
1 L  10 3 m3  103 cm3  61in3
VBDC Vc  Vd 
The compression ratio of an engine is defined as:   
VTDC Vc
Modern SI engines have compression ratios of 8 to 11, while CI engines
have compression ratios of in the range 12 to 24.
The cross section area of cylinder and the surface area of a flat-topped piston
are each given by: Ap   / 4 B 2

Ex1: An automobile has a three liter SI V6 engine that operates on a four

stroke cycle at 3600 rpm. The compression ratio is 9.5, and the engine is
square (B=S). Calculate:
1. Cylinder bore and stroke length.
2. Average piston speed.
3. Clearance volume of one cylinder.
Solution:
1. For one cylinder, with (B=S)
Vd  Vtotal / 6  3 L / 6  0.5 L  0.0005 m3   / 4B 2 S   / 4B 3  B  0.0860 m
 B  8.6 cm  S
2. Average piston speed
 3600 
U p  2 S N  2 0.0860     10.32 m / s
 60 
3. Clearance volume of one cylinder
  Vd  Vc  / Vc  9.5  0.0005  Vc / Vc

Vc  0.000059 m3  59 cm3

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2.2 WORK
Work is the output of any heat engine, and in a reciprocating IC engine this
work is generated by the gases in the combustion chamber of the cylinder.
Work is the result of force acting through a distance. Force due to gas
pressure on the moving piston generates the work in an IC engine.
W   F dx   PAp dx

Where P=pressure in combustion chamber.

Ap=area against which the pressure acts (piston force).
x=piston distance.
Ap dx  dV where dV is the differential volume displaced by the piston,

so work done can be written:

W   P dV
Because engines are often multicylinder, it is convenient to analysis engine
cycles per unit mass of gas within the cylinder
w W / m & v V / m

 w   P dv

It is important to distinguish between indicated work and brake work.

Indicated work gives the work inside combustion chamber, but work
delivered by the crank shaft called brake or effective work which is less than
indicated work due to mechanical friction and parasitic loads of the engine.
w f  wi  wb

The ratio of brake work at the crank shaft to indicated work in the
combustion chamber defines the mechanical efficiency of an engine:
m  Wb / Wi  wb / wi

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2.3 MEAN EFFECTIVE PRESSURE
Mean effective pressure is a good parameter to compare engines for design
because it’s dependent of engine size and /or speed. If torque is used for
engine comparison, a large engine will always look better. If power is used
as the engine comparison, speed becomes very important.
Various mean effective pressure can be defined by using different work
terms. If brake work is used, brake mean effective pressure is obtained:
bmep  Wb / V  Wb / Vd
And if indicated work is used, indicated mean effective pressure is
obtained: imep  Wi / V  Wi / Vd
Friction mean effective pressure is fmep  W f / Vd

Also fmep  imep  bmep &  m  bmep / imep

2.4 TORQUE AND POWER

Torque is a good indicator of an engine’s ability to do work. It’s defined as
force acting at a moment distance. Torque is related to work by:
T  bmep Vd / 2n Where n : number of revolutions per cycle.
For a two stroke cycle engine which take one revolution per cycle:
T  bmep Vd / 2 two stroke cycle n  1 .
For a four stroke cycle engine which take two revolution per cycle:
T  bmep Vd / 4 Four stroke cycle n  2 .
In these equations bmep is used because torque is measured from the output
crankshaft.

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Power is defined as the rate of work of the engine. Depending on the
definition of mep is used power can be defined as indicated or brake power
respectively.
Wi.  imep  Ap U p / 2n & Wb.  bmep  Ap U p / 2n

Wi.  imep  Ap U p / 2 Two stroke cycle.

Wb.  bmep  Ap U p / 2

Wi.  imep  Ap U p / 4 Four stroke cycle.

Wb.  bmep  Ap U p / 4

Wb.
Also  m  . and W f.  Wi.  Wb. where W f. friction power.
Wi
Power is measured in kW, but horse power is still common
1hp  0.7457 kW

Specific power (SP)  Wb. / Ap

Output power per displacement (OPD)  Wb. / Vd & Engine specific volume

(BSV) = Vd / Wb.

Ex2: The engine in example 1 gives a brake torque reading of 205 N.m at
3600 rpm. At this speed air enters the cylinders at 85 kPa and 60 oC, and the
mechanical efficiency of the engine is 85% calculate:
1.brake power 2. indicated power 3. bmep 4. imep 5. fmep
6. power lost to friction 7. brake work 8. brake specific power
9. brake output per displacement 10. engine specific volume.

Solution:

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1. Wb.  2NT  2radians / rev 3600 / 60rev / sec205N .m
 77.3kW  104hp
Wb. 77.3
2. Wi 
.
  90.9kW  122hp
m 0.85


3. bmep  4T / Vd  4radians / cycle205N .m / 0.003m3 / cycle 
 859kPa
bmep 859
4. imep    1010kPa
m 0.85
5. fmep  imep  bmep  1010  859  151kPa
6. To find friction power lost:
Ap   / 4 B 2   / 40.086  0.00581m 2
2
for one cylinder

Wi.   fmep Ap U p / 4  1/ 41510.0058110.32  6cyl   13.6kW  18hp

Or, it can found from
W f.  Wi.  Wb.  90.9  77.3  13.6kW

7. Brake work for one cylinder for one cycle is Wb  bmep Vd


= 859kPa 0.0005m3  0.43kJ 
It can be assumed the gas entering the cylinders at BDC is air:
ma  PVBDC / RT  PVd  Vc  / RT
 85  0.0005  0.000059 / 0.287 333  0.00050kg
Brake specific work per unit mass:
wb  Wb / ma  0.43 / 0.00050  860 kJ / kg

 
8. BSP  Wb. / Ap  77.3 /  / 40.086  6  2220 kW / m 2
2

9. BOPD  Wb. / Vd  77.3 / 3  25.8 Kw / L

10. BSV  Vd / Wb.  1/ BOPD  1/ 25.8  0.0388 L / kW

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2.5 AIR-FUEL RATIO AND FUEL-AIR RATIO
Energy input to an engine Qin comes from the combustion of a hydrocarbon
fuel. Air is used to supply the oxygen needed for this chemical reaction. For
combustion reaction to occur, the proper relative amount of air (oxygen) and
fuel must be present.
Air-fuel ratio (AF) and fuel-air ratio (FA) are parameters used to describe
the mixture ratio
AF  ma / m f  ma. / m.f
FA  m f / ma  m.f / ma.

2.6 SPECFIC FUEL CONSUMPTION

Specific fuel consumption is defined by: m.f /W .

Where m.f &W . are mass flow rate of fuel into engine and engine power

respectively.
Indicated power gives indicated specific fuel consumption isfc  m.f / Wi.

Brake power gives brake specific fuel consumption bsfc  m.f / Wb.

  
It also we have:  m  Wb. / Wi.  m.f / Wi. / m.f / Wb.  isfc / bsfc

2.7 ENGINE EFFICIENCES

the time available foe the combustion process of an engine is very brief, and
not all fuel molecules may find an oxygen molecule with which to combine,
or the local temperature may not favor a reaction. Combustion efficiency  c
is defined to account for the fraction of fuel which burns and has values in
the range 0.95-0.98 when an engine is operating properly. For one engine
cycle in one cylinder, the heat added is:

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Qin  m f QHVc Or Qin.  m.f QHVc

And the thermal efficiency is:

t  W / Qin  W . / Qin.  W . / m.f QHVc
Where QHV heating value of fuel
Thermal efficiency can be given as indicated or brake, depending on
whether indicated power or brake power is used.
 m  t b / t i
Fuel conversion efficiency is defined as:
 f  W / m f QHV  W . / m.f QHV
 f  1/ sfcQHV

2.8 VOLUMETRIC EFFICIENCY

Volumetric efficiency is the ratio of actually intake volume to the stroke
volume. Volumetric efficiency is defined as:
v  ma /  a .Vd

v  nma. /  a .Vd N
Where ma = mass of air into the engine (or cylinder) for one cycle.

ma. = steady state flow of air into the engine.

 a = air density evaluated at atmospheric conditions.
N = engine speed.
n =number of revolution per cycle.

Ex3: the engine in example 2 is running with an air-fuel ratio AF =15, a fuel
heating value of 44,000 kJ/kg, and a combustion efficiency of 97%.
Calculate:

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 1. Rate of fuel flow into engine.
2. Brake & indicated thermal efficiencies.
3. Volumetric efficiency.
4. Brake specific fuel consumption.
Solution: from Example 2 the mass of air in one cylinder for one cycle is
0.00050 kg
1. m f  ma / AF  0.00050 /15  0.000033 kg of fuel per cylinder per cycle.

Therefore, the rate of fuel flow into the engine is:

m.f  (0.000033)  6cyl   3600 / 60  1cycle / 2rev   0.0060 kg / sec

2. (t )b  Wb. / m.f QHVc  77.3 / 0.0060440000.97  0.302  30.2%

Or using: t b  W / m f QHVc  0.43 /(0.000033)440000.97  0.302

 t i  t b /m  0.302 / 0.85  0.355  35.5%

3. v  ma /  a .Vd  0.00050 / 1.1810.0005  0.847  84.7%

4. bsfc  m.f / Wb.  0.0060 / 77.3  7.76  10 5 kg / kW.sec

Ex4: A two cylinder I.C.E. working on 2-stroke cycle principle to develop

41.8 I.hp at 1000 rpm. If the mean effective pressure is 6 kgf/cm2. Find the
necessary bore and stroke of the piston assuming stroke 1.5 times the bore.

Ex5: A six cylinder I.C.E, 12 cm by 15 cm has a piston speed of 480 m/min.

it develops 60 bhp and has mechanical efficiency of 75%. The mean
effective pressure is 4.42 kgf/cm2. The specific fuel consumption is 0.25 kg
per bhp. Hour and the calorific value of fuel is 10,000 kcal/kg. Determine:
a. Whether this is a two stroke or four stroke cycle engine.
b. The thermal efficiency based on brake horse power.

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Ex6: 4-stroke, single cylinder gas engine has a bore of 146 mm and a stroke
of 280 mm. at 475 rpm and full load the net load no the friction brake is 433
N, and the torque arm is 0.45 m. the indicator diagram gives a net area of
578 mm2 and a length of 70 mm with a spring rating of 0.815 bar/mm.
calculate the indicated power, brake power, and mechanical efficiency.

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