Queen’s University

Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

MECH 435 – IC Engine Laboratory Experiment

Course Instructor: Dr. G. Ciccarelli

Location: IC Engine Lab B2, McLaughlin Hall

Introduction and Objective

An internal combustion engine is a sophisticated air pump that converts energy in the form of
fuel into useable mechanical power. In this laboratory experiment we will be using a
dynamometer, pressure transducer, and some other data acquisition equipment to measure the
important variables required for a simple engine efficiency analysis. Three loads will be placed
on the engine at wide open throttle (WOT) and the data will be recorded. From this data the
thermal and mechanical efficiencies will be calculated.

Thermodynamics Theory
The equations below are used in an engine efficiency analysis. For a complete explanation of the
variables and equations refer to the MECH 435 course notes.

Indicated Thermal Efficiency

The gross indicated work per cycle can be obtained simply by finding the areas contained within
the PV diagram. Recall that the gross indicated work is (area A+C) or the work delivered to the
piston over the compression and expansion strokes only. To get the rate of work (power), you
must multiply by the engine speed with the appropriate units.

Figure 1 – P-V diagram for a typical engine

 Wi , g N
Wi , g  (1.1)
nR  60
nR  Crank revolutions per cycle (=2 for a 4 stroke)
N – Crankshaft speed in rpm

The “heat in” can be obtained by multiplying the fuel mass flow rate by the Lower Heating value
for the fuel.

Q in  m
 f QHV (1.2)
Therefore,
W W
th,i  i , g  i,g
(1.3)
Qin m f QHV

Brake Thermal Efficiency

W W
th,b   b  b
(1.4)
Qin m f QHV

Mechanical Efficiency
The mechanical efficiency is the brake power compared to the indicated power. This can indicate
mechanical losses in the engine.
W
m   b (1.5)
Wi , g
Mean Effective Pressure
The mean effective pressure is defined as a constant pressure that would produce the same
power per cycle if it acted on the piston for the power stroke. The indicated mep (imep) uses
the indicated power while the brake mep (bmep) uses the brake power.

W i , g nR  60
imep  (1.6)
Vd N

W b nR  60
bmep  (1.7)
Vd N

N – Crankshaft speed in rpm

Equivalence Ratio
The equivalence ratio,  , is defined as the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio divided by the actual air-
fuel ratio.

AFs 15 15m f
   (1.8)
AF m a m a
m f
Apparatus
1. Engine - The engine tested in the laboratory is a four-stroke spark ignition engine. The
specifications and published performance data are listed in Table 1.

Table 1 - Engine Specifications

Manufacturer Ford Motor Company
Engine Type 4.2L OHV 12-valve V6
Horsepower (SAE net hp @ rpm) 202 @ 4,800
Torque (lb.-ft. @ rpm) 252 @ 3,400
B – Bore 96.8 mm
L – Stroke 95.0 mm
l – Connecting Rod length 154.7 mm
a – Crank radius 47.5 mm
r – Compression ratio 9.2:1
Vd – Displacement Volume 699.1 cm3
Vc – Clearance Volume 85.3 cm3
* Data obtained from Ford 2004 Workshop Manual and the Ford
Motor Company

2. Dynamometer - the SuperFlow 902 hydraulic dynamometer used in this laboratory

consists of a water brake and a load cell positioned at a known distance. Based on the
force recorded in the load cell and the known distance, a torque can be calculated. This
torque is recorded along with the angular velocity of the crankshaft (engine speed) and
together they define power. Recall that power is a product of the torque multiplied by
the engine speed. An example of an engine performance plot is shown in Figure 1.

3. SuperFlow Air flow meter - this measures volumetric air flow into the engine.

4. Burette and Stopwatch – this will be used to measure the fuel flow rate into the engine.
The volume between the red marks is 0.488L. Be sure to obtain the specific gravity of
the fuel from the lab instructor. This will be used to convert volumetric flow rate into
mass flow rate.

5. Kistler 6117B piezoelectric spark plug integrated pressure transducer - the piezoelectric
sensor is incorporated into the spark plug itself so that the cylinder pressure can be
taken directly. This will be installed in cylinder #1.

6. Kistler 5010B Charge Amplifier - this is used to amplify the mV signal from the pressure
transducer for the oscilloscope. Make sure to obtain the calibration value to convert volts
to pressure from the lab instructor.

7. PC equipped with National Instruments hardware and Labview software. Data will be
saved on computer. Either bring a USB memory stick or the lab instructor will email the
data to a member in the group.

8. Crankshaft position sensor – this is a digital sensor that is excited by a trigger wheel
attached to the crankshaft. The trigger wheel has 360 teeth with three missing teeth at
TC of the number 1 cylinder and one missing tooth every 60 o after that. The digital
signal goes high when a tooth passes by it and low in the absence of a tooth.

9. Nova Analytical Systems Gas Analyzer model 7550P5B – this instrument samples the
engine exhaust-gas and displays the quantities of O2, CO2, CO, NOX, and HC.
 10. The fuel used is 87-octane gasoline with a Lower Heating Value, QHV, of 44.51 MJ/kg.

Figure 2 – Example of an Engine Performance Plot – General Motors 6.0L V8 LS2 (Obtained
from www.gm.com).

Procedure
The data acquisition equipment and engine will be ready to go when you arrive in the lab. Follow
the laboratory instructors as they briefly outline the laboratory apparatus.

The engine will be set at WOT and three separate sets of data will be taken at three separate
engine loads (corresponding to unique engine speeds). Since the throttle is set at WOT, applying
a load to the engine will cause the engine speed to decrease. For a given throttle position, e.g.,
WOT, the maximum torque is achieved at a specific engine speed. For the lab engine this speed
is 2,750 rpm. The following engine conditions will be tested for the laboratory:

1) load applied that results in an engine speed below the maximum torque engine speed
2) load applied that results in an engine at the maximum torque engine speed
3) load applied that results in an engine speed above the maximum torque engine speed

Allow the engine to come to steady state conditions at each load before data is recorded.
Cylinder pressure and crank angle data will be captured simultaneously on the oscilloscope for
several seconds. At the same time, manually record the engine speed, torque, power, and air
flow from the dynamometer in the table provided below. The fuel flow will be taken manually
using a burette and a stopwatch.

When the engine load data is recorded, let the engine idle for a few minutes and then record the
CO and HC values from the exhaust-gas analyzer.
Results – Simple Engine Efficiency Analysis
Record the dynamometer data for each load in the table below.

Time for
Engine Speed 0.488L of fuel Air Flow Rate
Load Torque (lb-ft) Power (hp)
(rpm) to leave (CFM)
Burette (s)
Load
1
Load
2
Load
3

Pressure Transducer Calibration value: ________________ bar/V

Gasoline Specific Gravity: _______________

1. Create a pressure vs. crank angle plot for one representative cycle (720o) for each of the
three loads and include them in the appendix.

For each load there will be two data files:

1) Pressure data file with multiple pressure samples
2) Crankshaft signal data file for locating top centre (TC).
First locate TC using the crankshaft signal data file, see Appendix A for the procedure.
The data is stored in three columns: time, pressure, and crankshaft signal voltage. The
crankshaft signal is a digital signal with twelve well defined low spots per cycle
corresponding to missing teeth. With the crankshaft signal data file, plot pressure and
crankshaft signal vs. time. A crankshaft signal low spot corresponding to three missing
consecutive teeth should come just before each pressure peak, this is TC or 0o for the
cylinder with the pressure transducer. Break the pressure data into 5 cycles using the
crankshaft signal to get TC for each cycle. Cut and paste the cycle data sets into 5
columns. Now make a new column for the crank angles in your pressure data file and
mark 0o at TC found above. For each cell after that, add the degree/sec multiplied by
the time step (the degree/sec can be calculated from the known engine speed). This will
give a crank angle associated with a pressure. Due to pressure variation from cycle to
cycle, average the pressure values over 5 cycles. Take the average pressure across each
row so that the 6th column results in the average pressure at a given angle. This will
give a characteristic set of pressure data for one cycle.

This procedure assumes that the engine speed is constant for the 5 averaged cycles. A
more accurate approach, where cycle time variations are taken into account, is to get
cylinder pressure versus crank angle for each cycle and then get the average pressure
from the five cycles at even crank angle intervals, e.g., at 1o, 2o, 3o, etc. This would
require interpolating the data for each cycle.

Note that you will need to offset the raw pressure voltage before you scale it. Offset so
that the transition between exhaust and intake is at about 1 bar.

Pressure = pressure transducer calibration value * (raw pressure voltage + offset)

 2. Create a pressure vs. volume diagram for one representative cycle (720 o) for each of the
three loads and include them in the appendix.

The equations relating volume to crank angle are given below.

B 2
V  VC  l  a  s  (1.9)
4
s  a cos  l 2  a 2 sin 2  2
1
(2.0)
Therefore:
B 2   
 
1
V    VC   l  a   a cos  l 2  a 2 sin 2  2   (2.1)
4   

3. Calculate the gross indicated rate of work (power) from the areas contained in the
experimental P-V diagram for each load.
4. Calculate the rate of heat in for each load.
5. Calculate the indicated thermal efficiency for each load.
6. Using the power value from the dynamometer, calculate the brake thermal efficiency for
each load.
7. Calculate the mechanical efficiency for each load.
8. Calculate the imep and bmep at the peak torque (at load 2 only).
9. Plot the log pressure vs. log volume for the cycle at each load and measure the slope of
the expansion stroke. This is the ratio of specific heats during the expansion process and
should be between 1.2 and 1.4.
10. Calculate the equivalence ratio for each load.

Topics for Discussion

1. Compare the indicated thermal efficiencies at each load and comment on the nature of
the trend and suggest the reasons for this trend.
2. Compare the brake thermal efficiencies at each load and comment on the nature of the
trend and suggest reasons for this trend.
3. Go to the website: http://www.wiley.com/college/mechs/ferguson356174/wave_s.html
and using the “Four Stroke Fuel-Air Otto Cycle Applet” enter the characteristics of the
engine used in this experiment. Use an exhaust pressure of 105 kPa, intake pressure of
101 kPa (since it is WOT), and an intake temperature of 300K. Compare the Applet’s
imep with the experimental imep. Why is the imep calculated using the applet higher?
4. How does the experimental ratio of specific heats for the expansion process compare to
1.3? Calculate the error and list the reason(s) for this.
5. For a 2003 light duty vehicle assume the “curb idle” tailpipe emissions of CO and HC are
regulated to 0.7% and 150ppm respectively. Calculate the percent difference between
the recorded CO and HC values from the lab and regulated limits and explain the reason
for the differences.
6. Although an uncertainty analysis is not required for this experiment, discuss possible
sources of error.

Abbreviated Lab Report Format

The lab report must contain the standard Queen’s Mechanical and Materials Engineering cover
page http://me.queensu.ca/courses/MECH398/fallintro04.doc as well as the following sections:
1. Introduction
2. Apparatus
3. Results – show experimental results in tabular form.
4. Discussion
 5. Conclusions and Recommendations
6. Appendices – include sample calculations, all plots, and diagrams here

Even though some of the equipment in the lab displays the results in Imperial units, the report
should be completed using SI units. Show all unit conversion values. One report is required for
each group. The lab is due THREE WEEKS after the date that your group performed the lab.
The lab report is to be placed in the assignment return box marked MECH 435 LAB on the third
floor of McLaughlin Hall.

Appendix A

Determining Top Centre from Crank Sensor Signal

In order to get a pressure-volume diagram you will need to get the “average pressure” based on
five consecutive cycles. This is done using the engine transient pressure (Fig. A1) and crank
sensor (Figs. 3 and 4) data obtained from the lab. Note, in Fig. A1 how there are variations in the
pressure signal from cycle to cycle, including both peak pressure and cycle time.

pressure in cylinder 1
3.5

2.5
Pressure (volts)

1.5

0.5

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Time (s)

Figure A1: Pressure versus time showing five complete cycles, engine speed is 1300 rpm

In order to define the five consecutive cycles you must identify the times in the pressure signal
that correspond to when the piston is at top centre (TC). Remember it takes two complete crank
revolutions to complete one engine cycle. This TC time is obtained from the crank sensor signal
that is saved simultaneously with the pressure signal. The crank sensor consists of a proximity
sensor and a timing wheel with 360 teeth, at one location there are three consecutive teeth
missing, see Fig. A2. The voltage varies depending on the proximity of the teeth to the sensor.
The sensor signal is shown in Fig. A3, where each pulse represents the passage of a tooth past
the sensor. Note at every 60 degrees there is a single tooth missing, and at one of these
locations there are three teeth missing. This is clearly seen in the signal shown in Fig. A4. You
won’t need to consider the time corresponding to the single missing tooth for anything in the lab.
The middle tooth, of the three missing teeth group, corresponds to crank angle where the piston
in cylinder 1 is at TC, see Fig. A3.
 Timing teeth

Figure A2: Three missing teeth on timing wheel corresponding to piston in cylinder 1 at TC

14
TOP
12 CENTRE
Crank sensor voltage (Volts)

10

0
0.191 0.1915 0.192 0.1925 0.193
Time (seconds)

Figure A3: Crank sensor signal showing the time where the piston is at TC. Zoom of signal in Fig
A4
 14
TC
12
60o 60o

Crank sensor voltage (Volts) 10

0
0.182 0.184 0.186 0.188 0.19 0.192 0.194 0.196 0.198 0.2 0.202
Time (seconds)

Figure A4: Crank sensor signal showing two spot where one tooth missing and one spot where
three teeth are missing