March 1,

I. C ENGINE PERFORMANCE
2009

Level Two I.C Engine Performance – Full Throttle Engine Performance

Test.

Aim-To investigate the full throttle performance of the VW 998cc power

plant.

1.1 Objectives
1) To undertake an engine test utilising the the Cussons IC engine test bed and
investigate the performance of the VW power plant. In particular to determine
the following performance parameters for a range of operating speeds:

Volumetric efficiency
Thermal efficiency
Brake power
Torque

2) To graph the variation of the performance parameters against engine operating

speed.

1.2 Experimental Equipment and Setup

The Cussons IC engine test rig is fully instrumented and data is captured by PC. In
order to produce a good set of performance curves for the engine it will be necessary
to run the engine at a sufficient number of operating speeds, 5-6 operating speed
may well be sufficient.
The engine should be started and allowed to reach its normal operating temperature
by being allowed to run under light load. The load on the engine should gradually be
increased whilst at the same time increasing the throttle opening so as to obtain a
reasonable operating speed at full throttle. Care has to be taken not to labour the
engine or induce a stall.
After taking the relevant engine data the dynamometer load should be reduced to
give another operating point, still at full throttle but at a higher operating speed. The
process is then repeated to give the required number of operating speeds up to the
maximum permissible engine speed.

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2 Brake Power
Then the brake power (rate of doing work) B.P. =
ωΤ

Or since
2πN
ω=
60

Then
2πNΤ
B.P =
60

Where N is the R.P.M. of the engine.

Brake Thermal Efficiency ( )

η B.T .

Since the power output of an engine is derived from the chemical energy of the fuel
(N.B. this is not heat as in the heat engine) an efficiency term, brake thermal
efficiency, may be defined:-

=
BrakePower B.P.
η B.T = .
RateofEnergySupplied m f C.V

Where
= Fuel Flow Rate and C.V. = Calorific value of the fuel
.
mf

(Fuel C.V. = 42500kJ/Kg and Density = 0.755Kg/l )

Volumetric Efficiency ( )
µ vol

The power of an I.C. engine depends directly upon the amount of charge which can
be induced into the cylinder. This is referred to as the breathing capacity of the
engine and is expressed quantitatively by the Volumetric Efficiency. For I.C. engines

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the volumetric efficiency is the ratio of the volume of air induced to the swept volume
of the cylinder.

i.e.
V
η vol =
VSwept

Engine Dimensions
Compression Ratio Cylinder Bore Stroke
10.8 to 1 0.0671m 0.0706m

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To Calculate the Air Flow

The air flow meter has been calibrated and ais given by the following equation:-

Air Flow (Litres/sec) = Element Depression (mmH2O) x 0.47246

To Calculate the Fuel Flow

The Fuel flow meter has also been calibrated and is given by the following equation:-

Fuel Flow Rate Litres/min = Meter frequency (Hz) x 0.004226224

History of Otto
The founder of the well known four stroke internal combustion engine was Nikolaus
August Otto and he was born on June 14 1832, in Holzhausen, Germany. He
dropped out of school to work in a grocery store at the age of 16, he went on to be a
clerk and then a travelling salesman. It was then on his travels that he leaned of the
first workable internal combustion, a gas engine, invented by Etienne Lenoir.
Sadly for Lenoir the engine failed to live up to initial expectations, this was mainly
due to the high price of gas at the time. As the engine would burn nearly 100 cubic
feet of gas per horse power per hour it was far too expensive to be practical.

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Otto realised that the Lenoir engine would be more practical if it could run on liquid
fuel. He designed a carburettor and improved the engine in other ways and in 1861,
Otto patented a two stroke engine that ran on gas. With the help of his partner
Eugen Langen, Otto built a factory to improve the engine. Their engine won a top
prize at the 1967 world fairs trade in Paris. Their company was the first to
manufacture internal combustion engines and was named N.A. Otto & Cie. The
company is the oldest in their field and still exists today as Klockner-Humbolt-Deutz
AG, the world’s largest manufacturer of air cooled diesel engines.

Otto built the first four stroke internal combustion engine in May 1876, the first
practical alternative to the steam engine. In the next decade over 30,000 of these
engines were sold. This engine is the prototype of all I.C. Engines built since and
was named the Otto cycle in his honour. Otto’s gas-motor engine had patent No.
365,701. In 1862, a French engineer called Aphonse Beau de Rochas patented the
four stroke cycle. Although Otto was the first to build the engine his patent was
revoked in 1886 when Rochas’s came to light.

Otto’s model was used by Gottlieb Daimler to build a light engine and he attached it
to a bicycle, this became the first ever motor cycle. Karl Benz the first three-wheel
automobile in 1891 using Otto’s engine and this was seen by many as the first ever
car. Gottlieb Daimler’s and Karl Benz’s company merged to form the world famous
car manufacture Mercedes-Benz.

Otto’s practical internal combustion engine is used to power automobiles,

motorcycles and motor boats. Also the diesel engine employs a similar four stroke
cycle. Nikolaus August Otto died at the age of 59 on January 26 1891.

I used the data results from test 3 as an example for the below calculations.

Brake Power

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This is the measured output of the engine, the actual rate of doing work measured at
the flywheel by a brake or dynamometer.

= ωT

= 2πNT60
N=2492 RPM
T=66.8 Nm
=2 × π ×2492 ×66.860

=17432 W
=17.4 KW

Brake Thermal Efficiency

Since the power output of an engine is derived from the chemical energy of the fuel a
further efficiency term, brake thermal efficiency, may be defined as:-

=
BrakePower B.P.
η B.T = .
RateofEnergySupplied m f C.V
B.P.=17432
C.V.=42500 kJ/Kg

To work out mf we must convert the fuel flow rate from meter frequency to
litres/second,

Fuel flow rate Litres/sec=Meter Frerquency Hz×0.00422622460

=24.7×0.00422622460

=1.734 ×10-3 Litres/sec

mf =Density ×Volume
mf =0.755 ×1.734 × 10-3
mf =1.3135 × 10-3 Kg/sec
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=
BrakePower B.P.
η B.T = .
RateofEnergySupplied m f C.V

= 174321.3135 × 10-3×42500 × 103

=0.3123

Brake Thermal Efficiency=31%

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Volumetric Efficiency

Volumetric efficiency is a measure of the effectiveness of the induction and exhaust

process. Even though some engines inhale a mixture of fuel and air it is convenient,
but arbitrary, to define volumetric efficiency as

=mass of air inhaled per cyclinder per cyclemass of air to occupy swept volume per cyclinder
at ambient p and T

Assuming air obeys gas the gas laws, this can be written as

= volume of ambient density air inhaled per cylinder per cyclecylinder swept volume

=VVs× N* [4]

V
η vol =
VSwept

To convert from Pascal’s to m3/second

First we need to convert to mmH2O

P = ρgh

This can be rearranged for h

h= Pρg

Pressure P =312.3 Pa
Density of Water ρ =1000 kg/m3
Gravity g =9.81 m/s

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h= 312.31000 × 9.81

h=0.031835 mmH2O

To convert to litres/Second

Air Flow Litres/second = Element Depression mmH2O ×0.47246

=0.031835 × 10-3×0.47246
=15.041 litres/second

To convert into m3/sec

V=15.041 × 10-3
V=0.015041 m3 /sec

Engine Swept Volume (Vs)

Vs= area of cylinder ×stroke × No of strokes × N*

Area of cylinder

A= πd24

A= π×0.067124

A=0.0035m2

Stroke

Stroke=0.0706m

No of strokes=4

N*

N* = rev/srev/s2For a two stroke engine

For a four stroke engine

rev/sec =RPM60

rev/sec =249260

rev/sec =41.53333

N*=41.533332

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N*=20.76666667

So

Vs= area of cylinder ×stroke × No of strokes × N*

Vs=0.0035 × 0.0706 ×4 ×20.76667

Vs=0.020526 m3/sec

Therefore

V
η vol =
VSwept

= 0.0150410.020526

=0.7328

=73%

Discussion

The Induction Stroke:

On the induction stroke, the inlet valve is open. The piston is
moving down, and a mixture of air and vaporized fuel is being
drawn in by atmospheric pressure into the cylinder through the
inlet valve port.

The Compression Stroke:

After the piston reaches the lower limit of its travel, it begins to
move upward. As this happens, the inlet valve closes. The
exhaust valve is also closed, so the cylinder is sealed. As the
piston moves upward, the air/fuel mixture is compressed. On
some small high compression engines, by the time the piston
reaches the top of its travel, the mixture is compressed to as little
as one-tenth its original volume. Thus, the compression of the

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air/fuel mixture increases the pressure in the cylinder. The compression process also
creates the air/fuel mixture to increase in temperature.

The Power, Expansion or Working Stroke

As the piston reaches the top of its travel or TDC on the
compression stroke, an electric spark is produced at the spark
plug. The ignition system delivers a high voltage surge of
electricity to the spark plug to create the spark. The spark ignites
the air/fuel mixture. The mixture burns rapidly and cylinder
pressure increases. All of this pressure against the piston forces
it down in the cylinder. The power impulse is transmitted down
through the piston, through the piston rod (connecting rod), and
to the crankshaft. The crankshaft is rotated due to the force.

The Exhaust Stroke:

As the piston reaches the bottom of its travel, the exhaust valve
opens. Now, as the piston moves up on the exhaust stroke, it forces the burned
gases out of the cylinder through the exhaust port. When the piston reaches the top
of its travel, the exhaust valve closes, and the intake valve opens. The cycle repeats
again with the intake stroke. The four strokes are continuously repeated during the
operation of the engine

Not much is different in the Diesel engine. In the Diesel, the fuel is not [2]
mixed with the
air entering the cylinder during the intake stroke. Air alone is compressed during the
compression stroke. The Diesel fuel oil is injected or sprayed into the cylinder at the
end of the compression stroke. In Diesel engines, compression ratios are as high as
(22.5 to 1) and provide pressures of (500psi) at the end of the compression stroke.
Through the compression process, the air can be heated up (1000 degrees F). This
temperature is high enough to spontaneously ignite the fuel as it is injected into the
cylinder. The high pressure of the explosion forces the piston down as in the
gasoline engine.

Despite combustion occurring more slowly in compression ignition systems, they are
more efficient than spark ignition engines because of the several factors:-

• Their higher compression ratios.

• Their power output is controlled by the quantity of the fuel injected, not by
throttling, with the associated losses.
• During the compression the behaviour of air is closer to ideal than the
behaviour a fuel/air mixture. [1]

Volumetric efficiency

Volumetric efficiency has a direct effect on power output, as the mass of air in the
cylinder determines the amount of fuel that can be burnt. Volumetric efficiency can
be up to 90% in a well designed naturally aspirated spark ignition engine or over
100% for a tuned induction system.

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Volumetric efficiency depends on the density of gases at the end of the induction
process; this depends on the temperature and pressure of the charge. There will be
pressure drops in the inlet passages and the inlet valve owing to viscous effects. The
charge temperature will be raised be heat transfer from the induction manifold mixing
with the residual gases, and heat transfer from the piston, cylinder and valves. In a
petrol engine, fuel evaporation can cool the charge by as much as 25 K, and alcohol
fuels have much greater cooling effect, this improves the volumetric efficiency.

In an idealised process, with the charge and residuals having the same specific heat
capacity and molar mass, the temperature of residuals gases does not affect the
volumetric efficiency. This is because in an idealised process the induction and
exhaust occur at the same constant pressure, and when the two gases mix the
contraction on cooling of the residuals gases is exactly balanced by the expansion of
the charge. However in practice the induction and exhaust processes do not occur at
the same pressure. [1]

Power and Torque

As you can see from the results obtained in the lad

session the torque of the engine peaks at around
3000 RPM and uniformly drops until it reaches
5000 RPM and then increases again, the brake
power uniformly increases un to 4000 RPM then
levels off up to 4500 RPM, but the peaks at 5000
RPM.

I obtained a VW polo performance chart to

compare the results we obtained the lab session and see if they are accurate. As
you can see on the chart the maximum brake power (red line) does not occur at the
max RPM, it can also be seen that the torque (orange line) peaks around the same
as in our results but it uniformly decreases and does not increase again at 5000
RPM.

Both graphs show similar results up until 5000 revs, which would suggest that the
data taken at 5000 RPM was in accurate.

Conclusion

After comparing the results obtained from the lab session against the polo results for
the brake power and torque, it can clearly be seen that there are major differences
between the two. The difference must have come from unreliable measurements

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from the test bed at 5000 RPM. In order to obtain more accurate results we should
record extra sets of data, every 200 RPM instead of 500, also the results should be
recorded all the way up to maximum RPM.

References

[1] Introduction to Internal Combustion Engines by Richard Stone

[2] www.engine stuff/frange.html

[3] Engines an Introduction by John L Lumley

[4] Class notes

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V ftr

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