Engines, Motors, and

Mobility
[ME F317]
BITS Pilani Dr. Saket Verma
Department of Mechanical Enginerring
Pilani Campus
 BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

Lecture No.: 4
Engine Performance Parameters
Engine Torque and Power (Brake)

Torque is measured using a dynamometer.

Stator Force F

Rotor

N
Load cell

The torque exerted by the engine is: Tb = F b with units: N-m

The power Pb delivered by the engine turning at a speed N and

absorbed by the dynamometer is:

Pb =  T = (2 N) T w/units

This power is called brake power of the engine.

Note:  is the angular velocity of crank shaft with units: rad/s

N is the speed of the crank shaft in revolution per sec unit: rev/s

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Indicated Work

Given the cylinder pressure data over the operating

cycle of the engine one can calculate the work done
by the gas on the piston.

The indicated work per cycle is

Wi   pdV

WA > 0

WB < 0

Compression Power Exhaust Intake

W<0 W>0 W<0 W>0

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Indicated Power

Pi = Wi N / nR w/units: (kJ/cycle) (rev/s) / (rev/cycle)

where N – crankshaft speed in rev/s

nR – number of crank revolutions per cycle
= 2 for 4-stroke
= 1 for 2-stroke

Power can be increased by increasing:

• the engine size, Vd
• compression ratio, rc
• engine speed, N

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Mechanical Efficiency

Some of the power generated in the cylinder is used

to overcome engine friction. The friction power is
used to describe these losses:

Pf = P i - Pb

Friction power can be measured by motoring the engine.

The mechanical efficiency is defined as:

m = Pb / Pi = 1- (Pf / Pi )

Mechanical efficiency depends on throttle position, engine

design, and engine speed. E.g. for a car engine at WOT
are 90% @2000 RPM and 75% @ max speed.

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Power and Torque versus Engine Speed

Rated brake power There is a maximum in the brake power

versus engine speed called the rated
brake power.
1 kW = 1.341 hp
At higher speeds brake power decreases as
friction power becomes significant compared
to the indicated power

Max brake torque There is a maximum in the torque versus

speed called maximum brake torque (MBT).
Brake torque drops off:
• at lower speeds due to heat losses
• at higher speeds due to lower volumetric efficiency (it
becomes more difficult to ingest a full charge of air.)

mean piston speed (Up) : 2 LN

Up 
60
where L is the stroke and N is the rotational speed of the
crankshaft in rpm.

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Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP)

imep is a fictitious constant pressure that would produce the same

work per cycle if it acted on the piston during the power stroke.

imep = Wi / Vd = (Pi nR) / (Vd N)

so Pi = imep Vd N / nR = imep Ap Up / (2 nR)

imep does not depend on engine speed, just like torque.

imep is a better parameter than torque to compare engines for design and
output because it is independent of engine speed, N, and engine size, Vd.

Brake mean effective pressure (bmep) is defined as:

Wb 2  T  nR bmep  Vd
bmep    T
Vd Vd 2  nR

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Specific Fuel Consumption

• For transportation vehicles fuel economy is generally given as

mpg, or liters/km.

• In engine testing the fuel consumption is measured in terms of

the fuel mass flow rate.

• The specific fuel consumption, sfc, is a measure of how efficiently

the fuel supplied to the engine is used to produce power,

bsfc = (mf×3600) / Pb isfc = (mf×3600) / Pi (units: kg/kW-hr)

• Clearly a low value for sfc is desirable since at a given power
level less fuel will be consumed

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 Brake Specific Fuel Consumption vs Speed

• There is a minimum in the bsfc versus engine speed curve

• At high speeds the bsfc increases due to increased friction

• At lower speeds the bsfc increases due to increased time for heat
losses from the gas to the cylinder and piston wall

• bsfc decreases with compression ratio due to higher thermal efficiency

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Performance Maps

Performance map is used to display the bsfc over the engines full load
and speed range. Using a dynamometer to measure the torque and fuel
mass flow rate you can calculate:

bmep = 2 T nR / Vd Pb = 2 N T

.
bmep@WOT
bsfc = mf / Pb

Constant bsfc contours from a

two-liter four cylinder SI engine

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Combustion Efficiency

• The time for combustion in the cylinder is very short so

not all the fuel may be consumed or local temperatures
may not support combustion

• A small fraction of the fuel may not react and exits with the
exhaust gas. The combustion efficiency is defined as
actual heat input divided by theoretical heat input:

. .
c = Qin/ (mf QHV) = Qin / (mf QHV)
Where Qin = heat added by combustion per cycle
mf = mass of fuel added to cylinder per cycle
QHV = heating value of the fuel (chemical energy per unit mass)

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Thermal Efficiency

t = work per cycle / heat input per cycle

t = W / Qin = W / (c mf QHV)

or in terms of rates…

t = power out/rate of heat input

. .
t = P/Qin = P/(c mf QHV)

• Thermal efficiencies can be given in terms of brake or indicated values

• Indicated thermal efficiencies are typically 50% to 60% and brake

thermal efficiencies are usually about 30%

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Volumetric Efficiency

• Due to the short cycle time and flow restrictions less than ideal
amount of air enters the cylinder.

• The effectiveness of an engine to induct air into the cylinders is

measured by the volumetric efficiency which is the ratio of actual
air inducted divided by the theoretical air inducted:

.
v = ma / (a Vd) = nR ma / (a Vd N)

where a is the density of air at atmospheric conditions Po, To for an

ideal gas a =Po / RaTo and Ra = 0.287 kJ/kg-K (at standard conditions
a = 1.181 kg/m3)

• Typical values for WOT are in the range 75%-90%, and lower when
the throttle is closed

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Air-Fuel Ratio

• For combustion to take place, the proper ratio of air and fuel
must be present in the cylinder.

•The air-fuel ratio is defined as

. .
AF = ma / mf
• The ideal AF is about 14.6:1, with homogenous combustion
possible in the range of 6 to 19.

• For a SI engine the AF is in the range of 2 to 18 depending

on the operating conditions.

• For a CI engine, where the mixture is highly non-homogeneous

and the AF is in the range of 18 to 80.

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Assessment problems
Q1. The following data are known for a four cylinder four stroke petrol engine:
cylinder dimensions: 11 cm bore, 13 cm stroke; engine speed : 2250 rpm;
brake power: 50 kW; friction power : 15 kW; fuel consumption rate: 10.5 kg/h;
calorific value of fuel: 50,000 kJ/kg; air inhalation rate: 300 kg/h; ambient
condition : 15ºC, 1.03 bar. Estimate
(i) brake mean effective pressure
(ii) Volumetric efficiency
(iii) Brake thermal efficiency, and
(iv) Mechanical efficiency.
Q2. An eight-cylinder, four-stroke engine of 9 cm bore and 8 cm stroke with a
compression ratio of 7 is tested at 4500 rpm on a dynamometer which has 54 cm arm.
During a 10 minutes test the dynamometer scale beam
reading was 42 kg and the engine consumed 4.4 kg of gasoline having a calorific value of
44000 kJ/kg. Air 27 ◦C and 1 bar was supplied to the carburettor at the rate of 6 kg/min.
Find (i) the brake power delivered (ii) the brake mean effective pressure (iii) the brake
specific fuel consumption (iv) the brake specific air consumption (v) the brake thermal
efficiency (vi) the volumetric efficiency and (vii) the air-fuelratio.

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