Chapter two

Performance and operating

characteristics of IC Engine

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Geometric parameter of reciprocating engine
 The performance of the internal
combustion engine is characterized
with several geometric and
thermodynamic parameters
 The following geometric parameters are
of particular interest: bore(B),
connecting rod length (l), crank radius
(a), stroke (S) and crank angle (ө)
 For any single cylinder, the cranks
shaft, connecting rod, piston, and head
assembly can be represented by the
mechanism shown to the left

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Cont’d
 The top dead center TDC of an engine refers
to the crankshaft being in a position such
that ө=00.

 The volume at TDC is minimum and is often

called the clearance volume Vc

 The bottom dead center (BDC) refers to the

crankshaft being at ө=1800, the volume at
BDC is maximum and often denoted by VT

 The difference between the VT and Vc is the

displacement volume Vd

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Cont’d

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Cont’d

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Cont’d

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Cont’d

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Cont’d

 If crank angle is measured from BDC in

CCW direction

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Cont’d

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Engine Performance Parameters

The performance of the engine depends on inter-relationship between

power developed, speed and the specific fuel consumption at each
operating condition within the useful range of speed and load.

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Engine performance

 Internal combustion engine should generally operate

within a useful Range of speed. Some engines are
made to run at Fixed speed by means of a speed
governor which is its rated speed
 At each speed within the useful range, the power
output varies and it has a maximum usable value.
 The specific fuel consumption varies with load
and speed

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Engine performance definitions

Absolute Rated Power: The highest power which the engine could
develop at sea level with no arbitrary limitation on speed, fuel-air ratio
or throttle opening

Maximum rated power: The highest power an engine is allowed to

develop for short periods of operation.

Normal rated power: The highest power an engine is allowed to

develop in continuous operation.

Rated speed: The crankshaft rotational speed at which rated power

is developed

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Engine performance parameters

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Engine performance Parameters

Other Engine performance Parameters

 Mean effective pressure (MEP or Pm)

 Mean piston speed (sp)

 Specific power output (Ps)

 Specific fuel consumption (sfc)

 Inlet-valve Mach Index (Z)

 Fuel-air or air-fuel ratio (F/A or AI F)

 Calorific value of the fuel (CV)

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The Energy Flow

The Energy Flow through the engine is

expressed in 3 distinct terms:

 Indicated Power
 Brake Power
 Friction Power

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The Energy Flow

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The Energy Flow

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Indicated power

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Cont’d

 The indicated work per cycle can be obtained by integrating around

the curve. The engine Cycle can be called Indicator diagram.
 1-inlet valves open
 1-2 suction stroke
 2-inlet valve close
 2-3 compression stroke
 3 Injection begins
 4-injection end
 4-5 expansion stroke
 5 – exhaust valve open
 5-6 exhaust stroke
 6- exhaust valve close

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Gross Indicated Work

 The upper loop of the engine cycle of the indicator diagram, the
compression and power strokes, where output work is generated is
called the gross indicated work.

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Pump work

 The lower loop, which includes the intake and exhaust is called
pump work and absorbs energy from the engine.
 Wide-Open Throttle (WOT) Engine operated with throttle valve
fully open when maximum power and/or speed is desired.

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Indicated Work at Part Throttle

 At wot the pressure at the intake valve is just below atmospheric

pressure, however at part throttle the pressure is much lower than
atmospheric

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Indicated Work with
Supercharging/Turbocharged

 Engines with superchargers or turbochargers can have intake

pressures greater than the exhaust pressure, giving a positive pump
work. Supercharges increase the net indicated work but is a
parasitic load since they are driven by the crankshaft.

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Work during engine cycle

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Indicated Power (ip) or (Pi)

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Indicated power

 The main power generated in the engine cylinder is called indicated power
(I.P.).Basically a indicator is used to measure this power, that is why it's
name is indicated power.

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Cont’d

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Brake power

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Indicated, Brake and Friction power

 The term brake power, Pb, is used to specify that the

power is measured at the output shaft, this is the usable
power delivered by the engine to the load.

 Part of the gross indicated work per cycle or power is

used to expel exhaust gases and induct fresh charge.

 An additional portion is used to overcome the friction of

the bearings, pistons, and other mechanical
components of the engine, and to drive the engine
accessories.

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Cont’d

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Power flows in an engine

The power flow through the engine is expressed in 3

distinct term
 Indicated Power
 Brake Power
 Friction Power

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Mechanical Efficiency

 The ratio of the brake (or useful) power delivered by the engine to
the indicated power is called the mechanical efficiency.

 Mechanical efficiency depends on throttle position as well as

engine design and engine speed.
 Typical values for a modern automotive engine at wide open or
full throttle are 90 percent at speeds below about 30 to 40 rev/s
(1800 to 2400 rev/min), decreasing to 75 percent at maximum
rated speed.

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Power vs Speed Curve

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Mean effective pressure (mep)

 MEP is a pressure that, if acted on the piston during the

entire power stroke, would produce the same amount of
net work as that produced during the actual cycle
 Mean effective pressure (mep) is the work done per unit
displacement volume.
mep = W/VD

 The net work during the intake and exhaust strokes is:

Wp, net = (Pi-Pe)

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Cont’d

 The work per displacement volume required to pump the working

fluid into and out of the engine during the intake and exhaust
strokes is termed as the pumping work ( WP) and the mean
effective pressure is called pumping mean effective pressure
(PMEP)
WP, net/VD =pmep= (Pi-Pe)

 The indicated mean effective pressure (imep) is defined as

the work per unit displacement volume done by the gas during the
compression and expansion stroke.
imep = Wi /VD
 The net indicated mean effective pressure for the whole cycle,
imep net = imep-pmep

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Indicated and brake Mean effective Pressure

 Indicated power gives indicated mean effective pressure:

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Engine Torque Te-Torque and crankshaft angle

 Work is also accomplished when the torque is applied through

an angle.

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 Engine Brake Torque Te
40

2  N Te Te Nm  N rpm 

Pb  Te     kW 
60 9550
 Brake mean effective pressure can also be expressed
in terms of torque
bmep(N m 2 ) V D (m 3 )
2  Te (N.m)  n R Te (N.m) 
bmep(N m 2 )  2  nR
VD (m 3 )

Where:

N = Engine speed (rpm)

VD = engine Displacement capacity (m3) n R = 2, for 4-stroke engines

1, for 2-stroke engines

Engine Torque Te

oThere is a direct
relationship between
BMEP and torque
output.

oThe torque curve

with engine rpm is
identical to the bmep
curve, with different
values.
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Power and Torque versus Engine Speed at WOT

There is a maximum in the brake power

versus engine speed called the rated
brake power (RBP).
At higher speeds brake power decreases as
friction power becomes significant
compared to indicated power.

There is a maximum in the torque versus

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

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Sample problem

1. A four-stroke engine producing 160 N·m from 2 liters of

displacement. What will be it brake mean effective
pressure (bmep) ? If the same engine (i.e., four-stroke, 2
liters) as above produces 76 kW at 5400 rpm (90 Hz), Find
its bmep.
2. A 4-Cylinder, 2-stroke IC engine has the following
particulars: engine speed= 3000 rpm, bore = 120 mm,
crank radius = 60 mm, mechanical efficiency = 90% and
the engine develops 75 bhp. Calculate the swept volume
and mean effective pressure (MEP).

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Piston speed

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Specific Power
 Specific power output of an engine is defined as the
power output per unit piston area.
 It is a measure of the engine designer’s success in using
the available piston area regardless of cylinder size.

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Specific Fuel Consumption (sfc)

 Sfc shows how much fuel is consumed by an engine to do

a certain amount of work. Specific fuel consumption
represents the mass or volume of fuel an engine
consumes per hour while it produces 1 kW of power.
It depends on
 Engine size
 Operation load
 Engine design
 Specific fuel consumption is given in kilograms of fuel
per kilowatt-hour.
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Specific fuel consumption and efficiency

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Brake Specific Fuel Consumption vs Engine Size

 Brake specific fuel

consumption generally
decreases with engine
size, being best (lowest) for
very large engines. One
reason for this is less heat
loss due to the higher
volume to surface area
ratio of the combustion
chamber in large engines.
Also large engines operate
at lower speeds which
reduce friction losses.

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Brake Specific Fuel Consumption vs Engine Speed

 Brake specific fuel

consumption
decreases as engine
speed increases,
reaches a minimum,
and then increases at
high speeds.

 Fuel consumption
increases at high
speeds because of
greater friction losses.
At low engine speed,
the longer time per
cycle allows more heat
loss and fuel
consumption goes up.

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Thermal Efficiencies
The time for combustion in the cylinder is very short so
not all the fuel may be consumed or local temperatures
may not favor combustion
A small fraction of the fuel may not react and exits with
the exhaust gas The combustion efficiency is defined
as:

 Where Qin = heat added by combustion per cycle

mf = massof fuel added to cylinder per cycle
QHV= heating value of the fuel (chemical energy per unit mass)

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Indicated thermal efficiency (ηith)

 Is the ratio of energy in the indicated power, Pi, to the

input fuel energy in appropriate units

 Indicated thermal efficiencies are typically 50% to 60%

and brake thermal efficiencies are usually about 30%

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Brake Thermal Efficiency(ηbth)

 Is the ratio of energy in the brake power Pb to the input

fuel energy in appropriate units

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Fuel conversion efficiency

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Air-Fuel Ratio and Fuel-Air Ratio

 The relative proportions of the fuel and air in the

engine cylinder are very important from the standpoint
of combustion and the efficiency of the engine.
 Air-Fuel ratio (AF) or Fuel-Air ratio (FA)describe the
mixture ratio of the charge.

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Cont’d
 For SI engine hydrocarbon fuel:
 Ideal or Stoichiometric AF is about 15:1 (14.7:1)
 Combustion possible in the range of 6:1 to 25:1
 For CI engine hydrocarbon fuel:

 Ideal or Stoichiometric AF is also about 15 (14.7:1)

 Combustion possible in the range of 18:1 to 70:1
 In the SI engine the fuel-air ratio practically remains a
constant over a wide range of operation.
 In CI engines at a given speed the air flow does not vary
with load; it is the fuel flow that varies directly with
load.
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Cont’d
 A mixture that contains just enough air for complete
combustion of all the fuel in the mixture is called a
chemically correct or stoichiometric fuel-air ratio.
 A mixture having more fuel than that in a chemically correct
mixture is termed as rich mixture and a mixture that
contains less fuel (or excess air) is called a lean mixture.
 The ratio of actual fuel-air ratio to stoichiometric fuel-air
ratio is called equivalence ratio and is denoted by:
Φ=1,stociometry
Φ>1,rich mixture
Φ<1,lean mixture
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Equivalent ratio & Relative A/F ratio
  It is defined as the volume flow rate of air into the
intake system divided by the rate at which volume is
displaced by the piston.
 Typical values of volumetric efficiency for an engine

at wide-open throttle (WOT) are in the range 75% to

90%, going down to much lower values as the
throttle is closed.
Can be measured:
 At the inlet port
 Intake of the engine
 Any suitable location in the intake manifold

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Cont’d
 Volumetric efficiency depends upon
 throttle opening and engine speed
 induction and exhaust system layout,
 port size and
 valve timing and opening duration.
 High volumetric efficiency increases engine power.
 Volumetric Efficiency can be greater than one where
Super charger or turbocharger fitted Turbo charging is
capable of increasing volumetric efficiency up to 50%.

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Cont’d

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Engine Specific Weight and Specific Volume

Engine weight and bulk volume for a given rated power

are important in many applications. Two parameters
useful for comparing these attributes form one engine to
another are:

These parameters indicate the effectiveness with which

the engine designer has used the engine materials and
packaged the engine components

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Calorific Value (CV)

 Calorific value of a fuel is the thermal energy

released per unit quantity of the fuel when the
fuel is burned completely and the products of
combustion are cooled back to the initial temperature of
the combustible mixture Other terms used for the
calorific value are heating value and heat of
Combustion.
Cont’d

 When H2O is in products is condensed to liquid

additional heat is realized and the total heat liberated is
called Higher Calorific Value (HCV) when H2O in the
products is in the vapor form heat is not removed this
calorific value is called is called Lower calorific Values
(LCV)

L.C.V. = H.C.V. –(Mass of H2O * 2454.1 ) in kJ

Engine Performance Curves
1. Imep
2. Bmep and torque
3. Indicated power
4. brake power
5. Indicated thermal
efficiency
6. brake thermal efficiency
7. Specific fuel consumption
Cont’d

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Brake Torque and Power measurement

Dynamometers are used to measure torque and power

over the engine operating ranges of speed and load.
 Dynamometers use various methods to absorb the energy
output of the engine, all of which eventually ends up as
heat. Some dynamometers absorb energy in a mechanical
friction brake, hydraulic fluid and magnetic field.

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Dynamometer vs. Engine Setup

 The Engine is clamped on a test bed and the shaft is

connected to the dynamometer rotor. The rotor is coupled
electromagnetically, hydraulically or by mechanical
friction to a stator.
The torque exerted on the stator with the rotor turning is
measured by balancing the stator with weights, springs or
pneumatic means.

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