Chapter: Six

Combustion and Combustion

Chamber Design
Prepared By: Helen G
 COMBUSTION PROCESS IN SI ENGINES
§ Combustion may be defined as a relatively rapid chemical
combination of hydrogen and carbon in fuel with oxygen in air
resulting in liberation of energy in the form of heat.
Following conditions are necessary for combustion to take place:-
1. The presence of combustible mixture
2. Some means to initiate mixture
3. Stabilization and propagation of flame in Combustion Chamber
§ In S I Engines, carburetor supplies a combustible mixture of petrol
and air and spark plug initiates combustion.
THREE STAGE OF COMBUSTION
The combustion process of SI engines can be divided into three
broad regions:
(1) Ignition and flame development,
(2) Flame propagation, and
(3) Flame termination.
§ Flame development is generally considered the consumption
of the first 5% of the air-fuel mixture (some sources use the
first 10%).
 con’t.................
§ During the flame development period, ignition occurs and the
combustion process starts, but very little pressure rise is noticeable
and little or no useful work is produced.
§ Just about all useful work produced in an engine cycle is the result
of the flame propagation period of the combustion process. This is
the period when the bulk of the fuel and air mass is burned (i.e., 80-
90%, depending on how defined). During this time, pressure in the
cylinder is greatly increased, and this provides the force to produce
work in the expansion stroke.
§ The final 5% (some sources use 10%) of the air-fuel mass which
burns is classified as flame termination. During this time, pressure
quickly decreases and combustion stops.
FACTORS AFFCTING THE FLAME PROPAGATION

§ Rate of flame propagation affects the combustion process in

SI engines. Higher combustion efficiency and fuel economy
can be achieved by higher flame propagation velocities.
§ The factors which affect the flame propagations are
1. Air fuel ratio
2. Compression ratio
3. Load on engine
4. Turbulence and engine speed
5. Other factors
con’t.............
1. Air fuel ratio
§ The mixture strength influences the rate of combustion and
amount of heat generated.
§ The maximum flame speed for all hydrocarbon fuels occurs
at nearly 10% rich mixture.
§ Flame speed is reduced both for lean and as well as for very
rich mixture. Lean mixture releases less heat resulting lower
flame temperature and lower flame speed. Very rich mixture
results incomplete combustion and also results in production
of less heat and flame speed remains low.
con’t.................
2. Compression ratio
§ The higher compression ratio increases the pressure and
temperature of the mixture and also decreases the
concentration of residual gases.
§ All these factors reduce the ignition lag and help to speed up
the second phase of combustion.
 con’t.................
3. Load on engine
§ With increase in load, the cycle pressures increase and the flame
speed also increases.
§ In S.I. engine, the power developed by an engine is controlled by
throttling. At lower load and higher throttle, the initial and final
pressure of the mixture after compression decrease and mixture is
also diluted by the more residual gases.
§ This reduces the flame propagation and prolongs the ignition lag.
In fact, poor combustion at part loads and necessity of providing
richer mixture are the main disadvantages of SI engines which
causes wastage of fuel and discharge of large amount of CO with
exhaust gases.
con’t.................
4. Turbulence and Engine speed
§ Turbulence plays very important role in combustion of fuel as
the flame speed is directly proportional to the turbulence of
the mixture.
§ This is because, the turbulence increases the mixing and heat
transfer coefficient or heat transfer rate between the burned
and unburned mixture.
§ The turbulence of the mixture can be increased at the end of
compression by suitabledesign of the combustion chamber
(geometry of cylinder head and piston crown).
con’t.................
§ Insufficient turbulence provides low flame velocity and
incomplete combustion and reduces the power output.
§ But excessive turbulence is also not desirable as it increases
the combustion rapidly and leads to detonation. Excessive
turbulence causes to cool the flame generated and flame
propagation is reduced.
§ Moderate turbulence is always desirable as it accelerates the
chemicalreaction, reduces ignition lag, increases flame
propagation and even allows weak mixture to burn efficiently.
con’t.................
Engine Speed Correlation: Load often affects the engine
speed (RPM). As load increases, engine speed may stabilize or
decrease, impacting the combustion duration and flame
propagation characteristics.
con’t.................
5. Other factors:
§ Among the other factors, the factors which increase the flame
speed are supercharging of the engine, spark timing and
residual gases left in the engine at the end of exhaust stroke.
§ The air humidity also affects the flame velocity but its exact
effect is not known. Anyhow, its effect is not large compared
with Air Fuel ratio and turbulence.
SI engine combustion chamber design
§ The design of combustion chamber has an important
influence upon the engine performance and its knock
properties.
§ The design of combustion chamber involves the shape of the
combustion chamber, the location of the sparking plug and
the disposition of inlet and exhaust valves.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD
COMBUSTION CHAMBER
The basic requirements of a good combustion chamber are to
provide:
ØHigh power output
ØHigh thermal efficiency and low specific fuel consumption
ØSmooth engine operation
ØReduced exhaust pollutants
DIFFERENT TYPES OF SI ENGINE COMBUSTION
CHAMBER DESIGN
Different types of si engine combustion chamber design:-
1. T-head combustion chamber.
2. L-head combustion chamber.
3. I-head (or overhead valve) combustion chamber.
4. F-head combustion chamber.
5. Divided Combustion Chamber
con’t.................
1. T Head Type Combustion chambers
§ This was first introduced by Ford Motor Corporation in 1908.
§ This design has following disadvantages.
üRequires two cam shafts (for actuating the in-let valve and
exhaust valve separately) by two cams mounted on the two
cam shafts.
üVery prone to detonation. There was violent detonation even
at a compression ratio of 4. This is because the average
octane number in 1908 was about 40 -50.
T Head Type Combustion chambers
con’t.................
2. L Head Type Combustion chambers
§ It is a modification of the T-head type of combustion chamber.
§ It provides the two valves on the same side of the cylinder,
and the valves are operated through tappet by a single
camshaft.
§ This was first introduced by Ford motor in 1910-30 and was
quite popular for some time. This design has an advantage
both from manufacturing and maintenance point of view.
 con’t.................
Advantages:
üValve mechanism is simple and easy to lubricate.
üDetachable head easy to remove for cleaning and decarburizing
without disturbing either the valve gear or main pipe work.
üValves of larger sizes can be provided.
Disadvantages:
üLack of turbulence as the air had to take two right angle turns to
enter the cylinder and in doing so much initial velocity is lost.
üExtremely prone to detonation due to large flame length and slow
combustion due to lack of turbulence.
üMore surface-to-volume ratio and therefore more heat loss.
üExtremely sensitive to ignition timing due to slow combustion
process
L Head Type Combustion chambers
con’t.................
R I C A R D O ’ S T U R B U L E N T H E A D – S I D E VA LV E
COMBUSTION CHAMBER
§ Ricardo developed this head in 1919. His main objective was
to obtain fast flame speed and reduce knock in L design. In
Ricardo’s design the main body of combustion chamber was
concentrated over the valves, leaving slightly restricted
passage communicating with cylinder.
Advantages:
üAdditional turbulence during compression stroke is possible
as gases are forced back through the passage.
con’t.................
üBy varying throat area of passage designed degree of
additional turbulence is possible.
üDesign make engine relatively insensitive to timing of spark
due to fast combustion
üHigher engine speed is possible due to increased turbulence
üThis design reduces length of flame travel by placing the
spark plug in the centre of effective combustion space.
 con’t.................

Disadvantages :
üWith compression ratio of 6, normal speed of burning increases
and turbulent head tends to become over turbulent and rate of
pressure rise becomes too rapid leads to rough running and high
heat losses.
üTo overcome the above problem, Ricardo decreased the areas of
passage at the expense of reducing the clearance volume and
restricting the size of valves. This reduced breathing capacity of
engine, therefore these types of chambers are not suitable for
engine with high compression ratio.
RICARDO’S TURBULENT HEAD
con’t.................
3. I head combustion chamber or Over head valve
§ The disappearance of the side valve or L-head design was
inevitable at high compression ratio of 8 : 1 because of the lack
of space in the combustion chamber to accommodate the valves.
§ Diesel engines, with high compression ratios, invariably used
overhead valve design. Since 1950 or so mostly overhead valve
combustion chambers are used.
§ This type of combustion chamber has both the inlet valve and the
exhaust valve located in the cylinder head. An overhead engine is
superior to side valve engine at high compression ratios.
I head combustion chamber
con’t.................
§ Two important designs of overhead valve combustion
chambers are used .
Bath Tub Combustion Chamber
§ This is simple and mechanically convenient form. This
consists of an oval shaped chamber with both valves mounted
vertically overhead and with the spark plug at the side.
§ The main draw back of this design is both valves are placed
in a single row along the cylinder block. This limits the
breathing capacity of engine, unless the overall length is
increased.
Bath Tub Combustion Chamber
con’t.................
Wedge Type Combustion Chamber
§ In this design slightly inclined valves are used.
§ This design also has given very satisfactory performance. A
modern wedge type design can be seen in for Plymouth V-8
engine.
§ It has a stoke of 99 mm and bore of 84mm with compression
ratio 9:1.
Wedge Type Combustion Chamber
con’t.................
4. F Head combustion chamber
In such a combustion chamber one valve is in head and other
in the block. This design is a compromise between L-head and
I-head combustion chambers. One of the most F head engines
(wedge type) is the one used by the Rover Company for
several years. Another successful design of this type of
chamber is that used in Willeys jeeps.
Its advantages are :
üHigh volumetric efficiency
üMaximum compression ratio for fuel of given octane rating
con’t.................
üHigh thermal efficiency
üIt can operate on leaner air-fuel ratios without misfiring.
The drawback
This design is the complex mechanism for operation of valves
and expensive special shaped piston.
F Head combustion chamber
con’t.................
5. Divided Combustion Chamber
§ In this type of chambers usually with about 80 percent of the
clearance volume in the main chamber above the piston and
about 20 percent of the volume as a secondary chamber.
§ Main chamber is connected to secondary chamber through a
small orifice Combustion is started in the small secondary
chamber. As the gases in secondary chambers are consumed
by combustion, pressure rises and flaming gas expands back
through orifice and act as torch ignition for main chamber.
con’t.................
§ Secondary chamber has high swirl and designed to handle
rich mixture. The rich mixture with very high swirl in
secondary chamber will ignite readily and burn very quickly.
§ The flame gas expands through orifice and ignites the lean
mixture in the main chamber.
§ The net result is an engine that has good ignition and
combustion and yet operates mostly lean to give good fuel
economy.
Divided Combustion Chamber