CHAPTER 6

Combustion and Combustion Chamber

Design
6.1 Introduction
 Combustion in an engine is a very complex process which is not
completely understood.

 Simplified models are used to describe this not-so-simple phenomenon.

Although these models do not always explain the fine details of the
combustion process, they do a fairly accurate job of correlating the
important broad operating parameters such as pressure, temperature, fuel,
knock, engine speed, etc.

 Combustion in an SI engine is quite different from combustion in a CI

engine, and the two types are studied separately.
6.2 Combustion In SI Engines

 In SI engine a spark ignites the charge in the combustion chamber near the
end of the compression stroke.
 The spark produced across the spark plug electrodes at the correct time,
must have sufficient energy to raise the gas temperature between the
electrodes at a point so that the charge burning becomes self sustaining.
 From this point, a flame moves smoothly across the combustion chamber.
 The fame front movement across the combustion chamber is illustrated in
the figure.
Con…......

 Burning of charge takes place approximately at

about 100 bTDC.
 Due to which maximum cylinder pressure is
attained at about 150 aTDC. Actual combustion is
much more complex and the combustion gases
pass through many phases during the combustion
process.
Con…......

 For better understanding, 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.
Con…......

 Flame development is generally considered the consumption of the first

5% of the air-fuel mixture (some sources use the first 10%). 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).
Con…......

 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.
Con…......
Ignition and Flame Development

 During this stage of combustion, spark is discharged and pre-flame chemical

reaction takes place.

 Combustion is initiated by an electrical discharge across the electrodes of a spark

plug. This occurs anywhere from 10°to 30° before TDC.

 Flame can generally be detected at about 6° of crank rotation after spark plug
firing.

 Applied potential is generally 25,000-40,000 volts, with a maximum current on

the order of 200 amps lasting about 10 nsec
Con…......

Flame Propagation in SI Engines

 By the time the first 5-10% of the air-fuel mass has been burned, the
combustion process is well established and the flame front moves very
quickly through the combustion chamber.

 As the gas mixture burns, the temperature, and consequently the pressure,
rises to high values.
Con…......

 Ideally the air-fuel mixture should be about two-thirds burned at TDC and
almost completely burned at about 15° aTDC. This causes maximum
temperature and maximum pressure of the cycle to occur somewhere
between 5° and 10° aTDC.

 Thus, combustion in a real four-stroke cycle SI engine is almost, but not

exactly, a constant-volume process, as approximated by the ideal air-standard
Otto cycle. The closer the combustion process is to constant volume, the
higher will be the thermal efficiency.
Con…......

Flame Termination

 At about 15° to 20° aTDC, 90-95% of the air-fuel mass has been combusted
and the flame front has reached the extreme corners of the combustion
chamber.

 During the flame termination period, self-ignition will sometimes occur in

the end gas in front of the flame front, and engine knock will occur.

 Detonation (knock):- is the outcome of rapid pre-flame reaction within a

highly stressed end gas.
Con…......

 Due to highly rapid reactions, spontaneous ignition of end gas takes

place. This causes too rapid combustion within combustion chamber.
End gases accompanied by high-frequency pressure waves. These waves
hit the combustion chamber walls and results in vibration, noise and
damage on the component parts of the engine.
 The flame front movement during normal and abnormal combustion
process as shown in the figure below.
Con…......
Con…......
Factors affecting Detonation (knock)
 Compression ratio.
 Pressure and temperature at the end of compression.
 Temperature of combustion chamber wall.
 Engine speed.
 Mixture strength (A/F or F/A).
 Combustion chamber shape.
 Type of fuel.
 Ignition timing.
 Position of spark plugs.
 Position of valves.
Con…......

Surface Ignition: - starts at any source of ignition other than the spark plug.
 When surface ignition occurs before firing of the spark plug, it is called
pre-ignition.
 If it occurs after the ignition key is turned off, it is called ‘run-on’ or
‘dieseling’.
Factors causing Surface Ignition
1. Combustion chamber deposits.
2. Hot spots (e.g.:- spark plug electrode, protruding gasket, sharp valve
edges, etc.).
6-3 Combustion Chambers for SI engines

 A good combustion chamber should give high power output combined with
high thermal efficiency and smooth operation of the engine.

 To achieve these objectives the combustion chamber should possess the

following characteristics:

a) It should give complete utilization of fuel with minimum excess air.

b) It should ensure complete utilization of air and there should be no dead

pockets of air.
Con…......

c) It should provide a large area to the inlet and exhaust valves so that the
pressure drop through the valves is small and the volumetric efficiency
is high.
d) It should have a small surface to volume ratio to minimize heat loss.
e) It should possess a compact shape with suitably or centrally located
spark plug so that the flame travel is short.
f) It should have high turbulence and swirl to ensure quick propagation
of flame or to increase the flame velocity.
Con…......

 Different types combustion chambers have been developed over a

period of time Some of them are:
 T-Head Type
 L-Head Type
 I-Head Type or Overhead Valve
 F-Head Type
 T-Head Type:
 The T-head combustion chambers were used in the
early stage of engine development

 Since the distance across the combustion

chamber is very long, knocking tendency is high
in this type of engines.
 This configuration provides two valves on either
side of the cylinder, requiring two camshafts.
 From the manufacturing point of view, providing
two camshafts is a disadvantage.
 L-Head Type

 A modification of the T-head type of

combustion chamber is the L-head type which
provides the two valves on the same side of the
cylinder and the valves are operated by a single
camshaft.
 I Head Type or Overhead Valve:
 In which both the valves are located on the cylinder head.
 The overhead valve engine is superior to a side valve or an
L-head engine at high compression ratios.
 Some of the important characteristics of this type of valve
arrangement are:
 less surface to volume ratio and therefore less heat loss
 less flame travel length and hence greater freedom from
knock
 higher volumetric efficiency from larger valves or valve lifts
 F-Head Type:
 The F-head type of valve arrangement is a compromise between L-head and
I-head types.
 Combustion chambers in which one valve is in the cylinder head and
the other in the cylinder block are known as F-head combustion chambers
 Modern F-head engines have exhaust valve in the head and inlet valve
in the cylinder block.
 The main disadvantage of this type is that the inlet valve and the exhaust
valve are separately actuated by two cams mounted on to camshafts
driven by the crankshaft through gears.
6-4 Combustion In CI Engines

 Combustion in a CI engine is an unsteady process occurring simultaneously

at many spots in a very non-homogeneous mixture at a rate controlled by
fuel injection.

 Air intake into the engine is unthrottled, with engine torque and power
output controlled by the amount of fuel injected per cycle.

 Compression ratios of modern CI engines range from 12 to 24. Compared to

normal SI engines, high thermal efficiencies (fuel conversion efficiencies)
are obtained when these compression ratios
Con…………

 Fuel is injected into the cylinders late in the compression stroke by one or
more injectors located in each cylinder combustion chamber. Injection time
is usually about 20° of crankshaft rotation, starting at about 15° bTDC and
ending about 5° aTDC.

 Ignition delay is fairly constant in real time, so at higher engine speeds fuel
injection must be started slightly earlier in the cycle.

 In addition to the swirl and turbulence of the air, a high injection velocity is
needed to spread the fuel throughout the cylinder and cause it to mix with
the air.
Con…………

After injection the fuel must go through a series of events to assure the proper
combustion process:

1. Atomization: Fuel drops break into very small droplets. The smaller the
original drop size emitted by the injector, the quicker and more efficient will
be this atomization process.

2. Vaporization: The small droplets of liquid fuel evaporate to vapor. This

occurs very quickly due to the hot air temperatures created by the high
compression of CI engines.
Con…………

 High air temperature needed for this vaporization process requires a

minimum compression ratio in CI engines of about 12:1. About 90% of the
fuel injected into the cylinder has been vaporized within 0.001 second after
injection.

3. Mixing: After vaporization, the fuel vapor must mix with air to form a
mixture within the AF range which is combustible. This mixing comes about
because of the high fuel injection velocity added to the swirl and turbulence in
the cylinder
Con…………

4. Self-Ignition: At about 8° bTDC, 6-8° after the start of injection, the air-fuel
mixture starts to self-ignite.
Con…………
5. Combustion: Combustion starts from self-ignition simultaneously at many locations in the
slightly rich zone of the fuel jet, where the equivalence ratio is 1 to 1.5. At this time,
somewhere between 70% and 95% of the fuel in the combustion chamber is in the vapor
state.

 Combustion lasts for about 40° to 50° of engine rotation, much longer than the 20° of
fuel injection.

 The pressure remains high until the piston is 30°- 40° aTDC. About 60% of the fuel is
burned in the first third of combustion time.

 During the main part of the combustion process, anywhere from 10% to 35% of the fuel
vapor in the cylinder will Be in a combustible AF.
Con…………

Point A is starts of fuel injection.

Point A to B is duration of ignition
delay.
Point C is end of fuel injection.
The Figure shows, cylinder pressure as a function of crank angle for a CI engines.

Ignition delay:- is the time interval between the evaporation and mixing of the
fuel in the air and the commencement of combustion. It is generally of the order
of 0.001 seconds at a particular intermediate engine speed. However, it varies
with the property of the fuel, the rate of air-fuel mixing and the temperature at
the start of injection
Con…………
Ignition delay is divided into two parts:
1. Mixing period:- is the time required for atomization, vaporation and
physical mixing of fuel with air.
2. Interaction period:- is a time required for molecular interaction and start of
actual ignition.
Factors affecting ignition delay in CI engines:
 Compression Ratio
 Inlet Air Temperature
 Coolant Temperature
 Engine Speed
 Combustion chamber design
Con…………
Diesel knock (detonation)
 is usually caused due to the accumulation of large quantity of fuel as a result
longer ignition period and large quantity of fuel injection.
 This may cause a very rapid chemical reaction which ultimately leads to sudden
and simultaneous auto-ignition of the air fuel mixture and is called diesel knock
(detonation). In fact, the very combustion mechanism of diesel engines are based
on the auto-ignition of the charge at various locations and hence mild (soft)
knock is expected and this is the main reason why diesel engines are noisy as
compared to SI engines. But, if the mild (soft) knock exceeds the limit it is may
lead to diesel knock (Detonation).
6-5 Combustion Chambers for CI Engines

The combustion chamber characteristics for CI engines have to satisfy the

following objectives in view of the mechanism of combustion.
 Combustion chamber must provide better mixing of fuel and air (That
means, short physical delay period).
 Combustion process in CI engines should be controlled to avoid very high
maximum cylinder pressure and rate of pressure rise per degree of crank
angle.
 Combustion should be rapid enough to burn all fuel very earlier during the
expansion stroke.
Con…………

In order to attain these objectives, it is convenient to divide combustion

chamber designs or forms into two broad classifications:
1. Open combustion chamber (DI)
2. Divided combustion chamber (IDI)
 Open combustion chamber

 In these types of combustion chambers, the combustion space is essentially one

single cavity without any restrictions which are so small as to cause pressure
differences between different parts of the combustion chamber during
combustion process.
 mixing of fuel and air is dependent only on the spray characteristics and on air
motion or air swirl. Hence, it is not affected by the combustion process.
 For a selected value of compression ratio and maximum operating temperature,
the ignition delay is mainly determined by the characteristics of the fuel.
Con…………

Some of the limitations associated with open

combustion chambers are:
 poor starting
 poor ignition quality (high noise) and
 poor fuel economy.
In order to overcome some of these
shortcomings, the divided combustion
chambers are developed mainly for use in
high speed small engines.
 Divided combustion chamber

 A divided combustion chamber is the one in which the combustion

chamber is divided in two compartments (pre-chamber and main
chamber).
 The pre-chamber is fitted with an injector and a glow plug to improve
cold starting behavior of the engine. Combustion is initiated in this
chamber and then propagated into the main chamber.
Con…………
Some of the characteristics of such combustion chambers are:
a) Extremely high air velocity through the throat during compression stroke due
to turbulence and swirl in the pre- chamber greatly assists the rapid mixing of
fuel and air.
b) The first and the second stage of combustion take place within the pre chamber
whose structure is strong enough to withstand very high pressure.
c) The pre-chamber can run at very high temperatures. It usually has a high heat
resistant inserts of stainless steel and loose fitted so that the thermal connection
with the cylinder body is poor. As a result, fuels with poor quality can also
burn.
Comparisons of Open (DI) and Divided (IDI) combustion chambers
Con…………
Thank you!