Program : B.

Tech
Subject Name: I C Engines
Subject Code: ME-501
Semester: 5th
Downloaded from www.rgpvnotes.in

Unit-2 Combustion 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
Ignition Limits
Ignition of charge is only possible within certain limits of fuel-air ratio. Ignition limits correspond
approximately to those mixture ratios, at lean and rich ends of scale, where heat released by spark is no
longer sufficient to initiate combustion in neighboring unburnt mixture. For hydrocarbons fuel the
stoichiometric fuel air ratio is 1:15 and hence the fuel air ratio must be about 1:30 and 1:7

Theories of Combustion in Si Engine

Combustion in SI engine may be roughly divided into two
general types: Normal and Abnormal (knock free or
knocking). Theoretical diagram of pressure crank angle
diagram is shown, a-b is compression process,
b-c is combustion process and c-d is an expansion
process. In an ideal cycle it can be seen from the diagram,
the entire pressure rise during combustion takes place at
constant volume i.e., at TDC. However, in actual cycle this
does not happen.
Richard’s Theory of Combustion
Sir Ricardo, known as father of engine research describes the combustion process can be imagined as if
it is developing in two stages:
1. Growth and development of a self propagating nucleus flame. ( Ignition lag)
2. Spread of flame through the combustion chamber
Three Stage of Combustion
According to Ricardo, There are three stages of combustion in SI Engine as shown
1. Ignition lag stage
2. Flame propagation stage
3. After burning stage

Page no: 1 Get real-time updates from RGPV

Downloaded from www.rgpvnotes.in

Ignition lag stage: There is a certain time interval

between instant of spark and instant where there is a
noticeable rise in pressure due to combustion. This time
lag is called IGNITION LAG.
Ignition lag is the time interval in the process of chemical
reaction during which molecules get heated up to self ignition
temperature, get ignited and produce a self propagating nucleus of flame. The ignition lag is generally
expressed in terms of crank angle. The period of ignition lag is shown by path ab. Ignition lag is very
small and lies between 0.00015 to 0.0002 seconds. An ignition lag of 0.002 seconds corresponds to 35
deg crank rotation when the engine is running at 3000 RPM. Angle of advance increase with the speed
this is a chemical process depending upon the nature of fuel, temperature and pressure, proportions
of exhaust gas and rate of oxidation or burning.
Flame propagation stage:
Once the flame is formed at “b”, it should be self sustained and must be able to propagate through the
mixture. This is possible when the rate of heat generation by burning is greater than heat lost by flame
to surrounding. After the point “b”, the flame propagation is abnormally low at the beginning as heat
lost is more than heat generated. Therefore pressure rise is also slow as mass of mixture burned is
small. Therefore it is necessary to provide angle of advance 30 to 35 deg, if the peak pressure to be
attained 5-10 deg after TDC. The time required for crank to rotate through an angle is known as
combustion period during which propagation of flame takes place.
After burning:
Combustion will not stop at point “c” but continue after attaining peak pressure and this combustion
is known as after burning. This generally happens when the rich mixture is supplied to engine.
Factors Affecting 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. Unfortunately flame
velocities for most of fuel range between 10 to 30 m/second.
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

A: F 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 (C
CO instead of C0 and also results in production of less heat and flame speed remains low. The effects
of A: F ratio on p-v diagram and p-0 diagram are shown below:

Page no: 2 Get real-time updates from RGPV

Downloaded from www.rgpvnotes.in

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.
The maximum pressure of the cycle as well as
Mean effective pressure of the cycle with increase in compression ratio. Figure above shows the
effect of compression ratio on pressure (indirectly on the speed of combustion) with respect to crank
angle for same A: F ratio and same angle of advance. Higher compression ratio increases the surface
to volume ratio and thereby increases the part of the mixture which after-burns in the third phase.
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. This is the reason, the advance mechanism is also provided with change in load on the
engine. This difficulty can be partly overcome by providing rich mixture at part loads but this definitely
increases the chances of after- burning. The after burning is prolonged with richer mixture. In fact,
poor combustion at part loads and necessity of providing richer mixture are the main disadvantages of
S.I. engines which causes wastage of fuel and discharge of large amount of CO with exhaust gases.
Turbulence: 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 suitable design of the
combustion chamber (geometry of cylinder head and piston crown).
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 chemical reaction, reduces ignition lag,
increases flame propagation and even allows weak mixture to burn efficiently.

Engine Speed
The turbulence of the mixture increases with an increase in engine speed. For this reason the flame

Page no: 3 Get real-time updates from RGPV

Downloaded from www.rgpvnotes.in

speed almost increases linearly with engine speed. If the engine speed is doubled, flame to traverse
the combustion chamber is halved. Double the original speed and half the original time give the same
number of crank degrees for flame propagation. The crank angle required for the flame propagation,
which is main phase of combustion will remain almost constant at all speeds. This is an important
characteristic of all petrol engines.
Engine Size
Engines of similar design generally run at the same piston speed. This is achieved by using small
engines having larger RPM and larger engines having smaller RPM. Due to same piston speed, the inlet
velocity, degree of turbulence and flame speed are nearly same in similar engines regardless of the
size. However, in small engines the flame travel is small and in large engines large. Therefore, if the
engine size is doubled the time required for propagation of flame through combustion space is also
doubled. But with lower RPM of large engines the time for flame propagation in terms of crank would
be nearly same as in small engines. In other words, the number of crank degrees required for flame
travel will be about the same irrespective of engine size provided the engines are similar.
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 A: F ratio and turbulence.
Phenomenon of Knocking In Si Engine
Knocking is due to auto ignition of end
portion of unburned charge in combustion
chamber. As the normal flame proceeds
across the chamber, pressure and
temperature of unburned charge increase
due to compression by burned portion of
charge. This unburned compressed charge
may auto ignite under certain temperature
condition and release the energy at a very
rapid rate compared to normal
combustion

process in cylinder. This rapid release of energy during auto ignition causes a high pressure differential
in combustion chamber and a high pressure wave is released from auto ignition region. The motion of
high pressure compression waves inside the cylinder causes vibration of engine parts and pinging noise

Page no: 4 Get real-time updates from RGPV

Downloaded from www.rgpvnotes.in

and it is known as knocking or detonation. This pressure frequency or vibration frequency in SI engine
can be up to 5000 Cycles per second.
Denotation is undesirable as it affects the engine performance and life, as it abruptly increases sudden
large amount of heat energy. It also put a limit on compression ratio at which engine can be operated
which directly affects the engine efficiency and output.
AUTO IGINITION
A mixture of fuel and air can react spontaneously and produce heat by chemical reaction in the
absence of flame to initiate the combustion or self-ignition. This type of self-ignition in the absence of
flame is known as Auto-Ignition. The temperature at which the self-ignition takes place is known as
self-igniting temperature. The pressure and temperature abruptly increase due to auto-ignition
because of sudden release of chemical energy.
This auto-ignition leads to abnormal combustion known as detonation which is undesirable because its
bad effect on the engine performance and life as it abruptly increases sudden large amount of heat
energy. In addition to this knocking puts a limit on the compression ratio at which an engine can be
operated which directly affects the engine efficiency and output.
Auto-ignition of the mixture does not occur
instantaneously as soon as its temperature rises above
the self-ignition temperature. Auto-ignition occurs only
when the mixture stays at a temperature equal to or
higher than the self-ignition temperature for a “finite
time”. This time is known as delay period or reaction time
for auto-ignition. This delay time as a function of
compression ratio is shown in adjacent figure.
As the compression ratio increases, the delay period
decreases and this is because of increase in initial (before
combustion) pressure and temperature of the charge.
The self-ignition temperature is a characteristic of fuel air
mixture and it varies from fuel to fuel and mixture
strength to mixture - strength of the same fuel.
PRE -IGINITION
Pre-ignition is the ignition of the homogeneous mixture of charge as it comes in contact with hot
surfaces, in the absence of spark.
Auto ignition may overheat the spark plug and exhaust valve and it remains so hot that its
temperature is sufficient to ignite the charge in next cycle during the compression stroke before spark
occurs and this causes the pre-ignition of the charge.
Pre-ignition is initiated by some overheated projecting part such as the sparking plug electrodes;
exhaust valve head, metal corners in the combustion chamber, carbon deposits or protruding cylinder
head gasket rim etc.
Pre-ignition is also caused by persistent detonating pressure shockwaves scoring away the stagnant
gases which normally protect the combustion chamber walls. The resulting increased heat flow
through the walls raises the surface temperature of any protruding poorly cooled part of the chamber,
and this therefore provides a focal point for pre- ignition.
Effects of Pre-ignition
 It increase the tendency of denotation in the engine
 It increases heat transfer to cylinder walls because high temperature gas remains in
contact with for a longer time

Page no: 5 Get real-time updates from RGPV

Downloaded from www.rgpvnotes.in

 Pre-ignition in a single cylinder will reduce the speed and power output
 Pre-ignition may cause seizer in the multi-cylinder engines, only if only cylinders have
pre-ignition

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NORMAL/ABNORMAL COMBUSTION AND PRE- INGINITON

Page no: 6 Get real-time updates from RGPV

Downloaded from www.rgpvnotes.in

EFFECT OF DETONATION
The harmful effects of detonation are as follows:
1. Noise and Roughness. Knocking produces a loud pulsating noise and pressure waves. These waves
which vibrates back and forth across the cylinder. The presence of vibratory motion causes crankshaft
vibrations and the engine runs rough.
2. Mechanical Damage.
(a) High pressure waves generated during knocking can increase rate of wear of parts of combustion
chamber. Sever erosion of piston crown (in a manner similar to that of marine propeller blades by
Cavitation), cylinder head and pitting of inlet and outlet valves may result in complete wreckage of the
engine.
(b) Detonation is very dangerous in engines having high noise level. In small engines the knocking
noise is easily detected and the corrective measures can be taken but in aero-engines it is difficult to
detect knocking noise and hence corrective measures cannot be taken. Hence severe detonation may
persist for a long time which may ultimately result in complete wreckage of the piston.
3. Carbon deposits. Detonation results in increased carbon deposits.
4. Increase in heat transfer. Knocking is accompanied by an increase in the rate of heat transfer to the
combustion chamber walls.
The increase in heat transfer is due to two reasons.
 The minor reason is that the maximum temperature in a detonating engine is about 150°C
higher than in a non-detonating engine, due to rapid completion of combustion
 The major reason for increased heat transfer is the scouring away of protective layer of inactive
stagnant gas on the cylinder walls due to pressure waves. The inactive layer of gas normally
reduces the heat transfer by protecting the combustion and piston crown from direct contact
with flame.
5. Decrease in power output and efficiency. Due to increase in the rate of heat transfer the power
output as well as efficiency of a detonating engine decreases.
6 Pre-ignition: The increase in the rate of heat transfer to the walls has yet another effect. It may cause
local overheating, especially of the sparking plug, which may reach a temperature high enough to
ignite the charge before the passage of spark, thus causing pre-ignition. An engine detonating for a
long period would most probably lead to pre-ignition and this is the real danger of detonation.
EFFECT OF ENGINE OPERATING VARIABLES ON THE ENGINE KNOCKING DETONATION
The various engine variables affecting knocking can be classified as:
 Temperature factors
 Density factors
 Time factors
 Composition factors
(A) TEMPERATURE FACTORS
Increasing the temperature of the unburned mixture increase the possibility of knock in the SI engine
we shall now discuss the effect of following engine parameters on the temperature of the unburned
mixture:
RAISING THE COMPRESSION RATIO increasing the compression ratio increases both the temperature
and pressure (density of the unburned mixture). Increase in temperature reduces the delay period of
the end gas which in turn increases the tendency to knock.
SUPERCHARGING It also increasses both temperature and density, which increase the knocking
tendency of engine

Page no: 7 Get real-time updates from RGPV

Downloaded from www.rgpvnotes.in

COOLANT TEMPERATURE Delay period decreases with increase of coolant temperature, decreased
delay period increase the tendency to knock.
TEMPERATURE OF THE CYLINDER AND COMBUSTION CHAMBER WALLS: The temperature of the end
gas depends on the design of combustion chamber. Sparking plug and exhaust valve are two hottest
parts in the combustion chamber and uneven temperature leads to pre-ignition and hence the
knocking.
(B) DENSITY FACTORS
Increasing the density of unburnt mixture will increase the possibility of knock in the engine. The
engine parameters which affect the density are as follows:
 Increased compression ratio increase the density
 Increasing the load opens the throttle valve more and thus the density
 Supercharging increase the density of the mixture
 Increasing the inlet pressure increases the overall pressure during the cycle. The high pressure
end gas decreases the delay period which increase the tendency of knocking.
Advanced spark timing: quantity of fuel burnt per cycle before and after TDC position depends on
spark timing. The temperature of charge increases by increasing the spark advance and it increases
with rate of burning and does not allow sufficient time to the end mixture to dissipate the heat and
increase the knocking tendency.
(C) TIME FACTORS
Increasing the time of exposure of the unburned mixture to auto-ignition conditions increase the
possibility of knock in SI engines
Flame travel distance: If the distance of flame travel is more, then possibility of knocking is also more.
This problem can be solved by combustion chamber design, spark plug location and engine size.
Compact combustion chamber will have better anti-knock characteristics, since the flame travel and
combustion time will be shorter. Further, if the combustion chamber is highly turbulent, the
combustion rate is high and consequently combustion time is further reduced; this further reduces the
tendency to knock.
Location of sparkplug: A spark plug which is centrally located in the combustion chamber has
minimum tendency to knock as the flame travel is minimum. The flame travel can be reduced by using
two or more spark plugs.
Location of exhaust valve: The exhaust valve should be located close to the spark plug so that it is not
in the end gas region; otherwise there will be a tendency to knock.
Engine size: Large engines have a greater knocking tendency because flame requires a longer time to
travel across the combustion chamber. In SI engine therefore, generally limited to 100mm
Turbulence of mixture decreasing the turbulence of the mixture decreases the flame speed and hence
increases the tendency to knock. Turbulence depends on the design of combustion chamber and one
engine speed.
(D) COMPOSITION
The properties of fuel and A/F ratio are primary means to control knock:
(a) Molecular Structure. The knocking tendency is markedly affected by the type of the fuel used.
Petroleum fuels usually consist of many hydro-carbons of different molecular structure. The
structure of the fuel molecule has enormous effect on knocking tendency. Increasing the
carbon-chain increases the knocking tendency and centralizing the carbon atoms decreases the
knocking tendency. Unsaturated hydrocarbons have less knocking tendency than saturated hydro-
carbons.

Page no: 8 Get real-time updates from RGPV

Downloaded from www.rgpvnotes.in

Paraffins
Increasing the length of carbon chain increases the knocking tendency. Centralizing the carbon atoms
decreases the knocking tendency. Adding methyl group (CH to the side of the carbon chain in the
centre position decreases the knocking tendency.
Olefins
Introduction of one double bond has little effect on anti-knock quality but two or three double
bond results less knocking tendency except C and C
Napthenes and Aromatics
Napthenes have greater knocking tendency than corresponding aromatics. With increasing
double-bonds, the knocking tendency is reduced. Lengthening the side chains increases the knocking
tendency whereas branching of the side chain decreases the knocking tendency.
(b) Fuel-air ratio. The most important effect of fuel-aft ratio is on the reaction time or ignition delay.
(c) When the mixture is nearly 10% richer than stoichiometric (fuel-air ratio = 0.08) ignition lag of the
end gas is minimum and the velocity of flame propagation is maximum. By making the mixture leaner
or richer (than F/A 0.08) the tendency to knock is decreased. A too rich mixture is especially effective
in decreasing or eliminating the knock due to longer delay and lower temperature of compression.
(d) Humidity of air. Increasing atmospheric humidity decreases the tendency to knock by
decreasing the reaction time of the fuel
The trends of the most of the above factors on knocking tendency of the engine are given
below:

Page no: 9 Get real-time updates from RGPV

Downloaded from www.rgpvnotes.in

Effect of engine variables on Knocking in SI engine

1. Compression ratio: The pressure and temperature at the end of compression increases with increase in
compression ratio. This in turn increase the maximum pressure during the combustion and creates a
tendency to knock
2. Supercharging: increase the temperature and density of mixture and thus the tendency to knock is
increased.
3. Turbulence : decreasing the turbulence of mixture decreases the flame speed and hence increase the
tendency to knock
4. Octane rating of fuel: higher the octane number, less the tendency to knock. Paraffins have maximum
tendency to knock and aromatic series have minimum tendency to knock. ( also see Influence of
chemical structure on knocking)
Factors that limits the compression ratio in petrol engine
In petrol engine we use the mixture of air and petrol and thermal efficiency of petrol engine increase with
increase in compression ratio. But the value of compression ratio is limited by phenomenon of knocking. The
pressure and temperature at the end of compression increases with increase in compression ratio this in
turn increase the maximum pressure during the combustion and creates a tendency to knock. Thus, higher
compression ratio, higher is the tendency to knock; therefore the value of compression ratio in petrol engine
is limited to 6 to 10.
Compression ratio can be marginally improved by using fuel with Tetra-ethyl lead. TEL delays the auto
ignition and allows it to occur at higher temperature and thus reduces knocking. The use of TEL is now in
disfavor because of atmospheric pollution (lead is toxic and has serious environmental and health hazards).
KNOCK RATING OF SI ENGINE FUELS (OCTANE NUMBER)
The tendency to detonate depends on composition of fuel. Fuel differs widely in their ability to resist knock.
The property of fuel which describes how fuel will or will nor self ignite is called the OCTANE NUMBER. It is
defined as the percentage of Iso-octane by volume in a mixture of Iso-octane and n-heptanes which exactly
matches the knocking tendency of a given fuel, in a standard fuel under given standard operating conditions.
The rating of a particular SI fuel is done by comparing its antiknock performance with that of standard
reference fuel which is usually combination of Iso-octane and n- heptanes. Iso-octane (C8H18) which has a
very high resistance to knock and therefore it is arbitrarily assigned a rating of 100 octane number
N-heptanes (C7H16) which is very prone to knock and therefore given a zero value.
For example: Octane number 80 means that the fuel has same knocking tendency as mixture of 80%
iso-octane and 20% n-heptane (by volume basis).
A fuel having an octane number of 110 means fuel has the same tendency to resist as a mixture of 10 cc of
Tetra ethyl lead (TEL) in one U.S gallon of Iso-octane.
HIGHEST USEFUL COMPRESSION RATIO (HUCR)
The thermal efficiency of IC engine increase with increase in Compression Ratio The maximum compression
ratio of any SI engine is limited by its tendency to knock. HUCR is the highest compression ratio employed at
which a fuel can be used in a specified engine under specified set of operating conditions, at which
detonation first becomes audible with both ignition and mixture strength adjusted to give highest efficiency.
HUCR of different fuel

Iso-octane 10.96
n-heptane 3.75
Toulene 15

Page no: 10 Get real-time updates from RGPV

Downloaded from www.rgpvnotes.in

Cyclo hexane 8.20

Anti Knock Agents
The knock resistance tendency of a fuel can be increased by adding anti-knock agents. The anti knock agents
are substances which decreases the rate of preflame reaction by delaying the auto ignition of the end mixture
in engine until flame generated by spark plug.
Increased or higher inlet pressure is used to take advantage of an increase in octane number. The use of
leaded gasoline However is not perfect solution to problem. It leads to emission of lead into atmosphere
which is known to be very hazardous.
The following table shows some anti knock agents and effectiveness.

Compound Chemical Weight for Relative

Symbol given effect (gm) weight
Tetraethyl lead Pb(C2H5)4 0.029 1
Aniline C6H5NH2 5 1 34
Ethyl Iodide C2H5 I 1.55 53
Ethyl alcohol C2H5 OH 4.75 161
Xylene [C6H4CH3]2 8.00 271
Toluene C6H5CH3 8.8 298
Benzene C6H6 9.8 332

The following table gives the relative effectiveness of anti knocks

Compound Relative effectiveness

Tetra ethyl lead (TEL) 100
Methyl cyclo pentadienyl 65
Manganese tricarbonyl Ironcarbonyl 43
Copper methyl arnino methyle necetate 40
Nickel carbonyl 30
Tri ethyl bismuth 20
Tetra ethyl tin 3
N-Methyl aniline-Ethyl iodide 11

Page no: 11 Get real-time updates from RGPV

 We hope you find these notes useful.
You can get previous year question papers at
https://qp.rgpvnotes.in .

If you have any queries or you want to submit your

study notes please write us at
[email protected]