CHAPTER 5…………..

Combustion in CI engine
Introduction

 Today CI (Oil Engine), also called Diesel

engine, is a very important prime mover,
being used in buses, trucks, locomotives,
tractors, pump sets and other stationary
industrial applications, small and medium
electric power generation and marine
propulsion
 Dr Rudolph Diesel, 1893
 W. D. Priestman and H. Ackroyd Stuart, both
from Yorkshire
Introduction…..
 The importance of CI engine is due to:
1. Its higher thermal efficiency than SI engines
and ( indirect diesel engine is 25% higher
than SI engine and Direct injection is 15%
higher) (low specific fuel consumption)
2. CI engine fuels (diesel) being less
expensive than SI engine fuels (petrol or
gasoline)
3. Its inherent durability
Introduction………

 Four drawbacks of CI engine in relation to SI

engine:
 Heavier weight (low power output relative to both
weight and cylinder capacity)
 Noise and vibration
 Smoke
 odor
Combustion in CI engine
 In CI engine, air alone is compressed through a
large compression ratio (12:1 to 22:1) during the
compression stroke raising highly its temperature
and pressure
 Injection of the fuel into the cylinders as their pistons
approaches inner, or top, dead center, and a
compression ratio not less than 12-13:1 and in some
applications as high as 22:1 or more
 If the compression ratio is 14:1, the initial T of the air
in the cylinder is 60oC, and if compression is truly
adiabatic (no heat loss to the surrounding), the T at
TDC would be 675oC
Combustion in CI engine……..

 In this highly compressed and highly heated air in

the combustion chamber (well above ignition point
of fuel) one or more jets of fuel are injected in the
liquid state, compressed to a high pressure of 110
to 200bar by means of a fuel pump
 At this T the injected fuel ignites easily, because
its self-ignition T, in air at atmospheric pressure, is
between 340 to 350oC
 Each minute droplet as it enters the hot air (450-
550oC) is quickly surrounded by an envelop of its
own vapor
Liquid fuel
High soot
Fuel vapour

Diffusion flame
Combustion in CI engine……..

Air flow

0.4 ms after ignition 3.2 ms after ignition

3.2 ms after ignition Late in combustion process

Combustion in CI engine……………

 There is a basic difference in the air motion

required in SI and CI engines. In SI we call it
Turbulence and in CI engine we call it Swirl
Combustion in CI engine……………

 Turbulence
 Implies disordered air motion with no general
direction of flow, to break up the surface of the
flame front and to distribute the shreds of flame
throughout an externally prepared homogenous
combustible mixture
 Combustion in CI engine……………
 Swirl
 Implies an orderly movement of the whole body of air
with a particular direction of flow, to bring a continuous
supply of fresh air to each burning droplets and sweep
away the products of combustion which otherwise would
suffocate it
Stages of Combustion
Stages of Combustion………..

 First stage: Ignition Delay Period

 Defined as the time (or crank angle) interval
between the start of injection and the start of
combustion.
 From the start of injection to the point where the
P-θ curve separated from the pure air
compression curve
 Some fuel has been admitted but has not yet
been ignited
Stages of Combustion………..

 Second Stage: Rapid or Uncontrolled

Combustion
 Pressure rise is rapid because during the delay
period the fuel droplet have had time to spread
 From the end of delay period to the point of
maximum pressure on the indicator diagram
 Above 1/3 of the heat is evolved during this period
Stages of Combustion………..

 Third Stage: Controlled Combustion

 At the end of 2nd stage, the T and P are so high
that the fuel droplets injected during the last stage
burn almost as they enter and any further
pressure rise can be controlled by purely
mechanical means (injection rate)
 Ends at maximum cycle temperature
 Heat evolved by the end of third stage is about 70
to 80% of the total heat of the fuel supplied during
the cycle
Stages of Combustion………..

 Fourth Stage: After Burning

 Because of the poor distribution of the fuel
particles, combustion continues during this part
(remained expansion stroke)
 Duration may correspond to 70-80 degree of
crank angle rotation from TDC
Air-Fuel Ratio in CI engine
 In the CI engine for a given speed, and irrespective
of load, an approximately constant supply of air
enters the cylinder (constant air supply engine)
 With change in load the quantity of fuel is changed,
which changes the air fuel ratio
 The over all air fuel ratio may thus vary from about
100:1 at no load to 20:1 at full load, where as the air
fuel ratio remains nearly stoichometric from no load
to full load in SI engine
 Question
 While the inflammability limit of HC fuels is 7:1 to 30:1, how
does the combustion occurs in CI engine when the mixture
is much leaner than 30:1?
Air-Fuel Ratio in CI engine……..

 Another point of difference is the air-fuel ratio

used at full load (SI engine, it is slightly richer
than Stoichiometric while in CI engine it is
leaner than Stoichiometric (20:1)
 Though the indicated thermal efficiency
increases with leaner mixture, the mep and
power output reduces, which results in large
size engine for a given power output
 Air-Fuel Ratio in CI engine……..
Constant Speed operation

Power
Output
(KW) Objectionable
Smoke Area

10 15 18 20 25 30 35 40 45
Air-Fuel Ratio

 The figure shows that though the power continuously increases at the
air-fuel ratio is reduced towards stoichiometric, A/F=18:1 is absolute
minimum because of production of undesirable quantity of smoke (power
of diesel engine is limited by smoke)
First Stage of Combustion (Delay Period)

 The first stage of combustion in the CI engine

(delay period) has great influence on both
engine design and performance
 It affects the rate of pressure rise and hence
knocking
 Divided in to two:
 Physical delay
 Chemical delay
 First Stage of Combustion (Delay
Period)…….
TDC

Delay
Period

b
Mixing period

Interaction period

a
First Stage of Combustion (Delay
Period)…..
 Physical Delay
 The period of physical delay is the time between
the beginning of injection and the attainment of
chemical reaction conditions
 The following tasks undertaken in this:
 Atomization
 Vaporization
 Mixed with air
 Raised its temperature
First Stage of Combustion (Delay
Period)…..
 Chemical Delay
 Pre-flame reactions start slowly and then
accelerates unit local inflammation or ignition
takes place
 Chemical delay is longer than the physical delay
 Depends on temperature, at high temperature
chemical delay is quicker and physical delay is
longer than chemical delay
 What is the difference between ignition lag in
SI engine and delay period in CI engine?
Variables affecting Delay period

1. Fuel
 The most important property of fuel as far as
delay period is concerned is the self ignition
temperature
 A lower self SIT means a wider margin between
it and the temperature of the compressed air and
hence lower delay period
 Fuels with high cetane number means a lower
delay period, and smoother engine operation
 29CN
P
(bar) Beginning
of injection 42CN

52CN

20 TDC 20 40

Crank Angle
 Variables affecting Delay period………
2. Injection pressure or Size of Droplet
 The smaller the size and greater the number of
droplets the larger will be the aggregate area of
inflammation and therefore the greater the
uncontrolled pressure rise
 The disadvantage of larger droplet is of course that
subsequent rate of burning is too slow and hence a
compromise is to be struck
 As the size of the droplet depends on the injection
pressure, it can be said that lower the injection
pressure the lower the rate of pressure rise during
the uncontrolled phase and smoother the running
Variables affecting Delay period………

3. Injection Advance angle

 The delay period increases with increase in
injection advance angle (The reason is that the
pressure and temperature are lower when the
injection begins)
 The optimum angle of injection advance
depends on many factors, but generally it varies
between 12o to 20o b TDC. This would cause
peak pressure to occur 10o to 15o a TDC
 Variables affecting Delay period………
4. Compression Ratio
 Increase in compression ratio reduces the delay period
as it raises both T and density
 As can be seen from the figure below, with increase in
compression ratio the T of the air increases. At the
same time the minimum auto-ignition T decreases due
to increased density of the compressed air
 With increase of compression ratio the unused air
would be much more decreasing the volumetric
efficiency and power
 Another disadvantage of high compression ratio is
lower mechanical efficiency due to increase in weight
of reciprocating parts
 Temperature (K)

Maximum air
Temperature

Minimum auto-ignition
temperature

0 4 8 12 16 20 22

Compression ratio
Variables affecting Delay period………

5. Intake Temperature
 Increasing the intake T would result in increase
in the compressed air T, which would reduce the
delay period
Variables affecting Delay period………

6. Jacket Water Temperature

 Increase in jacket water T also increase
compressed air T and hence delay period is
reduced
Variables affecting Delay period………

7. Fuel Temperature
 Increase in fuel T would reduce both physical
and chemical delay periods
Variables affecting Delay period………

8. Intake Pressure (supercharging)

 Increase in intake pressure or supercharging
reduces the auto-ignition T and hence reduces
delay period
Variables affecting Delay period………

9. Speed
 As the engine speed increases, the loss of heat
during compression decreases with the result
that both the T and pressure of the compressed
air tends to rise, thus reducing the delay period
in milliseconds
 The Phenomenon of Knock in CI engine
 In CI engine the injection process takes place over a
definite interval of time.
 As the first few droplets to be injected are passing through
the injection delay period, additional droplets are being
injected in to the cylinder.
 If the delay period is short, the first few droplets will
commence the actual burning phase in a relatively short
time after injection and relatively small amount of fuel will
be accumulated in the chamber when actual burning
commence.
 If on the other hand, the delay period is longer, the actual
burning commences, the additional fuel can cause too
rapid a rate of pressure rise (Knock)
The Phenomenon of Knock in CI
engine……
 The phenomenon is similar to that in the SI
engine knock ( will be seen in next topic)
 In order to decrease the tendency of knock it
is necessary to start the actual burning as
early as possible after the injection begins
(decrease the delay period)
Comparison of Knock in SI and CI engines
Comparison of Knock in SI and CI
engines………
 In SI engine, knocking occurs near the end of
combustion where as in the CI engine, knocking
occurs near the beginning of combustion
 In SI engine, due to the homogeneity of the charge
there is high intensity of knock (explosion) where as
in CI engine, fuel and air not homogenized is less
compared to SI engine knock
 No pre-ignition in CI engine as the only air is
compressed during the compression stroke.
 The normal rate of pressure rise for the first part of
the charge in CI engine are higher and it is difficult
to differentiate the normal combustion and knock in
CI engine
Combustion Chamber for CI Engine

 Important function of CI engine CC is to

provide proper mixing of fuel and air in a
short time
 Organized air movement is required (Air
Swirl)
 CI engine CC divided in to two big categories:
 Direct-injection (DI) type
 Indirect-injection (IDI) type
 Types of CI Engines

Glow plug

Orifice
-plate

Direct injection: Direct injection:

quiescent chamber swirl in chamber Indirect injection: turbulent
and swirl pre-chamber
Direct Injection Direct Injection Direct Injection Indirect injection
quiescent chamber multi-hole nozzle single-hole nozzle swirl pre-chamber
swirl in chamber swirl in chamber
Combustion Chamber for CI Engine….

 Direct Injection System:

 The momentum and energy if the injected fuel jets
are sufficient to achieve adequate fuel distribution
and rates of mixing with the air
 Additional organized air motion is not required
 The CC shape is usually a shallow bowl in the
crown of the piston, and central multi-hole injector
is used
Direct Injection System………
Direct Injection System…………

 Advantage:
 Lower specific fuel consumption - 20%
 Lower emissions
 Bigger valves, higher volumetric efficiency
 Disadvantage
 Pressure rise can be great, knock
 High injection pressure, high quality fuel
Combustion Chamber for CI Engine……

 Indirect-Injection System
 Inlet generated swirl has not provided sufficiently
high fuel-air mixing rates for small high speed
engines: automobile engines
 Indirect-injection or divided-chamber engine
systems, where the energetic charge motion
required during fuel injection is generated during
the compression stroke have solution to this
 Two broad classes:
 Swirl chamber system
 Pre-chamber systems
Indirect-Injection System………..
Indirect-Injection System………….
Advantages of indirect injection combustion
chambers
 Excellent mixing, turbulence characteristics
 Can burn lower quality fuel
 Lower injection pressure
 Less pronounced knock
Disadvantages
 Heat plugs are required for pre heating the chambers
 Specific fuel consumption is high because of heat loss to
large exposed areas and pressure loss due to air motion
through the throats
 Very high temperature/pressure in injection chamber
 Higher emissions, especially NOx
 Combustion Chamber for CI Engine…..
 Swirl chamber system
 It consists of a spherical chamber located in the cylinder head and
separated from the engine cylinder by a tangential throat.
 About 50% of air enters this swirl chamber during compression
stroke of the engine producing a swirl.
 The products after combustion returns through the same throat to
the main cylinder at much higher velocity. So more heat loss to
walls of the passage takes place.
 However this loss can be reduced by providing insulation.
 Such type of chambers finds application in those engines where
fuel control and engine stability is more important than fuel
economy
Combustion Chamber for CI Engine…..
 Pre-chamber systems
 This chamber is located at the cylinder head and is
connected to the engine cylinder by small holes.
 It occupies 40% of the total cylinder volume.
 During compression stroke air from the main cylinder
enters the pre-combustion chamber. During this moment
fuel is injected to the pre-combustion chamber and
combustion takes place.
 Thus high pressure is released and the fuel droplets are
forced through the small holes to the main cylinder
resulting in very good mixing of the fuel and air. Thus the
bulk of the combustion actually takes place in the main
cylinder. This type of combustion chamber has multi-fuel
capability because of the temperature of the pre-chamber