Combustion Process in CI Engine

The air that is compressed in the cylinder reaches a high temperature and pressure. When the nozzle

injects fuel in a spray form into this air, the fuel particles become superheated, their surface temperature

rises, and they begin to evaporate. When the evaporated fuel mixes with air at an appropriate temperature,

the mixture ignites and causes combustion.

The combustion process can be divided into the four periods:

1. Ignition lag / Ignition delay / Pre-flame combustion period

2. Flame Propagation / Uncontrolled combustion period / Period of rapid combustion

3. Direct combustion / Controlled combustion period

4. After burn period

Ignition lag period: (Between A and B)

The fuel does not ignite immediately upon injection into combustion chamber. There is a period of

inactivity between the time of injection and the actual burning, this period is called Ignition lag period.

The period between A and B is this preparatory period. Here, point A represents the time of injection and

point B represents the time of combustion.

This ignition delay period can be divided into two parts:

i) The physical delay-

 Beginning of fuel injection

 Atomization & vaporization of fuel

 Mixing of fuel & air

 Attainment of self-ignition temp. of fuel

ii) The chemical delay-

 Attainment of the condition of chemical reaction

 Start of reaction

 Accelerated reaction

 Ignitable air-fuel mixture

During this period, the fuel particles that are injected into the cylinder get mixed with air (Physical delay)

and absorb heat from the compressed air, thus creating an ignitable air-fuel mixture (Chemical delay).

Time-wise, this is an extremely short period during which no rapid rise in temperature or pressure is

exhibited.
Period of rapid combustion: (Between B and C)

During the period between B and C the air-fuel mixture that was prepared for combustion in the previous

ignition lag period ignites in one or more areas at point B. As combustion spreads quickly in the cylinder,

practically all of the mixture burns simultaneously. So, the pressure to rise rapidly to point C (Steep rise

in pressure). This period is counted from the end of delay period or the beginning of the combustion to the

point of maximum pressure (Point C). The rate of heat release is maximum during this period. This period

is also called “Uncontrolled combustion period” because it is difficult to control the amount of burning.

The pressure rise at this time depends on the duration of the delay period. Because the longer the delay

the more fuel will present in the cylinder and so, the more rapid and higher will be the pressure rise before

the rate of burning comes under control.

Direct combustion / Controlled combustion period: (Between C and D)

During the period between C and D, fuel continues to be injected past point C. Due to the flame that was

created between points B and C, the temperature and pressure are very high. So, the injected fuel burns

immediately upon injection without causing any ignition lag.

The changes in the pressure that occur during this period can be adjusted by appropriately regulating the

fuel injection volume or by fuel injection rate.

After burn period: (Between D and E)

The injection of fuel is completed at point D given. But Combustion does not stop with the completion of

the injection process. Any fuel that did not burn completely up to this point (The unburnt and partially

burnt fuel particles) starts burning. This happens during the expansion period between points D and E,

which is called the “After burn period”. As this period becomes longer, the exhaust temperature increases

and the thermal efficiency decreases. Because-

Thermal efficiency,

Where, the thermal efficiency, ηth, represents the fraction of heat, QH, which is converted to work.

Since energy is conserved according to the first law of thermodynamics and energy cannot be converted

to work completely, the heat input, Q H , must equal the work done, W, plus the heat that must be

dissipated as waste heat QC into the environment.

So, it is necessary to keep this period short.

Diesel Engine Knocking

Knocking is violent gas vibration and audible sound produced by extreme pressure differentials leading to

the very rapid rise during the early part of uncontrolled second phase of combustion.

The knock occurs in CI engines with an abnormal rise in pressure during combustion. In C.I. engines

the injection process takes place over a definite interval of time. Consequently, as the first few droplets

injected are passing through the ignition lag period, additional droplets are being injected into the

chamber. If the ignition delay is longer, the actual burning of the first few droplets is delayed and a

greater quantity of fuel droplets gets accumulated in the chamber. When the actual burning commences,

the additional fuel can cause too rapid rate of pressure rise, as shown on pressure crank angle diagram,

resulting in Jamming of forces against the piston (as if struck by a hammer) and rough engine operation.

If the ignition delay is quite long, so much fuel can accumulate that the rate of pressure rise is almost
instantaneous. Such, a situation produces extreme pressure differentials and violent gas vibration known

as knocking (diesel knock), and is evidenced by audible knock.

How to prevent diesel knocking : To prevent a diesel knock, it is important to shorten the ignition

lag period, when we consider its cause. The other ways are-

Increasing the temperature: Increasing the temperature in the cylinder can increase the compressive

pressure. If this happens, the fuel will easily reach to its self-ignition temperature and ignition delay

period will be shorter.

Knock reducing fuel injector: Nozzles are designed to minimize the volume of fuel that is injected

during this period. This type of injector avoids the sudden increase in pressure inside the combustion

chamber because of accumulated fuel. This can be done by arranging the injector so that only small

amount of fuel is injected first. This can be achieved by using two or more injectors arranging in out of

phase.

Proper fuel injection: To minimize diesel knocking, ignition delay has to be minimized. So, properly

atomized fuel has to be supplied. Atomization is the break-up of the fuel charge into very small particles

when it is injected into the cylinder. So, we can say that the injection of fuel should be in a form of well

dispersed spray that promotes the reduction of delay period as it represents a large surface area of fuel in

relation to its quantity.

If the atomization is insufficient, the particles will be larger and will have more kinetic energy when

entering the combustion chamber. They will travel further into the combustion chamber and some may

come to rest on the cylinder wall. This will lead to a lower rate of combustion.
 Diesel Engine Performance

An engine performance curve or characteristic curve shows the performance of an engine at a glance. As

Figure shows, the performance curve indicates the maximum output horsepower, shaft torque, and

fuel consumption rate at each engine speed.

Torque: It is the twist produced at the crankshaft due to the downward acting forces delivered by the

exploding fuel-air mixture through the pistons.

At low speeds, the engine does not burn as much air-fuel mixture as it is capable of and thus the

explosions are weak and produce low torque. At lower speeds, the intake air volume decreases due to the

opening and closing timing of the intake valve, causing the torque to decrease.
As the speed increases, more and more fuel is added to the combustion chamber making the explosions

stronger and thus the torque produced also increases. So, at intermediate speeds, the air intake is more

favorable, which leads to a better combustion condition and greater torque. It reaches a maximum value at

a particular speed based on the engine’s design and requirements.

When the engine speed exceeds a certain speed, the combustion conditions change due to the reduction

in the intake air volume, thus causing the engine torque to decrease at high speeds.

The key to understand the torque curve is the parameter called Volumetric Efficiency (VE) of the

engine. VE is a ratio of the actual volume of air drawn by the engine vs. the calculated cylinder volume of

the engine. If we assume a particular temperature, volumetric efficiency can also be taken as a ratio of

mass of air drawn into the engine vs. the theoretical mass-draw capacity of the engine. Torque and

Volumetric efficiency are closely linked. This is obvious because generating torque needs more fuel and

fuel needs air to burn and the volume/mass of air drawn is linked to Volumetric efficiency. At the point of

maximum torque, the engine’s volumetric efficiency is also the highest meaning that the engine is sucking

in the maximum mass or volume of air (at a given temperature) it possibly can. After this point in the

RPM band, the torque reduces due to the air flow losses in the valves and mechanical losses which

dominate at higher speeds. These factors reduce the volumetric efficiency and thereby the torque.

Power: Although the power output increases in proportion to the engine speed, it does not increase

significantly in the high-speed range due to the reduction in torque. The power continues to increase as it

is a product of speed and torque. But you can notice that the rate of increase of power (slope) is slower

past the max torque point. At one point closer to the engine’s upper RPM limit, the power peaks and starts

to reduce as the rate of fall in torque is greater than the rate of increase in RPM.

Fuel consumption rate : The fuel consumption rate is directly influenced by the combustion conditions,

and this rate is the lowest at an engine speed in the vicinity of the maximum torque, in which the

combustion condition is the best.

 Diesel Engine Performance Parameters

1. Turbulence:

Turbulence refers to the air movement pattern within the combustion chamber at the end of the

compression. It contributes to obtain the best conditions for the combustion. The aim is to get the particles

small enough to burn in the short time available and evenly distribute throughout the combustion chamber

so that adjacent particles do not become oxygen starved during combustion. If turbulence increases, the

mixture will be good and also the ignition period will decrease.

2. Injection timing:

The engine output varies in accordance with the injection timing. Because the injection timing at

the maximum output varies by engine speed, it is better to advance the injection timing along with the

increase in the engine speed. Care must be taken to change the injection timing because it is closely

related to diesel knocks.

3. Intake temperature and pressure:

If the temperature increases, the delay period is reduced. However, preheating of charge for this purpose

is not desirable because it reduces the density of charge and volumetric efficiency and power output.

Increase in intake pressure reduces the auto ignition temperature and so reduces the delay period.

4. Compression ratio: CR is the value obtained from dividing the total cylinder volume by the clearance

volume. Where, the clearance volume is the volume remaining in the cylinder when the piston is in the

top center position. At high CR more fresh charge will be compressed which will increase thermal energy.

So, work done will be higher. The increase in the compression temperature of the air with increase in

compression ratio evaluated at the end of the compression stroke is shown in figure.
It is also seen from the same figure that the minimum auto ignition temperature of a fuel decreases due to

increased density of the compressed air. This results in a closer contact between the molecules of fuel and

oxygen reducing the time of reaction. The increase in the compression temperature decreases the delay

period.

 Then why we do not use very high compression ratio in CI engine?

Scavenging

Scavenging is the process of removing burnt gases out of the combustion chamber for filling the chamber

with fresh charge for the subsequent cycle in an internal combustion engine. The process is essential in

having a smooth running of I.C. Engine. If scavenging is incomplete the following stroke will begin with

a mix of exhaust fumes rather than clean air. This may be reason for poor combustion which leading to

poor running condition on an engine. The more efficient the scavenging, the better is the fuel combustion

and power output of the engine.

Scavenging is not the same for both two stroke and four stroke engines. This is mainly because in the

four- stroke engine there is adequate overlap between the opening of the inlet valve and closing of the
exhaust valve. But in a two-stroke engine this overlap is limited due to port and for this reason a slight

mixture of exhaust gases and incoming air occurs inside the cylinder.

Valve: Valve regulates/controls the flow of fluid by opening , closing or partially obstructing the way.

Valves have complicated mechanical structure which should be supplied with an actuating force for

operation i.e. opening and closing. We can see valves in 4 stroke engines.

Port: We can see port in two stroke engines which is not supplied with any actuating mechanism or does

not have any moving parts. Piston itself is used to open and close the ports.

Valves and ports both use different mechanism in engines. A valve in an engine is operated mechanically,

whereas a port is just an opening which is opened and closed by a piston.

Types of scavenging:

1. Crossflow Scavenging- The inlet and exhaust ports are present on the opposite side of the cylinder.

2. Backflow or loop Scavenging- The inlet and exhaust port are present on the same side of the cylinder.

3. Uniflow Scavenging- Inlets are present either in one or both side of the cylinder and the exhaust is

present on the top of the cylinder.