BMEE303L

Unit II – Performance of IC Engines

Dr. FEROSKHAN M
Associate Professor
SMEC
 Distribution of Fuel Energy
• Combustion releases the chemical energy of fuel
• A portion of this energy is lost via coolant and exhaust
• Rest is available as mechanical energy at piston surface – Indicated work
• A part of this is spent in overcoming mechanical friction, pumping losses,
operating auxiliary devices (valve mechanisms, pumps etc.) – Friction work
• The balance is the useful energy available at the driveshaft – Brake work
• Similar definitions for indicated power, friction power, brake power

Combustion Transmission,
manifold
Heat loss,
exhaust
Friction
work
Fuel Energy
Indicated work Brake work
Entering @ Piston @ Driveshaft
cylinder
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 Engine Performance - Terminologies
N  Rotations per minute N
• Work (per cycle per cylinder) = W P W 
 n for Four Stroke
120
• Power = Work × Cycles per sec x Cylinders P  W  N  n for Two Stroke
• Power = Angular speed x Torque P  2N  T 60
60
• Rate of fuel energy release = Fuel mass flow rate × Calorific value
P
• Thermal efficiency = Ratio of energy (or power) output to input th 
m f  LCV
m f
• Specific fuel consumption = Fuel consumed per unit work output sfc 
P

• Mean effective pressure = Work done per cycle per unit volume displaced
W P
mep  
Vdisp N
 Ap  l  n
(120 or 60)

All the above parameters can be estimated on indicated or brake basis

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 Efficiency Indices
P
• Indicated thermal efficiency   i
m f  LCV
ith

Pb
• Brake thermal efficiency bth 
m f  LCV
• Mechanical efficiency = efficiency of conversion of indicated power to
brake power. Accounts for frictional losses
Pb P
m   1  f (Since Pi  Pb  Pf )
Pi Pi
• Relative efficiency or efficiency ratio = ratio of actual efficiency to air
standard efficiency. Indicates how close to ideal the engine performs
th
rel 
air  std
• Volumetric efficiency = Ratio of volume flow rate of air into to the intake
system (at ambient conditions) to the rate of volume displacement by
piston. Represents the effectiveness of filling in charge - (ratio of actual to
ideal mass flow rate) m a
 
Vd  
v
N

 60 or 120 
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 Geometric Indices
• Compression ratio: Vbdc / Vtdc = Vmax/Vmin
• Bore:Stroke ratio:
– Square engines: b/l = 1 (Bore = Stroke)
– Over-square engines: b/l > 1 (Bore > Stroke) e.g. 2 wheelers, F1 cars (2.5)
– Under-square engines: b/l < 1 (Bore < Stroke) e.g. 4 wheelers, ships (0.3)
• Crank radius: r = l/2
• Mean piston speed: Distance travelled by piston in unit time
– Stationary/low speed: 5-10 m/s
2lN
– Auto: 10-16 m/s up 
60
– High performance: up to 25 m/s

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 Sample Problem
• A four stroke, four cylinder SI engine (bore = 80 mm; stroke =
87 mm) develops a brake power of 36.8 kW at 3000 rpm with
a mechanical efficiency of 80%. The air-fuel ratio is 12:1 and
the brake specific fuel consumption is 406.8 g/kWh. The
calorific value of the fuel is 42 MJ/kg. Calculate:
a. Indicated power 46 kW
b. Frictional power 9.2 kW
c. Brake torque 117.1 Nm
d. Brake thermal efficiency 21.1%
e. Indicated thermal efficiency 26.3%
f. Fuel consumption rate 0.00416 kg/s
g. Air consumption rate 0.05 kg/s
h. Volumetric efficiency (assume a = 1.2 kg/m3) 95%
i. Brake mean effective pressure 841 kPa
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 Solution
a. We know that: mech = Pb/Pi
Thus, Indicated power, Pi = Pb/mech = 46 kW
b. Frictional power, Pf = Pi - Pb= 9.2 kW
c. Brake specific fuel consumption, m  f  Pb  bsfc
Fuel consumption, bsfc  m  f / Pb = 14970 g/hr = 0.004158 kg/s
Brake thermal efficiency, bth  Pb = 21.1%
m f  LCV
Alternatively, by comparing the formulae for bsfc and bth, we can write:
1
bth   21.1%
bsfc (in kg/kWs)  LCV (in kJ/kg)
Pi
d. Indicated thermal efficiency, ith 
m f  LCV
Substituting the values obtained above, ith = 26.3%
Alternatively, by comparing the formulae for ith, bth, and mech,we can write:
ith = bth / mech = 26.3%

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 Solution (contd.)
e. Fuel consumption rate is obtained as in (c). The value is 0.004158 kg/s
f. Air fuel ratio, AFR  m  a / m f
Hence, m  a  m f  AFR ≈ 0.05 kg/s
  bore2
g. Displacement volume, Vd  n   stroke = 1.746 x 10-3 m3
4
m a
Volumetric efficiency, v  N
 aVd
120

Substituting the values, v ≈ 95%

Pb
h. Brake mean effective pressure, bmep  = 841 kPa
N
 Vd
120

Note: Include units in the answers, express efficiencies in percentage

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 Questions for Practice
1. A four stroke four cylinder diesel engine running at 2000 rpm develops 60 kW. Brake
thermal efficiency is 30% and calorific value of diesel is 42 MJ/kg. The engine has a
bore of 120 mm and stroke of 100 mm. Assume a = 1.15 kg/m3, air-fuel ratio = 15:1
and mech = 0.8. Calculate: a) fuel consumption rate, b) air consumption rate, c)
indicated thermal efficiency, d) volumetric efficiency and e) brake mean effective
pressure.

Ans: a) 4.76 x 10-3 kg/s , b) 7.14 x 10-2 kg/s , c) 37.5%, d) 82.3%, e) 796 kPa

2. A 1 litre cubic capacity, four stroke, four cylinder SI engine has a brake thermal
efficiency of 30% and indicated power of 40 kW at full load. At half load, it has a
mechanical efficiency of 65%. Assuming constant mechanical losses, calculate for full
load operation: a) brake power, b) frictional power, c) mechanical efficiency and d)
indicated thermal efficiency. If the volume decreases by a factor of 8 during
compression stroke, calculate e) the clearance volume, f) relative efficiency (g = 1.4).

Ans: a) 31.5 kW, b) 8.5 kW, c) 78.8%, d) 38%, e) 35.71 cc, f) 53.1%

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 Questions for Practice
3. A two stroke CI engine develops a brake power of 368 kW while its frictional
power is 73.6 kW. Its fuel consumption is 180 kg/h and it works with an air-fuel
ratio of 20:1. The calorific value of the fuel is 42 MJ/kg. Calculate: a) indicated
power, b) mechanical efficiency, c) air consumption rate, d) indicated thermal
efficiency and e) brake thermal efficiency.

Ans: a) 441.6 kW, b) 83.3% c) 3600 kg/h (or 1 kg/s) d) 21%, e) 17.5%

4. A single cylinder, four stroke diesel engine having a displacement volume of 790
cc is tested at 300 rpm. When a braking torque of 49 Nm is applied, analysis of
the indicator diagram gives a mean effective pressure of 980 kPa. Calculate: a)
brake power and b) mechanical efficiency.

Ans: a) 1.54 kW, b) 79.5%

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 Questions for Practice
5. A single cylinder two stroke engine has an indicated thermal efficiency of 25%,
mechanical efficiency of 75% and consumes 25 kg/h of fuel (LCV = 42 MJ/kg) at
fixed speed. The BMEP is 5 bar and the mean piston speed is 15 m/s. Assuming this
to be a square engine, determine a) the crank radius and b) the engine rpm.

Ans: a) 68.2 mm, b) 3302 rpm

6. The indicator diagram of a four cylinder, four stroke engine has a length (x-axis) and
area of 0.05 m and 5 x 10-4 m2 respectively. The y-axis scale is 1 m = 50 MPa. The
engine bore = 150 mm, stroke = 200 mm and speed = 1200 rpm. The engine
consumes 5 cc of fuel per cycle (specific gravity = 0.8). Find a) IMEP, b) Indicated
power, and c) ISFC
Note: The y-axis scale is called the spring constant . In this case, it is 50 MPa/m
Ans: a) 5 bar, b) 70.68 kW, c) 203.7 g/kWh

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 Questions for Practice
7. A single cylinder four stroke oil engine (bore = 30 cm, stroke = 45 cm) running at 200
rpm consumes 4 litres of oil (LCV = 43 MJ/kg, specific gravity = 0.8) during a 30 min test.
The indicator diagram has an area of 8.5 cm2 and length 8.5 cm. Spring constant = 5.5
bar/cm. The engine is connected to a rope brake dynamometer, for which the brake
load is 150 kg, spring balance reading is 20 kg and effective brake drum diameter is 1.5
m. Calculate: a) indicated power, b) brake power, c) mechanical efficiency, d) bsfc (in
g/kWh) and e) indicated thermal efficiency.

Ans: a) 29.16 kW, b) 20.03 kW, c) 68.7%, d) 319.5 g/kWh, e) 38.14%

8. Morse test conducted on a four cylinder four stroke gasoline engine (bore = 75 mm,
stroke = 90 mm) at 3000 rpm gives the following readings (in kg) on the dynamometer :
All firing: 35 ; Cyl 1 cut off : 25; Cyl 2 cut off: 23.8; Cyl 3 cut off: 24.7; Cyl 4 cut off: 24.
The dynamometer constant is 5000 kg/(kW.min). Estimate a) indicated power, b)
friction power, c) mechanical efficiency, and d) bmep.

Ans: a) 25.4 kW, b) 4.4 kW, c) 82.7%, d) 528.2 kPa

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 Questions for Practice
9. A single cylinder diesel engine has a rated power of 8 kW at 475 rpm. A retardation
test shows that the time for the engine speed to drop from 475 to 375 rpm at no
load and half load are 8.3 s and 3.4 s respectively. Calculate a) the friction power and
b) mechanical efficiency at full load.

Ans: a) 2.78 kW, b) 74.2%

10. An eight cylinder CI engine (bore = 55 mm, stroke = 60 mm) operating at 3000 rpm is
connected to a swinging field dynamometer having an efficiency of 75%. Diesel (LCV
= 42000 kJ/kg) is consumed at the rate of 0.0013 kg/s and AFR = 20. The voltage and
current in the external circuit are 230 V and 50 A respectively. When the
dynamometer switching is reversed and the engine is motored, the voltage and
current readings are 220 V and 20 A respectively. Assuming a power factor of 0.9 and
density of air = 1.1 kg/m3, Determine a) the brake power, b) brake thermal efficiency,
c) mechanical efficiency and d) volumetric efficiency.

Ans: a) 13.8 kW, b) 25.3%, c) 82.3%, d) 82.9%

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 Three Key Operating Parameters
• These parameters are of interest to the operator
• Used to specify the Operating Condition
1. Engine Speed (N)
2. Engine Torque or Load (T)
– Power  NT
3. Fuel flow rate (m f )
– Throttle position in SI : controls air flow also
– Rack position in CI : air flow is not regulated
Any parameter can be expressed as a function of the other two
i.e. p1 = f(p2, p3)
When p1 is fixed, p2 and p3 cannot be varied independently
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 Measurement of Indicated Power
• p-V diagram : Indicator diagram
• Gross Indicated Work : Area A
• Net Indicated Work : Area A – Area B
• Diagram obtained by simultaneous
measurement of pressure and
– Volume : piston position
– Crank angle (V = f(q)) : crank position
• p sensor : usually piezoelectric
• q sensor: usually electromagnetic/optical
• Indicator diagram also gives information Pressure
sensor
regarding energy release, knocking etc.
• Alternatively, IP = BP + FP Toothed Signal
wheel
processing

Engine CA
sensor
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 Measurement of Brake Power
• Direct measurement
– Connect an electric generator to the crankshaft. Measure the electric
power. If generator efficiency is known, engine power can be estimated
• By measuring Torque and Speed: P = 2NT/60
– Torque is measured using a Dynamometer
– Speed is measured using instruments such as tachometer/stroboscope
or by processing signals from electromagnetic/optical sensors
– Dynamometer has a rotor connected to the crankshaft
– The rotor is coupled mechanically, hydraulically
or electromagnetically to a stator
– Stator has limited freedom to move
– Rotor tries to move stator, externally applied
torque keeps it balanced
– This torque imposes a load on the crankshaft
– Can be measured using weights, springs, load
cells (strain gauges) etc.
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 Types of Absorption Dynamometers
• Mechanical
– Rope brake Tb = F x d ; Pb = 2NTb/60
– Prony brake
WN
• Hydraulic Pb  C: Dynamometer constant (kg/kW.min)
C
• Electrical
– AC generator
WN P
– Swinging field (DC generator) Pb  or Pb  elec
C  gen
– Eddy current

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 Mechanical Dynamometers
• Need to be cooled to remove heat generated by friction
• Prony brake dynamometer
– Torque applied by a brake (T = Fl) : friction resists rotor motion
– Source of the term ‘brake’ power
• Rope brake dynamometer
– Rope wound around rotor (drum)
– Force exerted on either end of rope by weight (W) and spring (S)
– T = R(W-S)

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 Hydraulic Dynamometer
• Rotor is the impeller connected to crankshaft
• Casing (stator) is free to rotate slightly
• Internal space and cavities are filled with water
• Rotor tries to rotate the stator due to fluid friction, resisted by external
spring balance/weights
• Torque estimated in terms of externally applied force
• Load varied by controlling water flow

Usually, brake power is expressed as

Pb = WN/C
C is the dynamometer constant

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 Eddy Current Dynamometer
• Rotor is a copper/steel disc with gear
teeth. It is attached to crankshaft
• Stator has field windings (electromagnet)
• When stator is excited and rotor rotates,
electromagnetic field is disturbed
• Eddy (surface) currents are set up linking
stator and rotor, oppose relative motion
between stator and rotor
• Tend to rotate stator, balanced by external
force
• Measured using load cell/balancing
weights etc.
Usually, brake power is expressed as
• Loaded by varying field current Pb = WN/C
• Dissipation of eddy currents generates C is the dynamometer constant
heat. Hence cooling is required
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 Swinging Field DC Dynamometer
• Stator (casing) has field windings, hence the name
• Made to operate as a DC generator which is run by the engine
• Electromagnetic coupling tends to rotate stator
• Balancing torque measured, power estimated
Alternative approach:
• Converts mechanical power to electric
• Loading by external electrical resistance (bulbs etc.)
• Engine power = electric power / generator efficiency
• The connections can be reversed to operate it as a motor, used for
motoring test to estimate friction power

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 Transmission Dynamometer
• Measures torque while the engine is in normal operation
(powering an automobile, generator, pump etc.)
• Engine power not absorbed or dissipated in the
dynamometer, but directly transmitted to the useful load
• Principle: Torque on the shaft is proportional to the angular
deformation – Torsion formula
• Deformation measured using strain gauges, usually connected
to a Wheatstone bridge circuit

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 Measurement of Friction Power
• FP measured at constant speed and throttle/rack
position to keep mechanical friction, power to
auxiliary systems and pumping work constant
• Willan’s line method
– Approximate method
– Applicable to constant speed operation,
especially CI (unthrottled)
– FP assumed to be constant for a given speed
– FP  x-intercept of m  f vs BP diagram
 Easy to evaluate, no special instrumentation
 Need to take a number of readings at every
speed to get each Willan’s line
 Extrapolation is difficult if curve is non-linear

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 Measurement of Friction Power
• Morse test
– Applicable to multi-cylinder engines
– Engine operated normally, BP measured = Pb
– Cylinders made non-firing (motoring), one at a time
– Cutting off power reduces engine speed
– Load reduced to maintain constant N (throttle/rack position is fixed)
– Principle: cutting off cylinders reduces IP and BP, FP is unaffected
– Let the BP when cylinder 1 is cut-off be represented as Pb1 and so on
– For a 3 cylinder engine, Pb = Pi1 + Pi2 + Pi3 – Pf (where Pf = Pf1 + Pf2 + Pf3)
– Pb1 = Pi2 + Pi3 – Pf ; Pb2 = Pi1 + Pi3 – Pf ; Pb3 = Pi1 + Pi2 – Pf
– Pi1 = Pb – Pb1 ; Pi2 = Pb – Pb2 ; Pi3 = Pb – Pb3
– Pf = Pi1 + Pi2 + Pi3 – Pb
 Accurate measurement
 Requires special instrumentation
BMEE303L - Thermal Engineering Systems 24
 Measurement of Friction Power
• Motoring test
– Engine run at a fixed speed and allowed to attain steady state
– Power absorbed by an electric generator (swinging field dynamometer)
coupled to the crankshaft
– Engine is switched off and the generator switching is reversed to convert
it into a motor
– The motor keeps the engine running at the same speed
– Power consumption of the motor = FP
 Can be used to obtain the contribution of individual components (e.g.
fuel pump, piston rings etc.) by progressively stripping them off
 p, T at motoring will be different from those under firing conditions – may
cause variation in FP

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 Measurement of Friction Power
• Retardation test
– Engine run at no load and the given
speed
– Fuel supply cut off
– Time taken for speed to drop to 80, 60,
40 and 20 % recorded : retardation
– Process repeated with external load:
torque = Tl
– Suppose the durations for the same
drop in speed (say 100 rpm) at no load
and loaded conditions are t0, tl
respectively
tl
T f  Tl Easy to evaluate
t 0  tl
Requires accurate measurement of
2NT f retardation history
Pf 
60
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 Measurement of Fuel Mass Flow Rate
• Volumetric measurement [m f   f V f ]
– Burette and stopwatch
[V f  V / t ]
– Orificemeter, venturimeter etc.
[V f  cd  f ( A, p)]
– Turbine flow meter and stopwatch
[V f  V / t ]
– Rotameter [Scale reading]
• Gravimetric measurement
– m f measured directly
– Weighing balance and stopwatch
[m f  m / t ]

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 Measurement of Air Mass Flow Rate
• Volumetric measurement [m a   aVa ]
where  a  p /( RaT )
Air box prevents fluctuations in the flow (caused by piston motion) from
reaching the flow meter
– Turbine flow meter and stopwatch
[Va  V / t ]
– Orificemeter, venturimeter etc.
[Va  cd  f ( A, p)]
– Rotameter [Scale reading]

• Onboard sensors
– Mass air flow rate (MAF) sensor
– or based on manifold p, T (calculate ) and N (calculate Va )
[Va  Vdisp  N /(120 or 60)]

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 Energy Balance of Engines
Where does the fuel energy (mf*LCV) go?
1. Brake work
2. Transferred to coolant :
= mcoolcp,cool (Tcool,exit – Tamb)
– via convection from hot combustion products
through cylinder walls
– metal-metal contact  friction  heat dissipation
– from spark plug, exhaust valve and manifold
3. Sensible enthalpy of exhaust gases
= mexhcp,exh (Texh – Tamb)
4. Miscellaneous (unaccounted) losses : Cannot be measured
– heat transfer to surrounding air (from lubricant, exhaust manifold etc.)
– pumping work
– for operating accessories
– incomplete combustion
– kinetic energy of exhaust gases

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 Energy (heat) Balance Diagram
• A balance sheet for the supplied fuel energy
• Roughly 30% of fuel energy appears as brake work, another 30% goes to
the coolant and 30% to the exhaust
• At low loads, majority of the supplied energy (2-3 times the brake work)
is lost as heat to coolant
• Brake work and exhaust losses increase with load
• Unaccounted losses can be as high as 20%
• Fraction converted to brake work is lower in SI compared to CI (why ?)

% of fuel energy Brake work Coolant Exhaust Unaccounted

SI 25-28 17-25 34-45 10-20
CI 34-38 16-35 22-35 10-20

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Energy Balance Diagrams

SI Engine CI Engine

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Sankey Diagram

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 Solved example
The details of an energy balance test conducted on a single cylinder four
stroke engine (bore = 30 cm, stroke = 45 cm) are as follows:

Duration of test : 45 minutes

Fuel quantity used : 7 litres
Fuel specific gravity : 0.8 ; Fuel calorific value : 42 MJ/kg
Total crankshaft revolutions : 12624
Volumetric efficiency : 88%
Air density : 1.16 kg/m3
Net load on dynamometer : 150 kg
Dynamometer drum diameter : 1.78 m ; Dynamometer rope diameter : 4 cm
Cooling water circulated : 550 litres
Cooling water temperature at outlet: 54oC
Exhaust gas temperature : 180oC ; ambient temperature = 25oC
Specific heats : Exhaust : 1.1 kJ/kg.K ; Water : 4.2 kJ/kg.K

Determine the components of the energy balance

BMEE303L - Thermal Engineering Systems 33
 Solution
Volume flow rate of fuel: Vf  V / t = 7 x 10-3 / (45 x 60) = 2.59 x 10-6 m3/s
Mass flow rate of fuel: m f   f V f = 800 x 2.59 x 10-6 = 2.1 x 10-3 kg/s
Brake torque : Tb = Weff x Reff x g = 150 x 0.5 x (1.78 + 0.04) x 9.81 = 1339.1 Nm
Engine speed: N = 12624 /45 = 280.5 rpm
Brake power : Pb = 2NTb/60 = 2 x 3.14 x 280.5 x 1339.1/60 = 39.3 kW
Energy release rate : ERR  m
 f LCV = 87.11 kW
Ideal volume flow rate of air:
d 2
N = 3.14 x (0.3)2/4 x 0.45 x 280.5/120 = 0.074 m3/s
Va ,ideal  l 
4 120

Actual volume flow rate of air : Va  volVa ,ideal = 0.0654 m3/s
Actual mass flow rate of air: m a   aVa = 0.076 kg/s
Mass flow rate of exhaust: m ex  m a  m f = 0.0779 kg/s
Rate of energy loss via exhaust : E ex  m ex c p,ex Tex  Tamb  = 0.0779 x 1.1 x (180 - 25)
= 13.3 kW
BMEE303L - Thermal Engineering Systems 34
 Solution (continued)
 wc p,w Tw  Tamb 
Rate of energy loss via coolant : E w  m

= 550 x 10-3 x 103/(45x60) x 4.2 x (54 - 25) = 24.8 kW

Unaccounted losses: Eunacc  ERR  Pb  E ex  E w = 9.7 kW

Percentages:

Brake power = 45.1% of ERR

Exhaust loss = 15.3% of ERR

Coolant loss = 28.5% of ERR

Unaccounted losses = 11.1% of ERR

BMEE303L - Thermal Engineering Systems 35

 Engine Performance – Basic Concepts
• Indicated torque is a measure of the work produced per cycle
• It relates directly to the amount of charge taken into the cylinder per cycle
• The quantity of charge inducted can be enhanced by increasing Vd , vol , charge:
– Minimum obstacles in intake manifold, make flow streamlined
– Optimum valve timing: utilise the ‘ram effect’
– Intercooling/aftercooling; turbocharging/supercharging
• Indicated power indicates work done per unit time
• It depends on work produced per cycle & frequency of cycles
• Hence the relationship P = 2NT/60 (same for 2 stroke and 4 stroke)
• Indicated Power relates directly to charge taken in per unit time
• Friction power increases with engine speed
• Efficiency of the engine quantified by:
– Thermal efficiency: ratio of power output to power input a thermodynamic parameter
– Specific fuel consumption : fuel consumed per unit work output  makes more practical sense
• Mean effective pressure : Ratio of work done to engine size
• Engines can be made compact by increasing MEP
BMEE303L - Thermal Engineering Systems 36
 Effect of Speed on Charge Intake
• Ram effect – by delaying IVC, inertia of incoming charge helps in packing in
more charge even as the piston is moving towards TDC
• Inertia more in high speed engines, hence IVC is more delayed
• In a given engine, the angle of IVC ensures maximum ram effect at a
designated speed, say Nopt
• At lower speeds (N < Nopt), inertia of charge is less, piston pushes it back
into intake manifold
• At high speeds (N > Nopt), insufficient filling time, lower charge due to high
operating temperatures

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 Effect of Speed on Indicated Torque & Power
• The quantity of charge taken in and
indicated torque are maximum at Nopt
• This is hence called the max torque
speed
• Mass of charge inducted per unit time
( m ) continues to rise beyond max
torque speed as the number of cycles
per second increases
• Hence IP also continues to rise. This
correlates with IP NT
• Beyond a point, m and IP tend to
reduce due to the sharp fall in
mass/cycle & torque
• Engines operate well below this speed

BMEE303L - Thermal Engineering Systems 38

Effect of Speed on Friction and Brake Power
• Friction power increases with
engine speed
– parts rub more frequently
– more frequent pumping work
– higher inertia, reaction forces
• BP = IP – FP
• Sharp rise in FP causes BP to
reach a peak and reduce much
earlier than IP
• At some point, FPIP, BP 0
• Engines don’t operate beyond
max BP speed
• MEP is proportional to torque,
both peak at same speed
BMEE303L - Thermal Engineering Systems 39
 Effect of Speed on Efficiency

• mech (~ 90-75 %) shows a drop

due to increasing friction
• bth (~ 0-30 %) peaks before BP.
Coolant and exhaust losses
increase beyond the peak
• bsfc (~ 0.2-0.5 kg/kWh) shows
the inverse variation as bth
• For maximum fuel economy,
operate close to min bsfc

BMEE303L - Thermal Engineering Systems 40

 Performance Characteristics of a Constant Speed
CI Engine
• Used in generators etc.
• Air intake is nearly fixed, increase in
torque (T) is almost linear
• T is a function of equivalence ratio (f)
• Max power is limited by smoke (f ~
0.8, i.e. AFR ~ 16:1 to 20:1)
• Efficiency tends to drop at higher loads
(incomplete combustion, heat loss
etc.)
• As speed is fixed, FP is almost same.
mech improves with load

BMEE303L - Thermal Engineering Systems 41

 Factors Affecting Engine Performance –
Supplementary Notes
Factor For Best Performance…
Spark timing (SI) / Use optimum advance: limited by knock
injection timing (CI)
Equivalence ratio Lean for cruising (economy), Rich for maximum power
Compression ratio Increase (limited by knock/weight, friction, cost)
Speed Generally high  instantaneous combustion,
less time for heat loss
FP increases rapidly at very high speeds, vol , chargefall
Mass of inducted Maximise
charge a) displacement volume,
b) vol : number & size of intake valve, smooth flow passage,
c) higher charge density
Heat losses Reduce  higher coolant temperature, cylinder insulation
Results in larger exhaust enthalpy  can be harnessed
Fuel type High calorific value, knock resistance, high burn rate
More powerful engine or more efficient engine ??
BMEE303L - Thermal Engineering Systems 42
Thank You !