Air Standard cycles and Fuel air cycles

AIR-STANDARD CYCLES AND THEIR ANALYSIS

The operating cycle of an internal combustion engine can be broken down into a sequence of
separate processes viz., intake, compression, combustion, expansion and exhaust.
The internal combustion engine does not operate on a thermodynamic cycle as it involves an
open system i.e., the working fluid enters the system at one set of conditions and leaves at
another.
However, it is often possible to analyze the open cycle as though it were a closed one by
imagining one or more processes that would bring the working fluid at the exit conditions back
to the condition of the starting point.
The accurate analysis of internal combustion engine processes is very complicated. In order to
understand them it is advantageous to analyze the performance of an idealized closed cycle that
closely approximates the real cycle.
One such approach is the air-standard cycle, which is based on the following assumptions:
(i) The working medium is assumed to be a perfect gas and follows the relation
pV = mRT or p = ρRT .
(ii) There is no change in the mass of the working medium.
(iii) All the processes that constitute the cycle are reversible.
(iv) Heat is assumed to be supplied from a constant high temperature source and
not from chemical reactions during the cycle.
(v) Some heat is assumed to be rejected to a constant low temperature sink during
the cycle.
(vi) It is assumed that there are no heat losses from the system to the
surroundings.
(vii) The working medium has constant specific heats throughout the cycle.
(viii) The physical constants viz., Cp, Cv , γ and M of working medium are the same
as those of air at standard atmospheric conditions. For example in SI units,
• Cp = 1.005 kJ/kg K M = 29 kg/kmol
• Cv = 0.717 kJ/kg K γ = 1.4

Due to these assumptions, the analysis becomes over-simplified and the results do
not agree with those of the actual engine.
Work output, peak pressure, peak temperature and thermal efficiency based on
air-standard cycles will be the maximum that can be attained and will differ
considerably from those of the actual engine.
It is often used, mainly because of the simplicity in getting approximate answers to
the complicated processes in internal combustion engines.
THE OTTO CYCLE
Nicolaus Otto (1876), proposed a constant-volume heat addition cycle which forms
the basis for the working of today’s spark-ignition engines.
The cycle is shown on p-V and T -s diagrams in Fig.2.5(a) and 2.5(b) respectively.
When the engine is working on full throttle, the processes 0→1 and 1→0 on the
p-V diagram represents suction and exhaust processes and their effect is nullified.
The process 1→2 represents isentropic compression of the air when the piston
moves from bottom dead centre to top dead centre.
During the process 2→3 heat is supplied reversibly at constant volume.
The processes 3→4 and 4→1 represent isentropic expansion and constant volume
heat rejection respectively.
This process corresponds to spark-ignition and combustion in the actual engine
THE DIESEL CYCLE
• In actual spark-ignition engines, the upper limit of compression ratio is limited by the
self-ignition temperature of the fuel.
• This limitation on the compression ratio can be overcome, if air and fuel are compressed
separately and brought together at the time of combustion.
• In such an arrangement fuel can be injected into the cylinder which contains compressed air at
a higher temperature than the self-ignition temperature of the fuel.
• Hence the fuel ignites on its own accord and requires no special device like an ignition system in
a spark-ignition engine.
• Such engines work on heavy liquid fuels. These engines are called compression-ignition engines
and they work on a ideal cycle known as Diesel cycle.
• The difference between Otto and Diesel cycles is in the process of heat addition.
• In Otto cycle the heat addition takes place at constant volume whereas in the Diesel cycle it is at
constant pressure. For this reason, the Diesel cycle is often referred to as the constant-pressure
cycle.
• The Diesel cycle is shown on p-V and T -s diagrams in Fig.2.7(a) and 2.7(b) respectively.
• To analyze the diesel cycle the suction and exhaust strokes, represented by 0→1 and 1→0, are
neglected as in the case of the Otto cycle.
• Here, the volume ratio V1/V2 is the compression ratio, r. The volume ratio V3/V2 is called the
cut-off ratio, rc.
• It may be noted that the efficiency of the Diesel cycle is different from that of the
Otto cycle only in the bracketed factor.
• This factor is always greater than unity. Hence for a given compression ratio, the
Otto cycle is more efficient.
• In diesel engines the fuel cut-off ratio, rc, depends on output, being maximum for
maximum output.
• Therefore, unlike the Otto cycle the air-standard efficiency of the Diesel cycle
depends on output.
• The higher efficiency of the Otto cycle as compared to the Diesel cycle for the
same compression ratio is of no practical importance.
• In practice the operating compression ratios of diesel engines are much higher
compared to spark-ignition engines working on Otto cycle.
• The normal range of compression ratio for diesel engine is 16 to 20 whereas for
spark-ignition engines it is 6 to 10.
• Due to the higher compression ratios used in diesel engines the efficiency of a
diesel engine is more than that of the gasoline engine.
Ex. Fuel supplied to an SI engine has a calorific value 42000 kJ/kg. The pressure in
the cylinder at 30% and 70% of the compression stroke are 1.33 bar and 2.66 bar
respectively. Assuming that the compression follows the law pV1.3 = constant.
Find the compression ratio. If the relative efficiency of the engine compared with
the air-standard efficiency is 50%. Calculate the fuel consumption in kg/kW h.
THE DUAL CYCLE
• In the Otto cycle, combustion is assumed at constant volume while in Diesel cycle
combustion is at constant pressure.
• In practice they are far from real. Since, some time interval is required for the
chemical reactions during combustion process, the combustion cannot take place
at constant volume. Similarly, due to rapid uncontrolled combustion in diesel
engines, combustion does not occur at constant pressure.
• The Dual cycle, also called a mixed cycle or limited pressure cycle, is a
compromise between Otto and Diesel cycles. Figures 2.8(a) and 2.8(b) show the
Dual cycle on p-V and T -s diagrams respectively.
• In a Dual cycle a part of the heat is first supplied to the system at constant volume
and then the remaining part at constant pressure
Fuel Air cycles
• Air-standard cycles analysis for IC engines was based on highly simplifying assumptions.
• Results in the estimated engine performance by air-standard cycle analysis is on the
higher side compared to the actual performance.
• e.g the actual indicated thermal efficiency of an SI engine, say with a compression ratio
of 8:1, is of the order of 28% whereas the air-standard efficiency is 56.5%.
• This large deviation may to some extent be attributed to
Over simplified assumptions made in the analysis.
progressive burning of the fuel, incomplete combustion, valve operation etc.,
In an actual engine, the working fluid is a mixture of air, fuel vapour and residual gases
from the previous cycle.
Further, the specific heats of the working fluid are not constant but increase with
temperature.
Finally, the products of combustion are subjected to certain dissociation at high
temperatures.
FUEL–AIR CYCLES AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE
• By air-standard cycle analysis, it is understood how the efficiency is improved by
increasing the compression ratio. However, analysis cannot bring out the effect of
air-fuel ratio on the thermal efficiency because the working medium was
assumed to be air.
• The presence of fuel in the cylinder is taken into account and accordingly the
working medium will be a mixture of fuel and air.
• By fuel-air cycle analysis it will be possible to bring out the effect of fuel-air ratio
on thermal efficiency and also study how the peak pressures and temperatures
during the cycle vary with respect to fuel-air ratio.
• The air-standard cycle analysis shows the general effect of only compression ratio
on engine efficiency whereas the fuel-air cycle analysis gives the effect of
variation of fuel-air ratio, inlet pressure and temperature on the engine
performance.
• The analysis based on the actual properties of the working medium viz., fuel and
air is called the fuel-air cycle analysis.
 The fuel-air cycle analysis takes into account the following :
(i) The actual composition of the cylinder gases :
The cylinder gases contains fuel, air, water vapour and residual gas. The fuel-air
ratio changes during the operation of the engine which changes the relative
amounts of CO2, water vapour, etc.
(ii) The variation in the specific heat with temperature :
Specific heats increase with temperature except for mono-atomic gases.
Therefore, the value of γ also changes with temperature.
(iii) The effect of dissociation :
The fuel and air do not completely combine chemically at high temperatures
(above 1600 K) and this leads to the presence of CO, H2, H and O2 at
equilibrium conditions.
(iv) The variation in the number of molecules : The number of molecules
present after combustion depends upon fuel-air ratio and upon the pressure
and temperature after the combustion. (by gas law PV = NRT)
The presence of CO and O2 in the gases tends to prevent dissociation of CO2; this
is noticeable in a rich fuel mixture, which, by producing more CO, suppresses
dissociation of CO2.
On the other hand, there is no dissociation in the burnt gases of a lean fuel-air
mixture. This is mainly due to the fact that the temperature produced is too low
for this phenomenon to occur.
Hence, the maximum extent of dissociation occurs in the burnt gases of the
chemically correct fuel-air mixture when the temperatures are expected to be
high but decreases with the leaner and richer mixtures.
In case of internal combustion engines heat transfer to the cooling medium
causes a reduction in the maximum temperature and pressure.
As the temperature falls during the expansion stroke the separated constituents
recombine; the heat absorbed during dissociation is thus again released, but it is
too late in the stroke to recover entirely the lost power. A portion of this heat is
carried away by the exhaust gases.
Figure 3.2 shows a typical curve that indicates the reduction in the temperature
of the exhaust gas mixtures due to dissociation with respect to air-fuel ratio.
With no dissociation maximum temperature is attained at chemically correct
air-fuel ratio.
With dissociation maximum temperature is obtained when mixture is slightly rich.
Dissociation reduces the maximum temperature by about 300 ◦C even at the
chemically correct air-fuel ratio. In the Fig.3.2, lean mixtures and rich mixtures
are marked clearly.
 The effect of dissociation on output power is shown in Fig.3.3 for a typical four-stroke
spark-ignition engine operating at constant speed.
If there is no dissociation the brake power output is maximum when the mixture ratio is
stoichiometric.
The shaded area between the brake power graphs shows the loss of power due to
dissociation.
When the mixture is quite lean there is no dissociation.
As the air-fuel ratio decreases i.e., as the mixture becomes rich the maximum
temperature raises and dissociation commences.
The maximum dissociation occurs at chemically correct mixture strength.
As the mixture becomes richer, dissociation effect tends to decline due to incomplete
combustion.
Dissociation effects are not so pronounced in a CI engine as in an SI engine. This is mainly
due to
(i) the presence of a heterogeneous mixture and
(ii) excess air to ensure complete combustion.
Both these factors tend to reduce the peak gas temperature attained in the CI engine.
Figure 3.5 shows variation of efficiency ratio with
mixture strength of fuel-air cycle
It is seen from Fig.3.5 that the efficiency ratio
(fuel-air cycle efficiency/air-standard cycle
efficiency) increases as the mixture becomes
leaner and leaner tending towards the air-standard
cycle efficiency.
It is to be noted that this, trend exists at all
compression ratios.
At very low fuel-air ratio the mixture would tend to
behave like a perfect gas with constant specific
heat
The simple air-standard cycle analysis cannot predict the variation of thermal efficiency
with mixture strength since air is assumed to be the working medium.
However, fuel-air cycle analysis suggests that the thermal efficiency will deteriorate as the
mixture supplied to an engine is enriched.
This is explained by the increasing losses due to variable specific heats and dissociation as
the mixture strength approaches chemically correct values.
This is because, the gas temperature goes up after combustion as the mixture strength
approaches chemically correct values.
Enrichment beyond the chemically correct ratio will lead to incomplete combustion and
loss in thermal efficiency.
Therefore, it will appear that thermal efficiency will increase as the mixture is made
leaner. However, beyond a certain leaning, the combustion becomes erratic with loss of
efficiency.
Thus the maximum efficiency is within the lean zone very near the stoichiometric ratio.
This gives rise to combustion loop, as shown in Fig.3.6 which can be plotted for different
mixture strengths for an engine running at constant speed and at a constant throttle
setting.
This loop gives an idea about the effect of mixture strength on the specific fuel
consumption.
Besides taking the above factors into consideration, the following assumptions
are commonly made for fuel – air cycle analysis :
(i) There is no chemical change in either fuel or air prior to combustion.
(ii) Subsequent to combustion, the charge is always in chemical equilibrium.
(iii) There is no heat exchange between the gases and the cylinder walls in any
process, i.e. they are adiabatic. Also the compression and expansion processes
are frictionless.
(iv) In case of reciprocating engines it is assumed that fluid motion can be ignored
inside the cylinder.
With particular reference to constant volume fuel-air cycle, it is also assumed that
(i) The fuel is completely vaporized and perfectly mixed with the air, and
(ii) The burning takes place instantaneously at top dead centre (at constant
volume).
COMPOSITION OF CYLINDER GASES
• The air-fuel ratio changes during the engine operation.
• This change in air-fuel ratio affects the composition of the gases before
combustion as well as after combustion particularly the percentage of carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide, water vapour etc in the exhaust gases.
• In four-stroke engines, fresh charge as it enters the engine cylinder, comes into
contact with the burnt gases left in the clearance space of the previous cycle. The
amount of exhaust gases in clearance space varies with speed and load on the
engine.
• Fuel-air cycle analysis takes into account this fact and the results are computed
for preparing the combustion charts.
• However, with the availability of fast digital computers, nowadays it is possible to
analyze the effect of cylinder gas composition on the performance of the engine
by means of suitable numerical techniques.
• The computer analysis can produce fast and accurate results. Thus, fuel-air cycle
analysis can be done more easily through computers rather than through manual
calculations.
ACTUAL CYCLES AND THEIR ANALYSIS
• The actual cycles for IC engines differ from the fuel-air cycles and air-standard
cycles in many respects. The actual cycle efficiency is much lower than the
air-standard efficiency due to various losses occurring in the actual engine
operation. The major losses are due to:
(i) Variation of specific heats with temperature
(ii) Dissociation of the combustion products
(iii) Progressive combustion
(iv) Incomplete combustion of fuel
(v) Heat transfer into the walls of the combustion chamber
(vi) Blow down at the end of the exhaust process
(vii) Gas exchange process
An estimate of these losses can be made from previous experience and some
simple tests on the engines and these estimates can be used in evaluating the
performance of an engine.
• If losses due to variable specific heats and dissociation are subtracted from the
“air standard cycle”, we get “fuel-air cycle analysis”.

Furthermore, if other losses are further subtracted from “fuel-air cycle analysis” we
can very closely approximate the “actual cycle”.

• Most of the factors listed above tend to decrease the thermal efficiency and
power output of the actual engines.

Out of all the above factors, major influence is exercised by

(i) Time loss factor i.e. loss due to time required for mixing of fuel and air and also
for combustion.
(ii) Heat loss factor i.e. loss of heat from gases to cylinder walls.
(iii) Exhaust blowdown factor i.e. loss of work on the expansion stroke due to early
opening of the exhaust valve.
 • TIME LOSS FACTOR
In air-standard cycles the heat addition is assumed to be an instantaneous process
whereas in an actual cycle it is over a definite period of time.
The time required for the combustion is such that under all circumstances some
change in volume takes place while it is in progress.
The crankshaft will usually turn about 30 to 40◦ between the initiation of the spark
and the end of combustion.
There will be a time loss during this period and is called time loss factor.

• The consequence of the finite time of combustion is that the peak pressure will
not occur when the volume is minimum i.e., when the piston is at T DC; but will
occur some time after T DC
The pressure, therefore, rises in the first part of the
working stroke from b to c as shown in Fig.4.1.
The point 3 represents the state of gases had the
combustion been instantaneous and an additional
amount of work equal to area shown hatched
would have been done.
This loss of work reduces the efficiency and is called
time loss due to progressive combustion or merely
time losses.

The time taken for the burning depends upon the

flame velocity which in turn depends upon the type
of fuel and the fuel-air ratio and also on the shape
and size of the combustion chamber.

Further, the distance from the point of ignition to

the opposite side of the combustion space also
plays an important role.
In order that the peak pressure is not reached too late in the expansion stroke, the time
at which the combustion starts is varied by varying the spark timing or spark advance.
Figures 4.2 and 4.3 show the effect of spark timing on p-V diagram from a typical trial.
With spark at T DC (Fig.4.2) the peak pressure is low due to the expansion of gases.
If the spark is advanced to achieve complete combustion close to T DC (Fig.4.3)
additional work is required to compress the burning gases.
This represents a direct loss.
In either case, viz., with or without spark advance the work area is less and the power
output and efficiency are lowered.
Therefore, a moderate or optimum spark advance (Fig.4.4) is the best compromise
resulting in minimum losses on both the compression and expansion strokes.
Table 4.1 compares the engine performance for various ignition timings.
Figure 4.5 shows the effect of spark advance on the power output by means of the p-V
diagram.
Incomplete combustion losses
The loss due to incomplete combustion is included in time loss.
It is not possible to get homogeneous fuel-air mixture inside the engine cylinder as
fuel, air and residual gases are present in the engine cylinder before the start of
ignition.
There may be excess oxygen in one part and excess fuel in another part of the
cylinder.
Therefore, incomplete combustion takes places in the region of excess fuel, and CO
and O2 both will appear in the exhaust gases.
It is observed that energy release in S.I. engine is only about 95 per cent of the
energy release when complete combustion would take place with near
stoichiometric fuel-air ratio.
In actual engine, energy release is about 90 to 93 per cent of fuel energy input.
• It is always preferable to use a lean mixture to eliminate fuel waste, while a rich
mixture is required to utilize all the oxygen.
• Slightly lean mixtures give maximum efficiency, but too lean mixture will burn
slowly, increase burning loss or may no burn causing total fuel loss.
• In rich mixture some fuel is definitely wasted as adequate amount of oxygen is
not available.
• The flame speed in rich mixture is low and causes burning time loss leading to
lowering of efficiency.
Direct heat loss :
When combustion of fuel takes place followed by the expansion stroke, the flow of
heat takes place from cylinder gases through the cylinder walls and cylinder head
into the water jacket or cooling fins.
A part of heat enters the piston head and flows to the cylinder wall through the
piston rings and is carried away by the engine oil which splashes underside of the
piston.
The loss of heat which takes place during combustion has the maximum effect,
while that lost before the end of the expansion stroke has little effect, since it can
do very small amount of useful work.
During combustion and expansion, about 15% of the total heat is lost.
Out of this, however, much is lost too late in the cycle to have done any useful
work.
In case all heat loss is recovered, about 20 per cent of it may appear as useful work
Figure 4.8 shows percentage of time loss,
heat loss and exhaust loss in a Cooperative
Fuel Research (CFR) engine.

Losses are given as percentage of fuel-air

cycle work. The effect of loss of heat during
combustion is to reduce the maximum
temperature and therefore, the specific heats
are lower.

It may be noted from the Fig.4.8 that of the

various losses, heat loss factor contributes
around 12%.
Exhaust blowdown loss :
• The cylinder pressure at the end of
exhaust stroke is about 7 bar depending
on the compression ratio employed.
• If the exhaust valve is opened at the
bottom dead centre, the piston has to do
work against high cylinder pressures
during the early part of the exhaust stroke.
• If the exhaust valve is opened too early, a
part of the expansion stroke is lost.
• The best compromise is to open the
exhaust valve 40◦ to 70◦ before BDC
thereby reducing the cylinder pressure to
halfway (say 3.5 bar) before the exhaust
stroke begins.
• This is shown in Fig.4.9 by the roundness
at the end of the diagram.
Loss Due to Gas Exchange Processes
• The difference of work done in expelling the exhaust gases and the work done by
the fresh charge during the suction stroke is called the pumping work.
• In other words loss due to the gas exchange process (pumping loss) is due to
pumping gas from lower inlet pressure pi to higher exhaust pressure pe.
• The pumping loss increases at part throttle because throttling reduces the
suction pressure. Pumping loss also increases with speed.
• The gas exchange processes affect the volumetric efficiency of the engine. The
performance of the engine, to a great deal, depends on the volumetric efficiency.
• Rubbing friction loss :
The rubbing friction losses are caused due to :
(i) Friction between piston and cylinder walls ;
(ii) Friction in various bearings ;
(iii) Friction in auxiliary equipment such as pumps and fans.

The piston friction increases rapidly with engine speed and to small extent by
increases in m.e.p.
The bearing and auxiliary friction also increase with engine speed.
The engine efficiency is maximum at full load and reduces with the decrease in
load.
It is due to the fact that direct heat loss, pumping loss and rubbing friction loss
increase at lower loads.
Combustion in S.I. Engines
Combustion may be defined as a relatively rapid chemical combination of
hydrogen and carbon in the fuel with the oxygen in the air, resulting in liberation
of energy in the form of heat.

The theory of combustion is a very complex subject and has been a topic of
intensive research for many years. In spite of this, not much knowledge is
available concerning the phenomenon of combustion.

Following conditions are necessary for combustion to take place :

1. A combustible mixture.
2. Some means to initiate combustion.
3. Stabilization and propagation of flame in the combustion chamber.

In spark ignition (S.I.) engines, a carburetor generally supplies a combustible

mixture and the electric spark from a spark plug initiates the combustion
Ignition Limits
It has been observed through experiments that ignition of charge is only possible
within certain limits of fuel-air ratio.
The ‘ignition limits’ correspond approximately to those mixture ratios, at lean and
rich ends of the scale, where the heat released by the spark is no longer sufficient
to initiate combustion in the neighboring unburnt mixture.
Fig. 5.1 shows the ignition limits for hydrocarbons. The ignition limits are wider at
increased temperatures because of higher rates of reaction and higher thermal
diffusivity coefficients of the mixture.
The lower and upper limits of ignition of the mixture depend upon the
temperature and mixture ratio.
In case of hydrocarbon fuel the stoichiometric fuel-air ratio is about 1 : 15 and the
fuel air ratio lies between about 1 : 30 and 1 : 7.
Combustion in S.I. Engines

Ignition Limits
STAGES OF COMBUSTION IN SI ENGINES
• A typical theoretical pressure-crank angle
diagram, during the process of compression
(a→b), combustion (b→c) and expansion
(c→d) in an ideal four stroke spark-ignition
engine is shown in Fig.11.1.
• In an ideal engine, as can be seen from the
diagram, the entire pressure rise during
combustion takes place at constant volume
i.e., at TDC.
• However, in an actual engine this does not
happen.
• Sir Ricardo, known as the father of engine
research, describes the combustion process
in a SI engine as consisting of three stages:
The pressure variation due
to combustion in a
practical engine is shown in
Fig.11.2.
• A is the point of spark
(say 20◦ before TDC),
• B is the point at which the
beginning of pressure rise
can be detected (say 8◦
before TDC)
• C the attainment of peak
pressure.
• Thus AB represents the
first stage and BC the
second stage and CD the
third stage.
The first stage (A→B) is referred to as the ignition lag or preparation
phase in which growth and development of a self propagating flame takes
place.
This is a chemical process depending upon 1. Temperature and pressure
2. The nature of the fuel 3. Proportion of the exhaust residual gas.
The second stage (B→C) This stage is concerned with the spread of the
flame throughout the combustion chamber. The starting point of the
second stage is where the first measurable rise of pressure is seen on the
indicator diagram i.e., the point where the line of combustion departs
from the compression line (point B).
The rate of heat-release depends largely on the turbulence intensity and
also on the reaction rate which is dependent on the mixture composition.
The rate of pressure rise is proportional to the rate of heat-release
Third stage (C→D)
The starting point of the third stage is usually taken as the instant at which
the maximum pressure is reached on the indicator diagram (point C).
Since the expansion stroke starts before this stage of combustion, with the
piston moving away from the top dead centre, there can be no pressure
rise during this stage.
The flame velocity decreases during this stage.
The rate of combustion becomes low due to lower flame velocity and
reduced flame front surface.
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE FLAME SPEED
• The study of factors which affect the velocity of flame propagation (flame
velocity) is important since the flame velocity influences
The rate of pressure rise in the cylinder and
it is related to certain types of abnormal combustion that occur in spark ignition
engines.
Details of various factors that affect the flame speed are discussed below.
Turbulence
Intensifies the processes of heat transfer and mixing of the burned and unburned
portions in the flame front. These two factors increases the velocity of flame.
It also accelerates the chemical reaction by intimate mixing of fuel and oxygen so
that spark advance may be reduced. This helps in burning lean mixtures also.
The increase of flame speed due to turbulence reduces the combustion duration
and hence minimizes the tendency of abnormal combustion.
Turbulence increases the heat flow to the cylinder wall.
Fuel-Air Ratio
• The fuel-air ratio has a very significant influence on the flame speed. Fig shows the effect of mixture
strength on the rate of burning as Indicated by the time taken for complete burning in a given engine.
• The highest flame velocities (minimum time for complete combustion) are obtained with somewhat
richer mixture (point A) as shown in Fig.11.4
• When the mixture is made leaner or richer (see point A in Fig.11.4) the flame speed decreases. Less
thermal energy is released in the case of lean mixtures resulting in lower flame temperature.
• Very rich mixtures lead to incomplete combustion which results again in the release of less thermal
energy.
Temperature and Pressure:
• Flame speed increases with an increase in intake temperature and pressure.
• A higher initial pressure and temperature may help to form a better
homogeneous air-vapour mixture which helps in increasing the flame speed.
• This is possible because of an overall increase in the density of the charge.
Compression Ratio:
A higher compression ratio increases the pressure and temperature of the
working mixture, thus engines having higher compression ratios have higher
flame speeds.
reduce the initial preparation phase of combustion and hence less ignition
advance is needed.
Increased compression ratio reduces the clearance volume and therefore
increases the density of the cylinder gases during burning.
This increases the peak pressure and temperature and the total combustion
duration is reduced.
Engine Output:
• The cycle pressure increases when the engine output is increased. With the increased
throttle opening the cylinder gets filled to a higher density. This results in increased
flame speed.
• When the output decreased by throttling, there is increase in dilution of the working
mixture which results in the development of self-propagating flame to be unsteady and
become difficult.
Engine Speed:
• The flame speed increases almost linearly with engine speed since the increase in
engine speed increases the turbulence inside the cylinder.
• The time required for the flame to traverse the combustion space would be halved, if
the engine speed is doubled.
Engine Size:
• The size of the engine does not have much effect flame speed. In large engines the time
required for complete combustion is more because the flame has to travel a longer
distance.
• This requires increased crank angle duration during the combustion. This is one of the
reasons why large sized engines are designed to operate at low speeds.
ABNORMAL COMBUSTION
• In normal combustion, the flame initiated by the spark travels across the
combustion chamber in a fairly uniform manner. Under certain operating
conditions the combustion deviates from its normal course leading to loss of
performance and possible damage to the engine. This type of combustion may
be termed as an abnormal combustion or knocking combustion.
The consequences of this abnormal combustion process are
• the loss of power,
• recurring pre ignition and mechanical damage to the engine
• The phenomenon of knock may be explained by referring to Fig.11.6(a) which shows the
cross-section of the combustion chamber with flame advancing from the spark plug location A
without knock whereas Fig.11.6(c) shows the combustion process with knock.
Normal Combustion
• In the normal combustion the flame travels across the combustion chamber from A towards D. The
advancing flame front compresses the end charge BBD farthest from the spark plug, thus raising its
temperature.
• The temperature is also increased due to heat transfer from the hot advancing flame-front.
• Also some preflame oxidation may take place in the end charge leading to further increase in
temperature.
• In spite of these factors if the temperature of the end charge had not reached its self-ignition temperature,
the charge would not auto ignite and the flame will advance further and consume the charge BBD.
• This is the normal combustion process which is illustrated by means of the pressure-time diagram,
Fig.11.6(b).
Abnormal Combustion
• However, if the end charge BBD reaches its auto ignition temperature in the time of preflame reactions the charge
will auto ignite, leading to knocking combustion.
• In Fig.11.6(c), it is assumed that when flame has reached the position BB , the charge ahead of it has reached
critical auto ignition temperature.
• During the preflame reaction period if the flame front could move from BB to only CC then the charge ahead of CC
would autoignite.
• Because of the autoignition, another flame front starts travelling in the opposite direction to the main flame front.
When the two flame fronts collide, a severe pressure pulse is generated.
• The gas in the chamber is subjected to compression and rarefaction along the pressure pulse until pressure
equilibrium is restored.
• This disturbance can force the walls of the combustion chambers to vibrate at the same frequency as the gas.
• Gas vibration frequency in automobile engines is of the order of 5000 cps. The pressure-time trace of such a
situation is shown in Fig.11.6(d).
Preventions of knocking
It is to be noted that the onset of knocking is very much dependent on the
properties of fuel. It is clear from the above description that if the unburned
charge does not reach its auto ignition temperature there will be no knocking.
Further, if the initial phase i.e., ignition lag period, is longer than the time
required for the flame front to burn through the unburned charge, there will be
no knocking.
But, if the critical temperature is reached and maintained, and the ignition lag is
shorter than the time it takes for the flame front to burn through the unburned
charge then the end charge will detonate.
Hence, in order to avoid detonation, a high auto ignition temperature and a
long ignition lag are the desirable qualities for SI engine fuels.
Effect of knocking
• The impact of knock on the engine components and structure can cause engine
failure and in addition the noise from engine vibration is always objectionable.
• Decrease in power output and efficiency
• The pressure differences in the combustion chamber cause the gas to vibrate and
scrub the chamber walls causing increased loss of heat to the coolant.
• Carbon deposits