Combustion in SI and CI Engines

 Combustion is a chemical reaction in which certain elements of the fuel like hydrogen and
carbon combine with oxygen liberating heat energy and causing an increase in
temperature of the gases.
 The conditions necessary for combustion are the presence of
 combustible mixture (Fuel +oxidizer)
 some means of initiating the process
 Depending on the type of engines, process of combustion generally takes place either in
 a homogeneous or
 a heterogeneous fuel vapor-air mixture
 In spark-ignition engines homogeneous mixture of air and fuel is formed in the (Carburetor, PFI and DFI)
then combustion is initiated at the end of compression stroke.
 Once the fuel vapor-air mixture is ignited, a flame front appears and rapidly spreads through the
mixture
 The flame propagation is caused by heat transfer and diffusion of burning fuel molecules from the
combustion zone to the adjacent layers of fresh mixture
 The velocity at which the flame front moves, with respect to the unburned mixture in a direction
normal to its surface is called the normal flame velocity
 Stages of Combustion in SI Engine

From the theoretical pressure-crank angle

diagram
 a-b Compression process
 b-c Combustion process
 c-d Expansion process

The entire pressure rise during combustion

takes place at constant volume,

In actual engines this does not happen. Actual

SI engine combustion process consists of three
stages.
Stages of Actual Combustion Process

 Point A is the point of spark initiation (say 20˚

before TDC)
 Point B is the point at which the beginning of
pressure rise can be detected (say 8˚ before TDC)
 Point C the attainment of peak pressure.

 AB-First stage (Delay Period/Ignition Lag)

For Flame development
 BC-Second stage (flame Propagation)
 CD -Third stage (After Burning/wall
Quenching)
Flame termination
 First Stage (A-B) (Delay Period)
 The first stage is referred to as the ignition lag or preparation phase in which growth and development of
a self propagating nucleus of flame takes place
 This process is a chemical process depending upon
 both temperature and pressure,
 the nature of the fuel and
 the proportion of the exhaust residual gas.
 the relationship between the temperature and the rate of reaction.
Second Stage (B-C) (Flame Propagation)
The second stage is a physical one and it 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).
 During the second stage the flame propagates practically at a constant velocity.
 Heat transfer to the cylinder wall is low, because only a small part of the burning mixture comes in contact
with the
cylinder wall during this period.
The rate of heat-release depends largely on
o the turbulence intensity and
 Third Stage c-d (After Burning)
The third stage starts at instant at which the maximum pressure is reached on the indicator diagram (point C).
 The flame velocity decreases during this stage.
 The rate of combustion becomes low due to lower flame velocity and reduced flame front surface.
 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.
 Factors Affecting Ignition Lag
1. Nature of fuel and fuel air ratio
Self ignition Temperature
Ignition lag will be shorter for slightly richer mixture and longer for lean and very rich mixture
2. Initial temperature and pressure
Increasing the initial temperature and pressure ignition lag decreases
3. Compression ratio
Ignition lag decreases with higher compression ratios
4. Spark timing
Retarded spark timing reducing the ignition lag.
5. Turbulence and engine speed
Advance spark timing with engine speed.
 Factors Affecting Combustion
1. Composition of the mixture

2. Load
When load is reduced power of the engine reduced by throttling. This cause decrease in pressure and
temperature. Thus the first phase prolongs and combustion process loses its stability. Increase mixture ratio to ensure
proper combustion.

3. Spark Plug Position

The spark plug in a small two stroke engine is often positioned in the middle of the cylinder head.
 Factors Affecting Combustion
4. Compression ratio 5. Speed

6. Turbulence and shape of combustion

Turbulence can be intensified using a properly shaped combustion chamber.

 Abnormal Combustion
Auto-Ignition

 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 .
 Knocking puts a limit on the compression ratio at which an engine can be operated which directly affects the
engine efficiency and output.

Pre-ignition
 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.
 Detonation or knocking
 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 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.
 It also put a limit on compression ratio at which engine can be operated which directly affects the engine efficiency
and output.
 Air Motion & Combustion
Air Motion
 Air or gas motion within the engine cylinder is one of the major factors that controls the fuel- air mixing and
combustion.
 It also has significant impact on heat transfer.
 Both the bulk gas motion and the turbulence characteristics of the flows are important.
 The initial in-cylinder flow pattern is set up by the intake process and subsequently modified during compression.
Swirl :
 Engine concepts to promote rapid mixing of air and injected fuel.
 In prechamber engine swirl is created during compression to
promote fuel-air mixing in the prechamber.
 Axis of rotation is parallel to cylinder – Generate swirl about valve
axis (inside port)
 Structural Turbulence
Tumble
 Axis of rotation is perpendicular to cylinder axis.
 Associated with swirl.
 Generated during intake and compression stroke
 Air Motion & Combustion

Squish :
 Squish is an effect in internal combustion engines which creates sudden turbulence
of the air-fuel mixture as the piston approaches top dead center.
 The radially inward or transverse gas motion that occurs towards the end of the
compression stroke when a portion of the piston face and cylinder head approach
each other closely is called squish.
 It manifests in getting the gas displaced into the combustion chamber
 The amount of squish is defined by the percentage of squish area, that is , the piston
area which closely approaches the cylinder head as compared to the total piston area.

 Squish- generated gas motion results from using compact combustion chamber
geometry.
 Turbulence in the combustion chamber due to this squish helps with air-fuel mixing,
cylinder wall heat transfer, thermal efficiency, and overall engine performance.
 SI engine combustion chamber
The design of combustion chamber has an important influence upon the engine performance and its knock properties.
The design of combustion chamber involves the shape of the combustion chamber, the location of the sparking plug
and the disposition of inlet and exhaust valves.
Basic Requirements of a Good Combustion Chamber
 High power output
 High thermal efficiency and low specific fuel consumption
 Smooth engine operation
 Reduced exhaust pollutants.

Higher power output Requirements

o High compression ratio.- The compression ratio is limited by the phenomenon of detonation. It depends on the design
of combustion chamber and fuel quality. Any change in design that improves the anti-knock characteristics of a
combustion chamber permits the use of a higher compression ratio which result in higher output and efficiency.
o Small or no excess air.
o Complete utilization of the air – no dead pockets.
o An optimum degree of turbulence. Turbulence is induced by inlet flow configuration or‘squish’. Turbulence induced by
squish is preferable to inlet turbulence since the volumetric efficiency is not affected.
o High Volumetric Efficiency.
 Basic Requirements of a Good Combustion Chamber

High thermal efficiency and low specific fuel consumption

o High compression ratio
o A small heat loss during combustion.-This is achieved by having a compact combustion chamber which provides
small surface-volume ratio. The other advantage of compact combustion chamber is reduced flame travel a
given turbulence, this reduces the time of combustion and hence combustion time loss.
o Good scavenging of the exhaust gases.

Smooth engine operation

o Moderate rate of pressure rise during combustion.
o Absence of detonation which in turn means:
1. Compact combustion chamber, short distance of flame travel from the sparking plug to the farthest point in
the combustion pace. Pockets in which stagnant gas may collect should be avoided.
2. Proper location of the spark plug and exhaust valve.
3. Satisfactory cooling of the spark plug points (to avoid pre ignition) and of exhaust valve head which is the
hottest region of the combustion chamber.
 Different Types of Combustion Chamber
1. T-head combustion chamber.
2. L-head combustion chamber.
3. I-head (or overhead valve) combustion chamber.
4. F-head combustion chamber.

T-head combustion chamber

 A T-head engine is an early type of internal combustion engine that
became obsolete.
 It is a type of cross flow cylinder head and utilized separate cam
shafts to operate intake and exhaust valves.
 The T-Head had valves in open alcoves on opposite sides of the
cylinder head and having cool water from the radiator enter the
engine directly over the intake valves as an extra measure of safety.
The heat transfer from the exhaust ports was thus minimized.
 The extra volume of the open alcoves that housed the valves also
lowered the effective compression ratio of the engine.
 The distance across the combustion chamber is very long.
 Since spark plug is located near exhaust valve the flame travel
distance from the spark plug to the end gas near inlet valve
increases. Increase knocking tendency.
 Different Types of Combustion Chamber

L-head combustion chamber

 This was first introduced by Ford motor in 1910-30 and was quite popular for some time.
 It is a modification of the T-head type of combustion chamber. It provides the two values
on the same side of the cylinder, and the valves are operated through tappet by a single
camshaft.
Advantages:
 Valve mechanism is simple and easy to lubricate.
 Detachable head easy to remove for cleaning and decarburizing without disturbing either
the valve gear or main pipe work.
 Valves of larger sizes can be provided.
Disadvantages:
 Lack of turbulence as the air had to take two right angle turns to enter the cylinder and in
doing so much initial velocity is lost.
 Which resulting in low flame speed.
 Extremely sensitive to ignition timing due to slow combustion process.
 Extremely prone to detonation due to large flame length and slow combustion due to
lack of turbulence.
 More surface-to-volume ratio and therefore more heat loss.
 Side wall engines are not proffered for higher compression ratios due to low volumetric
efficiency.
Head side valve combustion chamber Recardo turbulent combustion chamber
 Different Types of Combustion Chamber
I-head or over head valve combustion chamber:
 Inlet and exhaust valves are located in the cylinder head.
 Better than side valve engine at high compression ratios.
 Volumetric efficiency is higher due to better breathing of the engine from larger valves or valve lifts
and more direct passageways.
 Less distance for the flame to travel and therefore less chance of knock, (lower octane requirements).
 Lower surface-volume ratio and, therefore, less heat loss and less air pollution and higher ηv
 Exhaust valve is placed at cylinder head-cause thermal failure only to head which can be easily
replaced.
 Less force on the head bolts and therefore less possibility of leakage of compression gases or jacket
cooling water.
Bath Tub Combustion Chamber
 This is simple and mechanically convenient form. This consists of an oval shaped chamber with both
valves mounted vertically overhead and with the spark plug at the side.
 The main draw back of this design is both valves are placed in a single row along the cylinder block.
This limits the breathing capacity of engine(ηv), unless the overall length is increased. However,
modern engine manufactures overcome this problem by using unity ratio for stroke and bore size.
Wedge Type Combustion Chamber
 In this design slightly inclined valves are used. This design also has given very satisfactory
performance. The valves are inclined from the vertical, but all the valves are in-line.
 Wedge shaped combustion chamber tend to have a smaller surface area than other designs and so
have less area on which droplets of you can condense. This assists in reducing the amount of fuel that
remains unburnt after combustion and so reduces the hydrocarbon emissions and the engine exhaust.
 Different Types of Combustion Chamber
F-head combustion chamber:
 In such a combustion chamber one valve is in head and other in the block. This
design is a compromise between L-head and I-head combustion chambers.
 Inlet and exhaust valves are inclined.
 The spark plug is positioned in the flat roof of the chamber which provides the larger
size for inlet valve than exhaust.
 Also called IOE (inlet over exhaust) chambers
Advantages
 High volumetric efficiency
 Maximum compression ratio for fuel of given octane rating
 High thermal efficiency.
 Cooling of the valves are excellent.
 It can operate on leaner air-fuel ratios without misfiring.
Disadvantage
 This design is the complex mechanism for operation of valves and expensive special
shaped piston.
Hemispherical Combustion Camber:
 Hemispherical Combustion Camber with inclined valves is the best design for maximum
specific output.
 Compact CC
 Surface to volume ratio is small which reduces heat loss and higher thermal efficiency.
 Larger diameter valves can be employed which increases ηv
 Different Types of Combustion Chamber
Piston Cavity Combustion Camber:
 It comprises a bowl in the piston crown in conjunction with flat cylinder head.
 Suitable for higher compression ratio and short stroke engines.
 Conventional and Alternate fuels for IC Engines
 Fuel is a substance which participates easily with oxygen in a self sustaining exothermic reaction.
 As a result of the chemical reactions which occur inside the cylinder, heat is released. The fuel-air mixture (the
working fluid before combustion) must stay in the cylinder for a sufficient time so that the chemical reactions can be
completed.
 The characteristics of different fuels have considerable influence on design ,out put, efficiency, fuel consumption ,
air pollution and reliability and durability of the engine.
Characteristics of IC Engine Fuels
1. The fuel should get effectively atomised, vapourised and well mixed with air
2. Combustion process must be fast
3. Starting of the engine must be quick and reliable at any ambient condition.
4. Surface of the combustion chamber must be free from carbon and other deposits
5. The engine should be free from thermal stresses due to temperature gradient due to combustion process.
6. Combustion should be complete without the evolution of harmful exhaust gases.

Classification of Fuels
Solid fuels-Primary fuels
Liquid fuels-Petroleum derived fuels
Gaseous fuels- Natural – Natural Gas
Prepared- LPG, producer gas, Hydrogen etc
 Conventional and Alternate fuels for IC Engines

Liquid Fuels (Petroleum based)

 Paraffins  Gasoline
 Alkenes  Kerosene
 Naphthenes  Diesel oils
 Aromatic- Benzene derivatives  Fuel oils

Liquid Fuels (Non-Petroleum based)

 Benzol
 Alcohol
 Acetone
 Diethyl ether

Gaseous Fuels
 Natural Gas
 LPG
 Producer Gas
 Hydrogen
 Coal gas
Characteristics of Petrol Engines Fuels
 Volatility
 Sulphur Contents
 Gum deposits
 Anti knock quality
 Carburettor detergent additives
Characteristics of CI Engines Fuels
 Ignition quality-
Ability to ignite promptly after fuel injection
Ignition quality is measured in terms of ignition lag. Better ignition quality with shorter lag
low self ignition temperature ignite quickly.
The desired structure of SI engine fuel is not suitable for CI engine-straight chain paraffin is better
Cold starting
Engine roughness
Compression ratio  Ease of handling
 Volatility Cloud point and pour Point
 Viscosity  Safety
 Specific Gravity-0.83 to 0.9 or 39˚ to 26˚API Flash point and fire point
 Corrosion and wear  Cleanliness
Sulphur, Carbon residue,Ash
 Octane and Cetane number.

Octane Number
 Measure of a fuels resistance to knock in SI engines is the fuels octane number.
 Higher octane number indicates higher resistance to knock and higher compression ratio without knock
 Depends on engine design and operating conditions.
 Iso octane has very good anti knocking ability-100 octane number.
 Normal heptane very poor knocking characteristics- zero octane number
 Percentage of isoocatane in isooctane and normal heptane mixture.
 90 octane number means 90% isooctane and 10% normal heptane.
 Octane number can be improved by adding anti-knocking agents like TEL,TML

Cetane Number
 Determines ignition quality of diesel fuel.
 Increase cetane number reduces the delay period and thus reduces the tendency to knock
 Cetane with high ignition quality-100 cetane number
 Isocetane with poor ignition quality-15 cetane number
 Cetane number is the percentage of cetane in the mixture og cetane and 15% isocetane
 TEL is not suitable as anti knocking agent in CI engine fuels.