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Advanced

IC Engines

As per Revised Syllabus of Leading Universities

Prof. R. Devaraj
Dr. S. Ramachandran
Dr. A. Anderson

Professors
School of Mechanical Engineering
Sathyabama University
Chennai - 600 119

AIR WALK PUBLICATIONS


(Near All India Radio)
80, Karneeshwarar Koil Street
Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004.
Ph.: 2466 1909, 94440 81904
Email: aishram2006@gmail.com,
airwalk800@gmail.com
www.airwalkpublications.com
First Edition : 12-12-2016

ISBN : 978-93-84893-62-0
ME6016 ADVANCED I.C ENGINES

UNIT I SPARK IGNITION ENGINES 9


Mixture requirements – Fuel injection systems – Monopoint, Multipoint
& Direct injection - Stages of combustion – Normal and Abnormal
combustion – Knock - Factors affecting knock – Combustion chambers.

UNIT II COMPRESSION IGNITION ENGINES 9


Diesel Fuel Injection Systems - Stages of combustion – Knocking –
Factors affecting knock – Direct and Indirect injection systems – Combustion
chambers – Fuel Spray behaviour – Spray structure and spray penetration –
Air motion - Introduction to Turbocharging.

UNIT III POLLUTANT FORMATION AND CONTROL 9


Pollutant – Sources – Formation of Carbon Monoxide, Unburnt
hydrocarbon, Oxides of Nitrogen, Smoke and Particulate matter – Methods
of controlling Emissions – Catalytic converters, Selective Catalytic Reduction
and Particulate Traps – Methods of measurement – Emission norms and
Driving cycles.

UNIT IV ALTERNATIVE FUELS 9


Alcohol, Hydrogen, Compressed Natural Gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas
and Bio Diesel - Properties, Suitability, Merits and Demerits - Engine
Modifications.

UNIT V RECENT TRENDS 9


Air assisted Combustion, Homogeneous charge compression ignition
engines – Variable Geometry turbochargers – Common Rail Direct Injection
Systems - Hybrid Electric Vehicles – NOx Adsorbers - Onboard Diagnostics.
Contents C.1

CONTENTS
Chapter - 1
Spark Ignition Engines
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1
1.2 Mixture Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2
1.2.1 Mixture requirements at full throttle and constant
speeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3
1.2.2 Mixture requirements at various loads . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4
1.2.1 Idling range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5
1.2.2 Cruising/Normal range/Medium load . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6
1.2.3 Power range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6
1.2.4 Effects of operating variables on mixture
requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7
1.3 Fuel Injection Systems for S.I. Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7
1.3.1 Different types of Fuel Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8
1.3.2 Fuel Supply System in SI Engines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8
1.3.3 Carburetor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9
1.3.4 Simple Carburetor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.10
1.3.5 Various Compensation in Carburetors . . . . . . . . . . 1.11
1.3.6 Types of Carburetors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.14
1.4 Gasoline Injection System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.14
1.4.1 Reasons for adopting gasoline injection system. . . 1.14
1.4.1 Continuous fuel injection system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.15
1.4.2 Timed fuel injection system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.15
1.5 Monopoint Fuel Injection System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.16
1.6 Multipoint-injection System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.17
1.6.1 D-MPFI system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.19
1.6.2 L-MPFI system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.20
1.7 Direct Injection System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.21
C.2 Advanced IC Engines

1.8 Electroniclly Controlled Gasoline Injection System . . . . . 1.22


1.9 Stages of Combustion in SI Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.26
1.10 Combustion Phenomenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.28
1.10.1 Normal Combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.28
1.10.1.1 Factors affecting normal combustion in
S.I Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.30
1.10.2 Abnormal Combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.31
1.10.2.1 Pre-ignition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.31
1.10.2.2 Knocking (or) Detonation (or) Pinking. . . . . . . . 1.32
1.11 Flame Front Propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.33
1.12 Importance of Flame Speed And Effect of
Engine Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.34
1.12.1 Factors affecting flame speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.34
1.13 The Phenomenon of Knock in SI Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.36
1.13.1 Effects of knocking in SI Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.37
1.14 Factors Affecting Knock in SI Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.38
1.15 Fuel Requirement And Fuel Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.41
1.15.1 Important properties of fuel in SI Engine . . . . . . 1.41
1.15.2 Important characteristics of SI Engine fuel. . . . . 1.41
1.15.3 Fuel properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.42
1.15.4 Octane Number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.44
1.16 Anti-knock Additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.45
1.16.1 Anti-knock Agents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.46
1.16.2 Effects of Anti knock additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.46
1.16.3 Factors affecting Detonation and Remedies . . . . . 1.47
1.17 Combustion Chamber for SI Engines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.47
1.17.1 Types of combustion chambers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.48
Contents C.3

Chapter - 2
Compression Ignition Engines
2.1 Diesel Fuel Injection Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1
2.1.1 Fuel Pump (C.I. Engine) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1
2.1.2 Fuel Injection System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3
2.2 Electronically Controlled Diesel Injection Systems . . . . . . 2.4
2.2.1 Classification of Diesel Fuel Injection Pumps . . . . . 2.5
2.2.2 Rotary Distributor Type Fuel Injection System –
Electronically Controlled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5
2.2.3 Unit Injector System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7
2.2.4 Electronic Controlled Common Rail Type Fuel
Injection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9
2.3 Stages of Combustion in CI Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.10
2.4 Factors That Affect Delay Period in Diesel Engine . . . . 2.13
2.4.1 Effect of variables on the Delay period . . . . . . . . . 2.14
2.5 Knocking (or) Diesel Knock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.15
2.5.1 Phenomenon of knock in CI engine . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.15
2.4.2 Comparison of knock on SI and CI Engines . . . . 2.17
2.4.3 Characteristics Tending to Reduce Detonation . . . 2.19
2.5 Need for Air Motion in Diesel Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.19
2.6 Types of Injection Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.20
2.6.1 Direct injection system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.21
2.6.2 Indirect injection system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.22
2.7 Combustion Chamber Design for Compression
Ignition Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.24
2.7.1 Open combustion chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.24
2.7.2 Divided combustion chamber (or) Indirect
combustion chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.26
2.7.3 Open and Divided combustion chambers . . . . . . . . 2.31
C.4 Advanced IC Engines

2.7.4 Characteristics of Common Diesel Combustion


Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.32
2.8 Diesel Fuel Requirement : For Compression
Ignition Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.33
2.8.1 Cetane Number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.34
2.8.2 Fuel Rating for CI Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.34
2.9 Fuel Spray Behaviour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.35
2.9.1 Fuel injection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.36
2.9.2 Spray structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.36
2.9.3 Spray penetration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.38
2.9.4 Droplet size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.40
2.10 Supercharging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.41
2.11 Introduction To Turbocharging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.42
2.11.1 Principle of the turbocharger operation . . . . . . . . 2.42
2.11.2 Advantages of turbochargers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.42
2.11.3 Waste Gate Turbocharger (WGT). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.43
2.12 Comparison Between Petrol Engine And Diesel Engine 2.45

Chapter - 3
Pollutant Formation and Control
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1
3.1.1 Pollution and pollutants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1
3.2 Sources of Pollutants From IC Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2
3.2.1 Crankcase emissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3
3.2.2 Evaporative emissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3
3.2.3 Exhaust emissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4
3.3 Carbon Monoxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5
3.3.1 Formation of CO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5
3.4 Unburnt Hydrocarbons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6
3.4.1 Formation of HC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6
Contents C.5

3.5 Oxides of Nitrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7


3.5.1 Formation of NO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7
3.6 Smoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7
3.6.1 Causes of smoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8
3.6.2 Formation of smoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8
3.6.3 Smoke emissions in IC engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9
3.7 Particulate Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.10
3.8 Methods of Controlling Emissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.10
3.9 Emission Control By Chemical Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.10
3.9.1 Control of Sulphur Dioxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.10
3.9.2 Control of Nitrogen Oxides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.11
3.9.3 Control of Carbon Monoxide and Hydrocarbon. . . 3.11
3.10 Emission Control in SI Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.12
3.10.1 Engine design modifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.12
3.10.2 Operating parameter modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.13
3.10.3 Treatment of exhaust products of combustion . . . 3.13
3.10.4 Fuel modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.13
3.11 Control of Oxides of Nitrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.14
3.11.1 Exhaust Gas Recirculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.14
3.11.2 Catalyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.16
3.11.3 Water injection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.16
3.12 Emission Control Using Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.16
3.12.1 Thermal converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.17
3.12.2 Catalytic converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.17
3.12.2.3 Engine Emission Control by Three way
catalytic converter system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.20
3.12.2.4 Oxygen storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.21
3.12.2.5 Diesel Oxidation Catalyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.21
3.13 Effect of Engine Emission on Human Health . . . . . . . . 3.22
3.14 Selective Catalytic Reduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.24
C.6 Advanced IC Engines

3.15 Particulate Traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.25


3.15.1 Regeneration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.27
3.15.2 Other methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.28
3.15.3 Methods to determine soot capacity in
particulate traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.28
3.16 Methods of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.29
3.16.1 NDIR Method (Non Dispersive Infra-Red method)3.29
3.16.2 Flame ionization detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.30
3.16.3 Chemiluminescence analyzes - NOx detector . . . . 3.32
3.16.4 Smoke measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.32
3.16.5 Measurement of particulate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.37
3.17 Emission Norms (EURO and BS). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.38
3.17.1 Euro Norms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.39
3.17.2 BS Norms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.39
3.18 Driving Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.42
3.18.1 Constant Volume Sampler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.42
3.18.2 Indian Driving Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.44

Chapter 4
Alternative Fuels
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1
4.2 An Outlook on the Properties of Alternative Fuels. . . . . . 4.1
4.3 Alternate Sources of Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2
4.4 Natural Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2
4.4.1 Formation of Natural gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2
4.4.2 Components of Natural gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4
4.4.3 Characteristics of Natural gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4
4.4.4 Production of Natural gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5
4.4.5 Types of Natural gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6
4.4.6 Compressed Natural Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6
4.4.6.1 Compressed Natural Gas for SI Engines . . 4.7
Contents C.7

4.4.6.2 Engine modifications for Compressed


Natural gas in CI engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7
4.4.6.3 Merits of Compressed Natural Gas . . . . . . . 4.8
4.4.6.4 Demerits of Compressed Natural Gas . . . . . 4.8
4.4.7 Liquefied Natural Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8
4.4.8 Applications of Natural gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9
4.5 Biodiesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.10
4.5.1 Production of Biodiesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.11
4.5.2 Engine modifications for Biodiesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.13
4.5.3 Merits of Biodiesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.13
4.5.4 Demerits of Biodiesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.14
4.6 LPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.15
4.6.1 Production of Liquefied Petroleum Gas . . . . . . . . . 4.16
4.6.2 Properties of LPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.16
4.7 Methanol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.18
4.8 Ethanol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.19
4.8.1 Production of Ethanol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.20
4.8.2 Another methods of Ethanol production . . . . . . . . . 4.21
4.8.2 Merits of ethanol as a fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.24
4.8.3 Demerits of ethanol as a fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.24
4.8.4 Alcohol for SI engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.24
4.8.5 Alcohol for CI Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.25
4.9 Hydrogen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.26
4.9.1 Hydrogen properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.27
4.9.2 Production of Hydrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.33
4.9.3 Hydrogen storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.37
4.9.4 Engine modifications for hydrogen fuel in
SI and CI engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.38
4.9.5 Merits of Hydrogen fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.40
4.9.6 Demerits of Hydrogen fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.40
C.8 Advanced IC Engines

Chapter - 5
Recent Trends
5.1 Air Assisted Combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1
5.1.1 Air Assisted combustion system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3
5.2 Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI)
Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3
5.3. Variable Geometry Turbocharger (VGT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8
5.4 Common Rail Direct Injection (CRDI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9
5.4.1 Components of CRDI System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.10
5.4.2 Working of CRDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.11
5.4.3 Benefits of CRDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.12
5.4.4 Advantages of the Common Rail System over
the Conventional System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.12
5.5 Electric Vehicles (EV) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.12
5.5.1 Types of Electric Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.13
5.5.2 General Configuration of Electric Vehicle . . . . . . . 5.13
5.5.3 Advantages of Electric vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.15
5.6 Hybrid Electric Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.15
5.6.1 Series hybrid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.15
5.6.2 Parallel hybrid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.16
5.7 Adsorber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.17
5.8 NOx Adsorber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.18
5.9 On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.20
5.9.1 OBD system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.20
5.9.2 Basic OBD procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.21
Chapter - 1
Spark Ignition Engines

Mixture requirements - Fuel injection systems - Monopoint, Multipoint


& Direct injection - Stages of combustion - Normal and Abnormal combustion
- knock - Factors affecting knock - Combustion chambers.

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Internal combustion engines are basically classified into
(i) Spark ignition engine
(ii) Compression ignition engine
Spark ignition engines (or) petrol engines work on otto cycle (or)
constant volume heat addition cycle.
In a typical four stroke SI engine, the cycle of operation is completed
in four strokes of the piston or two revolutions of the crankshaft.
The cycle of operation for an ideal four stroke SI engine consists of
the following four strokes.
1. Suction (or) Intake stroke
2. Compression stroke
3. Power (or) expansion stroke
4. Exhaust stroke
In SI engines, during the suction stroke the mixture of air-fuel is
injected into the cylinder. The air-fuel mixture is injected via the carburetor
that controls the quantity and quality of the injected mixture. Then the air-fuel
mixture is ignited with the help of spark from the spark plug. Here the
compression ratio ranges from 6 to 10 depending on the size of the engine
and power required.
SI engines are high speed engines because of the following reasons.
(i) Engine is light in weight.
(ii) Fuel used in SI engines are burnt homogeneously.
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Air-fuel ratio (AFR)


It is the ratio of air to fuel in the working charge of an internal
combustion engine or in other combustion mixtures.
It is generally expressed by weight for liquid fuels and by volume for
gaseous fuels.
mair
AFR 
mfuel

mair  mass of air ; mfuel  mass of fuel

Fuel-air ratio (FAR)


It is the ratio of the mass of fuel to the mass of air in the fuel-air
mixture.

1 mfuel
FAR  
AFR mair

1.2 MIXTURE REQUIREMENTS


Oxygen is very much necessary to burn the fuel. This oxygen is taken
from atmospheric air. The proper proportion of air and fuel mixture should
be obtained for complete combustion of fuel.
For complete combustion, the Air-Fuel ratio should be approximately
15:1 by weight. This is known as chemically correct (or) stoichiometric air
fuel ratio.
The normal range of Air-fuel ratio is in between 20:1 to 8:1
approximately.
Air-fuel ratio during starting is approximately 10:1 - i.e., very rich
mixture.
Air-fuel ratio during idling speed (low speed) is approximately 12:1 -
i.e., rich mixture.
Air-fuel ratio during normal running condition, is approximately 15:1
neither rich nor lean mixture.
Air-fuel ratio for economic running (medium load), is approximately
17:1 - economic mixture.
Air-fuel ratio during overtaking, is approximately 12:1 - rich mixture.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.3

Excess Fuel Excess air

Too Too
R ich L ea n

9 15 19

Fig:1.1.Air Fuel Ratio

1.2.1 Mixture requirements at full throttle and constant speeds

B e st P o w er S toich io m e tric M ixture

Po
we
ro
u tp
ut
P ow e r o utpu t (kW )

bs bsfc (k g/kW h )
fc

B e st E con o m y

8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22

A /F R a tio (kg of air / kg o f F ue l )

Fig:1 .2

The air-fuel ratio at which an engine operates has a considerable


influence on its performance.
Consider a spark ignition engine operating at full throttle and constant
speed with varying Air/fuel ratio. Refer Fig. 1.2.
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On this condition, the air/fuel ratio has a major impact on both power
output and brake specific fuel consumption.
The A/F mixture corresponding to the maximum power output on the
curve is called best power mixture with an A/F ratio of 12:1.
The mixture corresponding to the minimum point on the brake specific
fuel consumption (bsfc) curve is called the best economy mixture with an
A/F ratio of about 16:1.

NOTE
Best power mixture is much richer than the chemically correct mixture.
Best economy mixture is slightly leaner than the chemically correct
mixture.

1.2.2 Mixture requirements at various loads


In practical cases, the air-fuel mixture requirements in an automobile
engine vary considerably from the ideal condition discussed above.
For effective operation of the SI engine, the carburetor has to provide
Air/fuel mixtures which follow the shape of the curve PQRS incase of single
cylinder and P Q R S incase of multi-cylinder engine as shown in Fig. 1.3
A /F R a tio (kg of air / kg of Fu el)
R ic h

P S M ulti C ylin de r
5
S ing le C ylind er
P B e st P o w er S
10

Q R

20 Q R
C h em ica lly
B e st E con o m y
L ea n

C o rrect
M ixtu re
0 50 1 00
Th ro ttle O p en in g (% )

Fig: 1.3 A nticipated Carb uretor P erfo rma nce to fu lfill En gin e R eq uirem ents

The carburetor should be suitably designed in order to meet the various


engine requirements.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.5

There are three different ranges of throttle operations as shown in


Fig.1.3. They are
1. Idling (requires rich mixture)
2. Cruising (requires lean mixture)
3. High power (requires rich mixture)
In each of the above mentioned cases, the Air/fuel mixture
requirements may subject to vary.

1.2.1 Idling range (Requires rich mixture)


Running of engine under no-load condition is called idling.
During idling range, the throttle is nearly closed and the suction
pressure is very low i.e pressure in the intake manifold is below the
atmospheric pressure due to restriction in the air flow.
When the intake valve opens, the pressure difference between the
combustion chamber and intake manifold leads to backward flow of exhaust
gases into the intake manifold.
As the piston moves down on the intake stroke, these exhaust gases
are drawn back into the combustion chamber and mixes with the fresh charge
entering into the combustion chamber.
As a result, the final air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber gets
diluted which leads to poor combustion and loss of power.
Therefore it is necessary to provide more fuel particles by richening
the air-fuel mixture.
The richening of mixture increases the probability of contact between
fuel and air particles and thus improves combustion process.
In short we can say that the A/F ratio for idling and low loads should
be rich for smooth operation.
Fuel Air
 0.08 or  12.5
Air Fuel
Refer Fig. 1.3. The curve PQ in the graph represents the idling range
of SI engine.
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1.2.2 Cruising/Normal range/Medium load (requires lean mixture)


As the throttle is gradually opened from point P to Q (refer Fig. 1.3),
the pressure difference between the intake manifold and the combustion
chamber becomes smaller and exhaust gas dilution of the fresh charge
diminishes.
Mixture requirements then proceed further along line PQ to a leaner
A/F ratio required for the cruising operation.
The line QR (refer Fig. 1.3) represents the cruising range of SI engine.
This is the region where engine runs most of the time therefore it is
desirable that the running should be most economical in this condition.
So a lean mixture can be supplied, as engine has low fuel consumption
at medium load.
Lean mixture at medium load is necessary for good fuel economy.

1.2.3 Power range (requires rich mixture)


From Fig. 1.3, the curve RS represents the maximum power range
zone.
When maximum power is required, the engine must be supplied with
rich mixture as the economy is not a consideration.
As the engine enters in the power range, the spark must be retarded
otherwise knocking would occur.
The rich mixture at the time of maximum power range is required for
following reasons.
1. To provide maximum power and
2. To prevent overheating of exhaust valve and the area near it.
The mixture requirements for maximum power is a rich mixture of
A/F about 14:1 or F/A = 0.07.
In multicylinder engines, the A/F ratios are slightly richer mixture in
order to overcome the mal distribution of air-fuel mixture in different
cylinders. Maximum power/acceleration is required at the time of
(i) Overtaking a vehicle
(ii) Climbing up a hill
Spark Ignition Engines 1.7

For starting under extremely cold conditions, a very rich mixture will
be required.

1.2.4 Effects of operating variables on mixture requirements


Some of the effects of operating variables such as inlet and exhaust
pressures. Spark timing and friction are described below.

1. Inlet and exhaust pressure


(i) Decrease in inlet pressure due to throttling or operating at higher
altitudes leads to reduction in flame speed and increase in fuel/air ratio
for best economy.
(ii) Increase in exhaust pressure results in reduced flame speeds and increase
in fuel/air ratio for best economy.

2. Spark timing
Any variation from the optimum spark timing will lead to the increase
of best economy Fuel/Air ratio, since it will increase the time losses.

3. Friction
By keeping the indicated mean effective pressure (I.M.E.P) constant,
the increase in friction mean effective pressure (F.M.E.P) will result in the
increase of fuel/air ratio for best economy.

1.3 FUEL INJECTION SYSTEMS FOR S.I. ENGINES


To run S.I. engine, the petrol from the fuel tank must reach cylinder.
The petrol vaporize easily at atmospheric condition, therefore the engine
suction is sufficient to vaporize petrol. In petrol engine, the petrol from the
fuel tank reaches the cylinder through fuel pump, filter and carburetor. Thus,
the fuel feed system of a petrol engine consists of the following components.
1. Fuel tank, 2. Fuel pump, 3. Fuel filter 4. Carburetor, 5. Intake
manifold, 6. Fuel tubes for necessary connections, 7. Gauge to indicate the
driver about the fuel level in the fuel tank.
The fuel system is used for the following reasons.
 To store fuel in the fuel tank
 To supply fuel in the required amount and at proper condition
 To indicate the driver about the fuel level in the fuel tank.
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1.3.1 Different types of Fuel Systems


The fuel from the fuel tank is supplied to the engine cylinder by the
following systems: (a) Gravity system, (b) Pressure system, (c) Vacuum
system, (d) Pump system, (e) Fuel injection system
In gravity system, the fuel tank is placed above the carburetor. The
fuel flows from the tank to the carburetor due to the gravitational force. Thus
the system does not have fuel pump. This system is cheap and simple one.
The fuel tank is directly connected to the carburetor. Motor cycles and
scooters use this system.
In pressure system, the pressure is created inside the tank by means
of a pump, and the fuel flows to the carburetor. In this system the tank can
be placed above or below the carburetor.
In a vacuum system, the engine suction is used for sucking the petrol
from the main tank to the auxiliary fuel tank and then it flows by gravity
to the carburetor.
In pump system, a fuel feed pump is used to feed the petrol from the
fuel tank to the carburetor. In this system the fuel tank can be placed at any
suitable position in the vehicle.
In fuel injection system, a fuel injection pump is used in place of
carburetor. The fuel is atomized by means of a nozzle and then delivered
into an air stream.

1.3.2 FUEL SUPPLY SYSTEM IN SI ENGINES


A schematic diagram of fuel supply system is shown in Fig.1.4. Here,
the storage tank is located below the carburetor the fuel pump sucks the
petrol from tank and pumps it to carburetor through fuel filter. Filter is used
to prevent the dust and other materials going along with petrol.

Sto rag e Fu el Fu el
Pu mp filter Carburettor En gin e
Tan k

Fig 1.4 A S chem atic diagram o f fu el su pply system.


Spark Ignition Engines 1.9

Fuel Pump (for S.I. Engine)


Refer Fig. 1.5. This type of pump is used in petrol engine when the
cam shaft rotates, it pushes the lever in upward direction. This upward
movement pulls the diaphragm downward. It creates a vacuum in the pump
chamber and the petrol comes to pump chamber from the glass bowl. Strainer
is used to prevent the impurities of the fuel coming along with fuel. On the
return stroke, the spring pushes the diaphragm in the upward direction and
the petrol is forced to carburetor.

O utle t valve
Strainer

D ia phragm

Pu m p C h amb er

Sp ring

H in ged poin t

G la ss bo w l

Cam
Fig.1.5 Fuel pump for SI E ngine

1.3.3 Carburetor
Carburetor is a device which is used for atomizing and vaporizing the
fuel (petrol) and mixing it with the air in varying proportions, to suit the
changing operating conditions of the engine.
Atomization is the breaking up the liquid fuel (petrol) into very small
particles so that it is properly mixed with the air. But vaporization is the
change of state of the fuel from liquid to vapour. Carburetor performs both
the process i.e., atomization of the fuel and vaporization of the fuel.
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1.3.4 SIMPLE CARBURETOR


A simple carburetor refer Fig. 1.6 consists of following 1. float and
float chamber, 2. venturi and throttle valves and 3. choke valve.

To E ngin e

Th rottle
Valve
Fu el Inle t
M ixtu re
Ve nt N e ed le
valve Fu el
Jet
Float Ve nturi
2 x 2

Float
cha m be r

C h oke
Valve

Fig.1.6 Sim ple Carbu retor


Air

1. Float and Float chamber


The petrol is supplied to the float chamber from the fuel tank through
the filter and fuel pump. When the petrol in float chamber reaches a particular
level, the needle valve blocks the inlet passage and thus cuts off the petrol
supply. On the fall of the petrol level in the float chamber, the float descends
down and inlet passage opens. The petrol is supplied to the chamber again.
Thus a constant fuel (petrol) level is maintained in the float chamber. The
float chamber supplies the petrol to the main discharge jet placed in venturi
tube. The level of fuel in the float chamber is kept slightly below the top
of the jet to prevent the leakage when not operating.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.11

2. Venturi and Throttle valve


The carburetor consists of a narrower passage at its centre, called
venturi. One end of the carburetor is connected with the intake manifold of
the engine. During the suction stroke, vacuum is created inside the cylinder.
Due to vacuum, the air is sucked to the carburetor. The velocity of the air
increases as it passes through the venturi where the area of cross section is
minimum. Due to increased velocity of air at the venturi, the pressure at the
venturi decreases. Therefore a low pressure zone is created in the venturi. So
the jet (nozzle) located at the venturi is in the zone of low pressure. The
fuel comes out from jet (nozzle) in the form of fine spray. This fuel spray
is mixed with air and the mixture is supplied to the intake manifold of the
engine. The throttle valve is placed between the jet (nozzle) and the intake
manifold of the engine. The quantity of the mixture is controlled by means
of throttle valve.

3. Choke Valve
While starting in cold weather the engine needs extra rich mixture. So
a choke valve is introduced in the air passage before the venturi. When the
choke valve is closed it creates high vacuum near the fuel jet and small
quantity of air is allowed, to get rich mixture. The fuel flow increases as the
vacuum near the jet increases.

1.3.5 Various Compensation in Carburetors


A simple carburetor cannot supply different air-fuel ratio according to
the speeds and loads of the engine.
Supply of correct airfuel ratio to meet the existing condition is known
as the compensation in carburetor. The various compensations in carburetor
are given below.
1. Auxiliary (or) extra air valve compensation
2. Restricted air bleed compensation
3. Compensating jet compensation
4. Economiser needle in metering jet.
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1. Auxiliary (or) Extra air valve compensation

Air

Extra a ir
valve

Air

Pa rt of float
cham ber

Th ro ttle

To in take m an ifold
Fig: 1.7 A uxiliary (o r) Ex tra air valve com pensation

An extra air valve is provided to the carburetor to supply extra air to


mixture, when the throttle valve is opened more and more. So the air-fuel
ratio (mixture strength) is maintained constant.

2. Restricted air-bleed compensation


A ir
R e stric te d a ir
b le ed o pe ning

O uter
e nc lo se r

Jet Tub e P a rt o f flo at


cha m be r
Th ro ttle

To intake m an ifo ld Fig:1.8 R estric ted air-bleed com pensation


Spark Ignition Engines 1.13

Here, a jet tube having openings at its periphery is provided in the


carburetor. Refer Fig. 1.8. A restricted air bleed opening is connecting the
main air passage to the outer enclosure of the jet tube.
During starting and slow speed, more quantity of fuel flows into
venturi to give rich mixture.
During high speed, the throttle valve opens more and the vacuum in
the venturi become more. So more fuel is drawn and sprayed by nozzle. But
at this stage, the air bubbles start bleeding through the jet-tube and make the
mixture lean.

3. Compensating Jet Compensation


In this system, main jet and compensating jet are provided in the
carburetor. Refer Fig. 1.9. The main jet is connected to float chamber directly.
The compensating jet is connected to float chamber through tube C whose
top end is open to atmosphere. For normal throttle valve openings, both the
jets supply fuel to venturi. But when the throttle opens more and more, the
fuel supply from main-jet increases and the fuel supply from compensating

To intake m an ifo ld

Th ro ttle

O pe n to
a tm osph ere
P a rt o f flo at
cha m be r
c

A
M ain je t
B
C o m p e nsatin g jet
A ir

Fig: 1.9 C om pensating jet C o m p ens ation


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jet decreases due to falling level of fuel in tube C. Because of atmospheric


pressure acting in this tube C, the richness of mixture decreases.

4. Economiser needle in metering jet


The flow of fuel is controlled by changing the area of the metering
nozzle supplying fuel from float chamber to the main jet. The area is changed
by means of a needle operated by linkage with accelerator pedal.

1.3.6 TYPES OF CARBURETORS


There are four important types of carburetor
1. Zenith Carburetor
2. Solex Carburetor
3. Amal Carburetor
4. Carter Carburetor

1.4 GASOLINE INJECTION SYSTEM


In a multicylinder engine with a carburetor, it is difficult to obtain
uniform mixture in each cylinder. The various cylinders receive the gasoline
mixture in varying quantities and richness. This problem is called
mal-distribution and the above mentioned problem can be solved by using
gasoline injection system.
By adapting gasoline injection, each cylinder can get the same richness
of the air-gasoline mixture and the mal-distribution can be avoided to a great
extent.

1.4.1 Reasons for adopting gasoline injection system


 To have uniform distribution of fuel in a multi-cylinder engine.
 To reduce (or) eliminate detonation.
 To improve volumetric efficiency.
 To improve fuel atomization by forcing fuel under pressure into
the cylinder.
 To prevent fuel loss during scavenging in case of two-stroke
engines.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.15

Fuel-injection system in SI engine can be classified as follows:

Fuel-inje ctio n system s

In direct injection (ID I) D irect injection (D I)


(M echanical (o r) electron ic contro l) (M echanical (o r) electron ic contro l)

Tim e d
M ono-Point In je ctio n M ulti-point fu el injectio n
(M P I) (M P F I)

C o ntinu ous Tim e d C o ntinu ous Tim e d

In indirect injection, fuel is injected into the air stream prior to entering
the combustion chamber. In direct injection, fuel is injected directly inside
the combustion chamber.
The gasoline fuel injection system used in a spark-ignition engine can
be either of continuous injection or timed injection.

1.4.1 Continuous fuel injection system (CIS)


 In continuous injection system, the injection nozzle and its valves
are permanently opened while the engine is running, so that the
fuel is injected continuously into the combustion chamber.
 This system usually employs rotary pumps for fuel injection.
 This pump maintains a fuel line gauge pressure of about 0.75 to
1.5 bar.
 The timing and duration of the fuel injection is determined by the
Electronic Control Unit (ECU) depending upon the load and speed.

1.4.2 Timed fuel injection system


 In this system, the fuel is sprayed from the injector nozzle in
pulses at certain time i.e usually during the early part of the intake
(or) suction stroke.
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 This system has a fuel supply pump which sends fuel at a low
pressure at about 2 bar when the engine is running at maximum
speed.
 The length of time for fuel injection is determined by Electronic
Control Unit (ECU) depending on input signals from various
engine sensors.

1.5 MONOPOINT FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM


A monopoint injection system is also called as throttle body injection
system (TBI).
In this system, the injector nozzle is mounted just above the throat of
the throttle body as shown in Fig. 1.10.

A ir

Fu el In je ctor

T hro ttle va lve


Th ro ttle
B o dy

Inta ke m a nifold

C1 C2 C3 C4

E n gine

Fig:1.10 M on o P oin t F uel In jection(o r) Th rottle B ody In jection (TB I)


Spark Ignition Engines 1.17

The throttle body assembly resembles like a carburetor except that


there is no fuel bowl float (or) metering jets.
Here, the injector nozzle sprays gasoline into the air in the intake
manifold so that the gasoline mixes with air.
This air-fuel mixture then passes through the throttle valve and enters
into the intake valve.
Moreover, this system requires only one circuit in the computer to
control injection which simplifies the construction of electronic control unit
(ECU). Thus it reduces the cost of the system.
In this system, injection pressure is higher compared to carburetor
discharge pressure, which speeds up and improves the atomization of the
liquid fuel. However, maldistribution of fuel cannot be avoided. To overcome
maldistribution of fuel, multi-point fuel injection system can be used.

Advantages
1. Monopoint injection system meters fuel better than a carburetor.
2. Reduced fuel consumption.
3. Less expensive and easier to service.

1.6 MULTIPOINT-INJECTION SYSTEM


A multi-point fuel injection system is also called as port-injection
system. Refer Fig. 1.11.
In this system, the injector nozzle is placed on the side of the intake
manifold. Here each cylinder is provided with separate fuel injector.
The injector nozzle sprays gasoline into the air inside the intake
manifold so that the gasoline mixes with air.
This air-fuel mixture then passes through the intake valve and enters
into the each cylinder.
The seperate fuel injector used in this system supplies the correct
quantity of fuel to each of the engine cylinders by a fuel-rail according to
the Firing order or in a ‘particular sequence’. This system provides further
precision by varying the fuel quantity and injection timing by governing the
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Air

Throttle valve

Inta ke m anifold

F uel

Inje ctors Inje ctors

Inta ke
m anifold

C1 C2 C3 C4

E ngin e C ylind ers


Fig:1.11.M u ltip oint fuel injection (M PFI)

each injector separately and thereby improving the performance and


controlling the emissions.
This technology consists of following parts:
1. Injectors
2. Fuel Pump
3. Fuel Rail
4. Fuel Pressure Sensor
5. Engine Control Unit
Spark Ignition Engines 1.19

6. Fuel Pressure Regulator


7. Various Sensors - Crank/Cam Position Sensor, Manifold Pressure
Sensor, Oxygen Sensor
The Fig. 1.12 shows the parts of MPFI system.

Fuel F ilter

Fuel P re ssure R eg u la tor P ressure


S enso r

Fuel R ail
In je ctors
R eturn lin e

In le t M a nifold
1 2 3 4
F uel P um p

Filte r

E ngine

Fuel Tan k
Fig:1.12:M ulti Po int Fu el Injection system

The advantages of Multi point fuel injection are


 Increased power and torque through improved volumetric
efficiency.
 More uniform fuel distribution to each cylinder.
 More rapid engine response to changes in throttle position.
Further, MPFI systems are classified into D-MPFI system and L-MPFI
system.

1.6.1 D-MPFI system


D-MPFI system is the manifold fuel injection system.
Here, the vacuum in the intake manifold is first sensed. Then the
volume of air is sensed by its density in the intake manifold.
The block diagram of D-MPFI system is shown in Fig. 1.13.
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Air

Inta ke M anifold
Vacuum S enso r G asoline / P etrol

M ixture of Inje ctio n into


Air and Fuel In je ctor
Inta ke M anifold
G asoline
Inje ctio n
Volum e C on tro l
En gine Electro nic C ontrol
U n it (EC U )

R P M S en so r
Fig:1.13. D-M PFI Gasoline Injectio n System

As air from the atmosphere enters into the intake manifold, the
manifold pressure sensor senses the intake manifold vacuum and sends the
information to the electronic control unit (ECU).
Likewise, the speed sensor senses the rpm of the engine and sends the
information to ECU.
After collecting required information from various sensors, the ECU
then sends commands to the injectors in order to regulate the amount of
gasoline supply for injection.
Finally, the injector sprays the required amount of fuel into the intake
manifold, thereby the gasoline mixes with the air and the mixture enters into
the cylinder.

1.6.2 L-MPFI system


L-MPFI system is a part fuel injection system.
Here, fuel metering is controlled by the engine speed and the amount
of air that enters the engine cylinder. It is also called as air-mass metering
or air-flow metering.
The block diagram of L-MPFI system is shown in Fig. 1.14.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.21

A ir

D a ta in form a tion
A ir S e nso r
G as o line / P etrol

M ixtu re of
A ir a nd Fu el In je ctor
Fu el
In je ctio n
Vo lu m e C on tro l
E n gine
E lectro nic C o ntrol
RPM
U n it (E C U )
S e nso r

D a ta in form a tion

Fig:1.14. L-M PFI G asoline In jectio n S ystem

As air from the atmosphere enters into the intake manifold, the airflow
sensors senses the amount of air. Then the sensed information is sent to the
ECU.
Likewise the speed sensor senses the engine rpm and sends the
information to the ECU.
After collecting required information, the ECU inturn sends commands
to the injector inorder to regulate the amount of gasoline supply for injection.
Then, the injector sprays the required fuel into the intake manifold
thereby the gasoline mixes with air and the mixture enters the cylinder.

1.7 DIRECT INJECTION SYSTEM

Direct Injection
In a direct injection engine, fuel is injected directly into the combustion
chamber. Modern gasoline engines may utilize direct injection using electronic
control, which is referred to as Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI). In IC engines,
GDI is also known as petrol direct injection, direct petrol injection, spark
ignition direct injection (SIDI) or fuel stratified injection (FSI). This is the
next step in evolution from multi-point injection. It reduces emissions and
fuel consumption.
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C a rburetor Inje ctor Inje ctor

Intake port
Intake port
Fu el spra y Fu el spra y
Carburetor Po rt fuel injection Direct injection
(in direct injection)
Fig 1.15

1.8 ELECTRONICLLY CONTROLLED GASOLINE INJECTION


SYSTEM

1.8.1 Description
The Bosch D-Jetronic electronic fuel injection system Fig. 1.16 is
composed of 3 major subsystems:
 The air intake system
 The fuel system, and
 The electronic control system.
The D-Jetronic system uses constant fuel pressure and flow, so that
only injection duration time needs to be modified to control air/fuel mixture.
The D-Jetronic system measures incoming airflow by monitoring intake
manifold pressure. Engine speed, temperature, and other factors are monitored
for the purpose of fine-tuning injection duration. An auxiliary air valve, cold
start injector and thermo time switch are useful aid in cold starting and
operation. The simple layout of electronic fuel injection system is shown in
Fig. 1.17

1.8.2 Operation

1. Fuel system
An electrically driven fuel pump forces fuel through a filter, into the
main system. Main system consists of one injector for each cylinder, a cold
start injector and a pressure regulator, which maintains fuel pressure at
Spark Ignition Engines 1.23

Fuel ta nk

Fuel p um p
R e gula to r

A ir
tem pe rature Filte r
sen so r C o ld start
inje ctor
Fuel
inje ctor
E xtra
a ir
valve

Throttle P re ssu re
p osition sen so r
sw tich

Therm o E lectro nic


C o olan t con tro l unit
time
tem pe rature
sw itch
C o olan t sen so r D istrib uto r

Fro m M ain Fuel p um p


B attery ign ition rela y rela y
sw itch
Fig:1.16.Bo sch D -Jetronic Electronic Fuel Injection System

2 kg/cm2. A secondary system carries excess fuel from the pressure regulator
back to fuel tank.
2. Air system
Intake manifold, connected to an intake air distributor, supplies the
cylinders with air. A pressure sensor is connected to intake air distributor.
The pressure sensor operates according to difference in manifold pressure and
atmospheric pressure and signals control unit accordingly. A throttle valve,
operated by accelerator pedal, is located at the mouth of the intake air
distributor. The throttle valve and intake air distributor are connected to air
cleaner by an air duct elbow. The idling air system is in the form of a
by-pass system located between the air filter and air intake distributor. Its
size can be varied with an idling air adjusting screw. An auxiliary air line,
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Fu el supply

Fu el filter Fu el pum p,
hig h pressure

Fu el pressure
Fu el ra il regulator

R e turn lin e

Injector
harness
Se nsor harness
Electro nic control
unit (E C U )
Th ro ttle C o olan t O il O xyg en Intake air
position tem p tem p sensor tem p
(if fitted) (if fitted)
Fig:1.17.Simple Layout of Electronic Fuel Injection System .

from air cleaner (auxiliary air valve), to intake air distributor forms the
warming-up air system. Its volume is varied, depending on engine
temperature, by the auxiliary air valve.

3. Electronic control system


Electronic Control Unit
Control unit regulates the correct amount of fuel to be injected,
depending on engine speed, intake pressure and engine temperature. When
ignition is switched on, control unit receives its operating voltage directly
from battery, via voltage supply relay. It also controls the fuel pump, which
Spark Ignition Engines 1.25

normally is provided with current from pump relay, only with engine running.
A time switch, in control unit, allows fuel pump to run approximately 1 to
1.5 seconds after ignition is turned on. The control unit is connected to all
sender units by a special wiring harness, coupled to a multiple plug. The
control unit is usually located inside vehicle under the dashboards, under one
of the seats or in the trunk.

Pressure Sensor
The pressure sensor is located in the engine compartment and is
connected to the intake manifold by a vacuum hose. This sensor controls the
basic amount of fuel to be injected, depending on pressure in the intake
manifold and load on the engine

Air Intake Temperature Sensor


The air intake temperature sensor provides control unit with
information about air temperature, so that control unit can increase the
injection quantity as necessary at low intake air temperature. This
compensation ceases when intake air temperature is greater than 20C.

Engine Temperature Sensor


The engine temperature sensor provides the control unit with
information about coolant temperature (cylinder head temperature). This
enables control unit to adapt injection interval and determine how long the
cold start injector should remain open during cold starting.

Triggering Contacts
The triggering contacts are located in the distributor. They provide
signals which determine when and to which cylinder fuel is to be injected.
The contacts also supply information concerning engine speed to determine
the amount of fuel that needs to be injected into the engine.

Throttle Valve Switch


The throttle valve switch is mounted on the throttle housing. This
switch signals the control unit of throttle position. During deceleration, above
1500 RPM, throttle switch cuts fuel supply off and below 900 RPM, fuel
supply is turned on.
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Auxiliary Air Valve


During cold starts, the auxiliary air valve opens to allow additional air
into the inlet duct. As engine heats up, a bi-metallic element expands and
closes this valve. At approximately 80C, the auxiliary air pipe is completely
closed by the valve.

1.9 STAGES OF COMBUSTION IN SI ENGINES


A typical theoretical pressure-crank angle diagram during the process
of compression P  Q, combustion Q  R and expansion R  S in an ideal
four-stroke spark-ignition engine is shown in Fig. 1.18. In an ideal engine,
the entire pressure rise during combustion takes place at constant volume i.e.,
at TDC. However, in practical cases this does not happen.

P re ssu re

Exp
ans
Q io n
n
pr e s s io
Com S
P TD C

0 1 80 3 60
C ra nk a ng le in D e g ree s

Fig:1.18. p-  Diagram (Theoretical)

The pressure variation due to combustion in a practical engine is shown


in Fig. 1.19. In Fig.1.19, P is the point of passage of spark (say 20 before
TDC). Q is the point at which the beginning of pressure rise can be detected
(say 8 before TDC) and C the attainment of peak pressure. Thus PQ
represents the first stage and QR the second stage and RS the third stage.
There are three stages of combustion in SI Engine as shown Fig. 1.19.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.27

30
I II III
I Ignition lag R
II Pro pagation o f flam e
III After burning
P ressure in Ba r

20

S park
S

10
Q

P
TD C M o to
r in g
0
1 00 80 60 40 20 8 0 20 40 60 80
C ra nk a ngle in d eg rees

Fig:1.19. Stage of Co m bustion in an S I Engin e

1. Ignition lag stage (stage I)


2. Flame propagation stage (stage II)
3. After burning stage (stage III)

Ignition lag stage


There is a certain time interval between instant of spark and instant
where there is a noticeable rise in pressure due to combustion. This time lag
is called IGNITION LAG. Ignition lag is the time interval in the process of
chemical reaction during which molecules get heated up to self-ignition
temperature, get ignited and produce a self-propagating nucleus of flame. The
ignition lag is generally expressed in terms of crank angle as shown in
Fig.1.19.
The period of ignition lag is shown by path PQ. Ignition lag is very
small and lies between 0.00015 to 0.0002 seconds. An ignition lag of 0.002
seconds corresponds to 35 deg crank rotation when the engine is running at
3000 RPM. Angle of advance increase with the speed. This is a chemical
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process depending upon the nature of fuel, temperature and pressure,


proportions of exhaust gas and rate of oxidation or burning.

Flame propagation stage


Once the flame is formed at Q, it should be self-sustained and must
be able to propagate through the mixture. This is possible when the rate of
heat generation by burning is greater than heat lost by flame to surrounding.
After the point R the flame propagation is abnormally low at the beginning
as heat lost is more than heat generated. Therefore pressure rise is also slow
as mass of mixture burned is small. Therefore it is necessary to provide angle
of advance 30 to 35 deg, if the peak pressure to be attained 5-10 deg after
TDC. The time required for crank to rotate through an angle II is known as
combustion period during which propagation of flame takes place.

After burning
Combustion will not stop at point R, but continue after attaining peak
pressure and this combustion is known as after burning. This generally
happens when the rich mixture is supplied to engine.

1.10 COMBUSTION PHENOMENON


1.10.1 NORMAL COMBUSTION
A high intensity spark is produced by a spark plug. This spark travels
through the air fuel mixture and leaves a thin thread of flame behind it. The
air-fuel mixture enveloped around the thin thread of flame gets ignited and
combustion commences. Since the air fuel mixture is in turbulent condition,
the surface area of heat transfer is more and combustion is speeded up
enormously.
In P- diagram (Fig. 1.20), we can see the stages of normal
combustion. LNQM is the normal combustion curve. At point N, the ignition
starts [N is the point 35 before TDC]. At point Q, pressure rise can be
noticed. From point M, sudden pressure rise occurs.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.29

P
(b ar)
Fo r b es t pe rfo rm an ce
o o
a t 1 0 to 1 2
M ax .P r.

40

Ig nitio n E x pa n sion
a dvan ce

M
C o m p re ssio n Q
N S
L
o o o o o o o o o o 
B D C 1 50 1 20 90 60 30 TD C 3 0 60 90 1 20 1 50 BDC
Fig.1.20

Ignition lag: The time period between first igniting fuel and commencement
of main phase of combustion is called ignition lag (or) period of incubation.
The ignition lag is normally 0.0015 sec.
(Pre-ignition  Detonation  Engine failure)
Ignition Advance: The ignition actually starts at about 35 before TDC.
This angle of crank is called ignition advance.
Maximum pressure: The maximum pressure inside the cylinder is attained
at about 10to 12 after TDC.
After Burning: Once it reaches its maximum pressure, the ignition stops.
But at this point the whole heat of the fuel is not liberated. So the remaining
heat in the fuel is burnt after this maximum pressure point. This is called
‘after burning’.
The stages of normal combustion is shown in following Fig. 1.21.
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Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Sp ark C om bu stion C om bu stion C om bu stion


pro duced starts spreads com pleted
Fig. 1.21

1.10.1.1 Factors affecting normal combustion in S.I Engines

1. Induction pressure
As the pressure falls, delay period increases, and the ignition must be
earlier at low pressures.

2. Engine speed
When the engine speed increases, the delay period time needs more
crank angle and ignition should take place earlier.

3. Ignition timing
If the ignition takes place too early, then the peak pressure will occur
early and work transfer falls. If the ignition takes place too late, then peak
pressure will be low and the work transfer falls.

Id ea l C om b ustio n
Tem pe ra ture

M ax
C o m b u stion
w ith D isso cia tio n

W ea k R ich
Air Fuel R atio.
Fig:1.22
Spark Ignition Engines 1.31

4. Fuel choice
The calorific value and enthalpy of vaporisation will affect the
temperature achieved. The induction period of the fuel will affect the delay
period.

5. Combustion chamber
The combustion chamber should be designed to give shorter flame path
to avoid knocking and it should give proper turbulence.

6. Compression ratio
When the compression ratio increases, it increases the maximum
pressure and the work transfer.

7. Mixture strength
The rich mixture is necessary for producing the maximum work
transfer.

1.10.2 ABNORMAL COMBUSTION


The abnormal combustion deviates from the normal behavior resulting
in loss of performance and physical damage to the engine.
There are two types of Abnormal combustion.
1. Pre-ignition
2. Knocking (or) Detonation (or) Pinking

1.10.2.1 Pre-ignition
High temperature carbon deposits formed inside the combustion
chamber ignite the airfuel mixture before normal ignition occurs by spark
plug. This ignition due to hot carbon deposits is called pre-ignition. After
some time of Pre-ignition, the normal ignition starts and both the flames get
collided.
If Pre-ignition occurs much early in the compression stroke, the work
to compress the charge will be increased. So the net power output will be
reduced. Also this may cause crank failure due to high load to compress
charge. Pre-ignition causes very high pressure and temperature. It causes the
detonation. Thus, Pre-ignition is considered as abnormal combustion.
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. .....
.. . .. ... . .. ... . . . . .. . .. . ..... .. .. ... . .. ... . . . . .. . . .
. .. . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. ... . ....
. . . . . . ... . . .. . . .. . . .. . .

1 . Ignitio n started 2 . Sp ark p roduced 3 . Bo th flam es 4 . Bo th flam es


b y ho t carb on b y S park P lug S o spread fast C o llide
d ep osits inside regula r ign ition
the co m bu stio n starts fro m th e
cha m be r righ t sid e.
Ign ition because o f hot deposits
a lso sprea d from the
left side .
Fig:1.23 P re Ignition

1.10.2.2 Knocking (or) Detonation (or) Pinking


There are two general theories of detonation:

1. The auto-ignition theory


2. Detonation theory

A sudden and violent noise (knock) experienced inside the engine


cylinder is known as Detonation. This detonation is due to high pressure
waves striking the cylinder walls, cylinder head and piston with loud noise.

When spark occurs, the combustion of fuel near the spark plug
commences. The flame travels through combustion chamber with high speed.

1. Sp ark 2. C o m b ustion 3. Ve ry h igh tem p . 4. D eton atio n


pro duces starts flam e com presses th e
re maining ch arge
Fig:1.24 D eton ation
Spark Ignition Engines 1.33

The high pressure and high temperature gases produced by this ignition
compress the fresh charge in front of the moving flame. Hence the
temperature and pressure of fresh charge is increased beyond the limit and
a spontaneous ignition takes place in far away from spark plug. This zone,
far away from spark plugs where spontaneous ignition takes place is called
‘detonating zone’.
This auto ignition spreads throughout the air-fuel mixture making its
temperature and pressure rise further and produces loud pulsating sound called
‘pinking’ or ‘knocking’ or ‘hammer-blow’.
The temperature in the detonating zone is higher than the
non-detonating zone. More heat is lost in the surface of the combustion
chamber and as a result, the output of engine is decreased.
In mild detonation, the engine surface will be heated up. In severe
detonation, fracture may occur on the engine.
Due to detonation, carbon may be deposited inside the combustion
chamber. When this carbon deposit gets heated, its temperature will be very
high to preignite the fresh charge which is known as pre-ignition.
Detonation occurs after sparking and pre-ignition occurs before
sparking. One of the causes for pre-ignition is detonation.
The detonation can be reduced by properly designing the combustion
chamber so that there is always a turbulence of mixture.

1.11 FLAME FRONT PROPAGATION


The concept of flame propagation speed is important in SI engines, as
it may lead to detonation.
Flame front is the front surface of the flame that separates the burnt
charges from the unburnt one.
The rate of movement of flame front across the combustion chamber
is based on reaction rate and transposition rate. The reaction rate is the result
of chemical reaction occurring within a region where unburnt mixture is
heated and converted into products.
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The transposition rate is due to the movement of flame front relative


to the cylinder wall. It is also the result of pressure differences existing
between the burnt and unburnt gases in the combustion chamber.

1.12 IMPORTANCE OF FLAME SPEED AND EFFECT OF ENGINE


VARIABLES
Flame speed
Flame speed is the speed at which the flame travels.
Flame speed affects the combustion phenomena, pressure developed
and power produced.
Burning rate of mixture depends on the flame speed and shape of
combustion chamber.
1.12.1 Factors affecting flame speed
1. Turbulence
It helps in mixing and boosts the chemical reaction. A lean mixture
can be burnt easily without any difficulties. The flame speed is quite low in
non-turbulent mixture and increases with increase in turbulence. Turbulence
consisting of many minute swirls increases the rate of reaction and produces
a higher flame speed than that of larger and fewer swirls.

2. Engine speed
When engine speed increases, flame speed also increases due to the
turbulence inside the engine cylinder. The crank angle required for the flame
propagation during the entire phase of combustion, will remain constant at
all speeds.

3. Engine size
The time taken for flame propagation is smaller in small engines when
compared to larger engines.
In larger engines, the time required for complete combustion is more
because the flame has to travel a longer distance.

3. Compression ratio
A higher compression ratio increases the pressure and temperature of
mixture.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.35

0 .00 6

Stio ch iom etric M ixture


Tim e in S e co nd s

0 .00 4

0 .00 2

60 1 00 1 40 1 80
L ean R ich
M ixtu re M ixtu re
Fig:1.25 E ffect of M ixture Strength on Flame P ropagation Tim e

This reduces the initial phase of combustion and hence less ignition
advance is needed. High pressure and temperature of the compressed mixture
also speed up the second phase of combustion.
Increased compression ratio reduces the clearance volume. Thus
engines having higher compression ratio have higher flame speed.
A further increase in the peak pressure and temperature results in the
increase in the tendency of the engine to detonate.

4. Inlet temperature and pressure


When the inlet temperature and pressure increases, it results in better
homogenous mixture which helps to increase the flame speed.

5. Fuel-Air ratio
The highest flame speed obtained with slightly rich mixture gives
complete combustion. Lean mixtures have low thermal energy and hence have
low flame speed. A rich mixture burns readily and completely, resulting in
higher flame speeds. A stoichiometric air-fuel ratio is usually chosen to
prevent compromise on flame speed and air-fuel ratio.
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6. Engine output
When the engine output is increased, the cycle pressure also increases.
With the increased throttle opening the cylinder gets filled to a higher density
of mixture. This results in increased flame speed. When the output is
decreased by throttling, the initial & final pressure decreases.
Poor combustion at low loads and the necessity of mixture enrichment
causes wastage of fuel and discharge of products like carbon monoxide into
the atmosphere which are the main disadvantages of SI engines.

1.13 THE PHENOMENON OF KNOCK IN SI ENGINE


In spark-ignition engine, the combustion is initiated using spark-plug
electrodes which spread combustible mixture across the chamber. A flame
front is used to separate the fresh mixture from the product of combustion.
In combustion chamber, burnt part of mixture has higher pressure &
temperature than the unburnt mixture. To maintain a pressure equalization,
the burnt mixture will expand and compress the unburnt mixture adiabatically
thereby increasing its pressure and temperature. The flame front propagates
completely till the end of the cylinder, thereby leaving the unburnt mixture
at an increased pressure and temperature.

The temperature of unburnt mixture exceeds the self-ignition


temperature during preflame reaction and hence spontaneous ignition occurs
at various points inside the engine. This phenomenon is called knocking.

An important fact about knocking is that it is very much dependent


on the properties of the fuel.
Knocking does not occur when the unburnt charge does not reach the
auto ignition temperature, or in other words, in ignition lag period, if the
flame front takes more time to burn the unburnt charge, no knocking occurs.
But if the flame front takes less time to burn the unburnt charge, knocking
occurs [since the end charge will detonate]. Hence, fuels with high auto
ignition temperature and a long ignition lag are often used as fuels for S.I
engines, inorder to avoid detonation.
In summary, during auto ignition, two different cases are encountered.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.37

 A large amount of mixture gets autoignited leading to a very rapid


increase in pressure throughout the combustion chamber and there
will be a direct blow on the engine structure. This results in the
thudding sound and consequent noise from the free vibration of
the moving parts. These noises can be detected by human ears.
 A large pressure difference may exist in the combustion chamber
and the resulting gas vibrations force the walls of the chamber to
vibrate in the same frequency as that of the gas. In this case, an
audible sound may be evident.
Normally knocking combustion in an engine is often detected by a
distinct audible sound. But a scientific method of detecting the phenomenon
of knocking involves the use of a ‘Pressure Transducer’.
The output of this pressure transducer is connected to a cathode ray
oscilloscope. The pressure-time traces obtained due to the presence or absence
of knock are shown in Fig. 1.26.
Pre ssure
Pressu re

Ig nitio n
Ig nitio n
Po Po
we io n we
s io n ess r
Co m p re s r C om pr
BDC TD C BDC BDC TD C BDC
Tim e
Tim e
N orm al C o mb ustion
K no ckin g C o mb ustion

Fig:1.26 R esults Plotted b y Pressu re Transdu cer.

1.13.1 Effects of knocking in SI Engine


1. Noise and Roughness
Knocking produces a loud pulsating noise and pressure waves. These
waves vibrates back and forth across the cylinder. The presence of this
vibratory motion causes crankshaft vibration and thus the engine runs roughly.
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2. Mechanical Damage
1. The high pressure wave generated during knocking can increase rate of
wear of parts in combustion chamber. Severe erosion of piston crown,
cylinder head and small holes created on inlet and outlet valves may
result in complete damage of the engine.
2. Due to Detonation, high noise level occurs in engine. In small engines,
the noise can be easily detected and corrective measures can be taken,
but in large engines, it is difficult to detect knocking noise and hence
corrective measures cannot be taken which results in complete damage
of the piston.
3. Carbon deposits
Detonation leads to a huge amount of carbon deposition at the engine
outlet.
4. Increase in heat transfer
Knocking is accompanied with the increase in rate of heat transfer
across the combustion chamber walls.
5. Decrease in power output and efficiency
Due to increase in the rate of heat transfer, the power output as well
as efficiency of the engine decreases.
6. Pre-Ignition
The increase in heat transfer on the walls causes local overheating of
the spark plug which may reach a temperature high enough to ignite the
charge before the passage of spark, thus leading to pre-ignition. An engine
detonating over a long period of time often results in pre-ignition which is
the real danger of detonation.

1.14 FACTORS AFFECTING KNOCK IN SI ENGINES


It has already been established that the knocking of an engine typically
depends upon either the quantity of the charge inside the chamber, the
temperature of the chamber or the time of detonation. Hence, the different
variables which affect knocking can be classified into
 Density factors
 Time factors
 Composition factors
Spark Ignition Engines 1.39

1. Density factors
Density factors deal with the basic mass properties of the charge
present inside the cylinder. The properties include different thermodynamic
variables like the temperature of the charge, pressure, volume of charge,
density etc. It is evident that the auto ignition can be prevented if the
temperature of the charge entering the cylinder is minimum. Similarly, a
charge at lower pressure is less likely to cause a knock. This is due to the
reduced energy of the charge, disabling it from combusting automatically.
The different density factors which affect the knocking phenomenon are
discussed below.
Compression Ratio: Higher compression ratio simply implies that the
pressure of the air-fuel mixture is quite high. Hence, the temperature of the
gases at the end of compression is also high. Therefore, upon combustion,
there is a considerable decrease in ignition delay. This directly increases the
possibility of a knock. Hence, to prevent knocking, it is always wise to limit
the compression ratio to a lower value, but not low enough to drastically
decrease the efficiency of the engine.
Charge temperature: An increased inlet temperature of the air-fuel mixture
causes it to rise above the normal temperature at the end of the compression
stroke. Due to this increased temperature, the ignition delay is decreased,
resulting in knocking of the engine. However, a low inlet temperature could
result in vapourization and starting problems in an engine.
Mass of fuel injected: A reduced amount of charge experiences lower
pressure and has lower energy when compared to normal levels. Thus, the
temperature of the reduced amount of charge at the end of the compression,
is not high enough to cause knocking. Hence, the possibility of a knock is
directly proportional to the mass of the charge inside the cylinder.
Cylinder wall temperature: The combustion chamber is continuously
subjected to several frictional and thermal stresses during operation. Hence,
the walls of the chamber may develop minute hotspots which could ignite a
fuel before the anticipated time, thereby resulting in knocking. Hence, uniform
cooling of the walls using an efficient coolant is of paramount importance.
Moreover, the exhaust valves and the spark plugs are the most hottest regions
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inside the cylinder. Hence, the concentration of the compression against these
regions, is to be avoided to reduce knocking.
Horse power: High powered engines operate at high temperatures and
pressures. Thus the chances of a knock to occur in a high powered engine
is greater than that of a low powered engine.

2. Time factors
Time factors play an important role in determining the chances of
knock in an engine. Some common time factors are flame speed, velocity of
the charge, engine speed etc. The effect of different time factors on the knock
of an engine is discussed below.
Velocity of the charge: A turbulent charge ignites much faster than a
non-turbulent charge. Thus, the flames propagate much faster, leaving little
margin for the end charge to auto ignite. Hence, the chances of a knock is
reduced effectively by increasing the velocity of the charge, above its
turbulent level.

Engine speeds: At higher engine speeds, the turbulence of the charge


increases greatly. This results in reduced knocking, as discussed above.

Flame travel distance: It has been well established that a faster flame
reduces knocking possibilities when compared to a slower flame. Hence, if
the time taken for the flame to travel across the chamber is reduced, knocking
can be prevented. This can be done by either decreasing the combustion
chamber size, or by repositioning the spark plug appropriately.

A centrally placed spark plug, or usage of two or more plugs, can


effectively reduce the knocking of an engine.

Combustion chamber configuration


A combustion chamber should be designed in such a way that it
promotes the turbulence of the particles inside. Moreover, the chamber should
be made as spherical as possible with the least possible height. These two
factors can effectively reduce the flame travel time, thereby preventing
knocking.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.41

3. Composition factor
Composition factor deals with the flammability of the charge present
inside the cylinder. Air-fuel ratio and the octane number of the fuel are the
most important composition factors pertaining to the knocking phenomenon.
(i) Air-fuel ratio: Flame speed depends upon the air-fuel ratio. It varies
as per the type of fuel used. The flame temperatures and the reaction time
also vary based on the air-fuel ratio.
If a specific ratio can cause low reaction time, then this ratio can give
way to increased chances of knocking.

(ii) Octane value


Knocking can be reduced by either increasing the self-igniting
temperature of a fuel or by reducing its pre-flame reactivity.
In general, Aromatic hydrocarbons have the minimum tendency to
knock an engine, whereas the paraffin series are more likely to knock an
engine. Any appropriate compound with a compact molecular structure is less
prone to knock an engine.

1.15 FUEL REQUIREMENT AND FUEL RATING

1.15.1 Important properties of fuel in SI Engine


The fuel characteristics that are important for the performances of
internal combustion engines are
 Volatility of the fuel.
 Detonation characteristics.
 Good thermal properties like heat of combustion and heat of
evaporation.
 Sulphur content.
 Aromatic content.
 Cleanliness of fuel.

1.15.2 Important characteristics of SI Engine fuel


Every engine is designed for a particular fuel according to its desired
qualities.
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For good performance of SI engine, the fuel used must have the proper
characteristics like,
 It should readily mix with air to make an uniform mixture at inlet.
 It must be knock resistant.
 It should not pre-ignite easily.
 It should not tend to decrease the volumetric efficiency of the
engine.
 Its sulphur content should be low.
 It must have adequate calorific value.
 It must have proper viscosity.

1.15.3 Fuel properties


Brief explanation of fuel properties are given below.

1. Viscosity of Fuel
Viscosity is the resistance offered by the fuel to its own flow. Viscosity
decreases when the temperature of fuel increases and vice versa. Good fuel
should have proper viscosity.

2. Pour Point of Fuel


The pour point (freezing point) of fuel must be less than the lowest
climate temperature of atmosphere. In cold climate days, the fuel should be
in liquid state. So its pour point should be less sufficiently.

3. Sulphur Content in the Fuel


Sulphur present in the fuel is dangerous to engine. During combustion,
the sulphur in the fuel become sulfuric acid. This acid causes corrosion of
engine parts. So the sulphur content in the fuel should be removed (or)
sulphur content should be kept as minimum as possible.

4. Volatility
The ability to evaporate is called volatility. If the fuel evaporates in
low temperature, then it has high volatility. The petrol and diesel should have
adequate volatility.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.43

5. Flash Point and Fire Point


Flash point is the minimum temperature of fuel when the fuel gives
a momentary flame (or) flash.
Fire point is the minimum temperature of fuel when the fuel starts
continuously burning.
The flash point and fire point of fuels should be adequate so that it
is used in IC engine without any problem.

6. Calorific Value of Fuels:


The amount of heat liberated by burning 1 kg (or 1 m3 of fuel is
known as Calorific value of fuel (or Heating value of fuel).
For solid fuel, the unit for calorific value is expressed in kJ/kg. For
liquid and gaseous fuel, the unit is kJ/m3 measured in S.T.P. condition (i.e.,
Standard Temperature and Pressure  15 C and 760 mm of mercury).

Higher Calorific Value:


The amount of heat obtained by the complete combustion of 1 kg of
fuel, when the products of combustion are cooled down to the temperature
of the surroundings is known as Higher Calorific Value HCV of the fuel.
Here the water vapour formed by combustion is condensed and the
entire heat of steam is recovered from the products of combustion.
Dulong’s formula is used to determine HCV of a fuel.
 O2  kJ
HCV  33800 C  144000  H2    9270 S kg
 8 
where C, H2, S and O2 are the fractions of mass of carbon, hydrogen, sulphur
and oxygen in 1 kg of fuel.

Lower Calorific Value (LCV)


The amount of heat obtained by the combustion of 1 kg of fuel, when
the product of combustion is not sufficiently cooled down to condense the
steam formed during combustion is known as Lower Calorific Value (LCV)
of the fuel.
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So, LCV of the fuel


 H.C.V  Enthalpy of evaporation of steam formed
 H.C.V.  2466  steam for med  kJ/kg
 H.C.V.  2466  9H2

where, 2466 kJ/kg is the specific enthalpy of evaporation of steam at 15C.

1.15.4 Octane Number (ON)


Octane Number (gaseous fuel) indicates the anti-knock properties of a
fuel, based on the comparison of mixtures of Iso octane and normal heptane.

Fuel rating for SI engine


Octane value is for SI engines
Octane Number: (Applicable for SI Engine) This is a number to rate the
petrol fuel according to its detonating tendency. If the fuel has the tendency
to detonate less, then it has high octane number and vice versa.
 Iso-octane is a high rating fuel (i.e. detonation is less).
 Normal heptane is a low rating fuel (i.e. detonation is more).
Iso-octane and normal heptane are mixed together and this sample
mixture is used for running a test engine.
The octane number of the fuel is the percentage of octane in this
sample mixture which detonates in similar way as the fuel under the same
condition.
High octane fuel’s number is 100. This type of fuel will not have
tendency to detonate. We can make given fuel into octane number 90 to 100
by adding Tetraethyl Lead. But this addition will reduce the engine life.
Fuels with a higher octane ratings are used in high performance
gasoline engines that require higher compression ratio.
Fuels with lower octane number are ideal for diesel engines, because
diesel engines do not compress the fuel but rather compress only air and then
inject the fuel.
Two methods that are employed for measuring octane number are
Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Number (MON).
Spark Ignition Engines 1.45

The octane numbers measured under two different engine conditions


in a standard “Cooperative Fuels Research (CFR)” engine has a variable
compression ratio.

Research Octane Number (RON)


The most common type of octane rating is Research Octane Number
(RON). RON is determined by using the fuel in a test engine running at 600
rpm with the variable compression ratio under controlled condition, and
comparing the results with the mixture of iso-octane and n-heptane.

Motor Octane Number


Motor Octane Number is determined at 900 rpm engine speed instead
of 600 rpm used in RON.
MON testing uses a similar test engine used in RON testing but with
a preheated fuel mixture, higher engine speed and variable ignition timing.
RON  MON
Anti-knock Index 
2

Advantages of High-Octane Fuel:


1. We can increase the compression ratio without detonation.
2. Engine efficiency can be increased without detonation.
3. Supercharging can be done without detonation.
So totally, the unwanted detonation can be reduced by using
high-octane fuel.

1.16 ANTI-KNOCK ADDITIVES


Anti knock additives are used to reduce engine knocking and to
increase the fuel’s octane rating by raising the temperature and pressure at
which auto ignition occurs.
The widely used antiknock agents are:
 Tetraethyl lead [TEL] CH3CH24 Pb
 Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT)
CH3C5H4MnCO3
 Ferrocene Fe C5H52
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 Iron pentacarbonyl
 Toluene
 Iso octane

1.16.1 Anti-knock Agents


Anti-knock agents are classified into high-percentage additives like
alcohol and low-percentage additives based on heavy elements.
Internal combustion engine discharges various substances to the
atmosphere. Some of these emissions are harmful to the environment such
as Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen oxides, unburnt hydrocarbons and certain
compounds of lead.
The catalytic converter is used to oxidize the unburnt hydrocarbons
and carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide and to decompose nitrogen oxides
into nitrogen and oxygen.
High percentage additives are those organic compounds that do not
contain metals, but require high blending ratios, such as 20-30% for benzene
and ethanol. Ethanol is inexpensive, and widely available but being corrosive
in nature, it is not used.
Tetraethyl lead (TEL) CH3CH24 Pb is a main additive and it is a
common anti knock agent.
Adding a small amount of Tetraethyl lead (TEL) improves the
anti-knock quality of fuel.

1.16.2 Effects of Anti knock additives


 The main problem in using Tetra ehtyl lead is the lead content in
it since lead is extremely toxic and poisonous.
 A manganese - carrying additive like methylcyclopentadienyl
manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) directly affects the humans.
The exposure of MMT results in eye irritation, giddiness, headache
and it causes difficulties in breathing.
 Ferrocene Fe C5H22 is an organometallic compound of iron.
The iron contents in ferrocene forms a conductive coating on the
spark plug.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.47

1.16.3 Factors affecting Detonation and Remedies


Factors Remedies
1. The type of fuel used is the reason Fuel like alcohol and benzol do
for detonation not cause detonation.
Addition of a small quantity of
tetraethyl lead with petrol will
suppress the detonation. (This
process is called doping).
2. The position of spark plug in the Less distance reduces the chances
combustion chamber determines the of detonation. A spark plug placed
distance the flame travels to reach centrally will reduce the
the detonating zone. More distance detonation.
causes detonation
3. High temperature combustion The cooling system should be
chamber raise temperature of proper to maintain the cylinder
cylinder wall and also detonating wall temperature at optimum level.
zone.
4. The compression ratio is the cause The compression ratio should not
for detonation. More compression be increased beyond the limit.
ratio will overheat the engine.
5. The presence of carbon deposits Good quality fuel should be used.
promote detonation.
6. Excessive sparking temperature Ignition system voltage should be
promotes detonation limited to produce spark with
sufficient temperature to ignite.

1.17 COMBUSTION CHAMBER FOR SI ENGINES


The design of combustion chambers for SI engines plays a very
important role in the operation and performance of the engine.
The design involves, the shape of the combustion chamber, location
of spark plug and the location of inlet and exhaust valves.

Important requirements of an SI engine combustion chamber.


(i) To provide high power output with minimum octane requirement.
(ii) High thermal efficiency.
(iii) Smooth engine operation.
Factors to be considered while designing combustion chambers for S.I
engines include:
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(i) Rate of pressure rise during combustion,


(ii) Temperature and pressure of the last part of the mixture to burn,
(iii) Location of hotspots on the combustion chamber wall (to locate spark plug)

1.17.1 Types of combustion chambers


1. Overhead or I - head combustion chamber
2. T - head combustion chamber
3. L - head combustion chamber
4. F - head combustion chamber

1. Overhead valve (or) I - Head combustion chamber


In this type of combustion chamber, both the valves are located on
the cylinder head, so it is called overhead valve. This type of combustion
chamber has two forms.
Bath-tub form
This type of combustion chamber, consists of oval shaped chamber
with both valves mounted overhead. The spark plug is mounted at the side.

S park front in le t va lve


p lug (back exhau st
valve is hid d en )

Bath - tub form o f Wed ge form o f


com bustio n chamber Fig:1.27 com bustio n chamber

Wedge form
This type of combustion chambers also consist of oval shaped chamber
with both valves mounted overhead at its side with slight inclination. The
spark plug is mounted centrally. A few features of this combustion chamber
are listed below:
1. Less heat loss because of less surface to volume ratio.
2. Less flame travel length and greater freedom from knock.
Spark Ignition Engines 1.49

3. High volumetric efficiency from larger valve cylinder.


4. By keeping the hot exhaust valve in the cylinder head instead of
cylinder block, it reflects in confinement of thermal failure to cylinder
head.

2. T - Head combustion chamber


In this type of combustion
chamber, two valves are placed on
either side of the cylinder which
requires two camshafts. Fig. 1.28. In a E xha ust
Valve
manufacturing point of view, providing
two camshafts is not recommended.
Fig :1.28 T - H ead Type
The distance across the
combustion chamber is very long so the
knocking tendency is high in this type of engine.

3. L-head combustion chamber


In L - head type, two valves are
provided on the same side of the cylinder
which can be operated by a single camshaft.
In this type, it is easy to lubricate the valve L - H e ad
Typ es
mechanism, with the detachable head
provision. The cylinder head can be removed
without disturbing valves, gears etc.
In Fig. 1.29 the air flow has to travel
a longer distance to enter the cylinder. This
causes loss of velocity head and loss in
turbulence level. This design reduces knocking
tendency by reducing the flame travel length. Fig:1.29 L - He ad Types
This type of combustion chamber gives
additional turbulence during compression stroke.

Advantages
1. Valve mechanism is simple and easy to lubricate.
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2. Detachable head-easy to remove for cleaning and decarburizing without


disturbing either the valve gear or main pipe work.
3. Valves of larger sizes can be provided.

Disadvantages
1. Lack of turbulence as the air has to take two right angle turns to enter
the cylinder.
2. Extremely prone to detonation due to large flame length and slow
combustion due to lack of turbulence.

F - head combustion chamber

O verhead Sp ark p lu g
EV

IV
engin e block

R e cipro cating
Piston

Fig:1.30 F - Head Type

In F - head type, exhaust valve is located in the cylinder head and


the inlet valve is located in the cylinder block. Here, the valves are actuated
by two camshafts which is a disadvantage.

Advantages
1. High volumetric efficiency.
2. Maximum compression ratio for fuel of given octane rating.
3. High thermal efficiency.
4. It can operate on leaner air-fuel ratios without misfiring.

Disadvantage
1. This design is a complex mechanism for operation of valves and
expensive special shaped piston.

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