PETROL ENGINE/ SPARK IGNITION ENGINE/ GASOLENE ENGINE

HISTORY
Petrol engine was introduced by the engineers GOTTLIEB DAIMLER and KARL BENZ (both from Germany) in 1885. It is considered as one of biggest achievement in the automotive field. It uses petrol called as gasoline in USA as a fuel. It is made up of about 150 moving parts. Within the engine burning of fuel mixed with air causes hot gases to expand against parts of the engine and force them to move. So petrol engines are called internal-combustion engines. Petrol engines are compact and light in weight for the power they produce. The rate at which it produces work is usually measured in horsepower or watts. Gasoline engines vary significantly in size, weight per unit of power generated, and arrangement of components. The principal type is the reciprocatingpiston engine. In four-stroke engines, each cycle requires four strokes of the piston intake, compression, power (expansion), and exhaustand two revolutions of the crankshaft. In a two-stroke cycle, the compression and power strokes of the fourstroke cycle are carried out without the inlet and exhaust strokes, in one upstroke and one down stroke of the piston and one revolution of the crankshaft. The size, weight, and cost of the engine per horsepower are therefore less, and two-stroke-cycle engines are used in smaller motorcycles, most marine motors, and many handheld landscaping tools (e.g., hedge trimmers and chain saws).

CLASSIFICATION OF PETROL ENGINES

Reciprocating petrol engines are distinguished in a number of ways. Some of them are as follows: (1) Type of compression (2) Valve arrangement (3) The way they are cooled, (4) The way they are supplied with air and fuel. (5) Number of piston strokes per cycle, (6) Cylinder arrangement Classification based on number of stokes per cycle: a) Two Stroke I

b) Four Stroke

II

TWO STROKE CYCLE

In the original two-stroke cycle (as developed in 1878), the compression and power stroke of the four-stroke cycle are carried out without the inlet and exhaust strokes, thus requiring only one revolution of the crankshaft to complete the cycle. The fresh fuel mixture is forced into the cylinder through circumferential ports by a rotary blower. From the name itself we get the idea about the functioning of the engine. The engine ignites fuel at every upward stroke, so there are two strokes for every ignition of fuel. They are called upward and downward stroke. As the piston moves in upward direction from bottom to top in the first stroke the air and fuel mixture gets compressed and ignited by spark plug as upward stroke comes to end. This results in an explosion of mixture which forces the piston to move downwards thereby producing power. Since they have less moving parts they are light in weight .Also the design is simple compared to four stroke engines. Big size bulky two-stroke cycle engines have lubrication systems like that of four-stroke cycle engines.

FOUR STROKE CYCLE

The four stroke engine is called so because the working of an internal combustion engine is divided into four stages called four strokes of the engine namely Suction Compression Ignition Exhaust

Of the different techniques for recovering the power from the combustion process, the most important so far has been the four-stroke cycle, a conception first developed in the late 19th century. With the inlet valve open, the piston first descends on the intake stroke. An ignitable mixture of gasoline vapour and air is drawn into the cylinder by the partial vacuum thus created. The mixture is compressed as the piston ascends on the compression stroke with both valves closed. As the end of the stroke is approached, the charge is ignited by an electric spark. The power stroke follows, with both valves still closed and the gas pressure, due to the expansion of the burned gas, pressing on the piston head or crown. During the exhaust stroke the ascending piston forces the spent products of combustion through the open exhaust valve. The cycle then repeats itself. Each cycle thus requires four strokes of the pistonintake, compression, power, and exhaustand two revolutions of the crankshaft. A disadvantage of the four-stroke cycle is that only half as many power strokes are completed as in the two-stroke cycle and only half as much power can be expected from an engine of a given size at a given operating speed. The four-stroke cycle, however, provides more positive clearing out of exhaust gases (scavenging) and reloading of the cylinders, reducing the loss of fresh charge to the exhaust. III

Working of a petrol engine

Generally the vehicles using petrol/gasoline engine have four strokes as they are more efficient than two stroke engine and give complete combustion of fuel to optimum use. The four-stroke cycle engine has four strokes namely suction, compression, power, and exhaust strokes. a) Suction or intake stroke: Initially when engine is started piston moves downwards towards bottom of the cylinder which creates low pressure at top. Due to this intake valve opens and the fuel mixture containing petrol vapors and air are sucked in by the cylinder. Carburetor now decides in what ratio gasoline/petrol and air should be mixed. b) The compression stroke: After this the inlet valve gets closed. The piston now moves towards the top of cylinder and compresses the fuel mixture to one tenth of its initial volume. The temperature and pressure inside the cylinder increases due to compression caused. c) The power stroke: During this stroke the inlet and exhaust valve remains closed. As the piston reaches near top position spark plug produces an electric spark. Combustion is started by an ignition system that fires a high voltage spark through a field replaceable air gap called a sparkplug. The spark produced causes explosion of fuel. The hot gases expand and force the piston to move downwards. The piston is linked to the piston rod and the piston rod to the crank shaft. They all move each other due to the link between them. The crank shaft is connected to the wheels of a car. As the crank shaft movess, the wheels rotate and move the car. d) The exhaust stroke: In this stroke the exhaust valve remains open at the start. The piston is forced to move upwards because of the momentum gained. This forces gases to move through the exhaust valve into the atmosphere. Now the exhaust valve closes and the intake valve opens. After this the four strokes of the engine are repeated again and again

IV

FUEL
Gasoline was originally considered dangerous and was discarded and destroyed at early refineries, which were manufacturing kerosene for lamps. As the gasoline engine developed, gasoline and the engine were harmonized to attain the best possible matching of characteristics. The most important properties of gasoline are its volatility and antiknock quality. Volatility is a measure of the ease of vaporization of gasoline, which is adjusted in the production process to account for seasonal and altitude variations in the local market. Properly formulated gasoline helps engines to start in cold weather and to avoid vapor lock in hot weather. To suit the needs of a modern engine, a gasoline must have the volatility for which the fuel system of the engine was designed and an antiknock quality sufficient to avoid knock under normal operation. Although other specifications must also be met, volatility and knock rating are the most important. The size and structural arrangement of the molecules principally determine the knocking tendency of a gasoline as well as its volatility. Tetraethyl lead, added to gasoline for many years to improve antiknock fueling, has been found to contaminate the exhaust gases with poisonous lead oxides, and so the practice has ended. Lower compression ratios* and improved combustionchamber designs have eliminated the need for extremely high-antiknock gasoline. Lubricating oil is added to gasoline used in crankcase-compression twostroke-cycle engines.

Chemistry

Octane, a hydrocarbon found in petroleum, lines are single bonds, black spheres are carbon, white spheres are hydrogen Petroleum is a mixture of a very large number of different hydrocarbons; the most commonly found molecules are alkenes (linear or branched), cycloalkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, or more complicated chemicals like asphaltenes. Each petroleum variety has a unique mix of molecules, which define its physical and chemical properties, like color and viscosity. The alkanes, also known as paraffins, are saturated hydrocarbons with straight or branched chains which contain only carbon and hydrogen and have the general formula CnH2n+2 They generally have from 5 to 40 carbon atoms per molecule, although trace amounts of shorter or longer molecules may be present in the mixture. The alkanes from pentane (C5H12) to octane (C8H18) are refined into gasoline (petrol), the ones from nonane (C9H20) to hexadecane (C16H34) into diesel fuel and kerosene (primary component of many types of jet fuel), and the ones from hexadecane upwards into fuel oil and lubricating oil. At the heavier end of the range, paraffin wax is an alkane with approximately 25 carbon atoms, while asphalt has 35 and up, although these are usually cracked by modern refineries into more valuable products. The shortest molecules, those with four or fewer carbon atoms, are in a gaseous state at room temperature. They are the petroleum gases. Depending on demand and the cost of recovery, these gases are either flared off, sold as liquified petroleum gas under pressure, or used to power the refinery's own burners. During the winter, Butane (C4H10), is blended into the gasoline pool at high rates, because butane's high vapor pressure assists with cold starts. Liquified under pressure slightly above atmospheric, it is best known for powering cigarette lighters, but it is also a main fuel source for many developing countries. Propane can be liquified under modest pressure, and is consumed for just about every application relying on petroleum for energy, from cooking to heating to transportation. The cycloalkanes, also known as naphthenes, are saturated hydrocarbons which have one or more carbon rings to which hydrogen atoms are attached according to the formula CnH2n. Cycloalkanes have similar properties to alkanes but have higher boiling points. The aromatic hydrocarbons are unsaturated hydrocarbons which have one or more planar six-carbon rings called benzene rings, to which hydrogen atoms are attached with the formula CnHn. They tend to burn with a sooty flame, and many have a sweet aroma. Some are carcinogenic. VI

These different molecules are separated by fractional distillation at an oil refinery to produce gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, and other hydrocarbons. For example 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (isooctane), widely used in gasoline, has a chemical formula of C8H18 and it reacts with oxygen exothermically:

The amount of various molecules in an oil sample can be determined in laboratory. The molecules are typically extracted in a solvent, then separated in a gas chromatograph, and finally determined with a suitable detector, such as a flame ionization detector or a mass spectrometer. Incomplete combustion of petroleum or gasoline results in production of toxic byproducts. Too little oxygen results in carbon monoxide. Due to the high temperatures and high pressures involved, exhaust gases from gasoline combustion in car engines usually include nitrogen oxides which are responsible for creation of photochemical smog.

VII

KNOCKING IN PETROL ENGINE

Knocking (also called knock, detonation, spark knock or pinging) in sparkignition internal combustion engines occurs when combustion of the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder starts off correctly in response to ignition by the spark plug, but one or more pockets of air/fuel mixture explode outside the envelope of the normal combustion front. The fuel-air charge is meant to be ignited by the spark plug only, and at a precise time in the piston's stroke cycle. The peak of the combustion process no longer occurs at the optimum moment for the four-stroke cycle. The shock wave creates the characteristic metallic "pinging" sound, and cylinder pressure increases dramatically. Effects of engine knocking range from inconsequential to completely destructive. It should not be confused with pre-ignition (or preignition), as they are two separate events.

Normal combustion
Under ideal conditions the common internal combustion engine burns the fuel/air mixture in the cylinder in an orderly and controlled fashion. The combustion is started by the spark plug some 10 to 40 crankshaft degrees prior to top dead center (TDC), depending on many factors including engine speed and load. This ignition advance allows time for the combustion process to develop peak pressure at the ideal time for maximum recovery of work from the expanding gases. The spark across the spark plug's electrodes forms a small kernel of flame approximately the size of the spark plug gap. As it grows in size its heat output increases allowing it to grow at an accelerating rate, expanding rapidly through the combustion chamber. This growth is due to the travel of the flame front through the combustible fuel air mix itself and due to turbulence rapidly stretching the burning zone into a complex of fingers of burning gas that have a much greater surface area than a simple spherical ball of flame would have. In normal combustion, this flame front moves throughout the fuel/air mixture at a rate characteristic for the fuel/air mixture. Pressure rises smoothly to a peak, as nearly all the available fuel is consumed, then pressure falls as the piston descends. Maximum cylinder pressure is achieved a few crankshaft degrees after the piston passes TDC, so that the increasing pressure can give the piston a hard push when its speed and mechanical advantage on the crank shaft gives the best recovery of force from the expanding gases.

VIII

Abnormal combustion
When unburned fuel/air mixture beyond the boundary of the flame front is subjected to a combination of heat and pressure for a certain duration (beyond the delay period of the fuel used), detonation may occur. Detonation is characterized by an instantaneous, explosive ignition of at least one pocket of fuel/air mixture outside of the flame front. A local shockwave is created around each pocket and the cylinder pressure may rise sharply beyond its design limits. If detonation is allowed to persist under extreme conditions or over many engine cycles, engine parts can be damaged or destroyed. The simplest deleterious effects are typically particle wear caused by moderate knocking, which may further ensue through the engine's oil system and cause wear on other parts before being trapped by the oil filter. Severe knocking can lead to catastrophic failure in the form of physical holes punched through the piston or head (i.e., rupture of the combustion chamber), either of which depressurizes the affected cylinder and introduces large metal fragments, fuel, and combustion products into the oil system. Hypereutectic pistons are known to break easily from such shock waves. Detonation can be prevented by any or all of the following techniques: the use of a fuel with high octane rating, which increases the combustion temperature of the fuel and reduces the proclivity to detonate; enriching the fuel/air ratio, which adds extra fuel to the mixture and increases the cooling effect when the fuel vaporizes in the cylinder; reducing peak cylinder pressure by increasing the engine revolutions (e.g., shifting to a lower gear, there is also evidence that knock occurs easier at low rpm than high regardless of other factors); increasing mixture turbulence or swirl by increasing engine revolutions or by increasing "squish" turbulence from the combustion chamber design; decreasing the manifold pressure by reducing the throttle opening; or reducing the load on the engine. Because pressure and temperature are strongly linked, knock can also be attenuated by controlling peak combustion chamber temperatures by compression ratio reduction, exhaust gas recirculation, appropriate calibration of the engine's ignition timing schedule, and careful design of the engine's combustion chambers and cooling system as well as controlling the initial air intake temp. Knock is less common in cold climates. As an aftermarket solution, a water injection system can be employed to reduce combustion chamber peak temperatures and thus suppress detonation. Interestingly the addition of certain materials such as lead and thallium will suppress detonation extremely well when certain fuels are used. The addition of tetraethllead (TEL) a soluble salt added to gasoline was common until it was discontinued for reasons of toxic pollution. Lead dust added to the intake charge will also reduce knock with various hydrocarbon fuels. Manganese compounds are also used to reduce knock with petrol fuel. Steam (water vapor) will suppress knock even though no added cooling is supplied. Certain chemical changes must first occur for knock to happen, hence fuels with certain structures tend to knock easier than others. Branched chain paraffins tend to resist knock while straight chain paraffins knock easily. It has been theorized that lead, steam, and the like interfere with some of the various oxidative changes that occur during combustion and hence the reduction in knock. Turbulence as stated has a very important effect on knock. Engines with good turbulence tend to knock less than engines with poor turbulence. Turbulence occurs not only while the engine is inhaling but also when the mixture is compressed and burned. During compression/expansion "squish" turbulence is used to violently mix the air/fuel together as it is ignited and IX

burned which reduces knock greatly by speeding up burning and cooling the unburnt mixture. One excellent example of this is all modern side valve or flathead engines. A considerable portion of the head space is made to come in close proximity of the piston crown, making for much turbulence near T.D.C. in the early days of side valve heads this was not done and a much lower comp ratio had to be used for any given fuel. Also such engines were sensitive to ignition advance and had less power of course. Knocking is more or less unavoidable in diesel engines, where fuel is injected into highly compressed air towards the end of the compression stroke. There is a short lag between the fuel being injected and combustion starting. By this time there is already a quantity of fuel in the combustion chamber which will ignite first in areas of greater oxygen density prior to the combustion of the complete charge. This sudden increase in pressure and temperature causes the distinctive diesel 'knock' or 'clatter', some of which must be allowed for in the engine design. Careful design of the injector pump, fuel injector, combustion chamber, piston crown and cylinder head can reduce knocking greatly, and modern engines using electronic common rail injection have very low levels of knock. Engines using indirect injection generally have lower levels of knock than direct injection engine, due to the greater dispersal of oxygen in the combustion chamber and lower injection pressures providing a more complete mixing of fuel and air. Diesels actually don't suffer the exact same "knock" as gas engines since the cause is known to be only the very fast rate of pressure rise, not unstable combustion. Diesel fuels are actually very prone to knock in gas engines but in the diesel there is no time for knock to occur as the fuel is only oxidized during the expansion cycle. In the gas engine the fuel is slowly oxidizing all the while it is being compressed before the spark. This allows for changes to occur in the structure/makeup of the molecules before the very critical period of high temp/pressure. An unconventional engine that makes use of detonation to improve efficiency and decrease pollutants is the Bourke engine.

Pre-ignition
Pre-ignition (or preignition) in a spark-ignition engine is a technically different phenomenon from engine knocking, and describes the event wherein the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder ignites before the spark plug fires. Pre-ignition is initiated by an ignition source other than the spark, such as hot spots in the combustion chamber, a spark plug that runs too hot for the application, or carbonaceous deposits in the combustion chamber heated to incandescence by previous engine combustion events. The phenomenon is also referred to as after-run, or run-on when it causes the engine to carry on running after the ignition is shut off, or sometimes dieseling. This effect is more readily achieved on carbureted gasoline engines, as the fuel supply to the carburetor is typically regulated by a passive mechanical float valve and fuel delivery can feasibly continue until fuel line pressure has been relieved, provided the fuel can be somehow drawn past the throttle plate. The occurrence is rare in modern engines with throttle-body or electronic fuel injection, as the injectors will not be permitted to continue delivering fuel after the engine is shut off, and any occurrence may indicate the presence of a leaking (failed) injector. In the case of highly supercharged or high compression multi-cylinder engines particularly ones that use methanol (or other fuels prone to preignition) preignition can quickly melt or burn pistons since the power generated by other still functioning pistons will force the overheated ones along no matter how early the mix preignites. Many engines have suffered such failure where improper fuel delivery is present. Often one injector may clog while the others carry on normally allowing mild detonation in one cylinder that leads to serious detonation, then preignition. Preignition and engine knock both sharply increase combustion chamber temperatures. Consequently, either effect increases the likelihood of the other effect occurring, and both can produce similar effects from the operator's perspective, such as rough engine operation or loss of performance due to operational intervention by a powertrain-management computer. For reasons like these, a person not familiarized with the distinction might describe one by the name of the other. Given proper combustion chamber design, preignition can generally be eliminated by proper spark plug selection, proper fuel/air mixture adjustment, and periodic cleaning of the combustion chambers.

*COMPRESSION RATIO
Compression ratio in an internal-combustion engine, is the degree to which the fuel mixture is compressed before ignition. It is defined as the maximum volume of the combustion chamber (with the piston farthest out, or bottom dead centre) divided by the volume with the piston in the full-compression position (with the piston nearest the head of the cylinder, or top dead centre). A compression ratio of six means that the mixture is compressed to one-sixth its original volume by the action ofthe piston in the cylinder. The maximum possible ratio based on cylinder dimensions may not be achieved if the intake valve closes after the piston begins its compression stroke, as this would cause backflow of the combustible mixture from the cylinder. A high ratio promotes efficiency but may cause engine knock. XI

Comparison engines

with

other

When the gasoline engine is compared with other types of internal-combustion engines, certain similarities and differences, as well as some advantages and disadvantages, become apparent. The diesel engine and the gas engine (an engine utilizing a gas such as compressed natural gas or propane as the fuel) have a good deal in common with the gasoline engine, since they are all cylinder-and-piston engines that burn air-fuel mixtures in contact with moving components. The important difference that distinguishes the diesel engine is that it has no spark-ignition system. Compared with agasoline engine of the same horsepower, the diesel engine is heavier and more expensive, but it has a longer life and operates at less cost per horsepowerhour because it burns less fuel. The gas engine has much in common with the gasoline engine; in fact, in some instances their differences are very slight at best. Structurally, the difference lies primarily in the substitution of a gas-mixing valve for a carburetor. The cylinder and piston configurations are the same. In general, gases have better antiknock qualities than gasoline, permitting slightly higher compression ratios without knock or other combustion difficulties. From the standpoint of application, the gas engine burning natural gas, manufactured gas, or industrial by-product gas is limited primarily to stationary power plant use because it must remain connected to the gas pipeline. If, however, the fuel is liquefied petroleum gas, sometimes called bottled gas, the containers of gas can be carried in a vehicle.

XII

Differences Between Petrol and Diesel Engines

The most distinguishing feature of the diesel engine is that it uses compression ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber during the final stage of compression. In a diesel engine, fuel is injected at high pressure into the hot, compressed air in the cylinder, which causes it to burn and no spark is required for this. Thus, compression ignition" is done rather than "spark ignition". The petrol engine is known as a spark ignition engine. The Petrol engine uses the Otto cycle in which a fuel/air mixture is ignited by a spark plug. The air and fuel mixture when ignited by a spark burns and thereby expands to force the piston down. In case of a petrol engine, fuel and air are pre-mixed usually before compression. Earlier the pre-mixing used to be done in a carburetor but now (except in the smallest engines) electronically-controlled fuel injection is used for this. The pre-mixing of fuel and air makes a petrol engine to run at a much higher speed than a diesel. However, it severely limits their compression, and thus efficiency. Diesel engines offer better fuel efficiency when compared to petrol due to the fact that they have higher compression ratio. Another advantage is that, a diesel engine can be more easily turbocharged than a petrol engine because of the fact that if the compression ratio and the pressure in the cylinder are high during the inlet stroke, the mixture starts to burn to soon, while the piston is on its way up. The diesel engine has no fuel in the cylinder and thus allows the turbocharger to suck as much air as it can without creating any problem. The higher compression ratio is helpful in raising fuel efficiency. Diesel engines are much more efficient than petrol engines when at low power and at engine idle. Diesel engines, unlike the petrol engine, lack a butterfly valve (throttle) in the inlet system, which closes at idle. This creates parasitic loss and destruction of availability of the incoming air, reducing the efficiency of petrol/gasoline engines at idle. This mechanism makes the diesel engine an attractive choice for many. Diesel engines are left idle for many hours or sometimes days in many applications, such as marine, agriculture, and railways. The engines are more efficient when compared to petrol engines of the same power. They consume significantly lower fuel and offer better mileage. A diesel engine can relatively last longer, due to the fact that petrol destroys lubrication and diesel doesnt. While all the above support diesel engines, a major advantage of petrol engines is that they are relatively lighter than diesel engines. Engine weight is an important factor which affects speed and performance of a car. This is one of the reasons why some of the fastest cars in the world run on petrol. It should be noted that even though diesel engines are heavier and make the automobile heavy, they have more torque.

XIII

Engines and Emissions

Diesel engines consume around 30% less fuel than petrol engines and this result in much lesser carbon dioxide emissions. The diesel engines produce virtually no carbon monoxide and are much safer than petrol engines. Tests done on car emissions reveal that while Nitrogen Oxides are higher in a new diesel engine when compared to a new petrol engine. But by the time they cover 50,000 miles or so, they are the same and after that the petrol engine produces more Oxides than the diesel engine. Hydrocarbon emissions contained in petrol engine emissions are considerably more than that in diesel engine emissions. However, diesel is certainly more dangerous from the point of view of Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM). SPM refers to solid particles suspended in open air, such as soot generated by combustion of various fuels. They might cause respiratory problems because of their tendency to deposit themselves in the lungs. Though much has been done to improve the fuel efficiency and reduce emissions from the petrol engine, still more needs to be done. In India, diesel is much cheaper than petrol. Ironically, diesel cars are more expensive than petrol cars.

XIV