SAE TECHNICAL

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2000011081

A Review of Investigations Using the Second Law

of Thermodynamics to Study InternalCombustion Engines
Jerald A. Caton
Texas A&M University

Reprinted From: SI Combustion

(SP1517)

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2000011081

A Review of Investigations Using the Second Law of

Thermodynamics to Study Internal-Combustion Engines
Jerald A. Caton
Texas A&M University
Copyright 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

ABSTRACT

significant findings. The next subsections will review the

concept of availability, and provide basic analytical
results. This will be followed by major sections on
previous work, example results, and summary.

Investigations that have used the second law of

thermodynamics to study internal-combustion engines in
a detailed manner date back to the late 1950s. Over two
dozen previous investigations which have used the
second law of thermodynamics or availability analyses
were identified. About two-thirds of these have been
completed for diesel engines, and the other one-third
have been completed for spark-ignition engines. The
majority of these investigations have been completed
since the 1980s. A brief description of each of these
investigations is provided.

AVAILABILITY Related to the analysis based on the

second law of thermodynamics is the concept of
availability which is also known as essergy (essence of
energy) and exergy [14]. Availability, a thermodynamic
property of a system and its surroundings, is a measure
of the maximum useful work that a given system may
attain as the system is allowed to reversibly transition to a
thermodynamic state which is in equilibrium with its
environment. One key aspect of availability is the fact that
a portion of a given amount of energy is available to
produce useful work, while the remaining portion of the
original energy is unavailable for producing useful work.

In addition, representative results are presented for both

compression-ignition (diesel) and spark-ignition engines
to illustrate the type of information obtained by the use of
second law analyses. Both instantaneous values for the
engine availability, and the overall values for energy and
availability are described.

In general, the processes of interest are the thermal,

mechanical and chemical processes. An example of the
thermal aspect of availability is a case where the system
temperature is above the environmental temperature. By
utilizing an ideal heat engine (such as a Carnot engine),
the availability from the system could be converted to
work until the system temperature equaled the
environmental temperature (the remaining energy is,
therefore, the unavailable portion of the energy). An
example of the mechanical aspect of availability is a
system which is at a pressure above the environment. By
utilizing an ideal expansion device (such as an ideal
turbine), the energy of the system could be converted to
work until the system pressure equaled the
environmental pressure.

INTRODUCTION
Reports on the detailed use of the second law of
thermodynamics to study internal combustion engines
have been published for over 40 years. While the use of a
second law analysis is not necessary for general
performance computations, the insight provided by a
second law analysis is invaluable in understanding the
details of the overall thermodynamics of engine
operation.
The second law of thermodynamics is a rich and powerful
statement of related physical observations that has a
wide range of implications with respect to engineering
design and operation of thermal systems. For example,
the second law can be used to determine the direction of
processes, to establish the conditions of equilibrium, to
specify the maximum possible performance of thermal
systems, and to identify those aspects of processes that
are detrimental to overall performance.

A final consideration is the chemical aspect1 of

availability. This aspect considers the potential to
complete work by exploiting the concentration differences
of the various species relative to the related
concentrations in the environment. The consideration of
1. The chemical aspect of availability by convention refers to
the concentration differences between the species in the
system and in the environment [810]. In contrast, the
(chemical) fuel energy is included in the availability terms
since the total (chemical and sensible) energy is used for
the internal energy and for the enthalpy.

The objective of the current work was to provide a

comprehensive listing and description of all the known
work in this area, and to compare and contrast the more
1

the species concentration component of availability is

often neglected (particularly when considering mobile
engine applications) due to the practical difficulties of
implementing such a system and the relatively small
amounts of work produced [4, 5].

A = Aend Astart
A = Ain Aout + AQ AW Adest

where A is the change of the total system availability for

a process, Aend is the total availability at the end of the
period, Astart is the total availability at the start of the
period, Ain is the total availability transferred into the
system accompanying flow into the system, Aout is the
availability transferred out of the system accompanying
flow out of the system, AQ is the availability transferred
accompanying the heat transfer, AW is the availability
transfer due to work, and Adest is the availability which is
destroyed by irreversible processes. This relation may be
used to ascertain the destruction of availability by solving
eq. 4 to find Adest. That is,

DETERMINATION
OF
AVAILABILITY

The
determination of availability is based on the values of
other thermodynamic properties. In this development, the
kinetic and potential energies are neglected (and can be
shown to be negligible). Since the overall engine
operation includes both closed system and open system
portions, two forms of availability are needed. At all times,
for the complete system:
a = (u u o ) ( p o (v v o )) To ( s so )

(1)

where a is the
specific availability (or exergy), u is the specific internal
energy, uo, vo and so are the specific internal energy,
specific volume and specific entropy for the dead state1,
respectively, po and To are the pressure and temperature
of the dead state, respectively, v is the specific volume,
and s is the specific entropy. The dead state is defined as
the conditions of the environment at a temperature of To
and a pressure of po. The term, po(vvo), represents
the work completed against the atmosphere at po and
hence is not useful.

Adest = Astart Aend + Ain Aout + AQ AW

AW = W

(6)

For heat transfer, the availability which is transferred out

of the system is equal to the available portion of the
heat transfer:

T
AQ = 1 o Q
T

(7)

where AQ is the available portion of the heat transfer, Q

is the differential heat transfer which is transferred at a
system (boundary) temperature of T. The availability that
transfers into the system (Ain) and out of the system
(Aout) due to flows are given as follows:

(2)

where h is the specific enthalpy, ho and so are the

specific enthalpy and specific entropy of the dead state,
respectively, and s is the specific entropy of the flowing
matter. For flows out of the system, the flowing matter is
the cylinder contents, and for flows into the system, the
flowing matter must be specified.

Ai =

With the above relations (eqs. 1 and 2) and a

specification of the reference (or dead) state, the
availability of the cylinder contents may be determined
throughout the cycle. The total availability is obtained by
A = ma

(5)

For work interactions, the availability is equal to the

amount of the work:

For the flow periods (open system), the flow availability

(or exergy for flows), af , is given by:
a f = ( h ho ) To ( s s o )

(4)

(m a )dt
i

f ,i

(8)

where the subscript i refers to each individual flow (for

this study, intake or exhaust).
The fuel availability of the fuel is needed. this is found
from standard relationships, and is often only a few
percent higher than the lower heating value of the fuel [4].

(3)

ANALYTICAL RESULTS In this sub-section, results are

presented which illustrate the general characteristics of
availability. These results are general, and not
necessarily related only to engines. First, the portion of
energy that is available to do work is described. Second,
the amount of available energy that is destroyed due to a
heat transfer process from a high temperature to a lower
temperature is presented. Finally, the amount of available
energy which is lost due to combustion processes is
described.

where m is the system mass and a is the specific

availability.
Availability is not a conserved property, but in fact, may
be destroyed by irreversible processes such as heat
transfer through a finite temperature difference,
combustion, friction, and mixing processes. Between any
end states, therefore, the change in the availability may
be related to the relevant processes:

Only a certain portion of a given amount of energy can be

converted to work. The maximum portion would be
obtained if the original energy was used in a Carnot heat
engine:

1. This is actually a restricted dead state since composition

equilibrium with the environment is not considered [1].

Wmax

T
= Qtotal 1 o
T
gas

above. Another irreversible process is combustion.

During combustion, the fuel availability is converted from
a chemical form to a thermal form, and in the process the
potential to do work is reduced. In the following few
paragraphs, the destruction of availability by heat transfer
and by combustion are examined.

(9)

where Wmax is the maximum work that could be

obtained from the original energy, Qtotal is the total
original energy, To is the environment temperature, and
Tgas is the constant temperature of the original energy.
Therefore, the percentage which is available is

AQ
Wmax
T
=
= 1 o
Qtotal Qtotal Tgas

For heat transfer processes across finite temperature

differences, a portion of the availability is destroyed. This
is due to the fact that at the higher gas temperature a
greater portion of the energy is available to produce work.
Once the energy is deposited at the wall at a lower
temperature, the energys capability to produce work is
diminished. This may be determined from the following

(10)

Figure 1 shows the percentage of the energy which is

available (or unavailable) as a function of gas
temperature for an environment temperature of 300 K. As
shown, the percentage of available energy increases as
the gas temperature increases. Conversely, for low
temperatures, a smaller percentage of the original energy
is available to produce work. Energy at the ambient
temperature (300 K for these results) has no potential to
do work, and hence, the available energy is 0% of the
original energy. On the other hand, energy at 3500 K is
over 91% available.

T
Awall = Qtotal 1 o
Twall

(11)

(12)

110
Tw = 300 K

100

100

90
DESTROYED AVAILABILITY (%)

UNAVAILABLE ENERGY

90
80

AVAILABLE ENERGY (%)

T
Agas = Qtotal 1 o

Tgas

70
60
50
AVAILABLE ENERGY

40

80
70
Tw = 450 K

60
50
Tw = 600 K

40
30
20

30

10

To = 300 K

20

0
1000

10

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Figure 2.

3500

GAS TEMPERATURE (K)

Figure 1.

2000

2500

3000

GAS TEMPERATURE (K)

To = 300 K

0
500

1500

Percentage of the energy which is available

(and unavailable) as a function of gas
temperature for an environment temperature
of 300 K.

Percentage of the availability which is

destroyed during the heat transfer process
from the gas temperature to the wall
temperature for an environment temperature
of 300 K.

where Agas and Awall are the available energy of the gas
and wall, respectively, and Tgas and Twall are the
temperatures of the gas and wall, respectively. The
percentage of the availability destroyed due to the heat
transfer process is

As mentioned above, available energy may be used to

produce useful work, may be transferred via heat transfer
or mass flows, and may be destroyed by irreversible
processes. One such irreversible process is the heat
transfer across finite temperature differences described
3

A
Adest Agas Awall
=
= 1 wall

Agas
Agas
Agas

Finally, this sub-section will end with comments on

another process which destroys available energy,
combustion. The chemical energy of the fuel represents
the potential to yield a maximum amount of work
(available energy). As this energy is converted to thermal
energy at a specific temperature, some portion of that
available energy is destroyed. Caton [6] has presented
results from an analytical study which examined
combustion processes in a constant volume, adiabatic
system. This system was selected to isolate the
combustion destruction of available energy from the other
processes. Results were obtained for a variety of
conditions for octane and air mixtures. As an example,
figure 3 shows the destroyed availability as a percentage
of the original available energy as a function of the
maximum (adiabatic flame) temperature for an
equivalence ratio of 1.0 for an initial reactant pressure of
500 kPa. This pressure, 500 kPa, is representative of the
pressure at the start of combustion for a range of internal
combustion engines [4]. This range of maximum
temperatures was obtained by varying the initial
temperature from 500 to 2500 K.

(13)

Combining eqs. 11, 12 and 13 yields

Adest
Agas

T
1 o
Twall

= 1
T
1 o

Tgas

(14)

Figure 2 shows the percentage of the availability which is

destroyed due to the heat transfer process from the gas
temperature to the wall temperature for an environment
temperature of 300 K. First, for the case with a wall
temperature of 300 K, 100% of the availability is
destroyed since all the energy is at the environment
temperature and can not produce work. For the other two
cases (wall temperatures of 450 and 600 K), the
percentage destroyed increases with gas temperature.
This is because the availability at the wall temperature
remains the same, but the initial availability of the gas is
higher for the higher temperatures. Therefore, more
availability is destroyed for higher gas temperatures. In
other words, the larger the temperature difference, the
larger the destruction of availability. Finally, for the higher
wall temperatures, the percentage destroyed decreases
since the higher wall temperatures retain more of the
original availability.
Constant Volume,
Adiabatic Combustion
pR = 500 kPa

20

In general, these results suggest that as the combustion

temperature increases, the destruction of availability
decreases. For the assumptions of this study, however,
the destruction of availability does not attain zero even for
unrealistically high temperatures. In any case, these high
temperatures and pressures are beyond the practical
limits of todays designs and materials for combustion
devices.

= 1.0
Octane-air

18
DESTROYED AVAILABILITY (%)

The results in figure 3 show that the percentage of the

total reactant availability destroyed by combustion
decreases monotonically from about 20 to 7.5% as the
maximum temperature increases from about 2800 to
3400 K for these conditions. In other words, the
destruction of the original availability decreases as the
temperature of the combustion process increases. This
result was shown to be a direct consequence of the
characteristics of the specific availability as a function of
temperature [6].

16

Although higher gas temperatures may minimize the

destruction of available energy by combustion [5, 6],
these higher temperatures may lead to other losses of
available energy in practical (actual) engineering
systems. In particular, the higher temperatures may
result in higher heat transfer which will remove the
available energy. Also, if not utilized, the higher
availability will be expelled with the exhaust gases.
Another consideration would be the potential for higher
nitric oxide (NO) formation rates at these higher
temperatures.

14

12

10

8
2800

3000

3200

In summary, the above analytical results are intended to

illustrate the general characteristics of availability
analyses. Specifically, the above discussion has shown
that energy has an available and an unavailable portion.
Also, two modes of availability destruction, due to heat
transfer, and combustion, were described.

3400

MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE (K)

Figure 3.

Percentage of the availability destroyed by the

combustion process for a constant volume,
adiabatic system (adapted from Caton [6]).
4

PREVIOUS STUDIES

gaseous species such as carbon monoxide (CO) and

hydrogen (H2). The dissociated products then have the
potential to be used as a much leaner reactant mixture
thus improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. In
the course of this study, they completed an availability
analysis which used a simple adiabatic, air-standard
analysis with an instantaneous heat release for the
combustion process, but with equilibrium products. They
reported availability as a function of equivalence ratio,
and showed the various transfers and destruction of the
fuel availability.

Over two dozen previous studies employing the second

law of thermodynamics or availability analyses with
respect to internal combustion engines were identified.
The majority of these have been completed for diesel
engines. The following is a chronological presentation of
descriptions of these studies. This presentation is divided
into two subsections: (1) early work (19571989), and (2)
recent work (19902000).
EARLY WORK: 1957 to 1989 One of the earliest
documented studies was a brief report presented by
Traupel [7] in 1957. Although there were few details, he
apparently completed calculations to determine the
availability values based on measurements of the
principal energy terms. He compared a naturally
aspirated diesel engine and a turbocharged diesel
engine. He stated that the combustion process
accounted for a destruction of about 22.5% and 21.9% of
the fuels availability for natural aspirated and
turbocharged diesel engines, respectively. He also
reported on the losses related to cooling, exhaust,
mechanical, and aerodynamic processes.

Beginning in the mid1980s, a number of more detailed

investigations were reported on the use of availability.
Perhaps the most notable contributions were from a
series of investigations by researchers at the Cummins
Engine Company. In 1984, the first of these was reported
by Flynn et al. [5]. They used a second law analysis to
study a turbocharged, intercooled diesel engine. The
engine for this study was a 14-liter, in-line six-cylinder,
diesel engine operating at 300 kW at 2100 rpm. In
particular, they used the second law analysis to evaluate
low heat rejection (LHR) engine concepts and secondary
heat recovery devices. Essentially they used a standard
thermodynamic cycle simulation to obtain the
thermodynamic states for a particular engine cycle. They
then determined entropy and availability values for these
state points, and completed availability balances for the
given engine cycle. They showed (for the engine cylinder)
that of the original fuel availability about 46% was
delivered as useful indicated work, 26% was destroyed,
10% was transferred as heat, and 18% was exhausted.

A pioneering work on this topic was reported by

Patterson and van Wylen [8] in 1964. They described an
early version of a thermodynamic cycle simulation for
spark-ignition engines in which they included
determination of entropy values. With the entropy values,
they then determined availability for the compression and
expansion strokes. They isolated the availability
destruction associated with the heat transfer and
combustion processes. Some of the simplifications of this
early work included (1) idealized induction and exhaust
processes with instantaneous valve events occurring at
top dead and bottom dead center, (2) the induction,
compression, and exhaust processes were assumed
adiabatic, and (3) the cylinder pressure during the
induction and exhaust processes was assumed constant
and specified. They summarized their findings by stating
that of the availability at the beginning of the compression
process, 1/3 was delivered as work, 1/3 was lost due to
the combustion and heat transfer processes, and 1/3 was
expelled.

They showed that, as expected, the work output per unit

of fuel increased as the equivalence ratio became leaner.
Also, as the equivalence ratio becomes leaner, the
destruction of availability becomes greater. The reason
that the work output increases anyway is that the
availability transfers due to heat transfer and exhaust flow
decrease much faster as equivalence ratio decreases.
The net result, therefore, is an increase in the work
output per unit of fuel for the leaner mixtures. This
observation has also been reported by others [4]. Further
details from this study [5] are presented in a subsequent
section of this paper.
Primus [11] reported on a second law analysis of exhaust
systems for a turbocharged, intercooled diesel engine.
This was a companion study to the one reported by Flynn
et al. [5]. Primus reported on the influence of the exhaust
manifold cross-sectional area upon a number of
characteristics such as frictional losses for a 14-liter
diesel engine operating at 1900 rpm with an air-fuel ratio
of 34.4. He was able to determine an optimum exhaust
manifold diameter which minimized the overall loses.

Clarke [9] examined the Otto, Joule and Atkinson airstandard cycles from the perspective of availability and
the associated availability destruction. He described the
possibilities of achieving higher thermal efficiencies by
recognizing the fundamental availability loss mechanisms
for internal combustion engines. Clarke stated that to
achieve minimum destruction of availability, the
combustion process should be under conditions of near
chemical equilibrium. He suggested strategies to achieve
minimum destruction of availability.

Primus et al. [12] described another study which was a

continuation of their earlier work (Flynn et al. [5] ). In this
study, they used the second law analysis to assess the
benefits of turbocharging, charge air cooling,
turbocompounding, the implementation of a bottoming
cycle, and the use of insulating techniques. The baseline

Edo and Foster [10] in 1984 reported on an availability

analysis for an engine which utilized dissociated
methanol. The use of dissociated methanol was
motivated by the potential to capture exhaust energy by
dissociating liquid methanol into more readily used
5

van Gerpen and Shapiro [15] also used a second law

analysis with a standard cycle simulation for a diesel
engine. In contrast to the previous investigations, this
work included the chemical component 1 of the
availability. Some simplifications of this work were (1) the
initial cylinder conditions at bottom dead center (BDC)
were assumed to be the ambient conditions with no
residual gases, and (2) only compression and expansion
strokes were considered (no flows were included). This
study [15] was based on a diesel engine and used a dead
state based on standard saturated air (with trace CO2,
H2O, and Ar) at 298.15 K and 101.35 kPa. They found
that the chemical contribution to the availability is highly
dependent on the equivalence ratio. For the case they
studied, they reported that for lean and stoichiometric
equivalence ratios the chemical availability was about
15% of the total availability. For rich cases, the availability
was shown to be as high as 90% of the total availability
for an especially rich equivalence ratio of 2.0.

engine for this study was a 14-liter direct-injection,

natural aspirated, diesel engine rated at 185 kW at 2100
rpm. They showed that as the combustion becomes
leaner (excess air), the availability destruction increases
due to increased mixing and lower bulk gas
temperatures. This happens because the high
temperature products of combustion are mixed with the
excess air. For mixtures closer to or at stoichiometric, this
effect is minimized (less excess air, higher temperatures),
and hence, the conversion of chemical potential to work
is more effective. This finding explained the relative
merits of the various options they investigated since each
option would have a unique stoichiometry (amount of
excess air). For this reason, they found that for
turbocharging (with a higher AF ratio) relative to natural
aspiration (with a lower AF ratio) the combustion
destruction of availability was higher.
In 1985, Primus and Flynn [13] reported on a
continuation of their earlier work. The engine they used in
this study was an inline 10-liter, six-cylinder,
turbocharged and aftercooled, direct-injected diesel
engine. They conducted a detailed parametric study
which examined the effects of a number of engine
parameters on the various thermodynamic processes of
the engine operation. The parameters examined were
engine speed, load, peak cylinder pressure limit,
compression ratio, intake air temperature, injection timing
and apparent heat release rate shape. They presented
their results for the distribution of availability uses and
transfers in three forms: tables of the numerical values,
graphs of the absolute availability for each mode of
availability use or transfer, and graphs of the percentage
of the fuel availability for each mode of availability use or
transfer. As an example of their results, they
demonstrated that as the combustion duration is
shortened the combustion destruction of availability
decreases due to the increase in the cylinder pressures
and temperatures. Also, they showed that as the injection
timing is retarded, the combustion destruction of
availability increases due to the decrease in the cylinder
pressures and temperatures. They listed the percentage
of the availability destroyed by combustion as increasing
from 21.8 to 32.5% as load (equivalence ratio)
decreased.

The large contribution of the chemical component to the

availability for the rich cases was a direct result of the
relatively high concentrations of species such as H2 and
CO which possess significant amounts of chemical (fuel)
energy. In other words, for the rich cases, the presence of
CO and H2 and other such species have unused fuel
energy which means that the availability would be
dominated by the chemical component. At least to some
extent, the results for the rich cases are not unexpected.
From an energy perspective, for these rich cases, the
combustion inefficiency2 would be high. The
quantification of these losses by the availability analysis
is an alternative way to view these inefficiencies.
Alkidas [16, 17], in 1988 and 1989, reported on a study
which examined the application of a second law analysis
for a diesel engine. The engine he used was a 2.0-liter
single-cylinder, direct-injection, open-chamber, diesel
engine operated at 1200 and 1800 rpm with various
loads. This work was different than many of the other
investigations in two major ways. First, he defined the
thermodynamic system as outside the engine cylinder.
Second, he used experimental measurements of the
energy rejected to the coolant and lubricating oil, of the
brake work, and of the air and fuel flow rates. He then
calculated availability values from the thermodynamic
states based on the measured values.

Primus and Flynn [14] in 1986 reported on a further study

which continued their previous work. They focused on
itemizing the various loss mechanisms associated with a
10-liter, six-cylinder, turbocharged and aftercooled,
direct-injected diesel engine. They demonstrated how the
second law enhanced their understanding of the
thermodynamic processes. They studied in-cylinder and
out-of-cylinder processes: in-cylinder heat transfer,
combustion, exhaust, friction, turbine, exhaust valve,
compressor, aftercooler, intake valve, and exhaust
manifold heat transfer. They provided examples of
parametric variations of key engine parameters such as
intake manifold temperature, injection timing, and
exhaust manifold size.

Alkidas [16, 17] showed that the heat transfer was

responsible for the greatest availability transfer, and that
the combustion destruction of availability was the next
most important mechanism of availability removal. For
the cases he studied, the combustion destruction was
1. The chemical component, as mentioned earlier, refers to
the potential to do work due to the species concentrations
relative to the concentrations in the surroundings. This
does not refer to the chemical energy of the fuel.
2. Combustion inefficiency is defined as the ratio of the
chemical energy carried out of the engine (due primarily
to the presence of combustible species) and the chemical
energy of the fuel. [4].

ignition engine. As before, this study included chemical

availability considerations. Their work considered only
the compression and expansion strokes, and included no
consideration of intake or exhaust flows. They presented
the time-resolved values of the availability for cases with
different equivalence ratios, residual fractions, and burn
durations. They showed, for example, that the
combustion irreversibility increases with increasing burn
duration.

between 25 and 43% of the original fuel availability.

Alkidas stated that preheating the intake air decreases
the combustion irreversibilities due to the fact that the
combustion temperatures increased.
In the second paper [17], Alkidas also studied a low-heatrejection diesel engine. This engine used air-gapinsulated piston, liner, fire deck and exhaust port. The
engine was tested for 10 operating conditions at 1200
and 1800 rpm. Alkidas showed that the low-heatrejection engine more effectively utilized the fuels
availability largely due to the reduced heat losses and the
higher combustion temperatures.

RECENT WORK: 1990 to 2000 In 1991, Bozza et al.

[23] described a second law analysis of an indirectinjected, four-cylinder turbocharged, diesel engine. They
used experimental measurements to obtain information
for the heat release and flow expressions in their
simulation. As an example, one operating condition
studied was at 4500 rpm and an equivalence ratio of
0.56. They found that for steady-state operation the
percentage of the fuel availability destroyed by
combustion ranged between about 22 and 26%
depending on the values used for the ignition delay,
aspiration, turbocharger speed, and other parameters.
They also examined transient operation with particular
emphasis to the turbocharger performance.

McKinley and Primus [18] described an assessment of a

number of turbocharging systems from both a first law
and a second law perspective. They studied a 10-liter, inline six-cylinder, diesel engine operating at 224 kW at
2100 rpm. They examined variable geometry
turbocharging, wastegating, and resonant intake
systems. The baseline turbocharging system used fixed
geometry with no wastegate. Air-to-air aftercooling was
employed for all systems. In general, the results of the
second law analysis were dominated by the associated
changes in the air-fuel ratio used with each of the
turbocharging systems.

Gallo and Milanez [24] reported in 1992 on the use of a

cycle simulation to determine the instantaneous
irreversibilities, and other second law considerations for a
spark-ignition engine using ethanol and gasoline. They
focused on the combustion process and valve timings.
They examined the effects of ignition timing, duration of
combustion, combustion shape factor, and equivalence
ratio on second law efficiencies. They found that the use
of ethanol (at a compression ratio of 12 compared to a
compression ratio of 8 for gasoline) relative to gasoline
provided a more effective use of the fuel energy. Further,
the combustion irreversibilities were less with ethanol
than for gasoline.

Kumar et al. [19] reported on a second law analysis of a

single-cylinder, direct-injected, diesel engine using a
comprehensive simulation. This report included only
preliminary results for an operating condition of 2000 rpm
with an equivalence ratio of 0.7. For the one condition
examined, they reported that 16.1% of the fuel availability
was destroyed during the combustion process.
Lipkea and DeJoode [20] reported on the use of both
experimental and simulation results to assess the
performance of two direct-injection, 7.6-liter, six-cylinder,
heavy-duty, turbocharged, intercooled diesel engines
from a second law perspective. Details concerning this
engine are provided by Whiting et al. [21]. They included
chemical availability in their analysis. For the dead state,
they selected standard air at 101.34 kPa and 298.15 K
with trace amounts of H2O, CO2, and other species. One
objective of their work was to determine the effect of
major engine parameters on the fuel consumption. They
used an availability analysis to identify the sources of
irreversibilities and availability losses during the engine
cycle.

Al-Najem and Diab [25] presented a short technical note

which described brief results for turbocharged diesel
engine operated at 243 kW with an air-fuel ratio of 20.
They stated that about 50% of the fuel availability is
destroyed due to unaccounted factors such as
combustion, 15% is removed via exhaust and cooling
water, and about 1% is destroyed in the turbocharger.
Rakopoulos [26] in 1993 described a first and second law
analysis of a spark ignition engine using a cycle
simulation and experiment. The engine studied was a
variable compression Ricardo E-6 spark ignition engine.
The major parameters studied were the compression
ratio, fuel-air ratio, and ignition advance. The authors
model included the development of a spherical flame
front. Only the valve closed period was studied. The
author discusses possible ways for improving cycle
performance by reducing availability losses due to
combustion through improvements in combustion
chamber design, fuel-air mixing, and ignition processes.

Lipkea and DeJoode [20] completed an availability

analysis for each of the various engine components
(such as the turbocharger, intercooler, ports/manifolds,
and cylinder). They showed that the exhaust and the heat
transfer accounted for about 60% of the fuel energy, but
only about 20% of this energy could be used potentially
to produce additional work. About 40% of the fuel
availability was lost due to internal irreversibilities such as
combustion, friction, mixing and heat transfer.
Shapiro and van Gerpen [22] extended their earlier work
[15] to include a two-zone combustion model and applied
this model to both a compression-ignition and a spark-

Rakopoulos and Andritsakis [27] in 1993 presented

results for the irreversibility rates of two four-stroke cycle
7

Table 1.

diesel engines. The first engine was a high-speed, direct

injection (DI), naturally aspirated, single-cylinder, diesel
engine, and the second engine was a medium-speed,
indirect-injection (IDI), turbocharged six-cylinder diesel
engine. They used experimental information to determine
the fuel burning rate, and then used the second law of
thermodynamics to deduce the irreversibility rates for
each engine. They showed that the accumulated
irreversibility was proportional to the fuel burned fraction
for a wide range of engine loads, speeds, and injection
timings. For the DI engine, the destroyed availability was
between about 21 and 31% of the original fuel availability.
For the IDI engine, the destroyed availability (for the case
of both combustion chambers) was between about 24
and 29% of the original fuel availability. Also, for the IDI
engine, the irreversibility of the flow between the
prechamber and main chamber was identified.

Table 1.
Date

Traupel [7]

CI

Values based on
measurements; few
details

1964

Patterson
and van
Wylen [8]

SI

Compression and
expansion strokes;
simple treatment of
intake and exhaust

1976

Clarke [9]

SI/CI

Otto, Joule and

Atkinson air-standard
cycles

1984

Edo and
Foster [10]

Flynn et al.
[5]

SI=

CI

CI

Comprehensive model
of all processes;
focused on exhaust
system optimization

1984

Primus et al.
[12]

CI

Comprehensive model
of all processes

1985

Primus and
Flynn [13]

CI

Comprehensive model
of all processes

1986

Primus and
Flynn [14]

CI

Comprehensive model
of all processes

1987

van Gerpen
and Shapiro
[15]

CI

Compression and
expansion strokes; no
intake or exhaust
strokes; included
chemical availability

Alkidas [16,
17]

CI

Experimental
measurements of
energy terms;
calculated availability

1988

McKinley
and Primus
[18]

CI

Comprehensive model
of all processes;
evaluation of
turbocharging systems

1989

Kumar et al.
[19]

CI

Comprehensive model
of all processes
including manifold flow
dynamics; included
chemical availability;
only preliminary results

1989

Lipkea and
DeJoode
[20]

CI

Comprehensive model
of all processes;
included chemical
availability; included
experimental
measurements

1989

Shapiro and SI & CI

Compression and
van Gerpen
expansion strokes; no
[22]
intake or exhaust
strokes; included
chemical availability

(&
1989)

Comments

1957

1984

Primus [11]

1988

Summary of Previous Investigations (Part 1)

(1957 1989)
Investigators Engine
*

1984

(&
1990)

Rakopoulos et al. [28] in 1993 reported on the availability

accumulation and destruction in a high-speed, directinjection, naturally aspirated diesel engine. They
completed experiments to determine the fuel reaction
rates, and then computed the associated second law
quantities including the irreversibility production rate.
They limited their considerations to the valve closed
period. They completed this work for a range of speeds
and loads. They also studied limited cooling conditions to
determine the implications from a second law perspective
on improving efficiency. They considered the use of
exhaust heat recovery devices to utilize the extra
availability present in the exhaust gases for the limited
cooling cases.

Summary of Previous Investigations (Part 1)

(1957 1989)

*SI: spark ignition engine; CI: compression ignition

(diesel) engine.

Simple Otto airstandard cycle model

with equilibrium
products (no flows)

=SI engine using dissociated methanol.

Rakopoulos et al. [28] stated that their results indicated
that the irreversibilities decrease and the availability of
the exhaust gas increases with increasing fuel-air ratio
(or increasing equivalence ratio). On the other hand, they
reported that both the irreversibility and the availability of
the exhaust gas increased with engine speed, and
slightly decreased with increasing injection timing.

Comprehensive model
of all processes

Table 2. Table I. Summary of Previous Investigations

(Part 2)
(1990 2000)

Table 2. Table I. Summary of Previous Investigations

(Part 2)
(1990 2000)
Date

Investigators Engine
*

1991

Bozza et al.
[23]

CI

1998

Anderson et
al. [33]

SI

Comprehensive quasidimensional model of

all processes

1999,
2000

Caton [34
37]

SI

Comprehensive model
of all processes

Comments
Comprehensive model
of all processes;
included experimental
measurements

1992

Gallo and
Milanez [24]

SII

Comprehensive model
of all processes

1992

Al-Najem
and Diab
[25]

CI

Brief results for a

turbocharged diesel
engine

1993

Rakopoulos
[26]

SI

Compression and
expansion strokes; no
intake or exhaust
strokes; included
transient operation

1993

Rakopoulos
and
Andritsakis
[27]

CI

Calculated availability;
experimental
measurements of
energy terms;
considered only valve
closed period; related
combustion
irreversibility to fuel
reacted fraction

1993

Rakopoulos
et al. [28]

CI

Experimental
measurements of
energy terms;
calculated availability;
considered only valve
closed period

1997

Rakopoulos
and
Giakoumis
[29]

CI

Comprehensive model
of all processes;
included experimental
measurements

1997

Rakopoulos
and
Giakoumis
[30]

CI

Comprehensive model
of all processes;
included experimental
measurements;
included transient
operation

1997

Alasfour [31]

SI=

Experimental
measurements of
energy terms;
calculated availability

1997

Rakopoulos
and
Giakoumis
[32]

CI

Comprehensive model
of all processes;
included experimental
measurements;

*SI: spark ignition engine; CI: compression ignition

(diesel) engine.
=Used gasoline and a 30% butanol-gasoline blend.
IUsed ethanol and gasoline.
Completed for both a conventional cycle and a Miller
cycle.
Rakopoulos and Giakoumis [29] in 1997 reported on the
use of a computer analysis to assess the performance of
a turbo-charged, aftercooled, indirect-injected, sixcylinder marine-duty, diesel engine operated over a range
of engine speeds, loads and compression ratios. A
number of the engine sub-assemblies were studied.
These included the compressor, turbine, inlet and
exhaust systems, and in-cylinder processes. They
showed that the combustion irreversibilities decreased
with increasing compression ratio. This observation was
due to the fact that the equivalence ratio increased as
compression ratio increased due to the corresponding
decrease in the compressor pressure ratio.
Rakopoulos and Giakoumis [30] in 1997 reported on the
use of a computer analysis to study the energy and
exergy performance of an indirect-injection, naturallyaspirated diesel engine operating under steady-state and
transient conditions. The engine was a Ricardo E-6
research diesel engine with about a 21:1 compression
ratio. As an example of their transient results, they
considered an acceleration which started at 15% load at
1500 rpm and accelerated to 100% of full load at 1500
rpm in 0.2 seconds. They presented the engine response
to the imposed acceleration for speed, injected fuel,
engine and load torques, and maximum cylinder
pressures as a function of time (or engine cycles). They
reported that the combustion irreversibility decreased
during acceleration due to slightly higher fueling rates
associated with this transient event.
Alasfour [31] in 1997 described the results of an
availability analysis completed for a single cylinder,
spark-ignition fuel-injected Hydra engine using both
gasoline and a 30% butanol-gasoline blend. The majority
of this work was an experimental study during which he
obtained general engine performance results as a
function of equivalence ratio. Once he had obtained
engine performance, he was able to report the results in
terms of energy quantities: brake work, friction work, heat
transfer to the coolant, energy out the exhaust, and
unaccounted energy losses. He then used these results
to determine the related second law quantities. He found
9

the investigator(s), the type of engine (SI or CI), and

comments. In addition, appendix A contains two tables
which provide some additional details about the engines
used in the above studies.

for an equivalence ratio of 0.9 for the butanol-gasoline

blend that 49.4% of the fuels availability was not used to
produce useful work. In addition, he found that both the
first and second law efficiencies increased for lean
operation.

In summary, over two dozen previous studies have been

identified which have used the second law of
thermodynamics and the concept of availability to
examine engine operation in some detail. Most of these
studies have use some type of engine simulation,
although several based their results on measurements of
the principal energy terms. The majority of this previous
work has been completed for diesel engines. Although
most of the previous work has considered conventional
engines, at least four (4) studies included some nonconventional characteristics. These non-conventional
characteristics included the use of alternative fuels (such
as butanol, ethanol and methanol), and a Miller cycle
engine.

Rakopoulos and Giakoumis [32] in 1997 described their

use of a computer analysis to assess the cumulative and
availability rate balances of a multi-cylinder diesel engine.
They studied a six-cylinder, turbocharged and
aftercooled, indirect-injection diesel engine at full load
and 1500 rpm. They neglected chemical dissociation.
They included all individual components from
compressor through the cylinder to the turbine. They
included all processes for both the closed valve and open
valve portion of the cycle. They showed that 21.4% of the
fuels availability left the cylinder with the exhaust, but
after the turbine, the exhaust only contained 13.5%. The
combustion irreversibility was responsible for destroying
21.9% of the fuels availability.

EXAMPLE RESULTS

Anderson et al. [33] in 1998 reported on an investigation

of a naturally-aspirated, Miller cycle spark-ignition engine
using late intake valve closure. Using a comprehensive
quasi-dimensional engine cycle simulation, they
compared the Miller cycle strategy with a conventional
spark-ignition engine. The advantage of the Miller cycle is
that it can use late intake valve closure to control load
down to 35% of full load with the use of a throttle. Below
this load, the Miller cycle would use supplemental
throttling. First law considerations showed that the Miller
cycle increased the indicated thermal efficiency at light
loads by as much as 6.8%. The second law analysis
showed that the conventional throttle destroys up to 3%
of the availability.

In this section, representative results derived from use of

the second law are presented for both a compressionignition and a spark-ignition engine. The presentation of
these results is intended to provide a general overview of
second law analyses. For detailed results, the referenced
works should be consulted.
Direct comparisons between the results from the two
engines are not possible since the two engines are
operating at different conditions and with different
outputs. Furthermore, each study has chosen a different
thermodynamic system. The following results, therefore,
are meant to be illustrative of the nature of second law
analyses.

Caton [3437] reported on the use of the second law of

thermodynamics to study a spark-ignition engine. This
work was based on the use of a comprehensive
thermodynamic cycle simulation. In one portion of this
study, he examined the effects of engine load and speed
on a number of performance, energy and availability
terms [37]. A commercial, V-8, spark-ignition engine was
selected for this study. Engine loads corresponding to
brake mean effective pressures (bmep) of 163, 325, and
655 kPa, and engine speeds of 700, 1400, and 2800 rpm
were examined.

COMPRESSION-IGNITION
ENGINE

For
representative results for a compression-ignition (diesel)
engine, sample results from the work of Flynn et al. [5]
will be presented. In one of their investigations, they
studied a 14-liter (with a bore of 140 mm and a stroke of
152mm) turbocharged and intercooled, direct injection
diesel engine. The engine was operated at 2100 rpm
producing 300 kW of brake power with a 16:1
compression ratio.
Figure 4 shows the percentages of the fuels energy and
availability for the indicated work, heat transfer, and net
exhaust flow. In addition, for the availability, this figure
shows the percentage destroyed by combustion and
valve throttling irreversibilities. As shown, the indicated
work is 47.6% of the energy and 45.8% of the availability
(the slight difference is because the availability of the fuel
is 1.0317 times the fuels heating value). The heat
transfer accounts for 12.6% of the fuel energy, but only
9.7% of the fuel availability. This is because not all the
energy of the heat transfer is available to do work. Also,
the net exhaust flow consists of 41.4% of the fuel energy,
but only 18.3% of the fuel availability. Finally, the
combustion irreversibilities are significant: 21.0% of the
available energy is destroyed. The throttling losses due to

For these conditions, the availability displaced to the

cylinder wall via heat transfer (as a percentage of the fuel
availability) ranged between 15.9 and 31.5%. The net
availability expelled with the exhaust gases ranged
between 21.0 and 28.1%, and the availability destroyed
by the combustion process ranged between 20.3 and
21.4%. In addition, this study showed that the mixing of
the inlet charge with existing cylinder gases was an
additional (but small) mechanism for the destruction of
available energy [3437].
Table I is a chronological summary of these previous
investigations which used a second law analysis for
engine evaluations. The table lists the year of the report,
10

this simulation included the computation of entropy,

availability, irreversibilities, and the related entropy and
availability balances. From the balances, destruction of
availability was determined.

the flows past the intake and exhaust valves accounted

for about 5.3% of the fuels availability.
Compression
Work

USEFUL SYSTEM AVAILABILITY (kJ)

AVAILABILITY TRANSFERS (kJ)

0.0

-0.2

This simulation was used to complete first and second

law analyses for a commercial, spark-ignition engine
operating at a part load condition. The selected engine
was a V8 configuration with a compression ratio of
8.1:1, and with a bore and stroke of 101.6 and 88.4 mm,
respectively. A part load operating condition at 1400 rpm
with an equivalence ratio of 1.0 was selected.

Net Useful
Indicated
Work Out

Combustion
Starts

Availability
Destruction due
to Combustion

-0.4
Combustion
Ends

The instantaneous availability of the system was the net

result of the transfer of availability through heat transfer,
flows and work, and the destruction of availability due to
combustion. Figure 5 shows the system availability and
the availability transfers as a function of crank angle. The
availability transfers are exhibited as accumulative values
which lead to the final system availability. First, the useful
work is shown as the top (dashed) curve. During
compression, availability is transferred into the system
due to the compression work. After top dead center
(0CA), the availability transfer is out as the system
delivers work. The net indicated useful work is equal to
the final value (0.286 kJ) at the end of the cycle (at
584aTDC). The next curve down is for the availability
destroyed during the combustion process. Once
combustion ends, the difference between the two top
curves remains constant.

Availability Transfer
due to Heat Loss

-0.6

EVO
Availability
Transfer
due to Flows

-0.8

-1.0

Fresh
Charge
Enters

Final System
Availability

-180

180

360

540

CRANK ANGLE

ENERGY or AVAILABILITY (%)

Figure 4.

Useful system availability and availability

transfers as a function of crank angle for the
spark ignition engine [36].
Valve
Losses
(5.3%)

100

Destruction
due to
Combustion
(21.0%)

(41.4%)*
80

60

40

The next curve down (in fig. 5) represents the transfer of

availability due to heat transfer, and the final curve
accounts for the availability transfer due to flows. When
the exhaust valve opens (EVO), the availability decreases
sharply. This decrease due to exhaust flow continues
until fresh charge enters and availability is then
transferred into the system. Near the end of the intake
process, the flow reverses and flows out of the system
into the intake manifold. Eventually, at the end of the
cycle, the system availability of the system has returned
to the original value. The final (darkest) curve, therefore,
is the instantaneous total system availability.

(12.6%)*

Net Transfer
Out Due
to Flows

(18.3%)

Heat
Transfer

(9.7%)

(47.6%)*

(45.8%)
Total
Indicated
Work

20

In addition to the instantaneous values of availability, the

distribution of the total energy and availability values for
the cycle is of interest. Figure 6 shows the percentage of
the total fuel energy and total fuel availability that each of
the major processes uses. The left-hand bar is for the
first law (energy) analyses, and the right-hand bar is for
the second law (availability) analyses. First, with respect
to the net indicated work, the values using energy units
are the same since the indicated work is 100% available
energy. The percentages are slightly different due to the
slightly higher availability of the fuel relative to its energy
value [36].

Figure 5.

Energy

Availability

Percentage of the fuels energy and

availability for a compression-ignition engine.
(*Note: energy values do not add to 100%
because of a reported imbalance of 1.6%).
Adapted from Flynn et al. [5].

SPARK-IGNITION ENGINE The representative results

for a spark-ignition engine are based on recent work by
Caton [36]. A thermodynamic engine cycle simulation
was extended to include an analysis based on the
second law of thermodynamics and the associated
computation of availability. The major augmentations to
11

ENERGY or AVAILABILITY (%)

100

Unused
Fuel
(0.7%)

1. Moran, M. J., Availability Analysis A Guide to

Efficient Energy Use (Corrected Edition), The
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New
York, NY, 1989.
2. Moran, M. J., and Shapiro, H. N., Fundamentals of
Engineering Thermodynamics, John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., New York, New York, third edition, 1995.
3. Wark, K., Jr., and Richards, D. E., Thermodynamics,
sixth edition, McGraw-Hill Company, New York, NY,
1999.
4. Heywood, J. B., Internal Combustion Engine
Fundamentals, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New
York, New York, 1988.
5. Flynn, P. F., Hoag, K. L., Kamel, M. M., and Primus,
R. J., A New Perspective on Diesel Engine
Evaluation Based on Second Law Analysis, Society
of Automotive Engineers, SAE Paper no. 840032,
1984.
6. Caton, J. A., On the Destruction of Availability
(Exergy) Due to Combustion Processes with
Specific
Application
to
Internal-Combustion
Engines, submitted to Energy, 04 August 1999.
7. Traupel, W., Reciprocating Engine and Turbine in
Internal Combustion Engineering, in proceedings of
the International Congress of Combustion Engines
(CIMAC), Zurich, Switzerland, 1957.
8. Patterson, D. J. and van Wylen, G., A Digital
Computer Simulation for Spark-Ignited Engine
Cycles, in SAE Progress in Technology, Digital
Calculations of Engine Cycles, vol. 7, 1964.
9. Clarke, J. M., The Thermodynamic Cycle
requirements for Very High Rational Efficiencies,
proceedings of the Sixth Thermodynamics and Fluid
Convention, University of Durham, paper no. C53/76,
Institute of Mechanical Engineers, London, England,
68 April 1976.
10. Edo, T., and Foster, D., A Computer Simulation of a
dissociated Methanol Engine, proceedings of the IV
International
Symposium
on
Alcohol
Fuel
Technology, Ottawa, Canada, May 1984.
11. Primus, R. J., A Second Law Approach to Exhaust
System Optimization, Society of Automotive
Engineers, SAE Paper no. 840033, 1984.
12. Primus, R. J., Hoag, K. L., Flynn, P. F., and Brands,
M. C., An Appraisal of Advanced Engine Concepts
Using Second Law Analysis Techniques, Society of
Automotive Engineers, SAE Paper no. 841287, also,
International Conference on Fuel Efficient Power
Trains and Vehicles, the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers, paper no. C440/84, pp. 7387, 1984.
13. Primus, R. J., and Flynn, P. F., Diagnosing the Real
Performance Impact of Diesel Engine Design
Parameter Variation (a Primer in the Use of Second
Law Analysis), in International Symposium on
Diagnostics and Modelling of Combustion in
Reciprocating Engines, pp. 529538, 1985.
14. Primus, R. J., and Flynn, P. F., The Assessment of
Losses in Diesel Engines Using Second Law
Analysis, in Computer-Aided Engineering of Energy

Destruction
due to
Combustion
(20.6%)

80

60

REFERENCES

Destruction
due to
Inlet Mixing
(1.3%)

Unused
Fuel
(0.7%)

Net Transfer
Out Due
to Flows

(40.0%)

(24.7%)
Heat
Transfer

40
(28.7%)

(23.0%)
Total
Indicated
Work

20
(30.6%)

(29.7%)

Figure 6.

Energy

Availability

Percentage of the fuels energy and

availability for a spark-ignition engine [36].

For the heat loss, although 0.268 kJ of energy is

transferred out of the system, only 0.221 kJ of this is
available energy. Hence the percentages are different.
Similarly, for the net flow out, only 24.7% of the available
energy is expelled, but 40.0% of the actual energy is
expelled. The next two categories apply only to the
availability accounting, and not to the first law (energy)
aspect. These two categories quantify the availability
destruction due to combustion and inlet mixing. The
availability destroyed was 20.6 and 1.3%, respectively, for
these two processes. Finally, for the parameters selected
[36], about 0.7% of the availability and energy of the fuel
were not used.

SUMMARY
This paper has reviewed investigations that have used
the second law of thermodynamics in studying internalcombustion engines. Over 40 years of efforts and over 28
technical papers have been identified. About two-thirds of
these have been completed for diesel engines, and the
other one-third has been completed for spark-ignition
engines. Almost all of these investigations have been
completed since the 1980s. The second law of
thermodynamics was shown to provide a framework
which leads to a more thorough understanding of the
energy conversion process, provides a quantitative
measure of the capability to produce useful work, and
identifies those processes that are destructive to the
goals of high performance and high efficiency engines.
Representative results were presented for both
compression-ignition (diesel) and spark-ignition engines
to illustrate the type of information obtained by the use of
second law analyses. Both instantaneous values for the
engine availability, and the overall values for energy and
availability were presented.

12

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28. Rakopoulos, C. D., Andritsakis, E. C., and Kyritsis, D.

K., Availability Accumulation and Destruction in a DI
Diesel Engine with Special Reference to the Limited
Cooled Case, Heat Recovery Systems & CHP, vol.
13, pp. 261276, 1993.
29. Rakopoulos, C. D., and Giakoumis, E. G., Speed
and Load Effects on the Availability Balance and
Irreversibilities Production in a Multi-Cylinder
Turbocharged Diesel Engine, Applied Thermal
Engineering, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 299313, 1997.
30. Rakopoulos, C. D., and Giakoumis, E. G., Simulation
and Exergy Analysis of Transient Diesel-Engine
Operation, Energy, vol. 22, no. 9, pp. 875885,
1997.
31. Alasfour, F. N., Butanol A Single-Cylinder Engine
Study: Availability Analysis, Applied Thermal
Engineering, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 537549, 1997.
32. Rakopoulos, C. D., and Giakoumis, E. G.,
Development of Cumulative and Availability Rate
Balances in a Multi-Cylinder, Turbocharged, Indirect
Injection Diesel Engine, Energy Conversion and
Management, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 347369, 1997.
33. Anderson, M. K., Assanis, D. N., and Filipi, Z. S.,
First and Second Law Analyses of a NaturallyAspirated, Miller Cycle, SI Engine with Late Intake
Valve Closure, Society of Automotive Engineers,
SAE Paper No. 980889, 1998.
34. Caton, J. A., Incorporation and Use of an Analysis
Based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics for
Spark-Ignition Engines (Using a Comprehensive
Cycle Simulation), Report No. ERL9901, Engine
Research Laboratory, Texas A&M University,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Version 2.0,
15 February 1999.
35. Caton, J. A., Performance, Energy and Availability
Characteristics as Functions of Speed and Load for a
Spark-Ignition Engine Using a Thermodynamic Cycle
Simulation, Report No. ERL9902, Engine
Research Laboratory, Texas A&M University,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Version 1.0,
12 April 1999.
36. Caton, J. A., Results From the Second-Law of
Thermodynamics For a Spark-Ignition Engine Using
a Cycle Simulation, proceedings of the 1999 Fall
Technical Conference, the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, Internal Combustion Engine
Division, Ann Arbor, MI, October 1999.
37. Caton, J. A., Operation Characteristics of a SparkIgnition Engine Using the Second Law of
Thermodynamics: Effects of Speed and Load, the
Society of Automotive Engineers, 2000 SAE
International Congress & Exposition, Cobo Center,
Detroit, MI, 69 March 2000.

Systems, ed. by R. A. Gaggioli, the American Society

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and Second Law Perspectives, Society of
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Thermodynamic Cycle Simulation of the Diesel
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Dr. Jerald A. Caton is a professor in the Department of
Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University,
College Station, Texas, 778433123. He has been
working on topics associated with internal combustion
13

engines since 1972. He also has worked in the areas of

gas turbines, selective noncatalytic removal (SNCR) of
nitric oxides, alternative fuels, cogeneration, fundamental

combustion topics, and boiler combustion. He may be

contacted at: jcaton@mengr.tamu.edu

APPENDIX A ENGINE CHARACTERISTICS

study. Where no information was available, dashes are
entered.

The following two tables are lists of the major engine

characteristics for the reviewed investigations for
compression-ignition
and
spark-ignition
engines,
respectively. The brake power and speed listed are for
the stated design point or base operating condition of the
Table 01List of CI Engines Reviewed
First Author

Ref.
No.

Vd

Type

No. of
Cyls

(L)

Brake
Power

Speed
(rpm)

(kW)
Trauple

---

NA

---

---

---

---

TC

---

---

---

Flynn

14

TC/AC

300

2100

Primus

11

14

TC/AC

268

1900

Primus

12

14

NA

185

2100

TC/AC

220

Primus

13

10

TC/AC

224

2100

Primus

14

10

TC/AC

224

2100

van Gerpen

15

1.17

NA

---

---

Alkidas

16, 17

2.0

TC/AC

333

1200 &
1800

McKinley

18

10

NA

224

2100

Kumar

19

0.78

---

---

2000

Lipkea

20

7.6

TC/AC

~170

~2200

Shapiro

22

1.17

NA

---

---

Bozza

23

1.37

TC

55.8

4500

Al-Najem

25

---

TC

---

243

---

Rakopoulos

27

0.48

NA

4.0

2000

16.6

TC/AC

235

1500

Rakopoulos

28

0.48

NA

4.0

2000

Rakopoulos

29

16.6

TC/AC

235

1500

Rakopoulos

30

0.51

NA

4.0

2000

Rakopoulos

32

16.6

TC/AC

235

1500

NA: naturally aspirated; TC: turbo-charged; AC: aftercooled

14

Table 02List of SI Engines Reviewed

First Author

Ref.

Vd

No.

(L)

Type No. of
Cyls

Brake
Power

Speed
(rpm)

(kW)
Patterson

---

NA

14.2

2800

Edo

10

---

---

---

---

---

Shapiro

22

1.17

NA

---

---

Gallo

24

0.4

NA

---

5200

Rakopoulos

26

0.51

NA

---

2500

Alsafour

31

0.45

NA

5.7

1700

Anderson

33

2.0

NA

6.67

2000

Caton

3437

5.7

NA

21.9

1400

NA: naturally aspirated; TC: turbo-charged; AC: aftercooled

15