A heat engine is a machine, which converts heat energy into mechanical energy.

The
combustion of fuel such as coal, petrol and diesel generates heat. This heat is supplied to a
working substance at high temperature. By the expansion of this substance in suitable
machines, heat energy is converted into useful work. Heat engines can be further divided into
two types:
(i) External combustion and
(ii) Internal combustion.
In a steam engine the combustion of fuel takes place outside the engine and the steam thus
formed is used to run the engine. Thus, it is known as external combustion engine. In the case
of internal combustion engine, the combustion of fuel takes place inside the engine cylinder
itself.

The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel (generally, fossil
fuel) occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion
engine the expansion of the high temperature and high pressure gases, which are produced by
the combustion, directly applies force to components of the engine, such as the pistons turbine
blades or a nozzle, and by moving it over a distance, generates useful mechanical energy.
An external combustion engine (EC engine) is a heat engine where an internal working fluid is
heated by combustion of an external source, through the engine wall or a heat exchanger.
The fluid then, by expanding and acting on the mechanism of the engine produces motion and
usable work.[17] The fluid is then cooled, compressed and reused (closed cycle), or (less
commonly) dumped, and cool fluid pulled in (open cycle air engine).

A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or
more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the
common features of all types. The main types are: the internal combustion engine, used
extensively in motor vehicles; the steam engine, the mainstay of the Industrial Revolution; and
the niche application Stirling engine. Internal Combustion engines are further classified in two
ways: either a spark-ignition (SI) engine, where the spark plug initiates the combustion; or
a compression-ignition (CI) engine, where the air within the cylinder is compressed, thus
heating it, so that the heated air ignites fuel that is injected then or earlier.

4-stroke engines

the top dead center (TDC) of a piston is the position where it is nearest to the valves; bottom
dead center (BDC) is the opposite position where it is furthest from them. A stroke is the
movement of a piston from TDC to BDC or vice versa together with the associated process.
While an engine is in operation the crankshaft rotates continuously at a nearly constant speed.
In a 4-stroke ICE each piston experiences 2 strokes per crankshaft revolution in the following
order. Starting the description at TDC, these are:[5][6]

1. Intake, induction or suction: The intake valves are open as a result of the cam lobe
pressing down on the valve stem. The piston moves downward increasing the volume
of the combustion chamber and allowing air to enter in the case of a CI engine or an air
fuel mix in the case of SI engines that do not use direct injection. The air or air-fuel
mixture is called the charge in any case.
2. Compression: In this stroke, both valves are closed and the piston moves upward
reducing the combustion chamber volume which reaches its minimum when the piston
is at TDC. The piston performs work on the charge as it is being compressed; as a result
its pressure, temperature and density increase; an approximation to this behavior is
provided by the ideal gas law. Just before the piston reaches TDC, ignition begins. In the
case of a SI engine, the spark plug receives a high voltage pulse that generates the spark
which gives it its name and ignites the charge. In the case of a CI engine the fuel injector
quickly injects fuel into the combustion chamber as a spray; the fuel ignites due to the
high temperature.
3. Power or working stroke: The pressure of the combustion gases pushes the piston
downward, generating more workthan it required to compress the charge.
 Complementary to the compression stroke, the combustion gases expand and as a
result their temperature, pressure and density decreases. When the piston is near to
BDC the exhaust valve opens. The combustion gases expand irreversibly due to the
leftover pressure—in excess of back pressure, the gauge pressure on the exhaust port—
; this is called the blowdown.
4. Exhaust: The exhaust valve remains open while the piston moves upward expelling the
combustion gases. For naturally aspirated engines a small part of the combustion gases
may remain in the cylinder during normal operation because the piston does not close
the combustion chamber completely; these gases dissolve in the next charge. At the
end of this stroke, the exhaust valve closes, the intake valve opens, and the sequence
repeats in the next cycle. The intake valve may open before the exhaust valve closes to
allow better scavenging.

2-stroke engines

The defining characteristic of this kind of engine is that each piston completes a cycle every
crankshaft revolution. The 4 process of intake, compression, power and exhaust take place in
only 2 strokes so that it is not possible to dedicate a stroke exclusively for each of them.
Starting at TDC the cycle consist of:

1. Power: While the piston is descending the combustion gases perform work on it—as in a
4-stroke engine—. The same thermodynamical considerations about the expansion
apply.
2. Scavenging: Around 75° of crankshaft rotation before BDC the exhaust valve or port
opens, and blowdown occurs. Shortly thereafter the intake valve or transfer port opens.
The incoming charge displaces the remaining combustion gases to the exhaust system
and a part of the charge may enter the exhaust system as well. The piston reaches BDC
and reverses direction. After the piston has traveled a short distance upwards into the
 cylinder the exhaust valve or port closes; shortly the intake valve or transfer port closes
as well.
3. Compression: With both intake and exhaust closed the piston continues moving
upwards compressing the charge and performing a work on it. As in the case of a 4-
stroke engine, ignition starts just before the piston reaches TDC and the same
consideration on the thermodynamics of the compression on the charge.

Gasoline Ignition Process[edit]

Gasoline engine ignition systems generally rely on a combination

of alternator or generator and lead–acid battery for electrical power. The battery supplies
electrical power for cranking, and supplies electrical power when the engine is off. The battery
also supplies electrical power during rare run conditions where the alternator cannot maintain
more than 13.8 volts (for a common 12V automotive electrical system). As alternator voltage
falls below 13.8 volts, the lead-acid storage battery increasingly picks up electrical load. During
virtually all running conditions, including normal idle conditions, the alternator supplies primary
electrical power.

Some systems disable alternator field (rotor) power during wide open throttle conditions.
Disabling the field reduces alternator pulley mechanical loading to nearly zero, maximizing
crankshaft power. In this case the battery supplies all primary electrical power.

Gasoline engines take in a mixture of air and gasoline and compress it to not more than
12.8 bar (1.28 MPa). When mixture is compressed, as the piston approaches the cylinder head
and maximum stroke, a spark plug ignites the mixture.

Diesel Ignition Process[edit]

Diesel engines and HCCI (Homogeneous charge compression ignition) engines, rely solely on
heat and pressure created by the engine in its compression process for ignition. The
compression level that occurs is usually twice or more than a gasoline engine. Diesel engines
take in air only, and shortly before peak compression, spray a small quantity of diesel fuel into
the cylinder via a fuel injector that allows the fuel to instantly ignite. HCCI type engines take in
both air and fuel, but continue to rely on an unaided auto-combustion process, due to higher
pressures and heat. This is also why diesel and HCCI engines are more susceptible to cold-
starting issues, although they run just as well in cold weather once started. Light duty diesel
engines with indirect injection in automobiles and light trucks employ glowplugs that pre-heat
the combustion chamber just before starting to reduce no-start conditions in cold weather.
Most diesels also have a battery and charging system; nevertheless, this system is secondary
and is added by manufacturers as a luxury for the ease of starting, turning fuel on and off
(which can also be done via a switch or mechanical apparatus), and for running auxiliary
electrical components and accessories. Most new engines rely on electrical and
electronic engine control units (ECU) that also adjust the combustion process to increase
efficiency and reduce emissions.

The term spark-ignition engine refers to internal combustion engines, generally petrol engines,
where the combustion process of the air-fuel mixture is ignited by a spark from a spark plug.
This is in contrast to compression-ignition engines, typically diesel engines, where the heat
generated from compression together with the injection of fuel is enough to initiate the
combustion process, without needing any external spark.

Spark-ignition engines are commonly referred to as "gasoline engines" in America, and "petrol
engines" in Britain and the rest of the world. However, these terms are not preferred, since
spark-ignition engines can (and increasingly are) run on fuels other than petrol/gasoline, such
as autogas (LPG), methanol, ethanol, bioethanol,compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen, and
(in drag racing) nitromethane.

The working cycle of both spark-ignition and compression-ignition engines may be either two-
stroke or four-stroke.
A four-stroke spark-ignition engine is an Otto cycle engine. It consists of following four
strokes: suction or intake stroke, compression stroke, expansion or power stroke,exhaust
stroke. Each stroke consists of 180 degree rotation of crankshaft rotation and hence a four-
stroke cycle is completed through 720 degree of crank rotation. Thus for one complete cycle
there is only one power stroke while the crankshaft turns by two revolutions.

The diesel engine (also known as a compression-ignition or CI engine) is an internal combustion

engine in which ignition of the fuel that has been injected into the combustion chamber is
initiated by the high temperature which a gas achieves when greatly compressed (adiabatic
compression). This contrasts with spark-ignition engines such as a petrol
engine (gasolineengine) or gas engine (using a gaseous fuel as opposed to petrol), which use
a spark plug to ignite an air-fuel mixture.

The diesel engine has the highest thermal efficiency (engine efficiency) of any
practical internal or external combustion engine due to its very high expansion ratio and
inherent lean burn which enables heat dissipation by the excess air. A small efficiency loss is
also avoided compared to two-stroke non-direct-injection gasoline engines since unburnt fuel is
not present at valve overlap and therefore no fuel goes directly from the intake/injection to the
exhaust. Low-speed diesel engines (as used in ships and other applications where overall engine
weight is relatively unimportant) can have a thermal efficiency that exceeds 50%. [1][2]

Diesel engines are manufactured in two-stroke and four-stroke versions. They were originally
used as a more efficient replacement for stationary steam engines. Since the 1910s they have
been used in submarines and ships. Use in locomotives, trucks, heavy equipment and electricity
generation plants followed later. In the 1930s, they slowly began to be used in a
fewautomobiles. Since the 1970s, the use of diesel engines in larger on-road and off-road
vehicles in the USA increased. According to the British Society of Motor Manufacturing and
Traders, the EU average for diesel cars accounts for 50% of the total sold, including 70% in
France and 38% in the UK.
BORE AND STROKE
The diameter of the cylinder is known as bore and the displacement of the piston, i.e. its travel
from
top dead centre (TDC) to bottom dead centre (BDC) is called stroke (Fig. 1). In old engines, the
stroke
was always greater than the bore but the recent trend is towards a shorter piston stroke. This is
because in the short piston stroke, the less of power due to friction is minimized. Also, the
inertia and
centrifugal load on the bearings are reduced. In the square engine, which is the latest in
technology,
the bore and strokes are equal.
PISTON DISPLACEMENT (SWEPT VOLUME)
This is the volume that the piston displaces during its movement from BDC to TDC (Fig. 2).
Suppose D is the bore dia. and L is the stroke length. The piston displacement is given as
(π/4) D2L.
Example: For a four-cylinder engine with a 10 cm bore dia. and 8 cm stroke length, the piston
displacement (v) will be = (π/4) x 102 x 8 x 4= 2512cm3
COMPRESSION RATIO
The compression ratio (CR) of an engine is a measure of how much the air/air-fuel mixture is
compressed in the cylinder. It is the volume of air when the piston is at BDC divided by its
volume of air when the piston is at TDC. The volume above the piston is called clearance
volume.
The CR of an engine is an important factor in its performance. By increasing only the
compression ratio, the engine power increases, the other factors remaining unchanged.
Fig. 1. Bore and stroke of a heat engine
Fig. 2 Piston displacement and clearance volume
AG. ENGG 243 Lecture 4
2
HORSE POWER
Power is the rate at which work is done. The rate at which the engine can do work is measured
in
horse power (HP). One HP is equivalent to 4500 kg m per min. The various methods of defining
horsepower are described below.
Indicated Horse Power
The amount of power that can be measured on the flywheel is always less than the power
generated in the engine on account of expansion of the combusted fuel. The power that is
actually
developed in the cylinder is called indicated horse power and is given by:
where
P - means effective pressure in kg/cm2
L - stroke length in m
A - area of cylinder in cm2
N - power stroke per min (for a four stroke engine N = rpm/2 and for a two-stroke engine N =
rpm)
Brake Horse Power
It is the horsepower available on the crankshaft and is measured by a suitable dynamometer.
SAE Horse Power (Taxable Horse Power)
The SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) horse power rating is used to compare engines on a
uniform basis, usually for tax purposes. The formula is
2.5
2DN
HP =
where
D - diameter of cylinder in inches

N- number of cylinders
Carburetor, spark plug, radiator, piston, cylinder, crank shaft,