KEY

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES & AIR COMPRESSORS

(20ME4T03)
II B. TECH – II SEM
UNIT-I
1.a) The function of a carburetor is to vaporize the petrol (gasoline) by means of engine suction
and to supply the required air and fuel (petrol) mixture to the engine cylinder. During the suction
stroke, air flows from atmosphere into the cylinder. As the air passes through the venturi, velocity
of air increases and its pressure falls below the atmosphere. The pressure at the nozzle tip is also
below the atmospheric pressure. The pressure on the fuel surface of the fuel tank is atmospheric.
Due to which a pressure difference is created, which causes the flow of fuel through the fuel jet
into the air stream. As the fuel and air pass ahead of the venturi, the fuel gets vaporized and required
uniform mixture is supplied to the engine. The quantity of fuel supplied to the engine depends
upon the opening of throttle valve which is governed by the governor.

The main parts of a simple carburetor are:

Float chamber: The level of fuel in the float chamber is maintained slightly below the tip of the
nozzle. If the level of petrol is above then the petrol will run from the nozzle and drip from the
carburetor. If the petrol level is kept low than the tip of the nozzle then part of pressure head is
lost in lifting the petrol up to the tip of nozzle. Generally it is kept at 5mm from the level of petrol
in the float chamber. The level of the fuel is kept constant with the help of float and needle valve.
The needle valve closes the inlet supply from main tank if the level rises above the required level.
If the level of fuel decreases then the needle valve opens the supply. Generally the fuel level is
kept 5mm below the nozzle tip.
Venturi: When the mixture passes through the narrowest section its velocity increases and pressure
falls below the atmospheric. As it passes through the divergent section, pressure increases again.
Throttle valve: It controls the quantity of air and fuel mixture supplied to the engine through intake
manifold and also the head under which the fuel flows.
Choke: It provides an extra rich mixture during to the engine starting and in cold weather to warm
up the engine. The choke valve is nearly closed during clod starting and warming. It creates a high
vacuum near the fuel jet which causes flow of more fuel from the jet.

1.b) The actual cycles for internal combustion engines differ from air-standard cycles in many
respects. These differences are mainly due to:
(i) The working substance being a mixture of air and fuel vapour or finely atomized liquid fuel in
air combined with the products of combustion left from the previous cycle.
(ii) The change in chemical composition of the working substance.
(iii) The variation of specific heats with temperature.
(iv) The change in the composition, temperature and actual amount of fresh charge because of
the residual gases.
(v) The progressive combustion rather than the instantaneous combustion.
(vi) The heat transfer to and from the working medium.
(vii) The substantial exhaust blowdown loss, i.e., loss of work on the expansion
stroke due to early opening of the exhaust valve.
(viii) Gas leakage, fluid friction etc., in actual engines.

Most of the factors listed above tend to decrease the thermal efficiency and power output of the
actual engines. On the other hand, the analysis of the cycles while taking these factors into account
clearly indicates that the estimated thermal efficiencies are not very different from those of the
actual cycles
2.a)
2.b)
 UNIT-II
3.a) FACTORS INFLUENCING THE FLAME SPEED
Turbulence: The flame speed is quite low in non-turbulent mixtures and increases with increasing
turbulence. This is mainly due to the additional physical intermingling of the burning and unburned
particles at the flame front which expedites reaction by increasing the rate of contact. The
turbulence in the incoming mixture is generated during the admission of fuel-air mixture through
comparatively narrow sections of the intake pipe, valve openings etc., in the suction stroke.
Turbulence which is supposed to consist of many minute swirls appears to increase the rate of
reaction and produce a higher flame speed than that made up of larger and fewer swirls.
Fuel-Air Ratio: The fuel-air ratio has a very significant influence on the flame speed. The highest
flame velocities (minimum time for complete combustion) are obtained with somewhat richer
mixture.
Temperature and Pressure: Flame speed increases with an increase in intake temperature and
pressure. A higher initial pressure and temperature may help to form a better homogeneous air-
vapour mixture which helps in increasing the flame speed. This is possible because of an overall
increase in the density of the charge.
Compression Ratio: A higher compression ratio increases the pressure and temperature of the
working mixture which reduce the initial preparation phase of combustion and hence less ignition
advance is needed. High pressures and temperatures of the compressed mixture also speed up the
second phase of combustion. Increased compression ratio reduces the clearance volume and
therefore increases the density of the cylinder gases during burning. This increases the peak
pressure and temperature and the total combustion duration is reduced. Thus engines having higher
compression ratios have higher flame speeds.
Engine Output: The cycle pressure increases when the engine output is increased. With the
increased throttle opening the cylinder gets filled to a higher density. This results in increased
flame speed. When the output is decreased by throttling, the initial and final compression pressures
decrease and the dilution of the working mixture increases. The smooth development of self-
propagating nucleus of flame becomes unsteady and difficult.
Engine Speed: The flame speed increases almost linearly with engine speed since the increase in
engine speed increases the turbulence inside the cylinder. The time required for the flame to
traverse the combustion space would be halved, if the engine speed is doubled. Double the engine
speed and hence half the original time would give the same number of crank degrees for flame
propagation. The crank angle required for the flame propagation during the entire phase of
combustion, will remain nearly constant at all speeds.
Engine Size: The size of the engine does not have much effect on the rate of flame propagation.
In large engines the time required for complete combustion is more because the flame has to travel
a longer distance. This requires increased crank angle duration during the combustion. This is one
of the reasons why large sized engines are designed to operate at low speeds.
3.b) The design of the combustion chamber for an SI engine has an important influence on the
engine performance and its knocking tendencies. The design involves the shape of the combustion
chamber, the location of spark plug and the location of inlet and exhaust valves.

The important requirements of an SI engine combustion chamber are to provide high power output
with minimum octane requirement, high thermal efficiency and smooth engine operation.
Combustion chambers must be designed carefully, keeping in mind the following general
objectives.

Smooth Engine Operation

The aim of any engine design is to have a smooth operation and a good economy. These can be
achieved by the following:

Moderate Rate of Pressure Rise: The rate of pressure rise can be regulated such that the greatest
force is applied to the piston as closely after TDC on the power stroke as possible, with a gradual
decrease in the force on the piston during the power stroke. The forces must be applied to the
piston smoothly, thus limiting the rate of pressure rise as well as the position of the peak pressure
with respect to T DC.

Reducing the Possibility of Knocking: Reduction in the possibility of knocking in an engine can
be achieved by,

(i) Reducing the distance of the flame travel by centrally locating the spark plug and also by
avoiding pockets of stagnant charge.

(ii) Satisfactory cooling of the spark plug and of exhaust valve area which are the source of hot
spots in the majority of the combustion chambers.

(iii) Reducing the temperature of the last portion of the charge, through application of a high
surface to volume ratio in that part where the last portion of the charge burns. Heat transfer to the
combustion chamber walls can be increased by using high surface to volume ratio thereby reducing
the temperature.
The main objective of the design and development of an engine is to obtain high power as well as
high thermal efficiency.

(iv) Any design of the combustion chamber that improves its antiknock characteristics permits the
use of a higher compression ratio resulting in increased output and efficiency.

(v) A compact combustion chamber reduces heat loss during combustion and increases the thermal
efficiency. Different types of combustion chambers have been developed over a period of time.

4.a) A divided combustion chamber is defined as one in which the combustion space is divided
into two or more distinct compartments connected by restricted passages. This creates considerable
pressure differences between them during the combustion process.

Swirl Chamber: Swirl chamber consists of a spherical-shaped chamber separated from the engine
cylinder and located in the cylinder head Into this chamber, about 50% of the air is transferred
during the compression stroke. A throat connects the chamber to the cylinder which enters the
chamber in a tangential direction so that the air coming into this chamber is given a strong rotary
movement inside the swirl chamber and after combustion, the products rush back into the cylinder
through the same throat at much higher velocity. This causes considerable heat loss to the walls of
the passage which can be reduced by employing a heat-insulated chamber. However, in this type
of combustion chambers even with a heat insulated passage, the heat loss is greater than that in an
open combustion chamber which employs induction swirl. This type of combustion chamber finds
application where fuel quality is difficult to control, where reliability under adverse conditions is
more important than fuel economy. The use of single hole of larger diameter for the fuel spray
nozzle is often important consideration for the choice of swirl chamber engine.
4.b) Normally fuels are rated for their antiknock qualities. The rating of fuels is done by defining
two parameters called Octane number and Cetane number for gasoline and diesel oil respectively.

Rating of SI Engine Fuels Resistance to knocking is an extremely important characteristic of fuel

for spark-ignition engines. These fuels differ widely in their ability to resist knock depending on
their chemical composition. A satisfactory rating method for comparing the antiknock qualities of
the various fuels has been established. In addition to the chemical characteristics of hydrocarbons
in the fuel, other operating parameters such as fuel-air ratio, ignition timing, dilution, engine speed,
shape of the combustion chamber, ambient conditions, compression ratio etc. affect the tendency
to knock in the engine cylinder. Therefore, in order to determine the knock resistance characteristic
of the fuel, the engine and its operating variables must be fixed at standard values. According to a
standard practice, the antiknock value of an SI engine fuel is determined by comparing its
antiknock property with a mixture of two reference fuels, iso-octane (C8H18) and normal heptane
(C7H16). Iso-octane chemically being a very good antiknock fuel, is arbitrarily assigned a rating
of 100 octane number. Normal heptane (C7H16), on the other hand, has very poor antiknock
qualities and is given a rating of 0 octane number. The Octane number fuel is defined as the
percentage, by volume, of iso-octane in a mixture of iso-octane and normal heptane, which exactly
matches the knocking intensity of the fuel in a standard engine under a set of standard operating
conditions. The addition of certain compounds (e.g. tetraethyl lead) to iso-octane produces fuels
of greater antiknock quality (above 100 octane number). The antiknock effectiveness of tetraethyl
lead, for the same quantity of lead added, decreases as the total content of lead in the fuel increases.
Further, each octane number at the higher range of the octane scale will produce greater antiknock
effect compared to the same unit at the lower end of the scale. For instance, octane number increase
from 92 to 93 produce greater antiknock effect than a similar increase from 32 to 33 octane number.
Because of this non-linear variation, a new scale was derived which expresses the approximate
relative engine performance and the units of this scale are known as the Performance Numbers, P
N. Octane numbers, ON above 100 can be computed by

Octane Number = 100 + (P N – 100)/3

Rating of CI Engine Fuels In compression-ignition engines, the knock resistance depends on

chemical characteristics as well as on the operating and design conditions of the engine. Therefore,
the knock rating of a diesel fuel is found by comparing the fuel under prescribed conditions of
operation in a special engine with primary reference fuels. The reference fuels are normal cetane,
C16H34, which is arbitrarily assigned a cetane number of 100 and alpha methyl naphthalene,
C11H10, with an assigned cetane number of 0. Cetane number of a fuel is defined as the percentage
by volume of normal cetane in a mixture of normal cetane and α-methyl naphthalene which has
the same ignition characteristics (ignition delay) as the test fuel when combustion is carried out in
a standard engine under specified operating conditions. Since ignition delay is the primary factor
in controlling the initial autoignition in the CI engine, it is reasonable to conclude that knock should
be directly related to the ignition delay of the fuel. Knock resistance property of diesel oil can be
improved by adding small quantities of compounds like amyl nitrate, ethyl nitrate or ether.
 UNIT-III

5.a)
5.b) Indicated power of an engine tells about the health of the engine and also gives an indication
regarding the conversion of chemical energy in the fuel into heat energy. Indicated power is an
important variable because it is the potential output of the cycle. Therefore, to justify the
measurement of indicated power, it must be more accurate than motoring and other indirect
methods of measuring frictional power. For obtaining indicated power the cycle pressure must be
determined as a function of cylinder volume.

The device which measures the variation of the pressure in the cylinder over a part or full
cycle is called an indicator and the plot of such information obtained is called an indicator diagram.
Indicator diagram is the only intermediate record available in the account of total liberated energy
before it is measured at the output shaft. Thus an indicator diagram gives a very good indication
of the process of combustion and in the associated factors such as rate of pressure rise, ignition
lag, etc. by its analysis. Also the losses occurring in the suction and exhaust strokes can be studied.
It is very rare that an indicator diagram is taken to find indicated power only. It is almost invariably
used to study engine combustion, knocking, tuning of inlet and exhaust manifolds, etc.

Pressure-volume, p-V and pressure-crank angle, p-θ, are the two types of indicator
diagrams that can be obtained from an engine. Both these indicator diagrams are mutually
convertible. An actual indicator diagram is shown in Fig. for a working cycle. During a missed
cycle of operation there is no power developed and therefore the entire area is shaded. The
direction of the arrows shows the path to be
6.a) In IC engines the satisfactory measurement of air consumption is quite difficult because the
flow is pulsating due to the cyclic nature of the engine and because the air is a compressible fluid.
Therefore, the simple method of using an orifice in the induction pipe is not satisfactory since the
reading will be pulsating and unreliable. All kinetic flow inferring systems such as nozzles, orifices
and venturies have a square law relationship between flow rate and differential pressure which
gives rise to severe errors on unsteady flow. Pulsation produced errors are roughly inversely
proportional to the pressure across the orifice for a given set of flow conditions.

Air Box Method

The orifice method can be used if pressure pulsations could be damped out by some means. The
usual method of damping out pulsations is to fit an air box of suitable volume (500 to 600 times
the swept volume in single cylinder engines and less in the case of multi-cylinder engines) to the
engine with an orifice placed in the side of the box remote from the engine
6.b)
 UNIT-IV

7.a) The function of a compressor is to take a definite quantity of fluid (usually gas, and most
often air) and deliver it at a required pressure.

Air and gas compressors are classified into two main types :

1. Reciprocating compressors ; and 2. Rotary compressors. — According to whether or not the

process of compressing is carried out in one unit or in several similar units in the one machine,
a compressor may be single-stage, or multistage.
2. — Again, in case of reciprocating compressors, the air may be compressed in the cylinder on
one side of the piston only, or use may be made of both piston faces. Such compressors are
single-acting and double-acting, respectively.
3. — Centrifugal compressors, which are of the rotary type, may be single or double entry,
which means that the compressor is filled with either one or two air intakes according to
whether it is of the former or latter type when compression takes place in one or two units,
respectively. Air compressors may be classified in another manner, this time from an aspect
of the use to which they are put
— For example, air pumps and exhausters are used to produce vacua, their job being to
remove air from a particular system to create a low pressure therein.
— Blowers and superchargers are essentially air compressors, but the increase in pressure
which they produce is only small, and upto, say 0.7 to 1.05 bar. — A booster is an air or gas
compressor which is employed to raise the pressure of air/ gas which has already been
compressed. It is where a slightly higher pressure is required, or where a loss of pressure has
occurred in a long delivery line

7.b) Fans, blowers, and compressors are all mechanical devices used to move air or gases, but
they differ in their specific applications, operating principles, and performance characteristics.
Here's a comparison of these three devices:

Fans:

• Fans are used primarily to move air in various cooling and ventilation applications.

• They operate at relatively low pressures and generate a high flow rate of air.

• Fans typically have low power requirements and are designed for moving large
volumes of air at low speeds.

• They are commonly found in HVAC systems, computer cooling systems, and
household appliances.

• Fans are generally not designed for compressing or pressurizing gases.

Blowers:

• Blowers are similar to fans but are capable of generating higher pressures.

• They are used in applications that require moderate air pressure, such as industrial
processes, pneumatic conveying systems, and drying operations.

Blowers typically have higher power requirements compared to fans due to their ability to generate
higher pressures.

They are designed to move air or gas at moderate flow rates and pressures.

Blowers can be centrifugal or axial in design, with different impeller configurations for specific
applications.

Compressors:

Compressors are used to increase the pressure of gases, typically for industrial processes,
refrigeration, air conditioning, and power generation.

They are designed to handle high-pressure operation and can compress gases to much higher
pressures than fans or blowers.

Compressors have higher power requirements and are often driven by electric motors or engines.

They come in various types, such as reciprocating, rotary, screw, and centrifugal compressors,
each with different operating principles and performance characteristics.

Compressors are capable of delivering compressed air or gas at high flow rates and pressures.

8.a)
8.b)
9.a) Degree of Reaction:
9.b)
10.a)

The two lobe type is shown in Fig. but three and four lobe versions are in use for higher pressure
ratios. One of the rotors is connected to the drive and the second rotor is gear driven from the first.
In this way the rotors rotate in phase and the profile of the lobes is of cycloidal or involute form
giving correct making of the lobes to seal the delivery side from the inlet side. This sealing
continues untill delivery commences. There must be some clearance between the lobes, and
between the casing and the lobes, to reduce wear, this clearance forms a leakage path which has
an increasingly adverse effect on efficiency as the pressure ratio increases.

As each side of the each lobe faces its side of the casing a volume of gas V, at pressure p1, is
displaced towards the delivery side at constant pressure. A further rotation of the rotor opens this
volume to the receiver, and the gas flows back from the receiver, since this gas is at a-higher
pressure. The gas induced is compressed irreversibly by that from the receiver, to the pressure p2
and then delivery begins. This process is carried out four times per revolution of the driving shaft.

10.b)
The work supplied to a fluid in a stage of compressor may be found by applying the moment of
momentum theorem. Consider 1 kg of working fluid passing through the impeller. The theoretical
torque which must be supplied to the impeller will be equal to the rate of change of moment of
momentum experienced by the working fluid.

— The first term shows the increase in K.E. of 1 kg of working fluid in the impeller that has to
converted into the pressure energy in the ‘diffuser’.

— The second term shows the pressure rise in the impeller due to ‘diffusion action’ (as the relative
velocity decreases from inlet to outlet).

— The third term shows the pressure rise in the impeller due to ‘centrifugal action’ (as the working
fluid enters at a lower diameter and comes out at a higher diameter). Thus the fraction of K.E.
imparted to the working fluid and inverted into pressure energy in impeller is given by