Fuel-air cycle and their analysis

• Air-standard cycle: working substance is only air

• Fuel-air cycle: working substance is the mixture of fuel and air
Fuel-air cycle and their analysis
• Air-standard cycle: Efficiency of engine depends on compression ratio
(increase in compression ratio will result in increase in efficiency)

• Fuel-air cycle: Depends on compression ratio as well as properties of fuel

• Variations in components (and their amount ) affect the efficiency

• Changed quantity of fuel-air ratio will change the relative amount of water vapor and CO2
Above 1500 K specific heat vary much more rapidly

Many expressions are available up to sixth order of temperature for calculation of specific heats (Cp and Cv)
• Except monoatomic gases, the value of specific heats increase with increase in temperature

• Ratio of specific heats at constant pressure and constant volume (Cp/Cv) decrease with
increase in temperature

• Variation in specific heats causes lower temperature and pressure during compression,
which results in less work, thus lower efficiency
 • Dissociation can also be
looked as the reverse
process of combustion

• At high temperature in the cylinder, the mixture does not combine (chemically) properly

• Dissociation is the disintegration of burnt gases at high temperature

• During dissociation, a considerable amount of heat is absorbed, and is released in

recombining of elements during expansion
(In dissociation: heat absorbed during combustion, and liberate during expansion)

• Effect of dissociation is smaller than the effect of change in specific heats

• Without dissociation: maximum temperature is attained at
correct mixture

• With dissociation: maximum temperature is attained at

slightly rich mixture and maximum temperature is less than
that of without dissociation
 Both these factors tend to
reduce the peak gas
temperature attained in
the CI engine

Specific fuel consumption

Brake power

Effect of dissociation on
output power for a typical
4-stroke SI engine
operating at constant
speed
Effect of operating variables on engine performance
FR is relative fuel-air ratio, also
called Equivalence ratio
Problem
• What will be the effect on the efficiency of an Otto cycle having a
compression ratio of 8, if Cv is increased by 1.6%?
Cp = 1.005 kJ/Kg K
Cv = 0.717 kJ/Kg K