POWER CALCULATION

Note Book For Marine Engineers

POWER CALCULATION:
Engine Power can be calculated in various methods like:
1) Power Card Method,
2) Nomogram Method,
3) Torque Transducer or Torsionmeter,
4) Peizo Electric Method,
5) Admiralty Co-efficient Method,
6) Shaft Brake (Brake Power) Method,

Power Calculation by Power Card Method:

Indicated power, Ip = Pm x L x A x N Where,
Pm = Mean Indicated Pressure (MIP)
L = Length of stroke of Piston
A = Area of Cylinder
N = Number of power stroke per sec
= rev/sec for 2-stroke engine and
= (rev/sec) / 2 for 4-stroke engine
Power Card Mid
ordinate method
Mean Indicated Pressure Pm = Mean
height of the diagram x Spring constant
Mean height of the diagram = Area of power card / Length of power card.
Area of the power card can be calculated by two ways:
i) Planimeter

Pm = (Area of indicator diagram) / (length of the diagram x spring constant)

= A / (ls x Cs) bar
Spring Constant = Vertical movement of the indicator stylus in mm for 1 bar pressure
rise in the cylinder
la = (l1 + l2 + l3+ l4 + l5 + l6 + l7 + l8) / 8
ii) Mid ordinate method la = mean height of the diagram,
Pm = A / (ls x Cs) bar l = stroke length of the measuring plate
= (la x l) / (ls x Cs) bar ls = stroke length of the diagram

Hence the indicated power for 1 rpm and 1 bar pressure (100 kN/m2):
Ip = Pm x L x A x N
= 100 (kN/m2) x L (m) x (/4) D2 (m2) x N/60 ( rev/sec), kN-m/sec
= (100  x D2 x L) / (4 x 60) (kN-m/sec)
= 1.3090 x D2 x L (kW) or
= 1.77968 x D2 x L (BHP)
= K1 x rpm x Pm, ………………..(i) (more than 1 rmp & 1 bar pressure)

Where, K1 = cylinder constant = 1.3090 x D2 x L (kW) or = 1.77968 x D2 x L (BHP)

[ 1 HP (metric) = 735.5 W and 1 BHP (BS) = 746 W )

But, Pe = Mean Effective Pressure (MEP) is 1 bar less than the MIP (Pm) for every cylinder.
MEP, Pe = (Pm – 1) bar for 1 cylinder, or (Pm –1) x 6 for 6 cylinder engine.
Hence, Effective Brake Power, Bp = K1 x rpm x Pe ……….…..(ii)
Shaft Power (Sp) is 1% less than the Brake Power (Bp)
Shaft Power, Sp = (Bp - 1% of Bp) …………………………...….(iii)
Mechanical Efficiency,  % = (Bp x 100) / Ip ………………..…(iv)

Engineer Abdul Hamid 1

 POWER CALCULATION
Note Book For Marine Engineers

Power Calculation by Piezo-Electric Transducer:

4-Stroke Engine power can be calculated by piezo-electric pressure transducer.

Principle:
Certain solid crystal produces electric changes of opposite polarity across it faces when
pressure or force is applied across it.

By PI controller we can measure the mean effective pressure Vout. While the pressure from
cylinder works across piezo-electric transducer (Q), a volatage Vc will produce which gives
mean effective pressure or Vout through a charge amplifier. Vout or mean effective pressure is
found in following way from the diagram:

By Kirchoff’s Law: i1 + i2 = 0 or i1 = - i2
MEP or Vout = VR2 + Vc
= i2R2 + Vc
= - i1R2 + Vc
= - Ve R2/ R1 + Vc ………….(i)

We know, Q = Vc x C = i2t
By derivating, C d Vc = i2dt
By integrating, C  d Vc = i2 dt
C Vc = -  i1dt
= -  (Ve/R1)dt
Vc = - 1/ (R1C)  Vedt ……(ii)
Hence, MEP = - Ve R2/ R1 + Vc
= - Ve R2/ R1 - 1/ (R1C)  Vedt
Ki = 1/ R2C
= - R2/ R1{ Ve + 1/ (R2C)  Vedt}
IAT = R2C
= - Kp { Ve + 1/ (IAT)  Vedt} …..(iii) or Kp = R2/ R1
= - Kp { Ve + Ki  Vedt} ………...(iv)

Effective power (2-stroke engine) = MEP x L x A x N ………………….(v)

Effective power (4-stroke engine) = MEP x L x A x N/2 x 100 (kW) .…….(vi)
= 1.3090 x D2 x L x N/2 (kW)…………..(vii)
R2 C

Ve
Analogue
Operational to digital
amplifier Recorder

R1
Vout
P

V
Engineer Abdul Hamid 2
 POWER CALCULATION
Note Book For Marine Engineers

MEP

Power Calculation by Torque Transducer:

Power = 2nT where, T = Torque and n = rev/ sec or rps

Torque transmitter (strain gauge torsion meter) consists of:

1) Four strain gauge gauges (resistances) forming Whetstone’s Bridge.
2) Four slip rings bonded on the shaft,
3) A torque indicator meter,
4) 24V d.c. supply,

Principle of Operation:
Torque applied to the shaft causes twisting. Twisting causes the shaft to undergo tension and
compression, which changes the resistance of strain gauges.
When there is no torque, there is no twisting in the shaft and Whetstone’s bridge is in balanced
condition i.e. R1 / R2 = R4 / R3
But when twisting takes place, i.e. under tension and compression condition:
R1 and R3 in compression and R2 and R4 in tension
R1 / R 2  R4 / R3
Hence, Vd > Va
The Whetstone’s bridge will be unbalanced and current will flow through the torque meter and
give an indication of the shaft torque.

Power Calculation by Admiralty Co-Efficient:

Shaft Power, Sp = ( 2/3 Vn+1) / Ca kW

Where,  = Displacement of ship (tons)
V = Speed of Ship (knots)
n = Index, for slow and medium speed engine n = 2
for high speed engine n = 3 ~ 5
Ca = Admiralty co-efficient,
Ca = 300 ~ 600 and higher value indicates more efficient ship.

The rope passes over the flywheel with one end of the rope anchored to the engine base and
other end hanging freely and loaded against the direction of rotation of flywheel.
Engineer Abdul Hamid 3
 POWER CALCULATION
Note Book For Marine Engineers

If, W = Weight of the load in newtons (N)

S = Reading of spring balance in newtons (N),
R = Effective radius in meters from center of shaft to center of rope.
T = Torque

Then Braking Torque, T = (W – S) x R N-m

Brake Power, Bp = 2nT watts, where n = rps and watts = N-m/sec

R
W

Power Calculation by Nomogram:

Engineer Abdul Hamid 4