MECHANISM OF AUXILIARY ENGINE SYSTEM IN AN ENGINE: FUEL, IGNITION, COOLING

AND LUBRICATION SYSTEM

FUEL SYSTEM
A. FUEL SYSTEM IN SPARK IGNITION ENGINE
The fuel flows from the fuel tank to the carburetor under the action of gravity. There are one or
two filters between the fuel tank and the carburetor. A transparent sediment bowl is also
provided to hold the dust and dirt of the fuel. If the tank is below the level of the carburetor, a lift
pump is provided in between the tank and the carburetor for forcing fuel from the tank to the
carburetor of the engine. The fuel comes from the fuel tank to the sediment bowl and then to the
lift pump. From there the fuel goes to the carburetor through suitable pipe. From the carburetor,
the fuel goes to the engine cylinder, through the inlet manifold of the engine.
 B. FUEL SYSTEM OF DIESEL ENGINE
During engine operation, the fuel is supplied by gravity from fuel tank to the primary filter where
coarse impurities are removed. From the primary filter, the fuel is drawn by fuel transfer pump
and is delivered to fuel injection pump through second fuel filter. The fuel injection pump
supplies fuel under high pressure to the injectors through high pressure pipes. The injectors
atomize the fuel and inject it into the combustion chamber of the engine. The fuel injection pump
is fed with fuel in abundance. The excess fuel is by-passed to the intake side of the fuel transfer
pump through a relief valve.
IGNITION SYSTEM
There are four different systems of igniting fuel: (a) Ignition by electric spark i.e. spark ignition
(b) Ignition by heat of compression i.e. compression ignition (c) Ignition by hot tube or hot bulb
and (d) Ignition by open flame. Only the first two are important methods for modern engines.
SPARK IGNITION
The purpose of spark ignition is to deliver a perfectly timed surge of electricity across an open
spark plug gap in each cylinder at the exact moment so that the charge may start burning with
maximum efficiency. There are two methods in spark ignition: (a) Battery ignition and (b)
Magneto ignition.
A. BATTERY IGNITION
When the ignition switch is closed, current flows from the battery through the primary winding of
the ignition coil, provided contact breaker points arc closed. They produce magnetic field around
the winding. When the piston is at the end of compression stroke, the contact breaker point
opens. Thus the flow of current in primary winding causes the magnetic field to collapse. As the
field collapses, its lines of force cut the wire turnings of the secondary winding. This increases
the voltage across the secondary winding terminals to a value of 20 to 24 thousand volts. The
high-voltage surge is delivered to the center terminal of the distributor cap where it is picked up
by the rotor and directed to the proper spark plug. A spark jumps the plug gap and ignites the
compressed air-fuel mixture.
 B. MAGNETO IGNITION
As the magnet moves with respect to the coil, the magnetic flux linkage of the coil changes. This
induces an EMF in the coil, which in turn causes a current to flow. One or more times per
revolution, just as the magnet pole moves away from the coil and the magnetic flux begins to
decrease, a cam opens the contact breaker and interrupts the current. This causes the
electromagnetic field in the primary coil to collapse rapidly. As the field collapses rapidly there is
a large voltage induced across the primary coil. As the points begin to open, point spacing is
initially such that the voltage across the primary coil would arc across the points. A capacitor is
placed across the points which absorbs the energy stored in the leakage inductance of the
primary coil, and slows the rise time of the primary winding voltage to allow the points to open
fully. The capacitor’s function is similar to that of a snubber as found in a fly back converter.
A second coil, with many more turns than the primary, is wound on the same iron core to form
an electrical transformer. The ratio of turns in the secondary winding to the number of turns in
the primary winding, is called the turns ratio. Voltage across the primary coil results in a
proportional voltage being induced across the secondary winding of the coil. The turns ratio
between the primary and secondary coil is selected so that the voltage across the secondary
reaches a very high value, enough to arc across the gap of the spark plug. As the voltage of the
primary winding rises to several hundred volts, the voltage on the secondary winding rises to
several tens of thousands of volts, since the secondary winding typically has 100 times as many
turns as the primary winding. The capacitor and the coil together form a resonant circuit which
allows the energy to oscillate from the capacitor to the coil and back again. Due to the inevitable
losses in the system, this oscillation decays fairly rapidly. This dissipates the energy that was
stored in the condenser in time for the next closure of the points, leaving the condenser
discharged and ready to repeat the cycle.
COOLING SYSTEM
A. AIR COOLING SYSTEM
In this type of cooling system, the heat, which is conducted to the outer parts of the engine, is
radiated and conducted away by the stream of air, which is obtained from the atmosphere. In
order to have efficient cooling by means of air, providing fins around the cylinder and cylinder
head increases the contact area. The fins are metallic ridges, which are formed during the
casting of the cylinder and cylinder head. Air-cooling is mostly tractors of less horsepower,
motorcycles, scooters, small cars and small aircraft engines where the forward motion of the
machine gives good velocity to cool the engine. Air-cooling is also provided in some small
industrial engines. In this system, individual cylinders are generally employed to provide ample
cooling area by providing fins. A blower is used to provide air.
B. WATER COOLING SYSTEM
This system is similar in construction to the thermo-syphone system except that it makes use of
a centrifugal pump to circulate the water throughout the water jackets and radiator. The water
flows from the lower portion of the radiator to the water jacket of the engine through the
centrifugal pump. After the circulation water comes back to the radiator, it loses its heat by the
process of radiation. This system is employed in cars, trucks, tractors, etc.
LUBRICATION SYSTEM
A. SPLASH SYSTEM
In this system, there is an oil trough, provided below the connecting rod. Oil is maintained at a
uniform level in the oil trough. This is obtained by maintaining a continuous flow of oil from the
oil sump or reservoir into a splash pan, which has a depression or a trough like arrangement
under each connecting rod. This pan receives its oil supply from the oil sump either by means of
a gear pump or by gravity. A dipper is provided at the lower end of the connecting rod. This
dipper dips into to oil trough and splashes oil out of the pan. The splashing action of oil
maintains a fog or mist of oil that drenches the inner parts of the engine such as bearings,
cylinder walls, pistons, piston pins, timing gears etc. This system is usually used on single
cylinder engine with closes crankcase. For effective functioning of the engine, proper level of oil
maintained in the oil pan. Lubrication depends largely upon the size of oil holes and clearances.
This system is very effective if the oil is clean and undiluted. Its disadvantages are that
lubrication is not very uniform and when the rings are worn, the oil passes the piston into
combustion chamber, causing carbon deposition, blue smoke and spoiling the plugs. There is
every possibility that oil may become very thin through crankcase dilution. The worn metal, dust
and carbon may be collected in the oil chamber and be carried to different parts of the engine,
causing wear and tear.
B. FORCED FEED SYSTEM
In this system, the oil is pumped directly lo the crankshaft, connecting rod, piston pin, timing
gears and camshaft of the engine through suitable paths of oil. Usually the oil first enters the
main gallery, which may be a pipe or a channel in the crankcase casting. From this pipe, it goes
to each of the main bearings through holes. From main bearings, it goes to big end bearings of
connecting rod through drilled holes in the crankshaft. From there, it goes to lubricate the walls,
pistons and rings. There is separate oil gallery to lubricate timing gears. Lubricating oil pump is
a positive displacement pump, usually gear type or vane’ type. The oil also goes to valve stem
and rocker arm shaft under pressure through an oil gallery. The excess oil comes back from the
cylinder head to the crankcase. The pump discharges oil into oil pipes, oil galleries or ducts,
leading different parts of the engine. This system is commonly used on high speed multi-
cylinder engine in tractors, trucks and automobiles.