Cylinder Pressure Indicator Diagrams

A Cylinder Pressure Indicator is something like a Intracardiac Catheter of a human being!

In this chapter we will give answers to the 3 following questions:

1. Why is the measurement of the pressure inside the combustion room of each
individual cylinder in relation to the crankshaft angle that important?
2. How to measure the cylinder pressure
3. What the diagrams are telling us about the condition of the engine components and
the burning process?

3.1 Purpose of Measurement of Pressure inside the Combustion Room

If anything is working well the pressure inside the cylinder is increasing continuously due
to the compression work of the piston. Due the compression the temperature is increasing
as well and ignites the injected fuel. For the ignition energy is needed and therefore the
pressure diagram shows a buckle in this moment.

After the ignition the air – fuel mixture volume will increase explosively: Thus this power
accelerates the piston down and the pressure in the cylinder will expand:

220,00
Indicator Diagram (GREEN = Normal)
Combustion
P(max)
170,00 Peak Pressure
P(comp)
Pressure [bar]

Compression
Pressure

120,00 TDC

Compression Expansion

70,00

20,00

-60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110

-30,00

Crankshaft Angle [°]

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A deviation of the actual cylinder pressure from ideal figure – which is normal the figure
from the test bed and/or from the commissioning of the engine – causes
- Higher fuel consumption
- Higher exhaust gas temperatures and therefore higher wear and tear of the exhaust
gas valves
- Poor combustion with higher content of carbon residues which creates fouling of the
turbocharger; thus the air supply is disturbed and the combustion quality is going
down even more.

There are a lot of reasons for these deviations like

- Worn out cylinder liners and/or piston rings
- Too low injection pressure due to wear and tear of the injection pump
- Worn out or contaminated injection nozzle
- Wrong adjustment of the injection timing, too early or too late
- Too low air supply to the cylinder
- Ignition delay of fuel

The different types of deviations from the new conditions

With the right interpretation of the character of these deviations these failures can be
located and eliminated .

3.2 Procedure of the Cylinder Pressure Measurement

The measurement should be done at least every 3 months with the engine running at
100% load if possible.

The measured data should be compared with the data “as new” and tendencies should be
observed.

Additional measurements shall be made if

- Exhaust gas temperatures are increasing or decreasing
- Fuel consumption increases
- Correctness of the fuel rack position of each individual injection pump is not
ensured.

Before taking the measurement the indicator cock has to be checked if all the thread of
each individual cock is in order and has no damages to take the swivel nut from the
indicator instrument.

After this test it is necessary to open before measurement for 3 strokes the cock in order to
blow out carbon residues and moisture.

Independently if a
- spring diagram indicator
- peak pressure indicator with a pressure gauge
- digital electronic indicator is used,
during measurement procedure it is sufficient to indicate 10 combustion strokes to get the
correct indication for an internal analysis.

Of course it depends how many cylinder you have to check during one step.

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If a 6 or 8-cylinder engine has to be checked or the double amount of cylinder of a Vee –
Type engine. In that case it can happen that after a while especially the digital instrument
can be overheated and will stop automatically the indication process. The spring indicator
can get a sticking movable piston for the reading stroke.

There are two possibilities to prevent this problem:

- If you do the measurement process with two persons, one person is always ahead
and do the necessary cleaning blow of the indicator cocks.
In this case you have the possibility to do at least the measurement of 18 cylinder in
one step.
- If you get an overheating of the instrument you have to cool it down with a low flow
of pressed working air in about 10 – 15 minutes.

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It is recommended to show the pressure diagrams of an engine on 1 sheet in order to detect
the difference between the individual cylinders easier:

COMBUSTION PRESSURE ALL CYLINDERS

200,00

180,00

160,00 Cyl 1
140,00 Cyl 2
Cyl 3
Pressure [bar]

120,00
Cyl 4
100,00
Cyl 5
80,00 Cyl 6
60,00 Cyl 7

40,00 Cyl 8
Cyl 9
20,00
Average
0,00
-100 -50 0 50 100 150
Degree Crankshaft [°]

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3.3 Interpretation of the Cylinder Pressure Diagrams
3.3.1 Uneven Pressure distribution of the Cylinders
If a result like the diagram below is measured, a correction of different components is
necessary, because the deviation in peak pressure should not exceed 5 bar.

This example was taken from an engine just before general overhaul and shows extremely
high deviations in peak pressure:

Cylinder Peak Pressure (Average 126.1 bar)

140
135
131 131 131
128 128 128
130 125 127
124 123 121
123 120
121
120 118
bar

110

100

90

80
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Cylinder

Try to get a digital pressure indicator measuring the pressure curve against the crankshaft
angle if possible.

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3.3.2 Late Ignition
Indications:
- Peak pressure low and after TDC
- Exhaust gas temperature high
- Combustion during expansion late
- Black smoke in exhaust gas
- Loss of power sometimes

Indicator Diagram "Late Ignition"

(GREEN = Normal, RED = NOT Normal)
200,00

180,00

160,00
Pressure [bar]

140,00

120,00

100,00

80,00

60,00
-30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Angle Crank Shaft [°]

Reasons:
- Too slow fuel supply due to fouled injector causes late ignition
 Check injector
- Fuel quality poor
 check treatment, send sample to independent laboratory
- Too cold cylinder liner
 check with SECO
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 - Wrong adjustment of timing of fuel pump
 to check
- Combustion pressure too low due to worn out liner / piston rings
 Check wear limits. See below as well.
- Combustion air supply too low
 measure oxygen in exhaust or air speed at combustion air filter inlet and
calculate flow rate and compare with condition “as new”
 Check charge air cooler pressure drop
 Check turbocharger speed; if too high clean nozzle ring
Effects:
- Fuel consumption increases
- Exhaust gas valves lifetime reduced
- Sometimes loss of power
- Environmental contamination due to high particle emission

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3.3.3 Early Ignition
Indications:
- Pressure peak too high
- Exhaust gas temperature too low
- Fuel consumption decreasing
- NOx emissions increasing

Indicator Diagram "Early Injection"

(GREEN = Normal, RED = NOT Normal)
200,00

180,00

160,00
Pressure [bar]

140,00

120,00

100,00

80,00

60,00
-30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Angle Crank Shaft [°]

Reasons:
- Incorrectly adjusted or accidentally changed fuel pump timing
 Adjust
- Damaged or incorrectly set fuel valve or fuel injector

- Fuel with easy flammable components
 Fuel quality to be checked by independent laboratory (may be harmful com-
ponents are mixed to the fuel for illegal waste disposal
Effects:
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- Parts inside the cylinder are overheated
- Knocking sound comes out of the engine
 heavy loads passed to bearings via running gear.
- Early ignition
 causes increased thermal efficiency of the engine
- Exhaust temperature reduces since combustion starts long before it is supposed to
- Shock loads and vibrations
 results in damage of the engine.

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3.3.4 Partly Clogged Fuel Valve
Indications:
- Peak pressure too low
- Exhaust gas temperature too low
- Loss of engine power too low due to fuel supply

Indicator Diagram "Clogged Fuel Valve"

(GREEN = Normal, RED = NOT Normal)
200

180

160
Pressure [bar]

140

120

100

80

60
-35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Angle Crank Shaft [°]

Reasons:
- Fuel oil contamination and improper purification
 Separators and filters to be checked, check fuel quality
- Carbon deposits at injector tip
 Clean
 Check cooling efficiency
- Carbon deposits on fuel valve due to over heating
 Check cooling efficiency of the injector
Effects:
- Loss of power
- High pressure in nozzle tip
 may crack the injector
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3.3.5 Leakage on Fuel Injector
Indications:
- Peak pressure too low
- Pressure after TDC wobbling during expansion
- After – burning disturbed
- Fuel consumption increasing
- Pressure vibration in fuel pipes too high
- Knocking sounds sometimes

Indicator Diagram "Leaky Injector"

(GREEN = Normal, RED = NOT Normal)
200

180

160
Pressure [bar]

140

120

100

80

60
-30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Angle Crank Shaft [°]

Reasons:
- Leaking fuel injector
 Replace and check at test bed
- Worn out or clocked spray holes
 Replace and check at test bed
Effects:
- Vibration damages on injection pipe
- Fuel consumption increasing

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3.3.6 After Burning
Indications:
- Exhaust gas temperature too high
- Peak pressure too low
- Pressure at end of burning too high
- Smoke emissions increasing
- Turbocharger surging sometimes
- Liner temperature increasing

Indicator Diagram "After Burning"

(GREEN = Normal, RED = NOT Normal)
200,00

180,00

160,00
Pressure [bar]

140,00

120,00

100,00

80,00

60,00
-30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Angle Crank Shaft [°]

Reasons:
- Slow fuel combustion due to low fuel quality
 Fuel Combustion Analysis preferably by an independent laboratory
- Low temperature of fuel (Means high viscosity)
 Check final preheater and viscosity controller by means of fuel analysis and
measure temperature
Consequences:

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- High particle emissions effect the environment
- Too high temperature in combustion chamber
 Burning of lube oil
 High liner, piston crown and piston ring wear and tear
- Unburnt carbon deposits
 Fouls exhaust gas system
 Causes damages of exhaust valves and seats
- Turbocharger starts surging
 Danger of fire in exhaust gas boiler
 Load has to be reduced

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3.3.7 Low Compression
Indications:
- Compression pressure too low
- Pressure peak too low
- Power of engine decreasing

Indicator Diagram "Low Compression"

(GREEN = Normal, RED = NOT Normal)
200

180

160
Pressure [bar]

140

120

100

80

60
-30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Angle Crank Shaft [°]

Causes:
- Improper combustion
- Combustion air supply too low
 measure oxygen in exhaust or air speed at combustion air filter inlet and
calculate flow rate and compare with condition “as new”
 Check charge air cooler pressure drop
 Check turbocharger speed; if too high clean nozzle ring
- Leakage of air in between piston rings and liner while compression stroke
 Worn out liner or piston rings
 Dismantle cylinder head and piston, check dimensions of piston rings and lin-
ers
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Effects:
- Higher fuel consumption
- Loss of engine output

3.4 Summary
The information above shows how important and significant the Indicator Pressure
Diagrams are:

It is possible to detect a lot of failures which are influencing the efficiency of the engine and
the lifetime of their components.

By carrying out these cylinder pressure measurement on a regular basis the management
of a vessel or a power plant has a powerful instrument to reduce the operational costs and
to plan maintenance works in advance.

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