20
Fig. 3-9 Power and consumption curves for a car SI
engine.7
Fig. 3-10 Consumption curve, car diesel engine
V8-TDI.8
engine, and a commercial vehicle diesel engine. The iso-
lines (bell-shaped curves) indicate working points of
equivalent fuel consumption. In order to assess the fuel
consumption of an engine, the fuel consumption not only
at the best point but also at all the working points has to
be taken into consideration.
Figure 3-12 shows empirical values for the specific
fuel consumption.
3.6 Gas Work and Mean Pressure
Gas work is the work done by the cylinder pressure at the
piston. With the mean pressure, we distinguish between
indicated and effective mean pressure and the factional
mean pressure.
Indicated Mean Pressure
The indicated mean pressure pmi is equivalent to the spe-
cific work acting on the piston.
The indicated mean pressure is determined from the
cylinder pressure curve and the swept volume (Fig. 3-13).
3 Characteristics
Fig. 3-11 Power and consumption curves for a commer-
cial vehicle engine with VH = 12 l.1
The indicated mean pressure can be determined from the
p-V diagram by planimetry (measurement of the area). If
the surface enclosed by the curve is surrounded in a
clockwise direction, we have a positive indicated mean
pressure; if it is surrounded in a counterclockwise direc-
tion, we have a negative indicated mean pressure. There-
fore, a distinction can be made between an indicated mean
pressure of the high-pressure section and an indicated
mean pressure of the gas exchange cycle. The sum of
these two portions gives the indicated mean pressure of
the engine pmi (Fig. 3-14). The indicated mean pressure
of the gas exchange cycle pmiGW comprises the intake
and exhaust work and can, therefore, be regarded as a
measure of the quality of the gas exchange.9 For naturally
aspirated engines, the pmiGW is generally negative, i.e., a
work loss. For turbocharged engines this portion is nor-
mally positive.
The indicated mean pressure, Fig. 3-14, can be
derived from the work of the gas force transmitted to the
piston during a working cycle.
(3.35)