ENGINE HEAT TRANSFER

P M V Subbarao
Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department

Loss of Heat is encouraged only to

keep engine safe….
It’s a penalty on performance……
 Engine Cooling & Car Radiator
History
• The car radiator is a technology that has been around almost since
automobiles were invented.
• Heat dissipation is probably one of the most important considerations in
engine design.
• An internal combustion engine creates enough heat to destroy itself.
• Without an efficient cooling system, we would not have the vehicles we do
today.
• The original radiators were simple networks of round copper or brass
tubes that had water flowing through them by convection.
• By the 1920’s some auto manufacturers, like GM, had switched to oval
tubes because they were slightly more efficient.
• Not long after that, as engines grew larger and hotter, companies began to
add fans for a constant flow of air over the radiator cores.
• These more efficient cooling systems eventually added a pump to push
the water through the cooling tubes.
• All in all, the car radiator is a simple and lasting technology that will likely
be around as long as we use internal combustion engines.
 Energy Distribution

• Around 35% of the total chemical energy that enters an engine is

converted to useful crankshaft work.
• About 30% of the fuel energy is carried away from the engine in the
exhaust flow in the form of enthalpy and chemical energy.
• About one-third of the total energy is dissipated to the surroundings
by some mode of heat transfer.
Distribution of Fuel Power

Speed, RPM
 Engine Cylinder Cooling Systems

• There are mainly two types of cooling systems :

• (a) Air cooled system, and
• (b) Water cooled system.
 Air Cooled System
• Air cooled system is generally used in small engines say up to
15-20 kW and in aero plane engines.
• In this system fins or extended surfaces are provided on the
cylinder walls, cylinder head, etc.
• Heat generated due to combustion in the engine cylinder will
be conducted to the fins and when the air flows over the fins,
heat will be dissipated to air.
• The amount of heat dissipated to air depends upon :
• (a) Amount of air flowing through the fins.
• (b) Fin surface area.
• (c) Thermal conductivity of metal used for fins
Finned Engine Cylinder
 Advantages & Disadvantages of Air Cooled System

(a) Radiator/pump is absent hence the system is light.

(b) In case of water cooling system there are leakages, but in this
case there are no leakages.
(c) Coolant and antifreeze solutions are not required.
(d) This system can be used in cold climates, where if water is
used it may freeze.

(a) Comparatively it is less efficient.

(b) It is used in aero planes and motorcycle engines where the
engines are exposed to air directly.
Geometrical Design of Finned Cylinder
 Radial Conduction Equation

Define

  T  T
Radial conduction equation :

d 2 1 d 2h
   0
dr 2
r dr k

The appropriate boundary conditions:

at r  rb    b and insulated fin tip

The equation for the temperature excess
becomes
Heat Dissipation Capacity of Cylinder with Radial fins
• The heat flow through a fin is given by the heat flow at the
base of a fin and can be expressed as

2h
m 2

k
The total heat flow from a fin array is the sum of heat flow from the
fin body and the heat flow from the base surface without fin and can
be written as
The temperature difference between a fin base and the
fluid (B) due to total heat flow rate at the fin base can
be expressed as
 Development of Compact Finned Cylinder

The heat flow through the base is

The ideal heat flow

Fin Efficiency