5.

Combustion and Chamber in SI and CI Engine

 design of combustion chamber has an important influence on

the engine performance and its knock properties.

 It includes shape, location of sparking plug and disposition of

inlet and exhaust valves.

Basic Requirements of a Good Combustion Chamber

• High power output
• High thermal efficiency
• low specific fuel consumption
• Smooth engine operation
• Reduced exhaust pollutants.
 A. Higher Power Output Requires

High compression ratio: It is limited by the sensations of knock.

• Detonation depends on design of combustion chamber and fuel

quality.

• improving the anti-knock characteristics of a combustion chamber

permits the use of a higher compression ratio which should result in
higher output and efficiency.

• Complete utilization of the air – no dead pockets.

• An optimum degree of turbulence. It is induced by inlet flow

configuration.
High Volumetric Efficiency: This is achieved by having large diameter

valves with sufficient clearance round the valve heads, proper valve timing,

Large valves and straight passage ways. This means more charge per stroke

and proportionate increase in speed and power output.

B. High Thermal Efficiency Requires

 High compression ratio

 Less heat loss during combustion can be achieved by having a compact

combustion chamber which provides small surface-volume ratio.

 other advantage of compact combustion chamber is reduced flame travel

a given turbulence, this reduces the time of combustion.
C. Smooth Engine Operation Requires:

 Moderate rate of pressure rise during combustion.

 Absence of detonation which in turn means:

Compact combustion chamber, short distance of flame travel from the

sparking plug to the farthest point in the combustion space.

• Pockets in which stagnant (motionless) gas collect should be avoided.

 Proper location of the spark plug and exhaust valve.

 cooling of the spark plug points (to avoid pre ignition) and exhaust valve
head which is the hottest region of the combustion chamber
D. Reduced Exhaust Pollutants

 It can be reduced by designing a combustion chamber that produces a

faster burning rate of fuel.

 A faster burning chamber with its shorter burning time permits

operation with substantially higher amounts of Exhaust Gas
Recirculation (EGR), which reduces the oxides of nitrogen (NOX) in
the exhaust gas without substantial increase in the hydrocarbon
emissions.
The main conditions for combustion of fuel in S.I. engines are

1. Presence of a combustible fuel- air mixture supplied by fuel injectors or

carburetor.

2. Some means of initiating combustion by a spark plug.

3. Stabilization and propagation of flame in the combustion chamber.

• Air motions are required in both S.I. and C.I. engines.

• In S.I. engine, we call it turbulence and in C.I. engine, we call it swirl.

• For this purpose an organized air movement called air swirl produced

high relative velocity b/n the fuel droplets and air.

Induction Swirl : refers to a rotational flow within the cylinder about its

axes.
 Turbulence in S.I. engines implies disordered air motion with no general
direction of flow, to break up the surface of flame front and to distribute
flame throughout an externally prepared combustible mixture.

 Insufficient turbulence lowers the efficiency due to incomplete

combustion of fuel.
• Combustion Induction Swirl is important for

Large valves, high volumetric efficiency, Single hole, these injectors are
self-cleaning, less maintenance, Smooth engine operation,

Greater air utilization due to strong swirl, cheaper.

The combustion process SI can be divided into:
1. Flame development
2. Flame propagation
Point A: spark at the end of compression
stroke
A-B: Ignition Lag =Time interval between
spark and attainment of self- ignition
temperature and pressure by the mixture.
During this, different activities will be
done.
B/n crank angle interval, the period of
ignition lag is shown in fig below by path
ab.

B-C : Flame Propagation :

Propagation of flame through the mixture.
If fuel continues to burn after peak cylinder
pressure at C is reached, it is called after burning.
• Flame propagation stage

Once the flame is formed at “b”, it should be self sustained and

must be able to propagate through the mixture.

This is possible when the rate of heat generation by burning is

greater than heat lost by flame to surrounding.

After the point “b”, the flame propagation is abnormally low at

the beginning as heat lost is more than heat generated. Pressure
rise is also slow as mass of mixture burned is small.

Therefore it is necessary to provide angle of advance 30 to 35

deg, if the peak pressure to be attained 5-10 deg after TDC.
 Effect Of Engine Variables On Ignition Lag

1. Fuel type. Higher the self ignition temperature of the fuel used, the longer the ignition
lag.

2. Mixture Ratio. The mixture ratio somewhat

richer than stoichiometric ratio gives minimum

ignition lag.

3. Initial Temperature and Pressure.

Ignition lag decreases with increase in temperature and

pressure at the time of spark

4. Electrode Gap. Electrode gap should be adjusted for the compression ratio and mixture
strength. If the gap is too small, quenching of flame nucleus may occur.

5. Turbulence. Excessive turbulence of the mixture in the area of spark plug is harmful,
since it increases the heat transfer from the combustion zone and leads to unstable nucleus
of flame.
 EFFECT OF ENGINE VARIABLES ON FLAME PROPAGATION

1. Fuel-Air Ratio. The maximum flame speed occurs when the

mixture is about 10% richer than stoichiometric as it
produces maximum temperature.
2. Compression Ratio (engine parameter). An increase in
compression ratio increases the flame speed because of higher
density and temperature of the gas.
3. Intake Temperature. Increase in intake temperature increases
flame speed.
4. Intake Pressure.
The higher the intake pressure,
the higher the flame speed
due to higher density.
5. Turbulence. The flame speed is very low in non-turbulent mixtures.
Flame speed increases with turbulence due to internal friction of heat
transfer process and mixing of burned and unburned portion of flame
front.

6. Engine Speed. The higher the engine speed, greater the turbulence and
higher the flame speed. Flame speed linearly increases with engine speed.

7. Engine Size. Speed of flame propagation is reduced with engine size as it

has to travel longer distances in big engines.
Abnormal Combustion

• Under certain operating conditions, abnormal combustion may

take place affecting the life and performance of the engine. The
various abnormalities of combustion process are listed below.

1. Pre-ignition. There can be ignition of charge by the presence of

some hot surface within the engine such as red hot carbon deposits
and overheated spark plug before actual ignition by the spark.
There is a serious loss of combustion efficiency and engine output
due to pre-ignition phenomenon.

• 2. After burning. Burning may continue even after fuel injection

is over. It results in reduction of power output.
The Couse of Knock in SI Engine
Detonation or Knock. Some shock wave or some other disturbance
within the combustion chamber establishes a wave which
propagates through the unburned charge at a supersonic speed. This
causes a sharp pressure discontinuity resulting in gas vibrations and
a sharp metallic sound called a ping.

1. Auto (Self) Iginition : The type of self-ignition in the absence of

flame is known as Auto-Ignition. Due to auto-ignition of end
portion of unburned charge in combustion chamber knocking will
be created.
 2. Pre-ignition: it is ignition of the homogeneous mixture of charge as it
comes in contact with hot surfaces(in the absence of spark), It is initiated
by some overheated projecting part.

Sources of pre-ignition

1. Carbon deposits

2. The electrodes of the improperly selected spark plugs may operate too
hot. It can lead to pre-ignition.

3. Overheated spark plugs.

4. Hot exhaust valves

5. Highly supercharged engines reject more heat to combustion chamber

walls which act as source of heat.
COMBUSTION IN C.I. ENGINES
• Compressions ignition engines or diesel engines are
thermodynamically similar to spark-ignition engines. The
cycles for both include suction, compression, addition of
heat, expansion and exhaust.

• But the combustion process and method of control in C.I.

engines are very different from those in S.I. engines.
STAGES OF COMBUSTION
• For convenience in analysis, the combustion process in C.I
engines is usually divided into four stages:
1. The delay period, 2. Rapid combustion period,
3. Period of controlled combustion. 4. After burn
1. The delay period (Ignition delay) (A-B) /Pre-flame combustion/

• This is the phase preparatory to combustion in which the fine particles of the
injected fuel evaporate and mix with the air in the cylinder to form an
ignitable mixture, also called delay time or Ignition delay.

• It is divided into physical and chemical delay.

• Physical Delay: it is the time b/n the beginning of injection and attainment
of chemical reaction conditions.

• High physical delay time can be reduced by using high injection pressures
and high turbulence to facilitate breakup of the jet and improving
evaporation.
• Chemical Delay: reactions start slowly and then accelerate until
inflammation or ignition takes place.

• However, it depends on the temperature of the surroundings

Effect of Various Factors on Delay Period in CI Engine
Compression Ratio, Engine Speed Output, Injection timing, Quality of
Fuel, Intake Temperature and Pressure

Compression Ratio

The minimum auto ignition temperature of a fuel decreases due to

increased density of the compressed air. This results in a closer contact b/n
molecules of fuel and reducing the time of reaction with oxygen.
• increase in air temperature or decrease the auto ignition temperature decrease the
delay period.

• Engine Speed: increase in engine speed, loss of heat during compression

decreases, resulting in the rise of temperature and pressure of compressed air &
thus reducing the delay period in milliseconds.

 However, in degrees of crank, the delay period increases as the engine

operates at a higher rpm.

• the amount of fuel injected during the delay period depends on crank degrees
and not on absolute time.

Hence, at high speeds, there will be more fuel present in the cylinder to take part
in the second stage of uncontrolled combustion resulting in high rate of pressure
rise.
2. Rapid combustion period (Flame propagation) (B-C)
By the end of the first stage, a combustible mixture has formed in
various parts of the cylinder, with ignition starting in several places.
These flames propagate at extremely high speed so that the mixture
burns almost explosively, and causes the pressure within the cylinder to
rise rapidly. Thus, this is sometimes called the explosive combustion
stage.
• The pressure rise in this stage is proportional to the amount of

combustible mixture formed in the first stage.

• it is also uncontrolled combustion (why?)

• The longer the delay, the more rapid and the higher pressure rise.
3. Period of Controlled Combustion (Direct combustion) (CD)

Tem and pressure rise can be controlled. i.e. fuel droplets injected burn that Couse
further pressure rise can be controlled by injection rate. (b/c there is nozzle at the end
of injector).

• . Direct combustion of the fuel still being injected takes place during this stage due to
immediate fuel ignition by the flame in the cylinder.

• The combustion can be controlled by the amount of fuel injected in this stage, so this is also
described as the controlled combustion period.

4. After burning (From D- onwards)

• The injection ends at point D, but the fuel not yet in the combusted state continues to burn. If
this stage is too long, the exhaust gas temperature will rise, causing a drop in effi­ciency.

• un-burnt and partially burnt fuel particles left in the combustion chamber
start burning as soon as they come into contact with the oxygen. This
burning may continue in expansion stroke up to 70 to 80% of crank travel
from TDC.
Diesel Knock
• If the rate of the pressure rise (dp/dt) during second stage of
uncontrolled combustion is very high, it may give rise to a
violent pounding noise. This noise is called diesel knock.
Since combustion knock in a C.I. engine can have the same
damaging effects as that of detonation in S.I. engines, it is
important to eliminate knocking altogether.
• The factors controlling the diesel knock are just reverse of those required to
suppress knock in S.I. engines.

• For example, increase in intake temperature, intake pressure, compression

ratio, jacket temperature, engine speed, and turbulence and decrease in self-
ignition temperature of fuel tend to suppress diesel knock but these promote
detonation in S.I. engines.

The following methods are employed to reduce diesel knock:

1. Using fuel with a high cetane value,

2. Raising the air temperature and pressure at the start of injection,

3. Reducing the injection volume at the start of fuel injection,

4. Raising the combustion chamber temperature (especially in the immediate

area of fuel injection)
• Using a better fuel. Higher CN fuel has lower delay period
and reduces knocking tendency.

 Controlling Rate of Fuel Supply. By injecting less fuel in

the beginning and then more fuel amount in the combustion
chamber detonation can be controlled to a certain extent.
Cam shape of suitable profile can be designed for this
purpose.
Knock reducing fuel injector : This type of injector avoid the
sudden increase in pressure inside the combustion chamber
because of accumulated fuel. This can be done by arranging the
injector so that only small amount of fuel is injected first.

 By using Ignition accelerators : CN can be increased by adding

chemical called dopes. The two chemical dopes used are ethyl-
nitrate and amyl -nitrate in concentration of 8.8 gm/Litre and 7.7
gm/Litre. But these to increase NOx emissions

 Increasing Swirl : Knocking can be greatly reduced by

increasing swirl (or reducing turbulence). Swirl helps in free
combustion.
Reading Assignment
• What are the Different Types of Combustion Chamber
Designs in S.I. and C.I. Engines.