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Actual Cycles and Their Analysis

Comparison of Air Standard and Actual Cycles


The difference between air standard cycle and actual cycle are mainly due
to:
1. The progressive combustion rather than instantaneous combustion.
2. The heat transfer to and from the working medium.
3. The substantial exhaust blowdown loss, i.e., loss of work on the expansion
stroke due to early opening of the exhaust valve.
4. Gas leakage, fluid friction etc. in actual engines.
Factors Influencing Actual Cycle

Time loss factor: loss due to time required for mixing of fuel and air and
also for combustion.
Heat loss factor: loss of heat from gases to cylinder walls.
Exhaust blowdown factor: loss of work on the expansion stroke due to early
opening of the exhaust valve.

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Time Loss Factor

In air standard cycle, heat addition is assumed to be instantaneous whereas


in actual it takes place over a definite period of time.
The crankshaft will actually rotate 30-40o between the initiation of spark and
the end of combustion.
Peak pressure will occur, not at TDC, but sometime after.
This causes loss of work, reducing efficiency, and is called time loss factor.
Time taken for burning depends upon the flame velocity, which depends
upon type of fuel and fuel-air ratio, and also on the shape and size of
combustion chamber.

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Time Loss

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Spark Advance

Combustion start time is varied, so that the peak pressure is not reached too
late.
With spark at TDC, peak pressure is low.
If spark is advanced to achieve complete combustion close to TDC,
additional work is required to compress the burning gases.
Work area is less, power output and efficiency are low.
Moderate or optimum spark advance is best compromise resulting in
minimum losses.

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Spark Advance

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Optimum Advance

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Spark Advance

When ignition advance is increased, there is drastic reduction in imep.


Sometimes spark retardation from optimum maybe necessary, in order to
avoid knocking and reduce exhaust emission of hydrocarbons and carbon
monoxides.
Composition of Exhaust
Gases

It is impossible to obtain perfect homogeneous mixture with fuel-vapour and


air, since residual gases from the previous cycle are present in the clearance
volume.
Only limited time is available between the mixture preparation and ignition.
It is possible that a pocket of oxygen is present in one part of the cylinder
and a pocket of excess fuel in another part.
Therefore some fuel does not burn, or burns partially to CO and the unused
O2 appears in the exhaust.
Energy released in actual engine is about 90% of fuel energy input.

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It is necessary to use a lean mixture to eliminate wastage of fuel.
Slightly leaner mixture gives maximum efficiency.
Too lean mixture will burn slowly increasing time losses or not burn at all.
In a rich mixture a part of the fuel will not get the necessary oxygen and will
be completely lost.
Flame speed in more than 10% richer is low, increasing time losses.
Heat Loss Factor

Heat flows from the gases through the cylinder walls and the cylinder head
into the water jacket or the cooling fins.
Some heat enters the piston head and flows through the piston rings into the
cylinder walls, or is carried away by the lubricating oil.
Heat loss during combustion has maximum efficiency on the cycle
efficiency.
Heat loss just before the end of the expansion stroke has very little effect on
the efficiency because its contribution to the useful work is minimum.
About 15% of the total heat is lost during combustion and expansion.

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Effect of loss of heat during combustion is to lower the maximum
temperature, and therefore the specific heats.
Heat loss contributes about 12% of total losses.
Exhaust Blowdown

If the exhaust valve is opened at the BDC the piston has to do work against
the high cylinder pressures during the early part of the exhaust stroke.
If the exhaust valve is opened too early, a part of the expansion stroke is lost.
The best compromise is to open the exhaust valve 40o - 70o before the BDC
thereby reducing the pressure to half before the exhaust stroke begins.

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Exhaust Blowdown

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Loss due to Gas Exchange
Processes

Pumping work: the difference of the work done in expelling the exhaust
gases and the work done by the fresh charge during the suction stroke.
Work loss due to gas exchange process (pumping loss) is due to pumping
gas from lower inlet pressure pi to higher exhaust pressure pe.
Pumping loss increases at part throttle, because throttling reduces the suction
pressure.
Pumping loss also increases with speed.

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Volumetric Efficiency

Defined as the ratio of the volume of air actually inducted at ambient


condition to swept volume.
Also defined as ratio of actual mass of air drawn into the engine during a
given period of time to the theoretical mass that should have been drawn in.
Volumetric efficiency is affected by:
Density of fresh charge.
Exhaust gas in the clearance volume.
Design of intake and exhaust manifolds.
Timing of intake and exhaust valves.

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Density of Fresh Charge

Fresh charge is heated due to the hot chamber and the hot residual exhaust
gases.
This results in a decrease in the mass of the fresh charge admitted and a
reduction in the volumetric efficiency.
The volumetric efficiency is increased by low temperatures and high
pressures of fresh charge, since density increases, and more mass of charge
can be inducted.

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Exhaust Gas in the Clearance
Volume

During the intake stroke, the exhaust gases tend to expand and occupy a
portion of the piston displacement greater than the clearance volume.
This reduces the space available to the incoming charge.
Moreover these tend to increase the temperature of the fresh charge and
decrease its density, lowering the volumetric efficiency.

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Design of Intake and Exhaust
Manifolds

Exhaust manifold should be designed to enable exhaust gases to escape


readily.
Intake manifold should bring in maximum fresh charge.
Minimum restriction is offered to the fresh charge as well as the exhaust
products.

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Timing of the Intake and
Exhaust Valves

Valves require a finite period of time to open or close for smooth operation.
A slight lead is necessary for proper opening and closing.
Design of the valve operating cam provides smooth transition from one point
to other.
Cam settings determine the timing of the valves.

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Valve Timings (Intake)

Intake valve opens a few degrees before TDC, ensuring that the valve will
be fully open and the fresh charge starts to flow into the cylinder as soon as
the piston reaches TDC.
Intake valve closes 10o after BDC for a low speed engine, and 60o for a high
speed engine.
For a low speed engine, if the intake valve remains open much beyond BDC,
the piston would tend to force some of the charge back into the intake
manifold.
However for a high speed engine, the inertia of the incoming charge causes
a ram effect, tending to pack more charge into the cylinder.

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Valve Timings (Exhaust)

Exhaust valve usually opens before the piston reaches BDC.


This reduces the work done during power stroke, but decreases the work
necessary to expel the exhaust gases, resulting in overall gain in output.
If exhaust valve is closed beyond TDC, the inertia of the exhaust gases tends
to scavenge the cylinder better by carrying out a greater mass of the gas left
in the clearance volume, and results in increased volumetric efficiency.

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Valve Timing for a Low Speed and a High Speed SI
Engine

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Rubbing Friction Losses

These are due to friction between the piston and the cylinder walls, friction
in various bearings, energy spent in operating auxiliary equipment such as
cooling water pump, ignition system, fan etc.
These losses increase to a small extent with increase in mean effective
pressure.
The bearing friction and the auxiliary friction also increase with engine
speed.

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Actual and Fuel-Air Cycles of
CI Engines

In diesel engine the losses are less than the Otto cycle.
Main loss is due to the incomplete combustion.
In fuel-air cycle, the combustion is supposed to be complete at the end of the
constant pressure burning, whereas in actual cycle, after burning continues
up to half of the expansion stroke.
In actual cycles allowances are made for the losses due to heat transfer and
finite combustion time in addition to the presence of fuel and combustion
products.
The ratio of actual efficiency to the fuel air efficiency is about 0.85 in the
diesel engines.

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