Knocking in Spark

Ignition Engine

Dr. Rakesh Kumar Maurya

School of Mechanical, Materials and Energy

Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Ropar

IIT Ropar
Rupnagar, India (140001)
 SI engine Combustion

Normal combustion
Spark initiated premixed flame
Abnormal combustion
Pre-ignition
Ignition by hot surfaces or other means
End gas knock (“spark knock”)
Compression ignition of the not yet-burned mixture (end gas)
Affected by spark timing

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 Normal Combustion and Abnormal Combustion

Normal combustion occurs with common flame propagation in the

cylinder and smoothly varying in-cylinder pressure
Abnormal combustion occurs with slight or heavy pressure
fluctuations during the combustion process
Pressure fluctuation produce sharp metallic noise, called “knock”

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 Knock Fundamentals
Knock originates in the extremely rapid release of much of the fuel
chemical energy contained in the end-gas of the propagating turbulent
flame, resulting in high local pressures. The non uniform pressure
distribution causes strong pressure waves or shock waves to
propagate across and excites the acoustic modes of the combustion
chamber.
When the fuel-air mixture in the end-gas region is compressed to
sufficiently high pressures and temperatures, the fuel oxidation
process ―starting with the pre-flame chemistry and ending with rapid
heat release ―can occur spontaneously in parts or all of the end-gas
region.
Most evidence indicates that knock originates with the auto-ignition
of one or more local regions within the end-gas. Additional regions
then ignite until the end-gas is essentially fully reacted. The sequence
of processes occur extremely rapidly.

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 Knock chemical mechanism

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 Knock

Processes
Auto-ignition
Rapid heat release
Pressure oscillation

Consequences
Audible noise
Damage to combustion chamber in severe knock

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 Damage Due to Abnormal Combustion

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 Pre-ignition Damage and Reasons
Pre-ignition can be caused by:
1. Carbon deposits that remain incandescent
2. Spark plugs too hot
3. Spark plugs not firmly seated against gasket
4. Sharp edges in combustion chamber
5. Valves operating at higher than normal temperature because of
excessive guide clearance or improper seal with valve seats.
6. Overheating

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 Reasons for Knocking
Over advanced Ignition Timing: Too much spark advance causes cylinder
pressure to rise too rapidly. If resetting the timing to stock specifications does not help,
retarding timing a couple of degrees may be necessary to eliminate knock.
Engine Overheating: A hot engine is more likely to suffer spark knock than one
which runs at normal temperature. Overheating can be caused by low coolant, a
defective fan clutch, too hot a thermostat, a bad water pump, etc. A buildup of lime and
rust deposits in the head and block can also reduce heat transfer.
Spark Plug Too Hot: The wrong heat range plug can cause detonation as well as
pre-ignition. Copper core plugs are less likely to cause detonation than standard spark
plugs.
Loss of Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR): EGR keeps combustion
temperatures down, reducing the tendency to detonate. If the EGR valve is inoperative
or someone has disconnected or plugged its vacuum hose, higher combustion
temperatures can cause pinging.
Low Octane Fuel: Burning cheap gas may be one way to save pennies, but
switching to a higher grade of fuel may be necessary to eliminate a persistent knock
problem.
Defective Knock Sensor: The knock sensor responds to frequency vibrations
produced by detonation (typically 6 - 8 kHz), and signals the computer to momentarily
retard ignition timing until detonation stops.
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 Reasons for Knocking
Lean Fuel Mixture: Rich fuel mixtures resist detonation while lean ones do not. Air leaks
in vacuum lines, intake manifold gaskets, carburetor gaskets or fuel injection intake plumbing
downstream of the throttle can all admit extra air into the engine and lean out the fuel
mixture. Lean mixtures can also be caused by dirty fuel injectors, carburetor jets clogged
with fuel deposits or dirt, a restricted fuel filter, or a weak fuel pump. The air/fuel ratio can
also be affected by changes in altitude. A carburetor calibrated for high altitude driving will
run too lean if driven at a lower elevation. Altitude changes are generally compensated for on
computer cars by the barometric pressure sensor. A lean fuel condition can be diagnosed by
watching for lean misfire on an ignition scope, or by using a four-gas infrared analyzer and
watching exhaust oxygen levels. A reading over about 3% to 4% oxygen would indicate a
lean fuel condition.
Too Much Compression: An accumulation of carbon deposits in the combustion chambers,
on piston tops and valves can increase compression to the point where it exceeds fuel
octane rating. If a top cleaner fuel additive fails to remove deposits, a new alternative is to
blast the deposits loose by blowing crushed walnut shells through the spark plug hole.
Otherwise, the head will have to be removed so the deposits can be scraped off.
Overheated Air: The thermostatically controlled air cleaner provides the carburetor with hot
air to aid fuel vaporization during engine warm-up. If the air control door sticks shut so that
the carburetor continues to receive heated air after the engine is warm, detonation may
occur, especially during hot weather. Check the operation of the air flow control door in the
air cleaner to see that it opens as the engine warms up. No movement may mean a loose
vacuum hose or defective vacuum motor or thermostat.
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 Knock control strategies

Provide adequate cooling to the engine

Use intercooler on turbo-charged engines
Use high octane gasoline
Anti-knock gasoline additives
Fuel enrichment under severe condition
Use knock sensor to control spark retard so as to operate close to
engine knock limit
Fast burn system
Gasoline direct injection

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 Summary of Combustion Phenomenon in SI
Engine
Combustion in SI Engine

Normal combustion Abnormal combustion

Spark timing
controlled combustion Surface Ignition Spark Knock
uncontrolled
combustion

Knocking Surface Run on Surface Ignition Non knocking

Ignition Surface Ignition
Runaway Surface Ignition

Wild Ping Rumble

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 Definition of Terms

Surface ignition- Initiation of flame front by a hot surface other than

the spark. It may occur before the spark (pre-ignition) or after the
spark (post ignition).
Run-on Surface Ignition- Engine continues to fire after the spark is
switched off.
Run-away Surface Ignition- Surface ignition occurs earlier and
earlier in the cycle. It leads to overheating and damage to the engine.
Wild Ping-Irregular sharp combustion knock caused by early surface
ignition from deposits.
Rumble-low profile noise caused by deposits resulting from high rates
of pressure rise associated with early ignition or multiple surface
ignition.

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 Series of high-speed direct images for both
normal and knocking engine cycles

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 Effect of Engine Variables on Knock
Temperature, Pressure Time Factors Fuel and Engine Design
and Density Factors Composition Factors
Factors
• Inlet temperature • Flame travel
and pressure of Distance • Octane • Piston
mixture • Chamber rating of fuel Shape
• Temperature of shape • Fuel air ratio • Cylinder
• Engine Size
combustion chamber • Location of
• Humidity in Bore
walls spark plug Air • Shrouded
• Spark timing and exhaust • Dilution of inlet valve
valve charge
• Coolant temperature
• Flame travel • Fuel
• Compression ratio
speed Additive
• Mass of inducted • Turbulence
charge • Engine speed • Stratification
• Power output • Richer of mixture
• Exhaust back mixture

pressure
• Carbon deposits
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 THE OCTANE SCALE
The ability of a fuel to resist knock in an operating engine is defined
by its octane number(ON). The octane number scale is defined by the
volumetric composition of fuel blends comprised of two hydrocarbons,
n-heptane (nC7H16) and iso-octane (iC8H18), which are referred to
as primary reference fuels (PRFs).
By definition, iso-octane has an octane number of 100 and n-heptane
has a value of zero.
Fuel rating purposes, the Octane Index is measured in the Research
and Motor Octane Number (RON and MON) tests.
The standards for the RON test are given in ASTM 2699, and the
standards for the MON test are in ASTM 2700.
The tests are done in a Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) engine
which has a variable compression ratio.
Typically, the RON is higher than the MON for a given fuel.

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 Test Conditions for RON & MON

The motor method is considered to be more severe as its operating

conditions are more likely to produce knock.
The RON and MON are simply the Octane Index (OI) of a fuel at two
fixed conditions. The OI at any conditioncan be interpolated from the
RON and MON of the fuel using a weighing factor, K:
K is assumed to be independent of the fuel, depending only on the
operating condition

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 Additives in gasoline to improve octane quality

Tetraethyl lead or TEL

Tetra methyl lead (TML)
Due to the toxic nature of lead and its detrimental effect on catalytic
converters used for emission control, starting with the early 1970s
lead alkyls were slowly phased out as antiknock agents for gasoline in
the U.S., and were finally banned in 1996.
Recent trend has been the addition of oxygenates to improve the
octane quality of gasoline, including compounds like
methanol, ethanol , tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA), methyl tertiary
butyl ether (MTBE), and ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE).

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 ON Requirement with
change of
engine parameters

From SAE Paper 2012-01-1143

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 Fuel Factors
Parafins
1. Increasing the length of the carbon chain increases the knocking tendency.
2. Compacting the carbon atoms by incorporating side chains (thereby shortening the
length of the basic chain) decreases the tendency to knock.
3. Adding methyl groups (CH,) to the side of the basic carbon chain, in the second
from the end or center position, decreases the knocking tendency.
Olefins
4. The introduction of one double bond has little antiknock effect; two or three double
bonds generally result in appreciably less knocking tendency.
5. Exceptions to this rule are acetylene (C,H,), ethylene (C,H,), and propylene (C,H,),
which knock much more readily than the corresponding saturated hydrocarbons.
Napthenes and aromatics
6. Napthenes have significantly greater knocking tendency than have the corresponding
size aromatics.
7. Introducing one double bond has little antiknock effect; two and three double bonds
generally reduce knocking tendency appreciably.
8. Lengthening the side chain attached to the basic ring structure increases the
knocking tendency in both groups of fuels, whereas branching of the side chain
decreases the knocking tendency.

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 Knock tendency of individual hydrocarbons
Critical compression ratio for
incipient knock at 600 rpm
and 450 K coolant
temperature for
hydrocarbons

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 Knock detection methods

Methods based on in-cylinder pressure analysis.

Methods based on engine block vibration analysis
Methods based on exhaust gas temperature
Methods based on intermediate radicals and species analysis
Methods based on heat release analysis .

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 Steps to Audible Knock

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 Different instruments used to quantify knock
onset

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 Cylinder pressure based techniques
Maximum amplitude of pressure oscillations (MAPO)
Energy based methods
Integral based methods
Derivative based methods

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 Sporadic Pre-ignition (super-knock)

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 Basic Requirements of a Good Combustion
Chamber
High power output
A high compression ratio
Good turbulence
Large inlet valve to obtain a higher volumetric efficiency
Streamline flow in order to reduce the pressure drop and to increase
further volumetric efficiency
High thermal efficiency and low specific fuel consumption
A high compression ratio
A small heat loss during combustion, which means a small surface-to-
volume ratio and a compact shape.
Faster fuel burning process
Smooth engine operation
A moderate rate of pressure rise during combustion.
Absence of knock
Reduced exhaust pollutant
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 Combustion Chamber Design Principles
High volumetric efficiency: Effective valve open area, which depends on valve
diameter and lift, directly affects the volumetric efficiency. To obtain maximum
performance and to reduce pumping losses, the size of the valve heads should be
large. The valve sizes that can be accommodated depend on the cylinder head
geometry.
Minimum path of flame travel: The flame travel path is determined by the
location of the spark plug and by the shape of the combustion chamber. SI engines are
generally limited up to 100 mm cylinder bore because of short flame travel distance.
Provision of minimum heat loss zone around the spark plug: It
ensures good initial combustion conditions. The spark plug is placed near the exhaust
valve to prevent heat loss in the first phase of combustion. The surface-to-volume ratio
should be minimum here.
Provision of a suitable quench region: The quench region in a combustion
chamber is provided at the farthest distance of the flame travel, so that there will be
increased cooling of the combustion gases during the most likely knocking period. This
condition is obtained by making the surface-to-volume ratio maximum in this region. If
the relatively cool inlet valve is located in this region, then cooling of the end-gases will
be improved.
Maximum thermal efficiency: the highest compression ratio for smooth engine
operation, without knocking tendency, under all operating conditions.
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 Combustion Chamber Design Principles
Short combustion time or fast burn: It is an important consideration in
combustion chamber design of a spark-ignition engine. Fast bum results from properly
creating turbulence. Proper turbulence may be created by positioning the inlet valve
suitably, designing the inlet passage to create swirl in the induction.
Exhaust valve location: The exhaust valve should be located near the spark
plug. In order to reduce the hot surface area, the exhaust valve head diameter is kept
small and to avoid flow restrictions, a high lift is employed. The exhaust valve head
should be cooled to the desired extent.
Cooling of spark plug points: Sufficient cooling of the spark-plug points is
required to avoid pre-ignition effects, at the wider throttle openings.
Scavenging of the exhaust gas: A good scavenging of the exhaust gas is
required.
Materials for cylinder head: Aluminium-alloy heads are mostly used. Some
heads have been built of copper or copper alloys, and others had copper inserts
located to contact the last part of the charge to be burned. These are materials of high
heat conductivity, which conduct heat away from the hot spots.
Maximum output: For maximum output, two inlet and two exhaust valves are
used per cylinder

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 Combustion Chamber Optimization Procedure

Geometric Considerations
Considerations for Cyclic Variations
Consideration for Proper Turbulence
Considerations for Knocking

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