IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE)

e-ISSN: 2278-1684,p-ISSN: 2320-334X, Volume 14, Issue 1 Ver. I (Jan. - Feb. 2017), PP 23-29
www.iosrjournals.org

CFD Analysis of Exhaust Manifold of SI Engine and Comparison

of Back Pressure using Alternative Fuels
Kanupriya Bajpai1, Akash Chandrakar2, Akshay Agrawal3, Shiena Shekhar4
1, 2, 3, 4
(Mechanical Engineering Department, BIT Durg, India)

Abstract: Exhaust manifold is one of the most critical components of an IC Engine. The functioning of exhaust
manifold is complex and is dependent on many parameters viz. back pressure, exhaust velocity, scavenging etc.
In the present work, the performance of a four-stroke four cylinder gasoline engine exhaust manifold have been
analysed using three different fuels - gasoline, alcohol, and LPG for the estimation of flow characteristics,
thermal characteristics, and minimum back pressure. The manifold modelling is done in Creo2.0 followed by
meshing and analysis in ANSYS. The LPG fuel gives minimum back pressure, temperature and velocity being
approximately in the same range for all three fuels viz. gasoline, alcohol and LPG. Thus, LPG can be
considered as a suitable alternative for gasoline in terms of minimum back flow in manifold.
Keywords: Back pressure, CFD, exhaust manifold, FEM, SI engine

I. Introduction
Exhaust manifold is a part of IC engines, its role is to collect and carry the exhaust gases away from the
cylinder head and send it to the exhaust system, with a minimum of back pressure. The exhaust manifold plays
an important role in the performance of an engine system. Particularly, the efficiencies of emission and fuel
consumption are closely related to the performance of exhaust manifold. Exhaust Manifolds are affected by
thermal stresses and deformations due the temperature distribution, heat accumulation or dissipation and other
related thermal characteristics.
The exhaust manifold is able to influence the gas exchange process in several aspects, like the piston
work during the exhaust stroke, the short-circuit of fresh charge from the intake into the exhaust and even the
filling of the cylinder. In this sense, the most influential boundary condition imposed by the manifold is the
pressure at the valve and especially the instantaneous pressure evolution. The mean backpressure is determined
mainly by the singular elements, such as the turbine, the catalytic converter and the silencer.
Special interest must be given to the back pressure parameter. Back pressure is an undesired effect
because as the back pressure increases so does the amount of residuals left in the head. The increase in weight of
residuals will decrease the volume of the fresh charge, in turn increasing the temperature at the beginning of
compression as well. Several experiments show how the increase in back pressure influences the thermal
efficiency for different induction manifold pressures.
Proper analysis of the flue gases of various fuels in exhaust manifold is a difficult exercise however use
of finite element method and computational fluid dynamics has shown promise.

II. Improvement In Exhaust Manifold Design

The design of exhaust manifolds has been developed for many years. As engines have been improved
so have exhaust manifolds. Early exhaust manifolds were much less efficient than todays exhaust manifolds.
Designs that did not contribute to a smooth flow were very typical in early times. The back pressure built up was
much greater, this increased the work done by the particular piston at the exhaust stroke. Large amounts of
residual gases remain in the compression chamber and, as a consequence, the temperature increases. Sometimes
when working hard the manifold glows red-hot, forcing the use of asbestos, a highly heat-resistant fibrous
silicate mineral, to protect paintwork. Nowadays, exhaust manifold designs have been transformed completely.
In order to improve earlier configurations, designers and researchers have come up with different designs with
respect to various parameters that affect the exhaust manifold. Lot of work on effect of various parameters on
the analysis, design, and performance of exhaust manifold has been reported.
Traditional manifold optimization has been based on tests on exhaust manifold. This trial & error
method can be effective but is very expensive and time consuming. Beside this method cannot provide any
information about the actual flow structure inside the manifold. This vital information can be obtained using 3-D
CFD analysis.
Umesh et al.[1-3] investigated the best possible designs for exhaust manifold from emission point of
view. Jain and Agrawal [4] investigated the associated thermal stresses and deformations under simulated
operational conditions close to the real situation on different materials, to ensure the appropriateness of material
for the defined design from the view point of serviceability of the exhaust manifold.
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 CFD Analysis of Exhaust Manifold of SI Engine and Comparison of Back Pressure using Alternative Fuels

Work have also been done on estimation of flow characteristic in inlet and exhaust manifolds of
internal combustion engines using a four-stroke variable compression ratio single cylinder gasoline engine by
Kutaiba et al.[5]. Rathnaraj et al. [6] carried out thermo mechanical fatigue analysis of stainless steel exhaust
manifolds. Swathi et al.[7] worked on the predictions obtainable using the conformal and indirect interfaces for
Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) analysis in an exhaust manifold. Heat transfer phenomena were also
investigated analytically using different Nusselt number by Durat et al.[8]. Pressure transducer location and the
distortions of measured pressure courses by transducer position were investigated by Miklnek [9]. Zidat and
Parmentier [10] have worked on Exhaust Manifold Design to Minimize Catalyst Light-off Time.
The complex geometry of the exhaust line and the special flow conditions complicate the problem of
accurately estimating several important heat transfer parameters. Kandylas and Stamatelos [11] have
investigated the engine exhaust system design based on heat transfer computation and have suggested the
optimization of various parameters such as exhaust manifold material, thickness and insulation, exhaust
manifold and downpipe design (geometry), position of catalytic converter in gasoline engines. Londhe and
Yadav [12] studied the effect of thermal shock on the exhaust manifold. Taner Gocmez et al.[13] provided a
procedure for an integral solution, which provides for the development of optimized exhaust manifolds that are
failure-free.
In another study on the impact of temperature effect on exhaust manifold, thermal modal analysis, by
Zou et al. [14], the temperature field was mapped from the CFD software and then heat conduction process was
analysed in FEM software with the temperature field boundary conditions. Bisen et al.[15] have presented a
powerful method to evaluate exhaust system performance through their work on experimental investigation and
CFD analysis of a single cylinder four stroke C.I. engine exhaust system. Deger et al. [16] did CFD-FE-Analysis
for the Exhaust Manifold of a Diesel Engine aiming to determine specific temperature and pressure
distributions.

III. Problem Identification

Alternative fuels, known as non-conventional or advanced fuels, are any materials or substances that
can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels. Because of a combination of factors, such as environmental
concerns, high oil prices and the potential for peak oil, development of cleaner alternative fuels and advanced
power systems for vehicles has become a high priority for many governments and vehicle manufacturers around
the world. However, the suitability of such alternate fuels for internal combustion engines is to be established in
terms of combustion efficiency, engine power, and exhaust gases.
Exhaust system is designed to evacuate gases from the combustion chamber quickly and efficiently.
Exhaust gases are not produced in a smooth stream; exhaust gases originate in pulses. Engine exhaust back
pressure is defined as the exhaust gas pressure that is produced by the engine to overcome the hydraulic
resistance of the exhaust system in order to discharge the gases into the atmosphere. Back pressure is one of the
major factors that affect the engine exhaust gas emission.
Some of the effects of increased back pressure in an exhaust manifold are:
1. The engine has to compress the exhaust gases to a higher pressure which involves additional mechanical work
and/or less energy extracted by the exhaust turbine
2. Excessive exhaust pressures can increase the likelihood of failure of turbocharger seals, resulting in oil
leakage into the exhaust system.
Thus, it is important to determine minimum back pressure for proper exhaust emission for different
fuels. In this work, we have considered two fuels as an alternative to gasoline, namely LPG (Liquefied
petroleum gas or liquid petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas), also referred to as Autogas in case of automobile fuel)
and alcohol (ethanol).

IV. Process Methodology

The reciprocating engine causes the air-flow in the exhaust manifold to oscillate with a frequency that
is a multiple of the engine speed, as a result of the oscillating air-flow the pressure in the exhaust manifold will
also oscillate. The exhaust manifold pressure is a crucial variable for an IC engine, affecting the torque
production and the emissions through variations in the EGR mass flow and in the residual mass fraction in the
cylinder. Also it is a complex system subjected to thermo mechanical loads. The analysis of such a system is
critical due to the complexity of meeting the structural and flow requirements. The use of Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) and Finite element analysis (FEA) are inevitable tools to achieve this.
A four stroke four cylinder spark ignition engine (Swept volume 1197cc, compression ratio 10:1)
exhaust manifold was taken. The analysis was performed on the exhaust manifold with alternative fuels (Table
1) in comparison with gasoline to determine flow and thermal characteristics. The results obtained are compared
to determine the minimum back pressure.

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 CFD Analysis of Exhaust Manifold of SI Engine and Comparison of Back Pressure using Alternative Fuels

The model development was carried out on Creo2.0. ANSYS for further analysis. The four cylinder SI engine
exhaust manifold was created in three different parts. These parts were then assembled to give the final model of
the exhaust manifold (Fig.1). The exhaust manifold model was meshed using tetrahedral elements of T-grid
scheme type with zero relevance (Fig.2). Table 2 shows inlet and outlet boundary conditions.

Figure 1: Solid view of exhaust manifold Figure 2. Meshed model of the assembly

ANSYS FLUENT was used for modelling fluid flow and heat transfer. For the analysis, following assumptions
were made:
1. All the walls are stationary walls with no slip as shear condition.
2. The outer surface of the wall is kept at a temperature of 300K with no heat generation rate.
3. The material of the wall was taken as Aluminum.
4. There are four inlets to the system. All the four outlet valves are assumed to open at the same time and
exhaust gas enter the exhaust manifolds inlets at a constant velocity.
5. The turbulence was assumed to be 10% of the Kinetic energy throughout the analysis.
6. The compression ratio of the engine was assumed to be constant throughout the analysis.
7. Gravity was not taken into considerations.

Table 1: Material Fluid Properties used in analysis

Material Gasoline Alcohol LPG
Density (Kg/m3) 1.0685 1.255 1.2631
Viscosity (Pa-s) 3.0927 x 10-5 2.57 x 10-5 2.57 x 10-5
Specific Heat (J/Kg-K) 1056.6434 1150.6 1138.40
Thermal Conductivity (W/m-K) 0.0250 0.025 0.025
Source: Umesh K. et al (2013)

Table 2: Inlet and Outlet Boundary Conditions

Zone X-velocity Y-velocity Z-velocity Turbulent Mean Hydraulic
(m/s) (m/s) (m/s) Intensity (%) diameter (m)
Velocity Inlet 1 0 0 -17.03 10 0.00877
Velocity Inlet 2 0 0 -17.03 10 0.00877
Velocity Inlet 3 0 0 -17.03 10 0.00877
Velocity Inlet 4 0 0 -17.03 10 0.00877
Pressure outlet 10 0.01302

V. Results And Discussions

The results obtained by CFD simulations are displayed with the help of pressure, velocity and temperature
contours.
Velocity Contours (fig.3-8):
From the velocity profiles of the exhaust manifold, it can be observed that at all the inlets the velocities
are same. The velocities of the gases reduce with forward movement in the z direction. At the four inlets as per
the boundary conditions the velocity is 17.03m/s. As the gas moves forward for LPG the gas velocity reduces to
6.5m/s to 13m/s, for gasoline 5 10 m/s and for alcohol 6.35 to 12.7 m/s up to the pipe bend. It is observed that
in all the three cases velocity inlet 1 pipe have almost same velocity till the contact region of the main pipe. But
in the other three inlet pipes there is a slight backflow. It is observed in all the three cases that velocity goes on
increasing till the pressure outlet. LPG has the maximum velocity range and the theoretical value of outlet
velocity lies closer to gasoline as compared to LPG and alcohol.

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 CFD Analysis of Exhaust Manifold of SI Engine and Comparison of Back Pressure using Alternative Fuels

Pressure Contours (fig. 9-11):

From the pressure contours it can be observed that in all the three cases the pressure from inlet pipe one
to the exit goes on decreasing, which is also a required condition for the flow to happen in the outlet direction.
In case of gasoline, the first two inlet pipes have almost same pressure and then the pressure decreases. A slight
back pressure can be seen at the joint of third inlet pipe.
In case of alcohol the pressure goes on reducing from the pipe bend of the first inlet pipe. A large
region of back pressure can be observed. In case of alcohol, back pressure is observed higher than the other two
cases. In case of LPG, the region of back pressure is near the end of inlet pipe 2 and inlet pipe 3. It is observed
that alcohol gives the maximum exit pressure of range 602 Pa at the outlet. Whereas LPG gives 258 Pa and
gasoline with the least pressure outlet gives 110 Pa.

Temperature Contours (fig. 12-17):

It can be observed from the temperature contours that at the four inlets the temperature is same, since it
is the outlet temperature of gas from engine cylinder (T4 in Otto cycle) and is assumed to be same for all the
four inlets. The temperature variation from inlets to the outlet of the exhaust manifold in all the three cases are
almost similar to each other throughout the path except near the pressure outlet. In the region near the pressure
outlet the fluctuation of temperature of the exhaust gas is more in compared to other domains.
It can be observed that among the three simulations Alcohol gives the maximum outlet temperature in
the range of 469 to 496 K, followed by LPG in the range of 469-483 K and at last gasoline gives the temperature
range of 456 483 K at exhaust manifold outlet.
From inlets as the gas moves forward initially the temperature reduces but at the pipe bend the
temperature again increases. The gases from all the inlets mix together and final temperature range is achieved
at pressure outlet. In case of gasoline the reduction in temperature from inlet to pipe bend is from 523 K to 361
K and at the pipe bend the temperature again increases to 416 K. In LPG the reduction is from 523 K to 397K
and the increase in temperature at the pipe bend is up to 433 K. In case of alcohol the temperature variation is
from 523 K to 375 K and again up to 429 K at the pipe bend.
Figures 18-20 shows the variation of pressure, temperature and velocity of exhaust gas flow from inlet
to outlet manifold. It matches with the fluid flow phenomena.

Fig.3: Velocity contour of exhaust manifold Fig. 4: Velocity contour of pressure outlet of exhaust manifold
with LPG with LPG

Fig. 5: Velocity contour of exhaust manifold with Fig. 6: Velocity contour of pressure outlet of exhaust
gasoline manifold with gasoline

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 CFD Analysis of Exhaust Manifold of SI Engine and Comparison of Back Pressure using Alternative Fuels

Fig. 7: Velocity contour of exhaust manifold with Fig. 8: Velocity contour of pressure outlet of exhaust
alcohol manifold with alcohol

Figure 9: Pressure contour of exhaust manifold with Figure 10: Pressure contour of exhaust manifold with
gasoline alcohol

Fig. 11: Pressure contour of exhaust manifold with Fig. 12: Temperature contour of exhaust manifold with
LPG gasoline

Fig. 13: Temperature contour of pressure outlet of Fig. 14: Temperature contour of exhaust manifold with
exhaust manifold with gasoline alcohol

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 CFD Analysis of Exhaust Manifold of SI Engine and Comparison of Back Pressure using Alternative Fuels

Fig. 15: Temperature contour of pressure outlet of Fig. 16: Temperature contour of exhaust manifold with
exhaust manifold with alcohol LPG

Fig. 17: Temperature contour of pressure outlet of Fig. 18: Pressure graph for gasoline, alcohol and LPG
exhaust manifold with LPG

Fig. 19: Temperature graph for gasoline, alcohol and Fig. 20: Velocity graph for gasoline, alcohol and
LPG LPG
VI. Conclusion
The back pressure in an exhaust manifold is an important criterion for efficiency of an IC engine. The
lesser is the back pressure, the more work will be free by piston to reach the flywheel. From the above
displayed results, it can be concluded that the flue gases produced by combustion of LPG had the lowest value
of pressure difference at the back pressure zones than those of flue gases produced by gasoline and alcohol in
the exhaust manifold. In all the three cases, a negative pressure zone is commonly generated at the intersection
of main duct and the ducts from individual inlets that causes back pressure. Alcohol has the highest value of
back pressure and has the most frequency of negative pressure difference. Gasoline has the least working
pressure of the three and exhibits moderate zones of negative pressure difference while LPG has maximum
working pressure followed by alcohol. The velocities of the flue gases from all the three fuels remain almost
identical at their respective positions in the duct. The sudden valleys present in the curves are caused due to
back pressure at those points. The maximum velocity of flue gases is achieved near the outlet of exhaust
manifold as the pressure at that position is low so the gases rush out of the exit of the duct. The temperature of
flue gases in all the cases cools down as the gases proceed towards the outlet of the exhaust manifold. The parts
where the temperature rises are the points of mixing of gases, where the temperature rises due to collision and
rubbing among the gas molecules.

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 CFD Analysis of Exhaust Manifold of SI Engine and Comparison of Back Pressure using Alternative Fuels

There is also some observable turbulence at the intersections of main duct and individual ducts from
cylinders and also near the end of the manifold due to mixing of gases and high velocity.

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