Figure 2-5 Average compression ratio of American spark ignition automobile

engines as a function of year. During the first forty years compression ratios slowly
increased from 2.5 to 4.5, limited mainly by low octane numbers of the available
fuels. In 1923 TEL was introduced as a fuel additive and this was followed by a rapid
increase in compression ratios. No automobiles were manufactured during 1942-
1945 when production was converted to war vehicles during World War II. A rapid
rise in compression ratios occurred during the 1950s when muscle cars became pop-
ular. During the 1970s TEL was phased out as a fuel additive, pollution laws were
enacted, and gasoline became expensive due to an oil embargo imposed by some oil
producing countries. These resulted in lower compression ratios during this time. In
the 1980s and 19908better fuels and combustion chamber technology is allowing for
higher compression ratios. Adapted from [5].
 Figure 2-7 1996 General Motors L35 4300 Vortec V6 spark ignition engine. The
engine has multipoint port fuel injection and overhead valves with a displacement of
4.3 L (262 in.3), bore of 10.160 cm (4.00 in.) and stroke of 8.839 cm (3.48 in.). Copy-
right General Motors Corp., used with permission.

If P represents the pressure inside the cylinder combustion chamber, then Eq.
(2-22) and the areas shown in Fig. 2-9 give the work inside the combustion chamber.
This is called indicated work. Work delivered by the crankshaft is less than indicated
work due to mechanical friction and parasitic loads of the engine. Parasitic loads
include the oil pump, supercharger, air conditioner compressor, alternator, etc.
Actual work available at the crankshaft is called brake work wb' Units of specific
work will be kJ/kg or BTU/lbm.
wb = Wi - wt (2-23)
where: Wi = indicated specific work generated inside combustion chamber
wt = specific work lost due to friction and parasitic loads
The upper loop of the engine cycle in Fig. 2-9 consists of the compression and
power strokes where output work is generated and is called the gross indicated work
(areas A and C in Fig. 2-9). The lower loop, which includes the intake and exhaust
decreasing engine speed to zero at idle conditions, when no work is taken off the
crankshaft.
Care should be taken when using the terms "gross work" and "net work". In
some older literature and textbooks, net work (or net power) meant the output of an
engine with all components, while gross work (or gross power) meant the output of
the engine with fan and exhaust system removed.
Sec. 2-4 Torque and Power 51

In these equations, bmep and brake work Wb are used because torque is
measured off the output crankshaft.
Many modern automobile engines have maximum torque in the 200 to 300
N-m range at engine speeds usually around 4000 to 6000 RPM. The point of maxi-
mum torque is called maximum brake torque speed (MBT). A major goal in the
design of a modern automobile engine is to flatten the torque-versus-speed curve as
shown in Fig. 2-11, and to have high torque at both high and low speed. CI engines
generally have greater torque than SI engines. Large engines often have very high
torque values with MBT at relatively low speed.
Power is defined as the rate of work of the engine. If n = number of revolu-
tions per cycle, and N = engine speed, then:
 Engine power can range from a few watts in small model airplane engines to
thousands of kW per cylinder in large multiple-cylinder stationary and ship engines.
There is a large commercial market for engines in the 1.5- to 5-kW (2-7 hp) range
for lawn mowers, chain saws, snowblowers, etc. Power for outboard motors
(engines) for small boats typically ranges from 2 to 40 kW (3-50 hp), with much
larger ones available. Modern automobile engines range mostly from 40 to 220 kW
(50-300 hp). It is interesting to note that a modern midsize aerodynamic automobile
only requires about 5 to 6 kW (7-8 hp) to cruise at 55 mph on level roadway.
Both torque and power are functions of engine speed. At low speed, torque
increases as engine speed increases. As engine speed increases further, torque
reaches a maximum and then decreases as shown in Figs. 2-8 and 2-11. Torque
decreases because the engine is unable to ingest a full charge of air at higher speeds.
Indicated power increases with speed, while brake power increases to a maximum
and then decreases at higher speeds. This is because friction losses increase with
speed and become the dominant factor at very high speeds. For many automobile
engines, maximum brake power occurs at about 6000 to 7000 RPM, about one and a
half times the speed of maximum torque.
Greater power can be generated by increasing displacement, mep, and/or
speed. Increased displacement increases engine mass and takes up space, both of
which are contrary to automobile design trends. For this reason, most modern
engines are smaller but run at higher speeds, and are often turbocharged or super-
charged to increase mep.
Other ways which are sometimes used to classify engines are shown in Eqs.
(2-51)-(2-54).
specific power SP = Wb/ Ap (2-51)

output per displacement OPD = Wb/Vd (2-52)

 Sec. 2-5 Dynamometers 53

specific volume SV = Vd / Wb (2-53)

specific weight SW = (engine weight)/Wb (2-54)

where: Wb = brake power
Ap = piston face area of all pistons
Vd = displacement volume

These parameters are important for engines used in transportation vehicles

such as boats, automobiles, and especially airplanes, where keeping weight to a min-
imum is necessary. For large stationary engines, weight is not as important.
Modern automobile engines usually have brake power output per displace-
ment in the range of 40 to 80 kW/L. The Honda eight-valve-per-cylinder V4
motorcycle engine generates about 130 kW/L, an extreme example of a high-perfor-
mance racing engine [22]. One main reason for continued development to return to
two-stroke cycle automobile engines is that they have up to 40% greater power out-
put per unit weight.

HISTORIC-EIGHT-V AL VES-PER-CYLINDER
MOTORCYCLE ENGINE
In the early 1990s, Honda produced a racing motorcycle with a V4
engine, of which each cylinder had four intake valves and four exhaust
valves. The engine was developed by modifying a V8 engine so that the
motorcycle could be raced under rules restricting engines to four cylin-
ders. A four-valve-per-cylinder V8 engine block was modified by removing
the metal between each set of two cylinders. Special pistons were built to
fit into the resulting non-round, oblong cylinders. This resulted in each
cylinder having eight valves and a piston with two connecting rods using
a common piston pin.
The final product was a very fast, very expensive motorcycle with an
aluminum block, 90° V4 engine having a displacement of 748 cm3. It pro-
duced 96 kW at 14,000 RPM and maximum torque of 71 N-m at 11,600
RPM [22, 143].

2-5 DYNAMOMETERS

Dynamometers are used to measure torque and power over the engine operating
ranges of speed and load. They do this by using various methods to absorb the
energy output of the engine, all of which eventually ends up as heat.
Some dynamometers absorb energy in a mechanical friction brake (prony
brake). These are the simplest dynamometers but are not as flexible and accurate as
others at higher energy levels.
54 Operating Characteristics Chap. 2

Fluid or hydraulic dynamometers absorb engine energy in water or oil pumped

through orifices or dissipated with viscous losses in a rotor-stator combination.
Large amounts of energy can be absorbed in this manner, making this an attractive
type of dynamometer for the largest of engines.
Eddy current dynamometers use a disk, driven by the engine being tested,
rotating in a magnetic field of controlled strength. The rotating disk acts as an elec-
trical conductor cutting the lines of magnetic flux and producing eddy currents in
the disk. With no external circuit, the energy from the induced currents is absorbed
in the disk.
One of the best types of dynamometers is the electric dynamometer, which
absorbs energy with electrical output from a connected generator. In addition to
having an accurate way of measuring the energy absorbed, the load is easily varied
by changing the amount of resistance in the circuit connected to the generator
output. Many electric dynamometers can also be operated in reverse, with the gen-
erator used as a motor to drive (or motor) an unfired engine. This allows the engine
to be tested for mechanical friction losses and air pumping losses, quantities that are
hard to measure on a running fired engine; see Section 11-2.
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 2-2
The engine in Example Problem 2-1 is connected to a dynamometer which gives a
brake output torque reading of 205 N-m at 3600 RPM. At this speed air enters the
cylinders at 85 kPa and 60°C, and the mechanical efficiency of the engine is 85%.
Calculate:
 Sec. 2-8 Engine Efficiencies 59

use the inverse of this, with (L/lOO km) being a common unit. To decrease air pollu-
tion and depletion of fossil fuels, laws have been enacted requiring better vehicle
fuel economy. Since the early 1970s, when most automobiles got less than 15 mpg
(15.7 L/lOO km) using gasoline, great strides have been made in improving fuel econ-
omy. Many modern automobiles now get between 30 and 40 mpg (7.8 and 5.9 L/lOO
km), with some small vehicles as high as 60 mpg (3.9 L/lOO km).

2-8 ENGINE EFFICIENCIES

The time available for the combustion process of an engine cycle is very brief, and
not all fuel molecules may find an oxygen molecule with which to combine, or the
local temperature may not favor a reaction. Consequently, a small fraction of fuel
does not react and exits with the exhaust flow. A combustion efficiency TJc is defined
to account for the fraction of fuel which burns. TJc typically has values in the range
0.95 to 0.98 when an engine is operating properly. For one engine cycle in one cylin-
der, the heat added is:
2-9 VOLUMETRIC EFFICIENCY

One of the most important processes that governs how much power and perfor-
mance can be obtained from an engine is getting the maximum amount of air into
the cylinder during each cycle. More air means more fuel can be burned and more
energy can be converted to output power. Getting the relatively small volume of
liquid fuel into the cylinder is much easier than getting the large volume of gaseous
air needed to react with the fuel. Ideally, a mass of air equal to the density of
atmospheric air times the displacement volume of the cylinder should be ingested
for each cycle. However, because of the short cycle time available and the flow
restrictions presented by the air cleaner, carburetor (if any), intake manifold, and
intake valve(s), less than this ideal amount of air enters the cylinder. Volumetric
efficiency is defined as:
Sec.2-9 Volumetric Efficiency 61

Sometimes (less common) the air density in Eqs. (2-69) and (2-70) is evaluated
at conditions in the intake manifold immediately before it enters the cylinder. The
conditions at this point will usually be hotter and at a lower pressure than surround-
ing atmospheric conditions.
Typical values of volumetric efficiency for an engine at wide-open throttle
(WOT) are in the range 75% to 90%, going down to much lower values as the throt-
tle is closed. Restricting air flow into an engine (closing the throttle) is the primary
means of power control for a spark ignition engine.
EXAMPLE PROBLEM 2-3
The engine in Example Problem 2-2 is running with an air-fuel ratio AF = 15, a fuel
heating value of 44,000kJ/kg, and a combustion efficiencyof 97%.
Calculate: