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I.C. Engine
Topic: Fuels & Emission
Mechanical Engineering
By Nishikant Sir
Visit: www.tutelageacademy.in
❖ I C Engine Fuel:
• It should have high energy density.
• It should take very little time for combustion.
• Low deposit forming tendency.
❖ Constituents of fuel:
• Paraffins: Straight chain saturated compound
• Olefins: Straight chain unsaturated compound
• Naphthalene: Cyclic saturated compound
• Aromatic: Cyclic unsaturated compound
Note:
• The major constituents of fuel are carbon and hydrogen
• Calorific value of fuel is based on 1 kg of fuel.
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❖ Octane number:
• It is the percentage of iso-octane in the fuel containing iso-octane and n-
Heptane that gives the same knocking intensity as that of the fuel whose
octane number is calculated.
• Octane number 80 means the fuel is equivalent to 100% mixture of iso-
octane and n-Heptane where iso-octane is 80% and n-Heptane is 20%.
• Octane number of a fuel can be increased by adding tetra ethyl lead (TEL).
• Tetra ethyl lead (TEL) causes spark plug fouling so ethylene dibromide is
used to avoid lead deposits for spark plug fouling.
❖ Cetane Number:
• It is the percentage by volume of Cetane (C16 H34) in a mixture of Cetane
and α-methyl naphthalene (C10 H7 CH3) that has the same performance in
the standard test engine as that of the fuel whose Cetane number is
calculated.
• So if a fuel is equivalent to 100% mixture of Cetane and α-methyl
naphthalene where Cetane is 85% and α-methyl naphthalene is 15% then
Cetane number of the fuel are 85.
• High Cetane number of diesel engine fuel reduces its knocking tendency.
• Relation between octane number (O.N.) and Cetane number (C.N.)
C. N. = 60 - O.N./2
❖ Requirement of diesel fuel:
• Flash point: It should be high. It is the temperature at which a visible
flame occurs for less than 5 seconds.
• Fire point: It should be high. It is the temperature at which the flame can
sustain for more than 5 seconds.
• Cloud point: It should be low. It is the temperature at which the wax
content of the diesel separates out in the form of solid.
• Pour point: It should also be low. It is the temperature below which the
entire fuel freezes.
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❖ I C Engine alternative Fuels:
❖ LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas):
• It is the mainly propane (55 - 60%) and butane (40 - 45%).
• LPG is cheaper than gasoline.
• Efficiency of engine is lower due to high heat of vaporization.
• High knock resistance and do not preignite easily.
❖ CNG (Compressed Natural Gas):
• It is a mixture of 90% Methane and remaining Ethane.
• It is cheap, odorless and safe in operation.
• Low engine emission.
• Fuel availability is large.
• CNG is good for SI engine fuel due to high octane number.
❖ Methanol (CH3OH):
• The octane number of methanol is greater than petrol.
• Methanol gives 20% greater outputs than petrol engine due to higher
compression ratio.
• It has greater thermal efficiency.
• Methanol can be obtained from coal and it is also obtained from municipal
solid waste.
• It is used in racing cars because of higher power due to high compression
ratio.
❖ Ethanol (C2 H5 OH):
• It can be obtained from corn, wheat, potatoes, sugarcane, starch in
carbohydrate.
• Its octane number is greater than petrol so more thermal efficiency than
petrol.
• The volumetric efficiency is also increased. So, mean effective pressure
and power output is more than petrol engine.
• Vegetable oil particularly sunflower oil can be blended with diesel to
reduce the consumption of diesel.
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• Emission:
Air pollution can be defined as addition to our atmosphere of any material
which will have a deleterious effect on life upon earth.
The main pollutants contributed by automobile are:
• Carbon mono oxide (CO)
• Unburned hydro carbon (HBHC)
• Nitrogen oxide (NOx)
Note: Perfect combustion gives carbon dioxides (CO2) and water vapour in
exhaust.
Pollutant from Petrol Engine:
• Evaporative loss from tank & Carburetor: - 15% to 25% of HC.
• By crank case blow: - 20% to 35% of hydrocarbon (HC).
• Exhaust emission: - 50% to 60% of HC complete CO and NOx.
Hydrocarbon (HC):
• The hydrocarbon emission is higher deceleration, idling and low speed
operation.
• Lower surface to volume ratio lowers HC emission.
• Surface to volume can be reduced by lower compression ratio, high stroke
to bore ratio, larger displacement of piston etc.
Carbon monoxide (CO):
• CO emission is high during idling and maximum during deceleration.
• Percentage of CO decreases with speed.
• They are lowest during acceleration and steady speed.
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Nitrogen oxide (NOx):
• High temperature and availability of oxygen are main reason for NOx
emission.
• For lean and rich air fuel mixture the NOx concentration is low.
• Increasing the spark advance will result in high NOx concentration in
exhaust.
Note:
• The combination of HC and NOx in the presence of sunlight produces
photo chemical smog.
❖ Air pollution control by Petrol Engine:
• Retarding ignition timing.
• Lower compression ratio.
• By using leaner air-fuel ratio.
• Reduce valve overlap.
• After burning of exhaust by oxygen.
• Recirculation crankcase blow by gases to intake air cleaner.
❖ Emission Control (from SI engine):
Engine design modification:
• Leaner air-fuel ratio: The carburetor may be modified to provide
relatively lean and stable air-fuel mixtures during idling and cruise
operation. They reduce CO and HC emission.
• Retarding ignition timing: Retarding ignition timing allows increased
time for fuel burning. This reduces NOx emission by decreasing the
maximum temperatures. It also reduces HC emission by causing higher
exhaust temperatures.
• Modification of combustion chamber: By suitable design of combustion
chamber quench areas can be eliminated. This would result in proper
combustion and reduce CO and HC.
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• Lower compression ratio: It reduces NOx emission due to lower
maximum temperature and it also reduces HC.
• Reducing valve overlap: Increased valve overlap allows some mixture to
escape directly and increase emission level. This can be controlled by
reducing valve overlap.
• Diesel Emission:
• Exhaust in turbocharged engine is low in HC and high in NO x.
• Maximum emission at full load.
• Acceleration mode has more smoke level.
• NOx is high at acceleration mode and full load.
• During idle mode HC, NOx are lowest.
• A precombustion chamber design produces less NOx.
Causes of Smoke due to:
• Incomplete combustion.
• Improper mixing.
• Incorrect Air-fuel ratio.
• Improper atomization excessive duration of injection.
