Two Stroke Engines

Two Stroke Engine

❖ It is a reciprocating engine like four stroke

engine.
❖ The difference is that, it produces one
power stroke every crank shaft revolution.
❖ The air charging needs a charge device
like blower, compressor or crankcase
compression.
❖ These diagrams show a typical loop and
cross flow design. You can see that two-
stroke engines are have little number of Spark Plug
components relative to four stroke engines.
❖ It's called a two-stroke engine because
there is a compression stroke and then a
power stroke where the exhaust and
scavenging processes are included in power
and compression strokes respectively. In a
Reed Valve
four-stroke engine, there are separate
intake, compression, combustion and
exhaust strokes

Two Stroke Engine Components

 The Two-stroke Cycle

• The following animation shows a two-

stroke engine in action. The biggest
difference to notice when comparing the
two stroke to the four stroke engines is
that the spark-plug fires once every
revolution in a two-stroke engine.

• You can understand a two-stroke engine by

watching each part of the cycle. Start with
the point where the spark plug fires. Fuel
and air in the cylinder have been
compressed, and when the spark plug fires
the mixture ignites. The resulting
explosion drives the piston downward.
 1- Power Stroke

TDC BDC

Piston moves down

Piston at
TDC
Air/Fuel/Oil mixture is ignited in cylinder Air fuel oil mixture is compressed
by the piston motion

• Fuel and air in the cylinder have been compressed previously through the compression stroke.
• Power stroke starts with the point where the spark plug fires. The mixture ignites and the
resulting explosion drives the piston downward producing the power .
• Note that as the piston moves downward, it is compressing the air/fuel mixture in the
crankcase. 4
 Exhaust Process

TDC BDC

Piston moves down

Still closed
Exhaust port is uncovered and exhaust starts leaving

• As the piston approaches the bottom of the power stroke, the exhaust port is
uncovered. The pressure in the cylinder drives most of the exhaust gases out of
cylinder. The remainder of gases are forced out when the inlet ports are uncovered
and fresh charge inters the cylinder

5
Scavenging Process
(Supplying air and fuel to the cylinder)

Cylinder fills with

A/F/O mixture

• As the piston finally bottoms out, the intake port is uncovered. The piston's movement
has pressurized the mixture in the crankcase, so it rushes into the cylinder, displacing
the remaining exhaust gases and filling the cylinder with a fresh charge of air fuel
mixture.
• The scavenging process continues till the piston return toward TDC and closes the
exhaust port
 Compression Stroke

• Now the momentum in the crankshaft starts driving the piston back toward the spark
plug for the compression stroke.
• As the air/fuel mixture in the piston is compressed, a vacuum is created in the
crankcase.
• This vacuum opens the reed valve and sucks air/fuel/oil in from the carburetor.

7
Cylinder Pressure Variation
Comparison between four stroke and two stroke engines
(P-V diagram) for naturally aspirated engines
 Comparison between four stroke and two stroke engines
(P-V diagram) for turbocharged and superchatged engines
 Two-stroke engines advantages over four-stroke engines

❖ Two-stroke engines do not have valves in most designs, which simplifies

their construction and lowers their weight.
❖ Two-stroke engines fire once every revolution, while four-stroke engines
fire once every two revolutions. This gives two-stroke engines a significant
power boost.
❖ Two-stroke engines having crankcase scavenging can work in any
orientation, which can be important in something like a chainsaw. A
standard four-stroke engine may have problems with oil flow unless it is
upright, and solving this problem can add complexity to the engine.
❖ These advantages make two-stroke engines lighter, simpler and less
expensive to manufacture.
❖ Two-stroke engines also have the potential to pack about twice the power
into the same space because there are twice as many power strokes per
revolution.
❖ The combination of light weight and twice the power gives two-stroke
engines a great power-to-weight ratio compared to many four-stroke engine
designs.
Regarding to the two stroke engine advantages, why it is not commonly
used in engines application?
 Two Stroke Engine Disadvantages
1. The lack of a dedicated lubrication system in crankcase scavenging means that the
parts of a two-stroke engine wear a lot faster.
2. Two-stroke oil is expensive, and the engine consumes about 1% of the fuel mass
consumed in crankcase scavenging.
3. Two-stroke engines do not use fuel efficiently, so you would get fewer kilometers
per kg fuel.
4. Two-stroke engines produce a lot of pollution so much, in fact. The pollution
comes from two sources. The first is the combustion of the oil in crankcase
scavenging. The oil makes the engine smoky. The second is the scape of unburned
fuel/oil during the scavenging process through the exhaust manifold

Why the two stroke crankcase scavenging engine produces emissions

higher than the four strokes?
Each time a new charge of air/fuel is loaded into the combustion chamber, part of it leaks out
through the exhaust port. That's why you see a sheen of oil around any two-stroke boat motor.
The leaking hydrocarbons from the fresh fuel combined with the leaking oil is a real mess for
the environment.
 Comparison to Four Strokes

13 Cost Cheaper expensive

14 Accelerating Quicker slower
15 Orientation Work at different Works vertically
angles
 The piston Job in two-stroke engine:

• On one side of the piston is the combustion chamber, where the piston is

compressing the air/fuel mixture and capturing the energy released by the ignition

of the fuel.

• On the other side of the piston is the crankcase, where the piston is creating a

vacuum for suction air/fuel from the carburetor through the reed valve and then

pressurizing the crankcase so that air/fuel is forced into the combustion chamber.

• Meanwhile, the sides of the piston are acting like valves, covering and uncovering

the intake and exhaust ports drilled into the side of the cylinder wall.

• the piston surface is shaped so that the incoming fuel mixture is directed to the

cylinder sides for scavenging the exhaust gases towards the exhaust ports.
 Crankcase in four and two stroke crankcase scavenging engines

• In a four-stroke engine, the crankcase is completely separate from

the combustion chamber, so you can fill the crankcase with heavy
oil to lubricate the crankshaft bearings, the bearings on either end of
the piston's connecting rod and the cylinder wall.

• In a two-stroke engine, on the other hand, the crankcase is serving

as a pressurization chamber to force air/fuel into the cylinder, so it
can't hold a thick oil. Instead, you mix oil in with the fuel to
lubricate the crankshaft, connecting rod and cylinder walls.
 Diesel Two-Stroke Cycle

❖ At the top of the cylinder are typically

two or four exhaust valves that all open
at the same time. There is also the
diesel fuel injector (shown above in
yellow). The piston is elongated, as in a
gasoline two-stroke engine, so that it
can act as the intake valve. At the
bottom of the piston's travel, the piston
uncovers the ports for air intake. The
intake air is pressurized by a
turbocharger or a supercharger
(light blue). The crankcase is sealed
and contains oil as in a four-stroke
engine.
 The two-stroke diesel cycle

❖ When the piston is at the top of its travel, the cylinder contains a charge of
highly compressed air. Diesel fuel is sprayed into the cylinder by the injector
and immediately ignites because of the heat and pressure inside the cylinder.
This is the same process described in How Diesel Engines Work.
❖ The pressure created by the combustion of the fuel drives the piston downward.
This is the power stroke.
❖ As the piston nears the bottom of its stroke, all of the exhaust valves open.
Exhaust gases rush out of the cylinder, relieving the pressure.
❖ As the piston bottoms out, it uncovers the air intake ports. Pressurized air fills
the cylinder, forcing out the remainder of the exhaust gases.
❖ The exhaust valves close and the piston starts traveling back upward, re-
covering the intake ports and compressing the fresh charge of air. This is the
compression stroke.
❖ As the piston nears the top of the cylinder, the cycle repeats with step
 Gasoline Versus Diesel two stroke engines

• The two-stroke engine article also explains that the gasoline engine cycle, where gas
and air are mixed and compressed together, is not really a perfect match for the two-
stroke approach. The problem is that some unburned fuel leaks out each time the
cylinder is recharged with the air-fuel mixture.

• It turns out that the diesel approach, which compresses only air and then injects
the fuel directly into the compressed air, is a much better match with the two-
stroke cycle. Many manufacturers of large diesel engines therefore use this approach
to create high-power engines. It has more thermal efficiency and lower air pollution
Two-Stroke Engine In-Cylinder Flow
Scavenging Process :
It is the operation of cleaning the cylinder from burned gases and filling it with fresh
charge (or air) during the period of opening both inlet and exhaust ports.
Scavenging can be classified into: (a) Cross scavenging (b) Loop scavenging (c ) Uniflow
scavenging (d) Crankcase scavenging.

• When 2 strokes are properly designed, greet percentage of exhaust gasses will be
scavenged
• This allows for a new charge to enter more rapidly for cleaner combustion
• The charge needs to be held within the combustion chamber while the exhaust port is
open

How can the exhaust system be used for helping in scavenging process?
• Well engineered exhaust systems use the energy of sound waves to control this
• As the exhaust is moving out, a megaphone shaped pipe allows the sound waves to
be reflected back towards the cylinder
• These reflected sound waves create back pressure for the exhaust system, and keeps
the incoming charge held within the cylinder
• Most 2 stroke engines will not use a straight exhaust pipe for this reason
How can the exhaust system be used for helping in scavenging process?

• Well engineered exhaust

systems use the energy of
sound waves to control this
• As the exhaust is moving
out, a megaphone shaped
pipe allows the sound waves
to be reflected back towards
the cylinder
• These reflected sound
waves create back pressure
for the exhaust system, and
keeps the incoming charge
held within the cylinder
• Most 2 stroke engines will
not use a straight exhaust
pipe for this reason