Lecture Notes
ENGINE TESTING AND PERFORMANCE
Engine performance is an indication of the degree of success of the engine performs its assigned
task, i.e. the conversion of the chemical energy contained in the fuel into the useful mechanical
work. The performance of an engine is evaluated on the basis of the following;
(a) Specific Fuel Consumption.
(b) Brake Mean Effective Pressure.
(c) Specific Power Output.
(d) Specific Weight.
(e) Exhaust Smoke and Other Emissions.
Basic measurements:
The basic measurements to be undertaken to evaluate the performance of an engine on almost all
tests are the following:
(a) Speed
(b) Fuel consumption
(c) Air consumption
(d) Smoke density
(e) Brake horse-power
(f) Indicated horse power and friction horse power
(g) Heat balance sheet or performance of SI and CI engine
(h) Exhaust gas analysis
1. Measurement of speed:
One of the basic measurements is that of speed. A wide variety of speed measuring devices are
available in the market. They range from a mechanical tachometer to digital and triggered electrical
tachometers. The best method of measuring speed is to count the number of revolutions in a given
time. This gives an accurate measurement of speed. Many engines are fitted with such revolution
counters. A mechanical tachometer or an electrical tachometer can also be used for measuring the
speed. The electrical tachometer has a three-phase permanent-magnet alternator to which a
voltmeter is attached. -The output of the alternator is a linear function of the speed and is directly
indicated on the voltmeter dial.
Both electrical and mechanical types of tachometers are affected by the temperature variations and
are not very accurate. For accurate and continuous measurement of speed a magnetic pick-up
placed near a toothed wheel coupled to the engine shaft can be used.
The magnetic pick-up will produce a pulse for every revolution and a pulse counter will accurately
measure the speed.
2. Fuel consumption measurement:
Fuel consumption is measured in two ways:
(a) The fuel consumption of an engine is measured by determining the volume flow in a given time
interval and multiplying it by the specific gravity of the fuel which should be measured
occasionally to get an accurate value.
(b) Another method is to measure the time required for consumption of a given mass of fuel.
As already mentioned two basic types of fuel measurement methods are:
Volumetric type
Gravimetric type
Volumetric type flow meter includes Burette method, Automatic Burette flow meter and Turbine
flow meter.
Gravimetric Fuel Flow Measurement
The efficiency of an engine is related to the kilograms of fuel which are consumed and not the
number of litres. The method of measuring volume flow and then correcting it for specific gravity
variations is quite inconvenient and inherently limited in accuracy. Instead if the weight of the fuel
consumed is directly measured a great improvement in accuracy and cost can be obtained. There
are three types of gravimetric type systems which are commercially available include Actual
weighing of fuel consumed, Four Orifice Flow meter, etc.
3. Measurement of brake power:
The brake power measurement involves the determination of the torque and the angular speed of
the engine output shaft. The torque measuring device is called a dynamometer. Dynamometers can
be broadly classified into two main types, power absorption dynamometers and transmission
dynamometer.
Absorption Dynamometers
These dynamometers measure and absorb the power output of the engine to which they are coupled.
The power absorbed is usually dissipated as heat by some means. Example of such dynamometers
is prony brake, rope brake, hydraulic dynamometer, etc.
Transmission Dynamometers
In transmission dynamometers, the power is transmitted to the load coupled to the engine after it
is indicated on some type of scale. These are also called torque-meters.
(a) Prony brake dynamometer
One of the simplest methods of measuring brake power (output) is to attempt to stop the engine by
means of a brake on the flywheel and measure the weight which an arm attached to the brake will
support, as it tries to rotate with the flywheel.
It consists of wooden block mounted on a flexible rope or band the wooden block when pressed
into contact with the rotating drum takes the engine torque and the power is dissipated in frictional
resistance. Spring-loaded bolts are provided to tighten the wooden block and hence increase the
friction.
(b) Rope brake
It consists of a number of turns of rope wound around the rotating drum attached to the output
shaft. One side of the rope is connected to a spring balance and the other to a loading device. The
power is absorbed in friction between the rope and the drum. The drum therefore requires cooling.
(c) Hydraulic Dynamometer
Hydraulic dynamometer works on the principle of dissipating the power in fluid friction rather
than in dry friction.
-In principle its construction is similar to that of a fluid flywheel.
-It consists of an inner rotating member or impeller coupled to the output shaft of the engine.
-This impeller rotates in a casing filled with fluid.
-This outer casing, due to the centrifugal force developed, tends to revolve with the impeller, but
is resisted by a torque arm supporting the balance weight.
-The frictional forces between the impeller and the fluid are measured by the spring-balance fitted
on the casing.
-The heat developed due to dissipation of power is carried away by a continuous supply of the
working fluid, usually water.
-The output can be controlled by regulating the sluice gates which can be moved in and out to
partially or wholly obstruct the flow of water between impeller, and the casing.
(d) Eddy Current Dynamometer
It consists of a stator on which are fitted a number of electromagnets and a rotor disc made of
copper or steel and coupled to the output shaft of the engine. When the rotor rotates eddy currents
are produced in the stator due to magnetic flux set up by the passage of field current in the
electromagnets. These eddy currents are dissipated in producing heat so that this type of
dynamometer also requires some cooling arrangement. The torque is measured exactly as in other
types of absorption dynamometers, i.e. with the help of a moment arm. The load is controlled by
regulating the current in the electromagnets.
The following are the main advantages of eddy current dynamometer:
(a) High brake power per unit weight of dynamometer.
(b) They offer the highest ratio of constant power speed range (up to 5:1).
(c) Level of field excitation is below 1% of total power being handled by dynamometer, thus, easy
to control and programme.
(d) Development of eddy current is smooth hence the torque is also smooth and continuous under
all conditions.
(e) Relatively higher torque under low speed conditions.
(f) It has no intricate rotating parts except shaft bearing.
(g) No natural limit to size-either small or large.
(e) Swinging Field d.c. Dynamometer
Basically, a swinging field d.c. dynamometer is a d.c. shunt motor so supported on trunnion
bearings to measure their action torque that the outer case and filed coils tend to rotate with the
magnetic drag. Hence, the name swinging field. The torque is measured with an arm and weighing
equipment in the usual manner.
Many dynamometers are provided with suitable electric connections to run as motor also. Then
the dynamometer is reversible, i.e. works as motoring as well as power absorbing device.
-When used as an absorption dynamometer it works as a d.c. generator and converts mechanical
energy into electric energy which is dissipated in an external resistor or fed back to the mains.
-When used as a motoring device an external source of d.c. voltage is needed to drive the motor.
The load is controlled by changing the field current.
Fan Dynamometer
It is also an absorption type of dynamometer in that when driven by the engine it absorbs the engine
power. Such dynamometers are useful mainly for rough testing and running. The accuracy of the
fan dynamometer is very poor. The power absorbed is determined by using previous calibration of
the fan brake.
Transmission Dynamometers
Transmission dynamometers, also called torque meters, mostly consist of a set of strain gauges
fixed on the rotating shaft and the torque is measured by the angular deformation of the shaft which
is indicated as strain of the strain gauge. Usually, a four arm bridge is used to reduce the effect of
temperature to minimum and the gauges are arranged in pairs such that the effect of axial or
transverse load on the strain gauges is avoided.
Transmission dynamometers are very accurate and are used where continuous transmission of load
is necessary. These are used mainly in automatic units.
5. Measurement of friction power:
-The difference between indicated power and the brake power output of an engine is the friction
power.
-Almost invariably, the difference between a good engine and a bad engine is due to difference
between their frictional losses.
-The frictional losses are ultimately dissipated to the cooling system (and exhaust) as they appear
in the form of frictional heat and this influences the cooling capacity required.
Moreover, lower friction means availability of more brake power; hence brake specific fuel
consumption is lower.
-The bsfc rises with an increase in speed. Thus, the level of friction decides the maximum output
of the engine which can be obtained economically.
The friction force power of an engine is determined by the following methods:
(a) Willan‟s line method.
(b) Morse test.
(c) Motoring test.
(a) Willan’s line method
-In this method, gross fuel consumption vs. bp at a constant speed is plotted and the graph is
extrapolated back to zero fuel consumption.
-The point where this graph cuts the bp axis is an indication of the friction power of the engine at
that speed. This negative work represents the combined loss due to mechanical friction, pumping
and blow by.
-The main drawback of this method is the long distance to be extrapolated from data measured
between 5 and 40% load towards the zero line of fuel input
-The directional margin of error is rather wide because of the graph which may not be a straight
line many times.
-The changing slope along the curve indicates part efficiencies of increments of fuel. The
pronounced change in the slope of this line near full load reflects the limiting influence of the air-
fuel ratio and of the quality of combustion.
-Similarly, there is a slight curvature at light loads. This is perhaps due to difficulty in injecting
accurately and consistently very small quantities of fuel per cycle
-Therefore, it is essential that great care should be taken at light loads to establish the true nature
of the curve.
-The Willan‟s line for a swirl-chamber CI engine is straighter than that for a direct injection type
engine.
The accuracy obtained in this method is good and compares favourably with other methods if
extrapolation is carefully done.
(b) Morse Test
-The Morse test is applicable only to multi-cylinder engines.
-In this test, the engine is first run at the required speed and the output is measured.
-Then, one cylinder is cut out by short circuiting the spark plug or by disconnecting the injector as
the case may be.
-Under this condition all other cylinders „motor‟ this cut-out cylinder.
-The output is measured by keeping the speed constant at its original value.
-The difference in the outputs is a measure of the indicated horse power of the cut-out cylinder.
-Thus, for each cylinder the ip is obtained and is added together to find the total ip of the engine.
-This method though gives reasonably accurate results and is liable to errors due to changes in
mixture distribution and other conditions by cutting-out one cylinder.
In gasoline engines, where there is a common manifold for two or more cylinders the mixture
distribution as well as the volumetric efficiency both change. Again, almost all engines have a
common exhaust manifold for all cylinders and cutting out of one cylinder may greatly affect the
pulsations in exhaust system which may significantly change the engine performance by imposing
different back pressures.
(c) Motoring Test
-In the motoring test, the engine is first run up to the desired speed by its own power and allowed
to remain at the given speed and load conditions for some time so that oil, water, and engine
component temperatures reach stable conditions.
-The power of the engine during this period is absorbed by a swinging field type electric
dynamometer, which is most suitable for this test.
-The fuel supply is then cut-off and by suitable electric-switching devices the dynamometer is
converted to run as a motor to drive for „motor‟ the engine at the same speed at which it was
previously running.
-The power supply to the motor is measured which is a measure of the fhp of the engine.
During the motoring test the water supply is also cut-off so that the actual operating temperatures
are maintained.
-This method, though determines the fp at temperature conditions very near to the actual operating
temperatures at the test speed and load, does, not give the true losses occurring under firing
conditions due to the following reasons.
(i) The temperatures in the motored engine are different from those in a firing engine because even
if water circulation is stopped the incoming air cools the cylinder. This reduces the lubricating oil
temperature and increases friction increasing the oil viscosity. This problem is much more severing
in air-cooled engines.
(ii) The pressure on the bearings and piston rings is lower than the firing pressure. Load on main
and connecting road bearings are lower.
(iii) The clearance between piston and cylinder wall is more (due to cooling). This reduces the
piston friction.
(iv) The air is drawn at a temperature less than when the engine is firing because it does not get
heat from the cylinder (rather loses heat to the cylinder). This makes the expansion line to be lower
than the compression line on the p-v diagram. This loss is however counted in the indicator
diagram.
(v) During exhaust the back pressure is more because under motoring conditions sufficient
pressure difference is not available to impart gases the kinetic energy is necessary to expel them
from exhaust.
Motoring method, however, gives reasonably good results and is very suitable for finding the
losses due to various engine components. This insight into the losses caused by various
components and other parameters is obtained by progressive stripping-off of the under progressive
dismantling conditions keeping water and oil circulation intact. Then the cylinder head can be
removed to evaluate, by difference, the compression loss. In this manner piston ring, piston etc.
can be removed and evaluated for their effect on overall friction.
(d) Difference between ip and bp
(i) The method of finding the fp by computing the difference between ip, as obtained from an
indicator diagram, and bp, as obtained by a dynamometer, is the ideal method.
(ii) In obtaining accurate indicator diagrams, especially at high engine speeds, this method is
usually only used in research laboratories. Its use at commercial level is very limited.
6. Heat balance sheet:
The performance of an engine is usually studied by heat balance-sheet. The main components of
the heat balance are:
-Heat equivalent to the effective (brake) work of the engine,
-Heat rejected to the cooling medium,
-Heat carried away from the engine with the exhaust gases, and
-Unaccounted losses.
The unaccounted losses include the radiation losses from the various parts of the engine and heat
lost due to incomplete combustion. The friction loss is not shown as a separate item to the heat
balance-sheet as the friction loss ultimately reappears as heat in cooling water, exhaust and
radiation