Single cylinder
4 stroke diesel
engine
Energy conversion lab
S. Sarkar, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, I.I.T. Kanpur
Title: Performance Study of a Single Cylinder 4-
Stroke Diesel Engine
Objective:
To conduct the performance test on VCR Engine to obtain characteristic curves at a constant
speed.
Theory
Four-stroke cycle engine: In a four-stroke cycle engine, the cycle of operation is completed
in four strokes of the piston or two revolutions of the crankshaft. Each stroke consists of 180º
of crankshaft rotation and hence a cycle consists of 720º of crankshaft rotation. The series of
operation of an ideal four-stroke engine are as follows:
1. Suction or Induction stroke: The inlet valve is open, and the piston travels down the
cylinder, drawing in a charge of air.
2. Compression stroke: Both valves are closed, and the piston travels up the cylinder. As the
piston approaches the top dead centre (TDC), ignition occurs. In the case of compression
ignition engines, the fuel is injected towards the end of the compression stroke.
3. Expansion or Power or Working stroke: Combustion propagates throughout the charge,
raising the pressure and temperature, and forcing the piston down. At the end of the power
stroke, the exhaust valve opens, and the irreversible expansion of the exhaust gases is termed
‘blow-down’.
4. Exhaust stroke: The exhaust valve remains open, and as the piston travels up the cylinder
the remaining gases are expelled. At the end of the exhaust stroke, when the exhaust valve
closes some exhaust gas residuals will be left; these will dilute the next charge.
Engine details:
Water-cooled Bore D = 87.5 mm
VCR (Variable Compression Ratio) Stroke L = 110 mm
Combustion Parameters:
Specific gas constant = 1 𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔. 𝐾 Air Density = 1.17 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3
Performance Parameters:
Orifice diameter = 20 mm Orifice coefficient of discharge = 0.60
Pulses per revolution = 360 Dynamometer arm Length = 185 mm
Fuel density = 830 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 Calorific value of fuel (CV) = 42000 𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔
Fuel Pipe diameter = 12.40 mm
Formulas:
1. Break Power
2×π×N×T T = W × 9.81 × arm length
BP = 𝑘𝑊
60 × 1000
where, W = Engine load
2. Indicated power(kW)
Work done⁄cycle N
× ( n ) × (No. of cylinder)
cyl
IP =
60 × 1000
where, work done can be calculated from the P-V graph.
Theoretical p-V diagram Actual p-V diagram
3. Indicated mean effective pressure
IP × 60
IMEP = π×𝐷2 N
× L × ( n ) × (No. of cylinder) × 100
4
where, L = length of the stroke in m
4. Airflow rate
For air consumption measurement, an air-box with an orifice is used.
π × D2 ρw
Af = Cd × × √2gH × ρa × 3600 𝑘𝑔/𝐻𝑟
4 ρa
where,
𝐶𝑑 =Coefficient of discharge of orifice ρw =Density of air at working condition(𝑘𝑔/
d=Orifice diameter (m) 𝑚3 )
ρw =Density of water 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 g =Acceleration due to gravity= 9.81 𝑚/𝑠 2
H=Pressure drop across orifice meter (m of
water)
5. Volumetric efficiency
𝐴𝑓
𝜂𝑣 =
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (𝐴𝑓𝑡 )
π × D2 𝑁(𝑟𝑝𝑚)
Aft = ×L× × 60 × no. of cylinder × ρa
4 𝑛
where, n= 2 for 4-stroke engine
6. Break thermal efficiency
𝐵𝑃
𝜂𝑏𝑡ℎ =
𝑚𝑓 × 𝐶. 𝑉.
where,
𝑚𝑓 = Mass flow rate of fuel (kg/s)
𝐶. 𝑉 = Calorific value of fuel
7. Break mean effective pressure
Brake Power(kW) × 60
BMEP(bar) = N
A × L × ( n ) × (No. of cylinder) × 100
where, 𝐴= Area of piston (𝑚2 )
L = length of the stroke in (m)
8. Break speed fuel consumption
Fuel flow in kg/hr
BSFC =
BP
9. Heat balance(kJ/hr)
a) Heat supplied by fuel= Fuel flow × C.V.
b) Heat equivalent to useful work = BP × 3600
c) Heat in jacket cooling water = F3× 𝐶𝑝𝑤 ×(T2-T1)
d) Heat in the exhaust (Calculate 𝐶𝑝𝑒𝑥 value):
𝐹4 × 𝐶𝑝𝑤 × (𝑇4 − 𝑇3)
𝐶𝑝𝑒𝑥 = 𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔. 𝐾
(𝐹1 + 𝐹2) × (𝑇5 − 𝑇6)
Where,
𝐶𝑝𝑒𝑥 =Specific heat of exhaust gas T3 =Calorimeter water inlet temperature
(kJ/kg.K) (K)
𝐶𝑝𝑤 =Specific heat of water (kJ/kg.K) T4=Calorimeter water outlet temperature
𝐹1 =Fuel consumption (kg/hr) (K)
𝐹2 =Air consumption (kg/hr) T5=Exhaust gas to calorimeter inlet
F3= Jacket water (kg/hr) temperature (K)
𝐹4 =Calorimeter water flow (kg/hr) T6=Exhaust gas to calorimeter outlet
temperature (K)
𝑘𝐽
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑥ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑡 ( ) = (𝐹1 + 𝐹2) × 𝐶𝑝𝑒𝑥 × (𝑇5 − 𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑏 )
ℎ
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑥ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑡 × 100
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑥ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑡 (%) =
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙
10. Heat to radiation and unaccounted (%) = Heat supplied by fuel (100%) – {Heat
equivalent to useful work (%) + Heat in jacket cooling water (%) + Heat to exhaust (%)}
Procedure
1. Run the computer programme: "Enginesoft".
2. Turn on the engine.
3. Set compression ratio to 18.
4. Select "Engine Model" open "Configure" of the computer programme. Check
configuration values & system constants with the values displayed on the engine setup
panel.
5. Record readings corresponding to an initial load value.
6. Increase the load and take the consecutive reading.
7. Set compression ratio to 14 and repeat steps 4to 6.
8. Turn off the engine.
Data Sheet
Performance of a Single Cylinder 4 Stroke Diesel Engine
Date of Experiment:
Name: Roll No.
Engine performance: Observations Compression ratio =
Speed Load Airflow Fuel Jacket Calorimeter Engine Engine Cal. Cal. Ex. Ex.
(RPM) (kg) (mmwc) flow water water water water out water water Temp. Temp.
(cc/min) (LPH) (LPH) in (ºC) in out cal. in cal. out
(ºC) (ºC) (ºC) (ºC) (ºC)
Engine performance: Observations Compression ratio =
Speed Load Airflow Fuel Jacket Calorimeter Engine Engine Cal. Cal. Ex. Ex.
(RPM) (kg) (mmwc) flow water water water water out water water Temp. Temp.
(cc/min) (LPH) (LPH) in (ºC) in out cal. in cal. out
(ºC) (ºC) (ºC) (ºC) (ºC)
Observation and report
Record-
Engine Load Pressure drop across orifice meter
Speed Temperature of coolant in and out
CR Exhaust, air/ambient and necessary
Fuel consumption parameters
Coolant flow rate
Calculate-
Values of BP (kW) Fuel flow (kg/h)
BMEP (Bar) Air fuel ratio
BSFC (kg/kW.h) Heat equivalent to work (%)
Break thermal efficiency (%) Heat by jacket cooling water (%)
Volumetric efficiency (%) Heat by exhaust (%)
Airflow (kg/h) Unaccounted heat (%)
Report-
A line diagram of the test set up Discussion of result
Plots-
1. BP vs load 5. Volumetric efficiency vs load
2. Fuel flow vs load 6. Exhaust temp vs load
3. BSFC vs load 7. Heat balance (work, jacket cooling,
4. Break thermal efficiency vs load and exhaust gas) vs load
Characteristic curves
Samples graphs are provided (taken at some particular set of test values) to give a rough idea
regarding how the graph should look like. This is solely for understanding purpose and
should not be considered as standard graphs for the experiment:
Signature of T.A.