Program Overview

Program Overview

The Internal Combustion Engines program provides an understanding of the working principles of conventional and advanced internal combustion engines. Emphasis is given to thermodynamic, fluid mechanic, and combustion aspects of the IC engine.

Course Description

This course will provide students with a general understanding of how combustion system configuration, in-cylinder fluid flow, chemical characteristics of fuels, engine heat transfer, and in-cylinder fuel-air mixing affect performance and pollutant emissions from automotive and heavy-duty type IC engines. Students will analyze data obtained from a multi-fuel variable compression ratio gasoline engine and perform simulations of a diesel engine combustion system using computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

Prerequisites

• Thermodynamics
• Fluid Mechanics or equivalent

Textbook

• Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals, John Heywood

Grading

• Homework (40%)
• Lab data analysis and reporting (10%)
• CFD project (20%)
• Exam 1 (15%)
• Exam 2 (15%)

Tentative Syllabus Outline

Week 1-15 (Aug 27 - Dec 07)

• Week 1: Introduction and Operating Principles
  • History of IC engines
  • Arrangement of pistons
  • 2-stroke vs 4-stroke cycles
  • Types of combustion systems
• Week 2: Geometric and Performance Parameters
  • Engine geometric terminology
  • Relationship of crank and piston motions
  • Introduction to important performance parameters
• Week 3: Intake System and Air Handling
  • Valve arrangement
  • Valve motion and timing
  • Various losses in intake system
  • Volumetric efficiency
  • Factors affecting volumetric efficiency
  • Intake charge boosting (supercharger vs turbocharger)
• Week 4: Fuels and Thermochemistry
  • Engine fuels and their chemical characteristics
  • Chemistry of combustion reactions
  • Calculation of fuel heating value
  • Maximum flame temperature
  • Engine exhaust gas analysis
• Week 5: Thermodynamic Analysis of Engine Cycles
  • Air-standard Otto and Diesel cycles
  • Brayton cycle
  • Comparison of ideal and real cycles
  • Introduction to over-expanded cycle
  • Maximum possible work
• Week 6: Spark Ignited (SI) Engine Combustion
  • Fuel metering and mixture preparation
  • Spark ignition
  • Flame development
  • Abnormal combustion
  • Effect of engine parameters on performance and knock
• Week 7: Compression Ignited (CI) Engine Combustion
  • Combustion system configurations
  • Fuel injection
  • Spray breakup
  • Different phases of diesel combustion
  • Flame structure
  • Burning rate analysis
• Week 8: Fluid Mechanic Interaction with Combustion-I
  • Turbulence generation
  • Tumbling and swirling flows
• Week 9: Fluid Mechanic Interaction with Combustion-II
  • Coupling of in-cylinder flow and combustion
  • Concepts of laminar and turbulent burning speeds
• Week 10: Pollutant Formation and Control
  • Types of pollutants
  • Sources of pollutants in SI and CI engines
  • Technologies to mitigate pollutant formation
  • Treatment of exhaust gas
• Week 11: Introduction to Advanced Engine Concepts
  • Gasoline direct injection engines
  • HCCI engines
  • Dual-fuel engines
  • Introduction to hybrid vehicles
  • Series vs parallel hybrid systems
• Week 12: Computer Simulations of IC Engines
  • Purpose of simulations
  • Phenomenological models for SI and diesel engine combustion
  • Introduction to engine CFD analysis
  • Training to setup diesel engine combustion analysis in commercial CFD software
• Week 13: Engine Heat Transfer
  • Energy flow in IC engine
  • Various modes of heat transfer
  • Effect of heat transfer on engine efficiency at various speeds and loads
• Week 14: Waste Heat Recovery from IC Engines
  • Thermodynamic analysis of energy balance
  • Introduction of Sterling engine and thermoelectrics for heat recovery
• Week 15: Engine Operating Characteristics and Performance
  • Various powers vs RPM
  • Effect of spark timing and fuel/air ratio on power and efficiency
  • Effect of EGR on efficiency and MBT timing
  • Effect of compression ratio and engine size on efficiency
  • Engine performance

Exam Schedule

• Exam 1: Week 8
• Exam 2: Week 15
• CFD project presentations: Week 15

Important Dates

• Aug 27: Start of the program
• Dec 07: End of the program
• Thanksgiving break: Week 13
• Dec 04: CFD project presentations
• Dec 06: Exam 2