SCAVENGING AND SUPERCHARGING

In the intake systems of all 2-stroke cycle diesel engines and some 4-stroke
cycle diesel engines, a device, known as a blower, is installed to increase the
flow of air into the cylinders. The blower compresses the air and forces it into an
air box or manifold, which surrounds or is attached to the cylinders of an engine.
Thus, more air under constant pressure is available as required during the cycle
of operation.
The increased amount of air, a result of blower action, fills the cylinder with a
fresh charge of air. During the process, the increased amount of air helps to clear
the cylinder of the gases of combustion. The process is called SCAVENGING.
Therefore, the intake system of some engines, especially those operating on the
2-stroke cycle, is sometimes called the scavenging system. The air forced into
the cylinder is called scavenge air, and the ports through which it enters are
called scavenge ports.
Scavenging must take place in a relatively short portion of the operating cycle;
the duration of the process differs in 2- and 4-stroke cycle engines. In a 2-stroke
cycle engine, the process takes place during the latter part of the downstroke
(expansion) and the early part of the upstroke (compression). In a 4-stroke cycle
engine, scavenging takes place when the piston is nearing and passing TDC
during the latter part of an upstroke (exhaust) and the early part of a downstroke
(intake). The intake and exhaust openings are both open during this interval of
time. The overlap of intake and exhaust permits the air from the blower to pass
through the cylinder into the exhaust manifold, cleaning out the exhaust gases
from the cylinder and, at the same time, cooling the hot engine parts.
When scavenging air enters the cylinder of an engine, it must be so directed that
the waste gases are removed from the remote parts of the cylinder. The two
principal methods by which this is accomplished are referred to as PORT
UNIFLOW SCAVENGING and VALVE UNI-FLOW SCAVENGING. In the uniflow
method of scavenging, both the air and the burned gases flow in the same
direction. This action causes a minimum of turbulence and improves the
effectiveness of the scavenging action. An example of a port uniflow system is
shown in figure 6-1. An example of a valve uniflow system is shown in figure 6-2.
Scavenging and supercharging are not common to all diesel engines. For
instance, in some 4-stroke cycle engines, the air enters the cylinder as a result of
a pressure difference created by the piston as it moves away from the
combustion space during the intake event. This type of intake is sometimes
referred to as the suction-type, or naturally aspirated, intake; however, the air is
actually forced into the cylinder because of the greater pressure outside the
cylinder.

An increase in airflow into the cylinders of an engine can serve to increase power
output, in addition to being used for scavenging. Since the power of an engine
comes from the burning of fuel, an increase in power requires more fuel; the
increased fuel, in turn, requires more air since each pound of fuel requires a
certain amount of air for combustion. The supplying of more air to the combustion
spaces than can be supplied through the action of atmospheric pressure and
piston action (in 4-stroke cycle engines) or scavenging air (in 2-stroke cycle
engines) is called SUPERCHARGING.
In some 2-stroke cycle diesel engines, the cylinders are supercharged during the
air intake simply by an increase in the pressure of scavenging air. The same
blower is used for super-charging and scavenging. Scavenging is done when air
is admitted under low pressure into the cylinder while the exhaust valves or ports
are open. Super-charging is done with the exhaust ports or valves closed, a
condition that enables the blower to force air under pressure into the cylinder and

Figure 6-1.-Port uniflow system in a Fairbanks-Morse engine.

Figure 6-2.-Valve uniflow system in a General Motors 2-stroke cycle diesel engine.

thereby increase the amount of air available for combustion. An engine is

referred to as super-charged when the manifold pressure exceeds the
atmospheric pressure. The increase in pressure, resulting from the compression
action of the blower, will depend on the type of installation. With the increase in
pressure and amount of air available for combustion, there is a corresponding
increase in combustion efficiency within the cylinder. In other words, an engine of
a given size that is supercharged can develop more power than an engine of the
same size that is not supercharged.
For a 4-stroke diesel engine to be super-charged, a blower must be added to the
intake system since exhaust and intake in an unsupercharged engine are
performed by the action of the piston. The timing of the valves in a super-charged
4-stroke cycle engine is also different from that in a similar engine that is not
super-charged. In the supercharged engine, the closing of the intake valve is
slowed down so that the in-take valves or ports are open for a longer time after
the exhaust valves close. The increased time that the intake valves are open
(after the exhaust valves close) allows more air to be forced into the cylinder
before the start of the compression event. The amount of additional air that is
forced into the cylinder and the resulting increase in horse-power depends on the
pressure in the air box or intake manifold. The increased overlap of the valve
openings also permits the air pressure created by the blower to remove gases
from the cylinder during the exhaust event. Study figure 6-3 (at the end of this
chapter) so that you will understand how the opening and closing of the intake
and exhaust valves, or ports, affect both scavenging and supercharging. Also,

note the differences in these processes as they occur in supercharged 2- and 4stroke cycle engines.
In figure 6-3, the circular pattern represents crankshaft rotation. Some of the
events occurring in the cycles are shown in degrees of shaft rotation for purposes
of illustration and easier comparison only. (When dealing with the timing of a
specific engine, check the appropriate instructions.)
In studying figure 6-3, keep in mind that the crankshaft of a 4-stroke cycle engine
makes two complete revolutions in one cycle of operation, while the shaft in a 2stroke cycle engine makes only one revolution per cycle. Also, keep in mind that
the exhaust and intake events in a 2-stroke engine do not involve complete
piston strokes as they do in a 4-stroke engine.

Four-Stroke Cycle Scavenging and Supercharging

View A of figure 6-3 is based on the operation of a 4-stroke cycle engine that
uses a centrifugal-type blower (turbocharger) to supply the cylinders with air
under pressure. In a supercharged 4-stroke cycle engine, the duration of each
event differs somewhat from the length of the same events in a nonsupercharged
4-stroke engine. The intake and exhaust valves are open much longer in a
supercharged engine, and the compression and power events are shorter,
permitting a longer period for scavenging. When the exhaust event is complete,
the turbocharger fills the cylinder with fresh air under pressure before the
compression event begins. In other words, the turbocharger supercharges the
cylin-ders. To understand the relationship of scavenging and supercharging to
the events of the cycle, look again at view A in figure 6-3 and follow through the
complete cycle. Start your study of the cycle at TDC, the beginning of the power
event. At this point, peak compression has been reached, fuel injection is nearly
completed, and combustion is in progress. Power is delivered during the
downstroke of the piston for 125 of crankshaft rotation. At this point in the
downstroke (55 before BDC), the power event ends and the exhaust valves
open.
The exhaust valves remain open throughout the rest of the downstroke (55),
throughout all of the next upstroke (180), and throughout 85 of the next
downstroke; a total of 320 of shaft rotation. At a point 75 before the piston
reaches TDC, the intake valves open and the turbocharger begins forcing fresh
air into the cylinder. For 160 of shaft rotation, the air passes through the cylinder
and out of the exhaust valves, clearing the waste gases from the cylinder. The

rapid flow of gases escaping through the exhaust manifold drives the
turbocharger. The process of scavenging continues until the exhaust valves close
at 85 past TDC.
The intake valves remain open, after the exhaust valves close, for an additional
140 of shaft rotation (45 past BDC). From the time the exhaust valves close
until the piston reaches approximately BDC, the cylinder is being filled with air
from the turbocharger. During this interval, the increase in pressure is too small
to be considered because of the increasing volume of the cylinder space. (The
piston is in the downstroke.) However, when the piston reaches BDC and starts
the upstroke, the volume of the space begins to decrease as the turbocharger
continues to force air into the cylinder. The result is a supercharging effect.
During the remainder of the upstroke (after the intake valves close), the
supercharged air is compressed. Fuel injection begins several degrees before
TDC and ends shortly after TDC. The actual length of the injection period in a
specific engine depends on the speed and load of the engine. When the piston
reaches TDC, a cycle (two complete crankshaft revolutions and four strokes of
the piston) has taken place, and the engine is ready to repeat the cycle