Petrol engine

A petrol engine (known as a gasoline engine in North America) is an internal

combustion engine with spark-ignition, designed to run on petrol (gasoline) and similar
volatile fuels. It differs from a diesel engine in the method of mixing the fuel and air, and
in the fact that it uses spark plugs to initiate the combustion process. In a diesel engine,
only air is compressed (and therefore heated), and the fuel is injected into the now very
hot air at the end of the compression stroke, and self-ignites. In a petrol engine, the fuel
and air are usually pre-mixed before compression (although some modern petrol engines
now use cylinder-direct petrol injection).

The pre-mixing was formerly done in a carburetor, but now (except in the
smallest engines) it is done by electronically controlled fuel injection. Petrol engines run
at higher speeds than Diesels partially due to their lighter pistons, conrods & crankshaft
(as a result of lower compression ratios) & due to petrol burning faster than diesel.
However the lower compression ratios of a petrol engine gives a lower efficiency than a
diesel engine.

Working cycles
4-Stroke Petrol engine
Petrol engines may run on the four-stroke cycle or the two-stroke cycle. For details of
working cycles see:

• Four-stroke cycle
• Two-stroke cycle

Four-stroke cycle.

Today, internal combustion engines in cars, trucks, motorcycles, aircraft,

construction machinery and many others, most commonly use a four-stroke cycle. The
four strokes refer to intake, compression, combustion (power), and exhaust strokes that
occur during two crankshaft rotations per working cycle of the gasoline engine and diesel
engine.

The cycle begins at Top Dead Center (TDC), when the piston is farthest away
from the axis of the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston from Top
Dead Center (TDC) to Bottom Dead Center (BDC). (See Dead centre.)

1. INTAKE stroke: On the intake or induction stroke of the piston , the piston descends
from the top of the cylinder to the bottom of the cylinder, reducing the pressure inside the
cylinder. A mixture of fuel and air is forced by atmospheric (or greater) pressure into the
cylinder through the intake port. The intake valve(s) then close.

2. COMPRESSION stroke: With both intake and exhaust valves closed, the piston
returns to the top of the cylinder compressing the fuel-air mixture. This is known as the
compression stroke.

3. POWER stroke.: While the piston is close to Top Dead Center, the compressed air–
fuel mixture is ignited, usually by a spark plug (for a gasoline or Otto cycle engine) or by
the heat and pressure of compression (for a diesel cycle or compression ignition engine).
The resulting massive pressure from the combustion of the compressed fuel-air mixture
drives the piston back down toward bottom dead center with tremendous force. This is
known as the power stroke, which is the main source of the engine's torque and power.

4. EXHAUST stroke.: During the exhaust stroke, the piston once again returns to top
dead center while the exhaust valve is open. This action evacuates the products of
combustion from the cylinder by pushing the spent fuel-air mixture through the exhaust
valve(s).
Starting position, intake stroke, and compression stroke.

Ignition of fuel, power stroke, and exhaust stroke.

Two-stroke cycle

A two-stroke engine is an internal combustion engine that completes the

thermodynamic cycle in two movements of the piston (compared to twice that number for
a four-stroke engine). This increased efficiency is accomplished by using the beginning
of the compression stroke and the end of the combustion stroke to perform
simultaneously the intake and exhaust (or scavenging) functions. In this way two-stroke
engines often provide strikingly high specific power. Gasoline (spark ignition) versions
are particularly useful in lightweight (portable) applications such as chainsaws and the
concept is also used in diesel compression ignition engines in large and non-weight
sensitive applications such as ships and locomotives.

Invention of the two-stroke cycle is attributed to Scottish engineer Dugald Clerk who in
1881 patented his design, his engine having a separate charging cylinder. The crankcase-
scavenged engine, employing the area below the piston as a charging pump, is generally
credited to Englishman Joseph Day.

Applications
Petrol engines have many applications, including:

• Motor cars
• Motorcycles
• Aircraft
• Motorboats
• Small machines, such as lawn mowers, chainsaws and portable engine-generators
Diesel Engine
Introduction
The internal combustion (IC) engine has been the main provider of shaft power
since the early part of the 20th century. Their light, compact design and the easy
availability of relatively cheap petroleum fuels meant that the IC engine soon ousted the
bulkier steam engine and there has been no looking back. Hundreds of millions of IC
engines have since been produced and although the vast majority have been fitted in
motor vehicles, they have been put to such diverse uses as powering electricity producing
generators, ships and boats, agricultural and agro processing machinery and many
industrial applications. They are extremely versatile with a very high power to weight
ratio.
In developing countries the IC engine has been used for many decades and plays a
very important role in providing power for rural applications. Many stand-alone units
provide power for milling, small-scale electricity production, water pumping, etc. They
are readily available, commercially, off-the-shelf in most major towns and cities in
developing countries in a range of sizes for various applications. There is usually a well
established spare parts and maintenance network, both at urban and rural centres.
There are two main types of IC engine and they can be simply categorised by the
type of fuel used; petrol (gasoline) or diesel. The petrol engine is widely used for small
vehicles and light applications whereas diesel engines are more suited to continuous
running for lengthy periods at higher load ratings and are therefore used more widely for
stationary applications and commercial vehicles.

The four stroke cycle - diesel engine (refer to Figure 2)

1st stroke: induction stroke - while the inlet valve is open the descending piston draws in
fresh air.

2nd stroke: compression stroke - while the valves are closed the air is compressed to a
pressure of up to 25 bar.

3rd stroke: ignition and power stroke - fuel is injected while the valves are closed (fuel
injection actually starts at the end of the previous stroke), the fuel ignites spontaneously
and the piston is forced downwards by the combustion gases.

4th stroke: exhaust stroke - the exhaust valve is open and the rising piston discharges the
spent gases from the cylinder.
Since power is developed during only one stroke, the single cylinder four-stroke engine
has a low degree of uniformity. Smoother running is obtained with multi cylinder engines
because the cranks are staggered in relation to one another on the crankshaft. There are
many variations of engine configuration e.g. 4 or 6 cylinder, in-line, horizontally
opposed, vee or radial configurations.

The Table below shows a comparison of the relative practical advantages and
disadvantages of petrol and diesel engines.
Uses and power requirements

As mentioned earlier there is an almost limitless range of applications for the diesel or
petrol engine. Some typical rural applications and their power requirements are shown
below: