8

TOPIC

Compression Ignition
Engines
Sections 10.1, 10.2.1-10.2.3, 10.3.2

Combustion in CI engines
Fuel injected into cylinder toward the end of the
compression stroke atomizes, vaporizes and mixes with high
temperature air
Since the air temperature and pressure are above the fuels
ignition point, spontaneous ignition of portions of already
mixed fuel and air occurs after a delay period
The cylinder pressure increases as combustion occurs
Injection continues until desired amount of fuel has entered
the cylinder
Combustion continues well into expansion stroke until all
fuel is burned

Combustion in CI engines
It is unsteady, heterogeneous, three-dimensional
process
Details of combustion process depend on:
Characteristics of the fuel
Design of combustion chamber and fuel-injection
system
Engines operating conditions

CI combustion vs. SI combustion

There is no knock limit as in SI engines higher
compression ratios can be used
Torque is varied by varying the amount of fuel
injected the engine can be operated unthrottled
Black smoke (excessive soot) in the exhaust
constrains the air-fuel ratio mixture composition is
always lean of stoichiometric (20% or more)

Fuel conversion efficiency

Diesel engines have a higher maximum efficiency
than SI engines due to following reasons
Compression ratio is higher
Air-fuel mixture is always lean of stoichiometric

Efficiency at partial load

The fall in part load efficiency is moderated by:
The absence of throttling
The leaner air-fuel mixture
The shorter duration combustion

Types of diesel combustion systems

The major problem in diesel combustion chamber
design is achieving sufficiently rapid air-fuel mixing
to complete combustion in the interval close to TDC
Diesel engines are divided into two basic categories
according to their combustion chamber design
Direct-injection (DI) engines
Indirect injection (IDI) engines

Direct-Injection systems

(a) quiescent chamber with multihole nozzle; (b) bowl-in-piston chamber with swirl
and multihole nozzle; (c) bowl-in-piston chamber with swirl and single-hole nozzle

Indirect-Injection systems

(a) swirl prechamber; (b) turbulent prechamber

Stages of combustion
The following stages of diesel combustion process
can be defined:
Ignition delay
Premixed or rapid combustion
Mixing-controlled combustion
Late combustion phase. As with controlled
combustion the rate of combustion is governed by
diffusion until all the fuel is utilized
These stages are identified on the pressure and heatrelease diagrams

Ignition
delay

After injection there is initially no apparent deviation from the

unfired cycle. During this period the fuel is breaking up into
droplets, being vaporized and mixing with air.

Premixed
combustion

A very rapid rise in pressure caused by ignition of the fuel-air

mixture prepared during the ignition delay period

Mixingcontrolled
combustion

Several processes occurs simultaneously liquid fuel

atomization, vaporization, mixing of fuel vapor with air,
preflame chemical reactions. Burning rate is controlled
primarily by the fuel-vapor mixing process

Late
combustion

As with controlled combustion the rate of combustion is governed

by diffusion until all the fuel is utilized

Stages of combustion

Ignition delay
Ignition delay period controls value of peak pressure
and its position relative to TDC, thus it affects
engine efficiency
Factor effecting delay period are:
Fuel properties
Injection timing
Engine load
Engine speed
Parameters of fuel injection equipment
Intake air pressure and temperature
Swirl rate

Factors affecting delay:

Fuel cetane number

Fuel ignition quality is defined by its cetane number (CN)

CN is defined by blends of n-cetane (CN of 100) and
isocetane (CN of 15) and is given by
CN = percent n-cetane + 0.15 percent isocetane
Cetane number of commercial diesel fuel is normally in
the range 40 to 55

The higher CN the shorter ignition delay period

Factors affecting delay:

Injection timing

At normal engine conditions minimum delay occurs with

the start of injection at about 10 to 15 before TDC
If injection starts earlier, the initial air temperature and
pressure are lower so the delay will increase
If injection starts later (closer to TDC) the temperature
and pressure are initially slightly higher but then decrease
as the delay proceeds
The most favorable conditions for ignition lie in between

Factors affecting delay: Engine load and speed

As engine load increases
the residual gas
temperature and the wall
temperature increase
This result in higher charge
temperature at injection,
thus shortening the delay
period
As engine speed increases
(at a constant load) the
delay period increases

Factors affecting delay:

Inlet air T and p

Intake air temperature

and pressure will affect the
delay via their effect on
charge conditions during the
delay period
Increase in inlet air
temperature and pressure
results in shorter delay
period
Also increase in
compression ratio will
decrease the ignition delay
Ignition delay vs. charge temperature