FIRST LAW ANALYSIS OF ENGINE

CYCLE
According to the first law of thermodynamics, energy can neither be created nor
destroyed. It can only be converted from one form to another. Therefore, there must be
an energy balance of input and output to a system .
ln the reciprocating internal combustion engine the fuel is fed into the combustion
chamber where it burns in air converting chemical energy of the fuel into heat. The
liberated heat energy cannot be totally utilized for driving the piston as there are losses
through the engine exhaust, to the coolant and due to radiation.
The heat energy which is converted to power at this stage is called the indicated power,
ip and it is utilized to drive the piston. The energy represented by the gas forces on the
piston passes through the connecting rod to the crankshaft. In this transmission there
are energy losses due to bearing friction, pumping losses etc. ln addition, a part of the
energy available is utilized in driving the auxiliary devices like food pump, valve
mechanisms, ignition systems etc. The sum of all these losses, expressed in units of
power is termed as frictional power, fp. The remaining energy is the useful mechanical
energy and is termed as the brake power, bp . In energy balance, generally, frictional
power is not shown separately because ultimately this energy is accounted in exhaust,
cooling water, radiation, etc.
 ENGINE PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
The engine performance is indicated by the term efficiency, 𝜂. Five important engine efficiencies and other related engine
performance parameters are given below:

1. Indicated thermal efficiency (𝜂𝑖𝑡ℎ )

2. Brake thermal efficiency (𝜂𝑏𝑡ℎ ) : Brake thermal efficiency is the ratio of energy in the brake power, bp,
to the input fuel energy in appropriate units.

3. Mechanical efficiency (𝜂𝑚 ) : Mechanical efficiency is defined as the ratio of brake power (delivered
power) to the indicated power (power provided to the piston).

It can also be defined as the ratio of the brake thermal efficiency to the indicated thermal efficiency.
4. Volumetric efficiency (𝜂𝑣 ) : This is one of the very important parameters which decides the performance
of four-stroke engines. Four-stroke engines have distinct suction stroke and therefore the volumetric
efficiency indicates the breathing ability of the engine. It is to be noted that the utilization of the air is what
going to determine the power output of the engine. Hence, an engine must be able to take in as much air as
possible. Volumetric efficiency is defined as the volume flow rate of air into the intake system divided by the
rate at which the volume is displaced by the system.

where Pa is the inlet density

It is to be noted that irrespective of the engine whether SI, CI or gas engine, volumetric rate of air flow is
what to be taken into account and not the mixture flow.
If Pa is taken as the atmospheric air density, then 𝜂𝑣 represents the pumping performance of the entire inlet
system. If it is taken as the air density in the inlet manifold, then 𝜂𝑣 represents the pumping performance of
the inlet port and valve only.
The normal range of volumetric efficiency at full throttle for SI engines is between 80 to 85% where as for
CI engines it is between 85 to 90%. Gas engines have much lower volumetric efficiency since gaseous fuel
displaces air and therefore the breathing capacity of the engine is reduced.
5. Mean effective pressure (𝑝𝑚 )
Mean effective pressure is the average pressure inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine based
on the calculated or measured power output. It increases as manifold pressure increases. For any particular
engine, operating at a given speed and power output, there will be a specific indicated mean effective
pressure, imep, and a corresponding brake mean effective pressure, bmep. They are derived from the
indicated and brake power respectively. Indicated power can be shown to be

Another way of specifying the indicated mean effective pressure Pim is from the knowledge of engine
indicator diagram (p-V di.agram). In this case, Pim may be defined as

where the length of the indicator diagram is given by the difference between the total volume and the
clearance volume.
6. Relative efficiency or Efficiency ratio (𝜂𝑟𝑒𝑙 ) : Relative efficiency or efficiency ratio is the ratio of thermal
efficiency of an actual cycle to that of the ideal cycle. The efficiency ratio is a very useful criterion which
indicates the degree of development of the engine.

7. Mean piston speed 𝑆𝑝 ∶ An important parameter in engine applications is the mean piston speed, 𝑆𝑝 . It
is defined as
𝑆𝑝 = 2LN
where L is the stroke and N is the rotational speed of the crankshaft in rpm. It may be noted that 𝑆𝑝 is often a
more appropriate parameter than crank rotational speed for correlating engine behavior as a function of
speed. Resistance to gas flow into the engine or stresses due to the inertia of the moving parts limit the
maximum value of 𝑆𝑝 to within 8 to 15 m/s. Automobile engines operate at the higher end and large marine
diesel engines at the lower end of this range of piston speeds.
8. Specific fuel consumption (sfc) : The fuel consumption characteristics of an engine are generally
expressed in terms of specific fuel consumption in kilograms of fuel per kilowatt-hour. It is an important
parameter that reflects how good the engine performance is. It is inversely proportional to the thermal
efficiency of the engine.
Brake specific fuel consumption and indicated specific fuel consumption, abbreviated as bsfc and isfc, are the
specific fuel consumptions on the basis of bp and ip respectively.
9. Specific Power Output (Ps) : Specific power output of an engine is defined as the power output per unit piston
area and is a measure of the engine designer's success in using the available piston area regardless of cylinder
size. The specific power can be shown to be proportional to the product of the mean effective pressure and mean
piston speed.

As can be seen the specific power output consists of two elements, viz., the force available to work and the speed
with which it is working. Thus, for the same piston displacement and bmep, an engine running at a higher speed
will give a higher specific output . It is clear that the output of an engine can be increased by increasing either
the speed or the bmep. Increasing the speed involves increase in the mechanical stresses of various engine
components. For increasing the bmep better heat release from the fuel is required and this will involve more
thermal load on engine cylinder.
10. Fuel-Air (F/ A) or Air-Fuel Ratio (A/ F) : The relative proportions of the fuel and air in the engine are very
important from the standpoint of combustion and the efficiency of the engine. This is expressed either as a ratio
of the mass of the fuel to that of the air or vice versa.
In the SI engine the fuel-air ratio practically remains a constant over a wide range of operation. In CI
engines at a given speed the air flow does not vary with load; it is the fuel flow that varies directly with
load. Therefore, the term fuel-air ratio is generally used instead of air-fuel ratio.
A mixture that contains just enough air for complete combustion of all the fuel in the mixture is called a
chemically correct or stoichiometric fuel air ratio. A mixture having more fuel than that in a chemically
correct mixture is termed as rich mixture and a mixture that contains less fuel (or excess air) is called a lean
mixture. The ratio of actual fuel-air ratio to stoichiometric fuel-air ratio is called equivalence ratio and is
denoted by 𝜑

Accordingly, 𝜑 = 1 means stoichiometric (chemically correct) mixture, 𝜑 < 1 means lean mixture and 𝜑 > 1
means rich mixture.
11. Calorific Value (CV) : Calorific value of a fuel is the thermal energy released per unit quantity of the
fuel when the fuel is burned completely and the products of combustion are cooled back to the
initial temperature of the combustible mixture. Other terms used for the calorific value are heating
value and heat of combustion.
When the products of combustion are cooled to 25 °C practically all the water vapour resulting from the
combustion process is condensed. The heating value so obtained is called the higher calorific value or gross
calorific value of the fuel. The lower or net calorific value is the heat released when water vapour in the
products of combustion is not condensed and remains in the vapour form.
12. Inlet Valve Mach Index (Z): In a reciprocating engine the flow of intake charge takes place
through the intake valve opening which is varying during the induction operation. Also, the
maximum gas velocity through this area is limited by the local sonic velocity. Thus gas velocity is
finally chosen by the following equation
Large number of experiments have been conducted on CFR single cylinder engine with gaseous.
mixtures and short induction pipe lengths, at fixed valve timing and fixed compression ratio but
varying inlet valve diameter and lift. The results are quite revealing as regards the relationship of
volumetric efficiency versus Mach index are concerned . It was observed that the maximum
volumetric efficiency is obtainable for an inlet Mach number of 0.55. Therefore, engine designers
must take care of this factor to get the maximum volumetric efficiency for their engines.
 DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE DATA
Engine ratings usually indicate the highest power at which manufacturers expect their products to
give satisfactory economy, reliability, and durability under service conditions. Maximum torque
and the speed at which it is achieved is also usually given. Since both of these quantities depend on
displaced volume, for comparative analysis between engines of different displacements in a given
engine category normalized performance parameters are more useful.
Typical design and performance data for SI and CI engines used in different applications are
summarized in Table l.4. The four stroke cycle dominates except in the smallest and largest engines.
The large engines are turbocharged or supercharged. The maximum rated engine speed decreases as
engine size increases maintaining the maximum mean piston speed in the range of about 8 to 15 m/s.
The maximum brake mean effective pressure for turbocharged and supercharged engines is higher
than for naturally aspirated engines. Because the maximum fuel-air ratio for SI engines is higher than
for CI engines their naturally aspirated maximum bmep levels are higher. As the engine size increases
brake specific fuel consumption decreases and fuel conversion efficiency increases due to the
reduced heat losses and friction. For the large CI engines, brake thermal efficiencies of about 40%
and indicated thermal efficiencies of about 59% can be obtained in modern engines.