DJA40072 – INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

CHAPTER 5: FLUID MOTION

IN COMBUSTION CHAMBER
AND EXHAUST FLOW
MOHD AFIQ BIN MUHAMAD
JABATAN KEJURUTERAAN MEKANIKAL
POLITEKNIK SULTAN MIZAN ZAINAL ABIDIN
014-8280870 | afiq.muhamad@psmza.edu.my

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At the end of this topic, student must able to:
Understand Swirl
Define the terms Swirl
Swirl flow motion in combustion chamber
Effect of Swirl to engine performance
Understand Turbulence
Define the terms Turbulence
Turbulence flow motion in combustion chamber
Effect of Turbulence to engine performance
Understand Squish and Tumble
Define the terms Squish and Tumble
Squish and Tumble flow motion in combustion chamber
Effect of Turbulence to engine performance
Understand process Gas Exhaust Flow to environment
Define terms Blowdown
Define the function of component of Exhaust System
a. Exhaust Manifold
b. Catalytic Converter
c. Mufler
d. Tail Pipe
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FLUID MOTION WITHIN COMBUSTION CHAMBER

• Fluid  air, fuel, exhaust gas.

• Fluid motion is important to :

 Speed evaporation
 Enhance AF mixing
 Increase combustion speed and efficiency

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 SWIRL:
Define the terms Swirl
• It is a rotational motion within the cylinder.
• It is generated by constructing the intake system to give a tangential component
to the intake flow.
• Swirl effect can be done by shaping :

 Intake manifold
 Valve ports
 Piston face

• Swirl enhance the mixing to give the homogeneous mixture in a very short
time.

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SWIRL:

• Swirl is used to speed up combustion in SI engine

• In two stroke engine, swirl to improve scavenging effect.
• In CI engine,swirl important to promote rapid mixing between air and injected
fuel
• Swirl greatly enhances the mixing of air and fuel to give a homogeneous
mixture in the very short time available for this in modern high-speed engines.
• It is also a main mechanism for very rapid spreading of the flame front during
the combustion process, (Willard W. Pulkrabek ).
• Swirl ratio is a dimensionless parameter used to quantify rotational motion
within the cylinder. Figure 5.3 shows how swirl ratio changes through a cycle of
the engine. During intake it is high, decreasing after BDC in the compression
stroke due to viscous drag with the cylinder walls.
• Combustion expands the gases and increases swirl to another maximum part
way into the power stroke. Expansion of the gases and viscous drag quickly
reduce this again before blow-down occurs. One-fourth to one-third of angular
momentum will be lost during the compression stroke, (Willard W. Pulkrabek ).

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Average cylinder swirl ratio as a
function of crank angle for a typical SI
engine. Swirl is high during the intake
process, with a maximum near TDC. It
then is reduced by viscous drag during
the compression stroke. There is a
second maximum near ~e end of
compression when the radius of
rotation is decreased near TDC and
expansion from combustion occurs.
Viscous drag with the cylinder walls
during the expansion stroke quickly
reduces this again before blow-down
occurs, (Willard W. Pulkrabek ).

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a) Swirl motion within
engine cylinder
b) Air entering
cylinder from
tangential direction
c) Contoured intake
runner
d) Contoured valve

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 TURBULENCE:
 All flows into and out from the engine cylinders are turbulence flows.
 Heat transfer, evaporation, mixing, and combustion rates all increase.
 As engine speed increase  flow rates, swirl, squish and turbulence increase.
 There are many level of turbulence within an engine.
 Large-scale turbulence  e.g. valve opening, diameter of intake runner, height of
clearance volume, etc.
 Small-scale turbulence.
 It is high during intake.
 Then decrease as the flow rate near BDC.
 It increases again during compression as swirl, squish, and tumble increase near TDC.
 Swirl makes turbulence more homogeneous throughout the cylinder.
 High turbulence near TDC is very desirable for combustion.
 The shape of combustion chamber is extremely important in generating maximum
turbulence.
 The shape of the combustion chamber is extremely important in generating maximum
turbulence and increasing the desired rapid combustion
 Local flame speed depends on the turbulence immediately in front of the flame
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 Figure :Turbulence level of gas flows in engines as a
function of engine speed.

Turbulence intensity is a strong function of engine speed (Fig. 5.4). As speed is

increased, turbulence increases, and this increases the rate of evaporation, heat transfer,
mixing, and combustion. One result of this is that all engine speeds have about the
same burn angle (i.e., the crank angle through which the engine turns as combustion
takes place). The one phase of this process which is not totally changed by the increase
in turbulence is ignition delay, (Willard W. Pulkrabek ).
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 SQUISH AND TUMBLE:

Squish
• It is a radial motion towards the centerline of
the cylinder.
• Maximum squish velocity occurs ~ 100 BTDC.
• As the piston approaches TDC, the mixture
occupying the volume at the outer radius of the
cylinder is forced radially inward.

Tumble
• As the piston nears TDC, squish motion
generates a secondary rotational flow 
Tumble.
• It occurs about a circumferential axis near the
outer edge of the piston bowl.
SQUISH AND TUMBLE:
As the piston approaches TDC, the gas mixture occupying the volume at the outer
radius of the cylinder is forced radially inward as this outer volume is reduced to
near zero. This radial inward motion of the gas mixture is called squish. It adds to
other mass motions within the cylinder to mix the air and fuel, and to quickly spread
the flame front. Maximum squish velocity usually occurs at about 10° BTDC.

During combustion, the expansion stroke begins and the volume of the combustion
chamber increases. As the piston moves away from TDC, the burning gases are
propelled radially outward to fill the now-increasing outer volume along the
cylinder. walls. This reverse squish helps to spread the flame front during the latter
part of combustion.

As the piston nears TDC, squish motion generates a secondary rotational flow
called tumble. This rotation occurs about a circumferential axis near the outer edge
of the piston bowl as shown in Fig. 5.5, (Willard W. Pulkrabek ).

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Figure: Tumble action caused by squish as piston approaches TDC. Tumble is a
rotational motion about a circumferential axis near the edge of the clearance
volume in the piston bowl or in the cylinder head.

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BLOWDOWN:
Exhaust blowdown occurs when the exhaust valve starts to open towards the end of
the power stroke, somewhere around 60° to 40° bBDC. At this time, pressure in the
cylinder is still at about 4-5 atmospheres and the temperature is upwards of 1000 K.
Pressure in the exhaust system is about one atmosphere, and when the valve is
opened the resulting pressure differential causes a rapid flow of exhaust gases from
the cylinder, through the valve, into the exhaust system (i.e., exhaust blowdown),

In an ideal air-standard Otto cycle or Diesel cycle, the exhaust valve opens at BDC
and blowdown occurs instantaneously at constant volume (process 4-5 in Fig. 5.6).
This does not happen in a real engine, where blowdown takes a finite length of time.
So that the pressure in the cylinder has been fully reduced by BDC when the exhaust
stroke starts, the exhaust valve starts to open somewhere around 60° to 40° bBDC.
When this happens, the pressure is quickly reduced, and what would have been
additional useful work is lost during the last part of the expansion stroke, (Willard W.
Pulkrabek ).

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Air-standard Otto cycle in P-V coordinates showing exhaust
gas after blowdown at hypothetical state 7.

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EXHAUST SYSTEM

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EXHAUST MANIFOLD:

After leaving the cylinders by passing out of the exhaust valves, exhaust gases pass
through the exhaust manifold, a piping system that directs the flow into one or more
exhaust pipes. Exhaust manifolds are usually made of cast iron and are sometimes
designed to have close thermal contact with the intake manifold. This is to provide
heating and vaporization in the intake manifold.

From the exhaust manifold, the gases flow through an exhaust pipe to the emission
control system of the engine, which may consist of thermal and/or catalytic
converters. One argument says these should be as close to the engine as space allows
to minimize heat losses. On the other hand, this creates high temperature problems in
the engine compartment. These converters promote reduction of emissions in the
exhaust gases by additional chemical reaction. They are discussed in the next
chapter, (Willard W. Pulkrabek ).

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CATALYTIC CONVERTERS:

The most effective after treatment system for reducing engine emissions is the catalytic
converter found on most automobiles and other modern engines of medium or large
size. HC and CO can be oxidized to Hz 0 and COz in exhaust systems and thermal
converters if the temperature is held at 600°-700°C.

If certain catalysts are present, the temperature needed to sustain these oxidation
processes is reduced to 250°-300°C, making for a much more attractive system. A
catalyst is a substance that accelerates a chemical reaction by lowering the energy
needed for it to proceed. The catalyst is not consumed in the reaction and so functions
indefinitely unless degraded by heat, age, contaminants, or other factors.

Catalytic converters are chambers mounted in the flow system through which the
exhaust gases flow. These chambers contain catalytic material, which promotes the
oxidation of the emissions contained in the exhaust flow.

Generally, catalytic converters are called three-way converters because they promote the
reduction of CO, HC, and NOx. Most consist of a stainless steel container mounted
somewhere along the exhaust pipe of the engine. In most converters, the ceramic is a
single honeycomb structure with many flow passages, (Willard W. Pulkrabek ).
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The surface of the ceramic passages contains small embedded particles of catalytic
material that promote the oxidation reactions in the exhaust gas as it passes. Aluminum
oxide (alumina) is the base ceramic material used for most catalytic converters.
Alumina can withstand the high temperatures, it remains chemically neutral, it has very
low thermal expansion, and it does not thermally degrade with age. The catalyst
materials most commonly used are platinum, palladium, and rhodium.
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TAILPIPE AND MUFFLER:

After exiting the catalytic converter, exhaust gases flow through a tailpipe that ducts the
flow away from the passenger compartment of the vehicle and vents it to the
surroundings. This is usually under and out the back (or side) of an automobile and
often upward behind the cab of large trucks.

Somewhere in the tailpipe section there is usually a larger flow chamber called the
mumer. This is a sound chamber designed to reduce the operating noise of the engine,
most of which is carried out with the exhaust flow. Mufflers use two general methods of
sound reduction. One method absorbs the energy of sound pulses by flow through a
porous medium. Other mufflers reduce sound by the cancellation of waves. Instead of
fully dampening all engine noise, some mufflers are designed to give a louder, sporty
sound.

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