The internal combustion engine

Is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a
combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine the expansion of the high temperature
and pressure gases, which are produced by the combustion, directly applies force to a movable
component of the engine, such as the pistons or turbine blades and by moving it over a distance,
generate useful mechanical energy.

The term internal combustion engine usually refers to an engine in which combustion is
intermittent, such as the more familiar four-stroke and two-stroke piston engines, along with
variants, such as the Winkle rotary engine. A second class of internal combustion engines use
continuous combustion: gas turbines, jet engines and most rocket engines, each of which are
internal combustion engines on the same principle as previously described.

The internal combustion engine (or ICE) is quite different from external combustion engines,
such as steam or Sterling engines, in which the energy is delivered to a working fluid not
consisting of, mixed with or contaminated by combustion products. Working fluids can be air,
hot water, pressurized water or even liquid sodium, heated in some kind of boiler by fossil fuel,
wood-burning, nuclear, solar etc.

A large number of different designs for ICEs have been developed and built, with a variety of
different strengths and weaknesses. Powered by an energy-dense fuel (which is very frequently
petrol, a liquid derived from fossil fuels) the ICE delivers an excellent power-to-weight ratio
with few safety or other disadvantages. While there have been and still are many stationary
applications, the real strength of internal combustion engines is in mobile applications and they
dominate as a power supply for cars, aircraft, and boats, from the smallest to the biggest. Only
for hand-held power tools do they share part of the market with battery powered devices.

Four stroke configuration:

Basic process

As their name implies, operation of a four stroke internal combustion engines have 4
basic steps that repeat with every two revolutions of the engine:

1. Intake
oCombustible mixtures are emplaced in the combustion chamber
2. Compression
o The mixtures are placed under pressure
3. Power
o The mixture is burnt, almost invariably a deflagration, although a few
systems involve detonation. The hot mixture is expanded, pressing on and
moving parts of the engine and performing useful work.
4. Exhaust
o The cooled combustion products are exhausted into the atmosphere
Many engines overlap these steps in time; jet engines do all steps simultaneously at
different parts of the engines.

Combustion:

All internal combustion engines depend on the exothermic chemical process of combustion: the
reaction of a fuel, typically with oxygen from the air (though it is possible to inject nitrous oxide
in order to do more of the same thing and gain a power boost). The combustion process
typically results in the production of a great quantity of heat, as well as the production of steam
and carbon dioxide and other chemicals at very high temperature; the temperature reached is
determined by the chemical make up of the fuel and oxidisers (see stoichiometry).

The most common modern fuels are made up of hydrocarbons and are derived mostly from
fossil fuels (petroleum). Fossil fuels include diesel fuel, gasoline and petroleum gas, and the
rarer use of propane. Except for the fuel delivery components, most internal combustion
engines that are designed for gasoline use can run on natural gas or liquefied petroleum gases
without major modifications. Large diesels can run with air mixed with gases and a pilot diesel
fuel ignition injection. Liquid and gaseous biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel (a form of
diesel fuel that is produced from crops that yield triglycerides such as soybean oil), can also be
used. Some engines with appropriate modifications can also run on hydrogen gas.

Internal combustion engines require ignition of the mixture, either by spark ignition (SI) or
compression ignition (CI). Before the invention of reliable electrical methods, hot tube and
flame methods were used.

Gasoline Ignition Process

Gasoline engine ignition systems generally rely on a combination of a lead-acid battery and an
induction coil to provide a high-voltage electrical spark to ignite the air-fuel mix in the engine's
cylinders. This battery is recharged during operation using an electricity-generating device such
as an alternator or generator driven by the engine. Gasoline engines take in a mixture of air and
gasoline and compress it to not more than 12.8 bar (1.28 MPa), then use a spark plug to ignite
the mixture when it is compressed by the piston head in each cylinder.

Diesel Ignition Process

Diesel engines and HCCI (Homogeneous charge compression ignition) engines, rely solely on
heat and pressure created by the engine in its compression process for ignition. The
compression level that occurs is usually twice or more than a gasoline engine. Diesel engines will
take in air only, and shortly before peak compression, a small quantity of diesel fuel is sprayed
into the cylinder via a fuel injector that allows the fuel to instantly ignite. HCCI type engines
will take in both air and fuel but continue to rely on an unaided auto-combustion process, due to
higher pressures and heat. This is also why diesel and HCCI engines are more susceptible to
cold-starting issues, although they will run just as well in cold weather once started. Light duty
diesel engines with indirect injection in automobiles and light trucks employ glowplugs that pre-
heat the combustion chamber just before starting to reduce no-start conditions in cold weather.
Most diesels also have a battery and charging system; nevertheless, this system is secondary and
is added by manufacturers as a luxury for the ease of starting, turning fuel on and off (which
can also be done via a switch or mechanical apparatus), and for running auxiliary electrical
components and accessories. Most new engines rely on electrical and electronic control system
that also control the combustion process to increase efficiency and reduce emissions.

Wankel:
The Wankel engine (rotary engine) does not have piston strokes. It operates with the same
separation of phases as the four-stroke engine with the phases taking place in separate locations
in the engine. In thermodynamic terms it follows the Otto engine cycle, so may be thought of as
a "four-phase" engine. While it is true that three power strokes typically occur per rotor
revolution due to the 3/1 revolution ratio of the rotor to the eccentric shaft, only one power
stroke per shaft revolution actually occurs; this engine provides three power 'strokes' per
revolution per rotor giving it a greater power-to-weight ratio than piston engines. This type of
engine is most notably used in the current Mazda RX-8, the earlier RX-7, and other models.

Gas turbines:
A gas turbine is a rotary machine similar in principle to a steam turbine and it consists of three
main components: a compressor, a combustion chamber, and a turbine. The air after being
compressed in the compressor is heated by burning fuel in it. About two-thirds of the heated air
combined with the products of combustion is expanded in a turbine resulting in work output
which is used to drive the compressor. The rest (about one-third) is available as useful work
output.

Jet engine:
Jet engines take a large volume of hot gas from a combustion process (typically a gas turbine,
but rocket forms of jet propulsion often use solid or liquid propellants, and ramjet forms also
lack the gas turbine) and feed it through a nozzle which accelerates the jet to high speed. As the
jet accelerates through the nozzle, this creates thrust and in turn does useful work.
Combustion chambers:
Internal combustion engines can contain any number of combustion chambers (cylinders), with
numbers between one and twelve being common, though as many as 36 (Lycoming R-7755)
have been used. Having more cylinders in an engine yields two potential benefits: first, the
engine can have a larger displacement with smaller individual reciprocating masses, that is, the
mass of each piston can be less thus making a smoother-running engine since the engine tends to
vibrate as a result of the pistons moving up and down. Doubling the number of the same size
cylinders will double the torque and power. The downside to having more pistons is that the
engine will tend to weigh more and generate more internal friction as the greater number of
pistons rub against the inside of their cylinders. This tends to decrease fuel efficiency and robs
the engine of some of its power. For high-performance gasoline engines using current materials
and technology—such as the engines found in modern automobiles, there seems to be a break-
point around 10 or 12 cylinders after which the addition of cylinders becomes an overall
detriment to performance and efficiency. Although, exceptions such as the W16 engine from
Volkswagen exist.

 Most car engines have four to eight cylinders with some high performance cars having
ten, twelve—or even sixteen, and some very small cars and trucks having two or three.
In previous years, some quite large cars such as the DKW and Saab 92, had two-
cylinder or two-stroke engines.
 Radial aircraft engines (now obsolete) had from three to 28 cylinders; an example is the
Pratt & Whitney R-4360. A row contains an odd number of cylinders so an even
number indicates a two- or four-row engine. The largest of these was the Lycoming R-
7755 with 36 cylinders (four rows of nine cylinders), but it did not enter production.
 Motorcycles commonly have from one to four cylinders, with a few high performance
models having six; although, some 'novelties' exist with 8, 10, or 12.
 Snowmobiles Usually have one to four cylinders and can be both 2 stroke or 4 stroke,
normally in the in-line configuration however there are again some novelties that exist
with V-4 Engines
 Small portable appliances such as chainsaws, generators, and domestic lawn mowers
most commonly have one cylinder, but two-cylinder chainsaws exist.
 Large reversible two cycle marine diesels have a minimum of three to over ten cylinders.
Freight diesel locomotives usually have around 12 to 20 cylinders due to space
limitations as larger cylinders take more space (volume ) per kwh, due to the limit on
average piston speed of less than 30 ft/sec on engines lasting more than 40000 hours
under full power.

Ignition system:
The ignition system of an internal combustion engines depends on the type of engine and the fuel
used. Petrol engines are typically ignited by a precisely timed spark, and diesel engines by
compression heating. Historically, outside flame and hot-tube systems were used, see hot bulb
engine.
Spark:
The mixture is ignited by an electrical spark from a spark plug—the timing of which is very
precisely controlled. Almost all gasoline engines are of this type. Diesel engines timing is
precisely controlled by the pressure pump and injector.

Compression:
Ignition occurs as the temperature of the fuel/air mixture is taken over its autoignition
temperature, due to heat generated by the compression of the air during the compression
stroke. The vast majority of compression ignition engines are diesels in which the fuel is mixed
with the air after the air has reached ignition temperature. In this case, the timing comes from
the fuel injection system. Very small model engines for which simplicity and light weight is more
important than fuel costs use easily ignited fuels (a mixture of kerosene, ether, and lubricant)
and adjustable compression to control ignition timing for starting and running.

Fuel pump:
Most internal combustion engines now require a fuel pump. Diesel engines use an all-
mechanical precision pump system that delivers a timed injection direct into the combustion
chamber, hence requiring a high delivery pressure to overcome the pressure of the combustion
chamber. Petrol fuel injection delivers into the inlet tract at atmospheric pressure (or below)
and timing is not involved, these pumps are normally driven electrically. Gas turbine and rocket
engines use electrical systems.
 Parts
For a four-stroke engine, key parts of the engine include the crankshaft (purple), connecting rod
(orange), one or more camshafts (red and blue), and valves. For a two-stroke engine, there may
simply be an exhaust outlet and fuel inlet instead of a valve system. In both types of engines
there are one or more cylinders (grey and green), and for each cylinder there is a spark plug
(darker-grey, gasoline engines only), a piston (yellow), and a crankpin (purple). A single sweep
of the cylinder by the piston in an upward or downward motion is known as a stroke. The
downward stroke that occurs directly after the air-fuel mix passes from the carburetor or fuel
injector to the cylinder (where it is ignited) is also known as a power stroke.

A Wankel engine has a triangular rotor that orbits in an epitrochoidal (figure 8 shape) chamber
around an eccentric shaft. The four phases of operation (intake, compression, power, and
exhaust) take place in what is effectively a moving, variable-volume chamber.

Valves:
All cylinder bore, covered and uncovered by the piston, though there have been variations such as
exhaust valves

Piston engine valves:

In piston engines, the valves are grouped into 'inlet valves' which admit the entrance of fuel and
air and 'outlet valves' which allow the exhaust gases to escape. Each valve opens once per cycle
and the ones that are subject to extreme accelerations are held closed by springs that are
typically opened by rods running on a camshaft rotating with the engines' crankshaft.

Control valves:
Continuous combustion engines—as well as piston engines—usually have valves that open and
close to admit the fuel and/or air at the startup and shutdown. Some valves feather to adjust the
flow to control power or engine speed as well.

Exhaust systems:
Internal combustion engines have to manage the exhaust of the cooled combustion gas from the
engine. The exhaust system frequently contains devices to control pollution, both chemical and
noise pollution. In addition, for cyclic combustion engines the exhaust system is frequently
tuned to improve emptying of the combustion chamber.

For jet propulsion internal combustion engines, the 'exhaust system' takes the form of a high
velocity nozzle, which generates thrust for the engine and forms a colimated jet of gas that gives
the engine its name.

Cooling systems:
Combustion generates a great deal of heat, and some of this transfers to the walls of the engine.
Failure will occur if the body of the engine is allowed to reach too high a temperature; either the
engine will physically fail, or any lubricants used will degrade to the point that they no longer
protect the engine.

Cooling systems usually employ air (air cooled) or liquid (usually water) cooling while some
very hot engines using radiative

cooling (especially some Rocket engines). Some high altitude rocket engines use ablative cooling
where the walls gradually erode in a controlled fashion. Rockets in particular can use
regenerative cooling which uses the fuel to cool the solid parts of the engine

Piston:
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines. It is located in a cylinder and is made gas-tight
by piston rings. Its purpose is to transfer force from expanding gas in the cylinder to the crankshaft
via a piston rod and/or connecting rod. In two-stroke engines the piston also acts as a valve by
covering and uncovering ports in the cylinder wall.

Crankshaft:
Most reciprocating internal combustion engines end up turning a shaft. This means that the
linear motion of a piston must be converted into rotation. This is typically achieved by a
crankshaft.