James Young

Internal Combustion Engine

An internal combustion Engine is any type of engine that gains energy through the
heat released during the combustion of reactants, made up of a oxidizer-fuel. In
internal combustion engines this combustion process takes place inside the engine
and drives the thermodynamic process that causes the engine to work. They are
currently the most broadly applied and widely used power-generating devices
currently in existence (Encyclopedia-Britannica, 2011).

History
The origins of the Internal combustion engine date back to as late as 1680, when a
Dutch physicist named Christian Huygens designed what is thought to be the first
internal combustion engine, which was powered by gun powder (Bellis, 2011) .
However, he never built this engine. Between this time and 1876, many engineers
attempted to build different versions of internal combustion engines, all were
generally unsuccessful. In 1876, Nikolaus August Otto invented, and eventually
patented, the world’s first four-stroke internal combustion engine, so-called the
“Otto Cycle” (Bellis, 2011). In this same year, Sir Dougald Clerk was credited with
inventing the first successful two-stroke engine. After this, contributions from
inventors such as Gottlieb Daimler, Karl Benz, and Wilhelm Maybach, helped to
improve the internal combustion engine, particularly the four-stroke engine, into the
modern engines that we see today in applications such as automobiles.

Analysis
Basic internal combustion engines can be broken up into two main groups, the two-
stroke engine and the four-stroke engine. They both are generally very similar in
design and concept, but the two-stroke engine performs the same process as the
four-stroke, but with only two strokes of the piston, which is much less efficient.
Since the four-stroke engine is the much more widely applied version of the piston-
driven internal combustions, it is the one we will analyze.

In order to analyze the process of the engine we must first list the different parts of
the engine, see figure 1 to see what the parts look like when they are organized in
the system.

Figure 1

• Cylinder: General term for the body of all the parts, engines can be made
up of one or more cylinders.

• Piston (M): A cylindrical piece of metal that moves up and down in the
cylinder.

• Connecting rod (N): Connects the piston to the crankshaft.

• Crankshaft (P): Turns the piston’s up and down motion into a cylindrical
motion, which delivers the movement to the system that the engine is
providing power to.

• Spark Plug (K): Supplies the spark that ignites the fuel/air mixture allowing
combustion to occur (Brain,2011,pg.3).

• Camshaft (I): Connected to the crankshaft by a timing belt, it controls the

opening and closing of the intake/exhaust valves.
 • Intake Valve (A): Driven by the camshaft, allows air and fuel to enter the
cylinder on the piston’s initial down stroke.

• Exhaust Valve (J): Driven by the Camshaft, it allows exhaust to exit the
cylinder on the piston’s final up stroke, clearing the cylinder before the
four-stroke cycle starts all over again.

To analyze how the internal combustion engine works, we will split the cycle into
the 4 steps or “strokes.” Diagrams of each stroke can be found in figure 2.

1. The Intake Stroke begins with the piston at the top of the cylinder. The
camshaft opens the intake valve, and as the piston moves down, air and gas
fill the cylinder. Only a small amount of as is needed for this step (Brain,
2011,pg.2). If there is too much fuel and not enough air, combustion will not
occur and that cylinder will misfire. After the cylinder is full, the camshaft
closes the intake valve.

2. Compression occurs when the piston moves back up in the cylinder

compressing the air/fuel against the closed valves. This increased pressure
will make the explosion more powerful (Brain,2011,pg.2).

3. When the piston reaches the top of the cylinder, the spark plug discharges a
spark, ignites the fuel/air mixture, and combustion occurs. This causes an
explosion which pushes the piston back down, turning the crankshaft.

4. As the piston reaches the bottom of its stroke, the camshaft opens up the
exhaust valve and the piston moves back up, pushing the exhaust from
combustion out of the cylinder.
 Figure 2

This process is repeated over and over again to produce the engine’s circular
motion.

Different Types of Internal Combustion Engines

Internal combustion engines can be organized into two different categories,
continuous-combustion and intermittent-combustion engines (Encyclopedia-
Britannica,2011). Four- and two-stroke engines, as well as Diesel engines, fall into
the category of intermittent-combustion engines. This means that their systems
involve the periodic ignition of the fuel/air combination. A continuous-combustion
engine is characterized by a steady intake of the air/fuel combination which is
continuously ignited by a stable flame, which is maintained as long as the engine is
running. A perfect example of this would be the jet engine.
Another type of intermittent-combustion engine is the Diesel engine. This engine
was invented and
patented by Rudolf
Diesel in the 1890’s. It
follows the same basic
process as the two- and
four-stroke engines,
creating energy through
small explosions which
push a piston down, but
the explosions in a diesel
engine happen slightly
differently. In gasoline
engines, the fuel is
mixed with the air,
compressed in the
cylinder, and ignited by a
spark plug. In diesel
engines, see figure 3, the
air is compressed by
itself and then the fuel is
injected (Brain,2011).
Because air heats up
Figure 3
when it is under pressure,
this creates the energy needed to combust the fuel, pushing the cylinder down. This
gets rid of the need for spark plugs in these engines. Diesel engines follow a very
similar four-stroke process to the four-stroke gasoline engine, they are generally
considered to be more efficient because they use less fuel per cycle, and often
increased power.

A jet engine is a prime example of a continuous-combustion engine. Two men are

credited with the invention of the jet turbine engine, an English engineer, Sir Frank
Whittle, and a German airplane designer, Dr. Hans von Ohain. They both developed
and patented their ideas during the 1930’s, and produced their working prototypes
in the early 1940’s. Neither knew anything about each other’s work since Germany
was at war with England by the time they finally received their patents
(Bellis,2011). Jet turbine engines have three major parts, see figure 4.
 Figure 4

• Compressor: This compresses air coming in through the intake to a high

pressure.

• Combustion Area: This burns the compressed air producing a high pressure
and velocity gas.

• Turbine: This extracts energy from the high velocity gas coming from the
combustion chamber.

The compressor, usually a large fan, draws air into a more confined space at a very
high rate, compressing it rapidly. The compressed air enters the combustion area,
where fuel injectors inject fuel into the highly pressurized air (Brain,2011). In the
combustion area there is a flame, protected in what is often reffered to as a can,
which ignites the fuel and air mixture. This spins the turbine which is located at the
end of the driveshaft at a very high rate. In turbofan applications, see figure 5, such
as in airplanes, these turbines turn a large fan, located in front of the compressor,
which draws air into and around the engine at a very high rate, creating mass
amounts of thrust.
 Figure 5

Bibliography
internal-combustion engine. (2011). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/290504/internal-combustion-engine

Brain, M. (2000, April 5) How Car Engines Work. In How Stuff Works. Retrieved from
http://www.howstuffworks.com/engine1.htm

Bellis, M. (2011) The History of the Automobile The Internal Combustion Engine and
Early Gas-Powered Cars. Retrieved from
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aacarsgasa.htm

Bellis, M. (2011) The History of the Jet Engine. Retrieved from

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bljetengine.htm

Brain, M. (2000, April 1) How Diesel Engines Work. In How Stuff Works. Retrieved
from http://www.howstuffworks.com/diesel.htm#

Brain, M. (2000, April 1) How Gas Turbine Engines Work. In How Stuff Works.
Retrieved from
http://www.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/turbine.htm#