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Petrol engine

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
Side view of a circa-1970 AMC 232 automotive engine
Side view of a circa-1970 AMC 232 automotive engine

A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as E10 and E85).

Most petrol engines use spark ignition, unlike diesel engines which typically use compression ignition. Another key difference to diesel engines is that petrol engines typically have a lower compression ratio.

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Internal combustion engine

Internal combustion engine

An internal combustion engine is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high-pressure gases produced by combustion applies direct force to some component of the engine. The force is typically applied to pistons, turbine blades, a rotor, or a nozzle. This force moves the component over a distance, transforming chemical energy into kinetic energy which is used to propel, move or power whatever the engine is attached to. This replaced the external combustion engine for applications where the weight or size of an engine were more important.

Autogas

Autogas

Autogas or LPG is liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used as a fuel in internal combustion engines in vehicles as well as in stationary applications such as generators. It is a mixture of propane and butane.

Common ethanol fuel mixtures

Common ethanol fuel mixtures

Several common ethanol fuel mixtures are in use around the world. The use of pure hydrous or anhydrous ethanol in internal combustion engines (ICEs) is only possible if the engines are designed or modified for that purpose, and used only in automobiles, light-duty trucks and motorcycles. Anhydrous ethanol can be blended with gasoline (petrol) for use in gasoline engines, but with high ethanol content only after engine modifications to meter increased fuel volume since pure ethanol contains only 2/3 of the BTUs of an equivalent volume of pure gasoline. High percentage ethanol mixtures are used in some racing engine applications as the very high octane rating of ethanol is compatible with very high compression ratios.

Spark-ignition engine

Spark-ignition engine

A spark-ignition engine is an internal combustion engine, generally a petrol engine, where the combustion process of the air-fuel mixture is ignited by a spark from a spark plug. This is in contrast to compression-ignition engines, typically diesel engines, where the heat generated from compression together with the injection of fuel is enough to initiate the combustion process, without needing any external spark.

Diesel engine

Diesel engine

The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is called a compression-ignition engine. This contrasts with engines using spark plug-ignition of the air-fuel mixture, such as a petrol engine or a gas engine.

Compression ratio

Compression ratio

The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values.

Design

Thermodynamic cycle

Animation of an Otto cycle engine
Animation of an Otto cycle engine

Most petrol engines use either the four-stroke Otto cycle or the two-stroke cycle.[1][2][3] Petrol engines have also been produced using the Miller cycle and Atkinson cycle.[4][5][6][7]

Layout

Most petrol-powered piston engines are straight engines or V engines. However, flat engines, W engines and other layouts are sometimes used.

Wankel engines are classified by the number of rotors used.

Compression ratio

Main article: Compression ratio § Petrol engines

Cooling

Main article: Internal combustion engine cooling

Petrol engines are either air-cooled or water-cooled.

Ignition

Main article: Ignition system

Petrol engines use spark ignition. High voltage current for the spark may be provided by a magneto or an ignition coil. In modern car engines the ignition timing is managed by an electronic Engine Control Unit.

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Otto cycle

Otto cycle

An Otto cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle that describes the functioning of a typical spark ignition piston engine. It is the thermodynamic cycle most commonly found in automobile engines.

Miller cycle

Miller cycle

In engineering, the Miller cycle is a thermodynamic cycle used in a type of internal combustion engine. The Miller cycle was patented by Ralph Miller, an American engineer, U.S. Patent 2,817,322 dated Dec 24, 1957. The engine may be two- or four-stroke and may be run on diesel fuel, gases, or dual fuel.

Atkinson cycle

Atkinson cycle

The Atkinson-cycle engine is a type of internal combustion engine invented by James Atkinson in 1882. The Atkinson cycle is designed to provide efficiency at the expense of power density.

Straight engine

Straight engine

The straight engine is a piston engine where all of the cylinders are aligned in a row along the crankshaft.

Flat engine

Flat engine

A flat engine is a piston engine where the cylinders are located on either side of a central crankshaft. Flat engines are also known as horizontally opposed engines, however this is distinct from the less common opposed-piston engine design, whereby each cylinder has two pistons sharing a central combustion chamber.

Internal combustion engine cooling

Internal combustion engine cooling

Internal combustion engine cooling uses either air or liquid to remove the waste heat from an internal combustion engine. For small or special purpose engines, cooling using air from the atmosphere makes for a lightweight and relatively simple system. Watercraft can use water directly from the surrounding environment to cool their engines. For water-cooled engines on aircraft and surface vehicles, waste heat is transferred from a closed loop of water pumped through the engine to the surrounding atmosphere by a radiator.

Air-cooled engine

Air-cooled engine

Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat generated escapes through the exhaust, not through the metal fins of an air-cooled engine (12%). About 8% of the heat energy is transferred to the oil, which although primarily meant for lubrication, also plays a role in heat dissipation via a cooler. Air-cooled engines are used generally in applications which would not suit liquid cooling, as such modern air-cooled engines are used in motorcycles, general aviation aircraft, lawn mowers, generators, outboard motors, pump sets, saw benches and auxiliary power units.

Ignition system

Ignition system

An ignition system generates a spark or heats an electrode to a high temperature to ignite a fuel-air mixture in spark ignition internal combustion engines, oil-fired and gas-fired boilers, rocket engines, etc. The widest application for spark ignition internal combustion engines is in petrol (gasoline) road vehicles such as cars and motorcycles.

High voltage

High voltage

High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, high voltage refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant special safety requirements and procedures.

Ignition magneto

Ignition magneto

An ignition magneto is an older type of ignition system used in spark-ignition engines. It uses a magneto and a transformer to make pulses of high voltage for the spark plugs. The older term "high-tension" means "high-voltage".

Ignition coil

Ignition coil

An ignition coil is used in the ignition system of a spark-ignition engine to transform the battery voltage to the much higher voltages required to operate the spark plug(s). The spark plugs then use this burst of high-voltage electricity to ignite the air-fuel mixture.

Ignition timing

Ignition timing

In a spark ignition internal combustion engine, ignition timing is the timing, relative to the current piston position and crankshaft angle, of the release of a spark in the combustion chamber near the end of the compression stroke.

Power output and efficiency

Main articles: Engine power and Engine efficiency § Gasoline (petrol) engines

The power output of small- and medium-sized petrol engines (along with equivalent engines using other fuels) is usually measured in kilowatts or horsepower.

Typically, petrol engines have a thermodynamic efficiency of about 20% (approximately half that of some diesel engines).[8]

Applications

Applications of petrol engines include automobiles, motorcycles, aircraft, motorboats and small engines (such as lawn mowers, chainsaws and portable generators).

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Motorcycle

Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar from a saddle-style seat.

Aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, in a few cases, the downward thrust from jet engines. Common examples of aircraft include airplanes, helicopters, airships, gliders, paramotors, and hot air balloons.

Motorboat

Motorboat

A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine.

Small engine

Small engine

A small engine is the general term for a wide range of small-displacement, low-powered internal combustion engines used to power lawn mowers, generators, concrete mixers and many other machines that require independent power sources. These engines often have simple designs, for example an air-cooled single-cylinder petrol engine with a pull-cord starter, capacitor discharge ignition and a gravity-fed carburettor.

History

Main article: History of the internal combustion engine

The first practical petrol engine was built in 1876 in Germany by Nicolaus August Otto,[9] although there had been earlier attempts by Étienne Lenoir in 1860,[10]: p15  Siegfried Marcus in 1864[10]: p79  and George Brayton in 1876.[10]: pp413–414 [11]

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History of the internal combustion engine

History of the internal combustion engine

Internal combustion engines date back to between the 10th and 13th centuries, when the first rocket engines were invented in China. Following the first commercial steam engine in 1698, various efforts were made during the 18th century to develop equivalent internal combustion engines. In 1791, the English inventor John Barber patented a gas turbine. In 1794, Thomas Mead patented a gas engine. Also in 1794, Robert Street patented an internal-combustion engine, which was also the first to use liquid fuel (petroleum) and built an engine around that time. In 1798, John Stevens designed the first American internal combustion engine. In 1807, French engineers Nicéphore and Claude Niépce ran a prototype internal combustion engine, using controlled dust explosions, the Pyréolophore. This engine powered a boat on the river in France. The same year, the Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz built and patented a hydrogen and oxygen-powered internal-combustion engine. Fitted to a crude four-wheeled wagon, François Isaac de Rivaz first drove it 100 meters in 1813, thus making history as the first car-like vehicle known to have been powered by an internal-combustion engine.

Nicolaus Otto

Nicolaus Otto

Nicolaus August Otto was a German engineer who successfully developed the compressed charge internal combustion engine which ran on petroleum gas and led to the modern internal combustion engine. The Association of German Engineers (VDI) created DIN standard 1940 which says "Otto Engine: internal combustion engine in which the ignition of the compressed fuel-air mixture is initiated by a timed spark", which has been applied to all engines of this type since.

Étienne Lenoir

Étienne Lenoir

Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir, also known as Jean J. Lenoir, was a Belgian-French engineer who developed the internal combustion engine in 1858. Prior designs for such engines were patented as early as 1807, but none were commercially successful. Lenoir's engine was commercialized in sufficient quantities to be considered a success, a first for the internal combustion engine.

Siegfried Marcus

Siegfried Marcus

Siegfried Samuel Marcus was a German inventor. Marcus was born of Jewish descent in Malchin, in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He made the first petrol-powered vehicle in 1864, while living in Vienna, Austria.

George Brayton

George Brayton

George Bailey Brayton was an American mechanical engineer and inventor. He was noted for introducing the constant pressure engine that is the basis for the gas turbine, and which is now referred to as the Brayton cycle.

Source: "Petrol engine", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 25th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrol_engine.

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Further Reading

Compression ratio

Diesel engine

Reciprocating engine

Miller cycle

Four-stroke engine

Atkinson cycle

Gasoline direct injection

Otto engine

Model engine

Hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicle

Internal combustion engine
See also
References
  1. ^ "What is Otto Cycle - Complete Explaintion on P-v & T-s Diagram". The Engineers Post. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. ^ "What is Two Stroke Engine?- Types, And Working". Engineering Choice. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Two Stroke Engine - Internal Combustion Engines (IC) - Automobile Magazine". MotorTrend. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  4. ^ "How does a Miller-cycle engine work?". HowStuffWorks. 1 April 2000. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Mazda 2.3L Miller-cycle DOHC V-6". WardsAuto. 1 January 1998. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Why does Toyota use Atkinson cycle engines?". Toyota UK Magazine. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Engines Exposed: Atkinson Cycle Engines". MotorBiscuit. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Toyota Gasoline Engine Achieves Thermal Efficiency Of 38 Percent". Green Car Reports. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  9. ^ CA 6479  "Gas Motor Engine"
  10. ^ a b c Friedrich Sass (1962). Geschichte des deutschen Verbrennungsmotorenbaus von 1860 bis 1918. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer. ISBN 978-3-662-11843-6.
  11. ^ "Who Invented the Car?".
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