WEEK 3 - ASSIGNMENT

Criteria

Diesel Engine

Gasoline Engine

Fuel
(from oil, from biomass)

Combustion

Gasoline engines are often called Spark

ignition (S.I) engines. These engines
require gasoline as fuel and air as
oxidizer.
Air-Fuel mixture enters the combustion
chamber and spark plug is used to ignite
the mixture in the cylinder. During
combustion
the
mixture
is
homogeneous.

Hardware
(engine Parts, mechanics...)

Efficiency
(compare each type of
efficiency, explain why it is
higher or lower)

Diesel engines are often called

Compression ignition (C.I) engines. These
engines require diesel as fuel and
compressed air as oxidizer.
Air is sucked into the engine cylinder and it
is compressed to high pressure and as a
result, its temperature is raised. Now, Fuel
is injected by fuel injector and it is autoignited as and when it get vaporized and
mixed with compressed air in the cylinder.
When combustion starts, the mixture is
heterogeneous.
Parts for both engines are: Piston, Engine
cylinder, Cam, Camshaft, Crankcase, Fuel
injector (diesel engines), Spark Plug
(Gasoline engines) and Poppet valves,
Cam Spring and drive pulley. Cams are
placed in camshaft which is driven by crank
shaft. When combustion completes
exhaust gases vents through manifolds.
Other parts for diesel engine are,
Turbochargers: Turbochargers increases
air pressure. So, high quantity of air can be
introduced. It has two parts 1.Compressor
(which increases air pressure and
temperature) and intercooler (is provided
after it, used to cool the air and to increase
its density)
2. Turbine (drives the
compressor using the residual energy from
the exhaust gases).
In diesel engines, the intake manifold is
equipped with swirl traps which is used to
regulate the inflow of air in order to
achieve optimal combustion. Swirl
movement is also given by shape of intake
pipes and inside cylinder head.
In diesel engines part of these gases are
redirected to EGR system.
Thermodynamic efficiency is higher in
these engines due to value of high
compression ratio (16-18). In addition, the
value of Cp/CV is higher because only air is
compressed during the compression
stroke. Heat lost to cooling systems is low
because exhaust gases are used to drive
the turbine in turbo compressor.

In gasoline engines, spark plug is used for

optimal combustion. In these engines,
intake pipes are shaped to create an incylinder air motion which favors air
turbulence
and
thus
enhances
combustion rate. Fuel injection is
electronically controlled to achieve
optimal combustion with accurate
quantity of air-fuel mixture and Spark
timing.

The main efficiency difference between

diesel and gasoline engines is cycle
efficiency. Gasoline engines are provided
with throttle to control intake air, which
also has significant pressure drop during
intake stroke. The heat lost to the engine
cooling
system
is
also
high.
Thermodynamic efficiency is lower in

WEEK 3 - ASSIGNMENT
Diesel
engines
have
high
mechanical/frictional losses than gasoline
due their robust design. Overall, these
engines have high efficiency.
5

Emissions
(main emissions, how to
reduce them at the source
or with ATS)

Principal emissions are NOx and soot.

Secondary emission are HC and CO.
Reducing emissions at the source requires:
More Precise engine design which includes
proper geometry, dimensions and
advanced
technologies,
Efficient
combustion, Precise calibration for engine
operation and advanced engine control.
At the source:
1.Use of EGR system reduces NOx.
2.Use of Common Rail Direct Injection
System and swirl flow reduces soot
formation
3.Usage of alternate fuels.
After Treatment Systems:
To oxidize HC& CO oxycat catalyst with
catalytic conveter are used, only for diesel
engines.
To reduce NOx deNOx catalysts are
employed-SCR System/NOx trap
To remove soot Diesel systems particularly
employ Diesel particulate filter (DPF)
system.

Performance

Others...

Performance is evaluated in terms of

torque and power. Maximum torque for is
360Nm between 1500 and 2500 rpm.
Diesel engines give high performance than
gasoline engines due to high heating value
of diesel. Diesel engines give maximum
power between 3500 and 4000 rpm. Due to
high supercharging pressures, at an equal
displacement, diesel engines tend to have
higher maximum torque than gasoline
engines.
Diesel engines are expensive than gasoline
due to complex and multiple high
performance and multiple after treatment
systems

these engines due to value of low

compression ratio (9-12). In addition, the
value of Cp/CV is also lower because both
air and fuel are compressed during the
compression stroke.
Principal emissions are HC, CO & NOx.
Secondary emission is soot.
At the source:
1.EGR system is also employed in
advanced gasoline engines.
2. Usage of alternate fuels.
After Treatment Systems:
Three way catalyst combinely removes
HC. CO & NOx . Three way catalyst (TWC)
is only used for gasoline engines due to
ER=1.
deNOX are used for lean burnt gasoline
engines.

Maximum torque for gasoline engines is

approx. 340 Nm between 2000 and 4000
rpm. Gasoline engines give maximum
power at maximum engine speed. Due to
combustion process and for other
reasons, gasoline engines are also able to
run at higher engine speed which is
favorable for maximum power.

On the other hand, maintenance cost of

gasoline engines is high due to high cost
of gasoline then diesel.