Today, internal combustion engines in cars, trucks, motorcycles, aircraft, construction

machinery and many others, most commonly use a four-stroke cycle. The four
strokes refer to intake, compression, combustion (power), and exhaust strokes that
occur during two crankshaft rotations per working cycle of the gasoline
engine and diesel engine.

FOUR STROKE DIESEL ENGINES

Working
Atmospheric air is drawn in t the engine cylinder during the suction stroke and is
compressing by compression stroke to high pressure and temperature. The fuel under
pressure is injected through a fuel injector .due t the high pressure and temperature
fuel ignites and expansion displacing the piston. After doing the work on the piston
the burnt gas escape through the exhaust valve.

1. Suction stroke:

During this stroke the piston moves from top dead center to bottom dead center. The
inlet valve opens and air at atmospheric pressure is drawn into the engine cylinder the
exhaust valve remains closed. This operation is represented by the line (5-1).

2. Compression stroke: The piston returns to the top of the cylinder compressing the
fuel-air mixture. Both valves are remaining closed. (1-2)

3. Expansion stroke: While the piston is close to Top Dead Center, the compressed
air–fuel mixture is ignited, usually by the heat and pressure of compression. The
resulting massive pressure from the combustion of the compressed fuel-air mixture
drives the piston back down toward bottom dead center with tremendous force. This is
known as the power stroke, which is the main source of the engine's torque and
power. (2-3)

4. Exhaust stroke: During the exhaust stroke, the piston once again returns to top
dead center while the exhaust valve is open. This action evacuates the products of
combustion from the cylinder by pushing the spent fuel-air mixture through the
exhaust valve(s). (1-5)

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 Process 1 to 2 is isentropic compression (blue)
 Process 2 to 3 is reversible constant pressure heating (red)
 Process 3 to 4 is isentropic expansion (yellow)
 Process 4 to 1 is reversible constant volume cooling (green)

Advantages

 They burn less fuel than a petrol engine performing the same work, due to the
engine's higher temperature of combustion and greater expansion ratio. Gasoline
engines are typically 25 percent efficient while diesel engines can convert over 30
percent of the fuel energy into mechanical energy.
 They have no high-tension electrical ignition system to attend to, resulting in
high reliability and easy adaptation to damp environments. The absence of coils,
spark plug wires, etc., also eliminates a source of radio frequency emissions which
can interfere with navigation and communication equipment, which is especially
important in marine and aircraft applications.
 They can deliver much more of their rated power on a continuous basis than a
petrol engine.
 The life of a diesel engine is generally about twice as long as that of petrol
engine due to the increased strength of parts used. Diesel fuel has better lubrication
properties than petrol as well.

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  Diesel fuel is considered safer than petrol in many applications. Although
diesel fuel will burn in open air using a wick, it will not explode and does not
release a large amount of flammable vapor. The low vapor pressure of diesel is
especially advantageous in marine applications, where the accumulation of
explosive fuel-air mixtures is a particular hazard. For the same reason, diesel
engines are immune to vapor lock.

 For any given partial load the fuel efficiency (mass burned per energy
produced) of a diesel engine remains nearly constant, as opposed to petrol and
turbine engines which use proportionally more fuel with partial power outputs.
 They generate less waste heat in cooling and exhaust.

Speed of engine
Four stroke diesel engines are high speed engines.
High-speed engines

High-speed (approximately 1,000 rpm and greater) engines are used to power trucks
(Lorries), buses, tractors, cars, yachts, compressors, pumps and small electrical
generators. As of 2008, most high-speed engines have direct injection. Many modern
engines, particularly in on-highway applications, have common rail direct injection,
which is cleaner burning.

FOUR STROKE PETROL ENGINE

Working
Otto cycle
The Otto cycle consists of adiabatic compression, heat addition at constant volume,
adiabatic expansion and rejection of heat at constant volume. In the case of a four-
stroke Otto cycle, there are also an isobaric compression and an isobaric expansion,
usually ignored since in an idealized process those do not play any role in the heat
intake or work output.

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Suction stroke:

During this stroke the piston moves from top dead center to bottom dead centre. The
inlet valve opens and the fuel air mixture is sucked into the engine cylinder. The
exhaust valve remain closed throughout this stroke (5-1)

Compression stroke:
The air fuel mixture is compressed as the piston moves from BDC to TDC. Just before
the end of the stroke, the spark plug initiate a spark which ignites the mixture and
combustion takes place at constant volume. (2-3)

Expansion stroke
As the fuel air mixture burns ht gases are produced which drive the piston towards
BDC to TDC and as thus the work is done. (3-4)

Exhaust stroke
The removal of the burnt gases is accomplished during this stroke. The piston moves
from BDC to TDC and the exhaust gases are driven out of the engine cylinder. During
this stroke the exhaust valve remain opened and the inlet valve remains closed. By
this one cycle is completed (1-5)

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Energy balance

Otto engines are about 35% efficient – in other words, 35% of the energy generated
by combustion is converted into useful rotational energy at the output shaft of the
engine, while the remainder appears as waste heat.

Reference:

The Middle Ages of the internal combustion Engine

A textbook of Basic Mechanical Engineering
www.wikipedia.com

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