COMMUNICATION LAB

4-STROKE PETROL ENGINE

HEMANTH KUMAR R

07ME034
Introduction:

Petrol Engine was introduced by the German engineers Gottlieb Daimler and
Karl Benz in 1885. It is considered as one of biggest achievement in the automotive
field. It uses petrol called as gasoline in USA as a fuel. Within the engine burning of
fuel mixed with air causes hot gases to expand against parts of the engine and force
them to move. So petrol engines are called internal-combustion engines. Petrol
engines are compact and light in weight for the power they produce. The rate at
which it produces work is usually measured in horsepower or watts.
Petrol Engine is a complex piece of machinery made up of about 150 moving
parts. It is a reciprocating piston engine, in which a number of pistons move up and
down in cylinders. A mixture of petrol and air is introduced to the space above the
pistons and ignited. The gases produced force the pistons down, generating power.
The engine-operating cycle is repeated every four strokes (upward or downward
movement) of the piston, this being known as the four-stroke cycle. The motion of
the pistons rotate a crankshaft, at the end of which is a heavy flywheel. From the
flywheel the power is transferred to the driving wheels via the transmission system of
clutch, gearbox, and final drive.

Major systems of a petrol Engine:

The parts of the petrol engine can be subdivided into a number of systems.

a) The fuel system pumps fuel from the petrol tank into the carburetor. There it
mixes with air and is sucked into the engine cylinders. With electronic fuel
injection, it goes directly from the tank into the cylinders by way of an
electronic monitor.
b) The ignition system supplies the sparks to ignite the fuel mixture in the
cylinders. By means of an ignition coil and contact breaker, it boosts the 12-
volt battery voltage to pulses of 18,000 volts or more. These go via a
distributor to the spark plugs in the cylinders, where they create the sparks.
Ignition of the fuel in the cylinders produces temperatures of 700°C/1,300°F or
more, and the engine must be cooled to prevent overheating.
 c) Water-cooling system Most engines have a water-cooling system, in which
water circulates through channels in the cylinder block, thus extracting the
heat. It flows through pipes in a radiator, which are cooled by fan-blown air. A
few cars and most motorcycles are air-cooled, the cylinders being surrounded
by many fins to present a large surface area to the air.
d) The lubrication system also reduces some heat, but its main job is to keep
the moving parts coated with oil, which is pumped under pressure to the
camshaft, crankshaft, and valve-operating gear.

Parts of a petrol engine:

Following are some of the important parts of petrol engine:

Working of a 4-stroke petrol engine:

Generally the vehicles using petrol/gasoline engine have four strokes as they
are more efficient than two stroke engine and give complete combustion of fuel to
optimum use.
The four-stroke cycle engine has four strokes namely intake, compression,
power, and exhaust strokes.
a) Suction or intake stroke:
Initially when engine is started piston moves downwards towards bottom of
the cylinder which creates low pressure at top. Due to this intake valve opens and
the fuel mixture containing petrol vapors and air are sucked in by the cylinder.
Carburetor now decides in what ratio gasoline/petrol and air should be mixed.
b) The compression stroke:
After this the inlet valve gets closed. The piston now moves towards the top of
cylinder and compresses the fuel mixture to one tenth of its initial volume. The
temperature and pressure inside the cylinder increases due to compression caused.
c) The power stroke:
During this stroke the inlet and exhaust valve remains closed. As the piston
reaches near top position spark plug produces an electric spark. Combustion is
started by an ignition system that fires a high voltage spark through a field
replaceable air gap called a sparkplug. The spark produced causes explosion of fuel.
The hot gases expand and force the piston to move downwards. The piston is linked
to the piston rod and the piston rod to the crank shaft. They all move each other due
to the link between them. The crank shaft is connected to the wheels of a car. As the
crank shaft moves, the wheels rotate and move the car.
d) The exhaust stroke:
In this stroke the exhaust valve remains open at the start. The piston is forced
to move upwards because of the momentum gained. This forces gases to move
through the exhaust valve into the atmosphere. Now the exhaust valve closes and
the intake valve opens. After this the four strokes of the engine are repeated again
and again
Carburetor:

It is the heart of gasoline engine. They meter the fuel and mix it with the air in
precise proportions. Old carburetors do spark advance by measuring the difference
in pressure between the outside and inside of the carburetor. The amount of throttle
advance is also measured. The engine's remains which may be carbon monoxide or
unburned hydrocarbons shows how well the carburetor is working.

Applications:

These engines are widely used in vehicles, portable power plants to supply the
power to run pumps and other machinery on farms. Many small boats, aero planes,
trucks and buses also use it.

Future Scope:

Continuous research is being carried to increase the fuel efficiency, reduce the
pollutants and make it more light and compact. Recently engineers at the University
of Birmingham have made the smallest petrol engine that can replace conventional
batteries. The engine is so tiny that it can be handled on a fingertip.

Discussion questions:

• Explain the working principle of 4-stroke petrol engine?

• What are the major systems of a petrol engine and brief it?

• Explain the 4 different strokes in the 4-stroke petrol engine?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-stroke_engine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_combustion_engine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrol_engine

http://www.gaadi.com/cars/working-four-stroke-petrol-engine