Aviation Engines Part 5

It has been stated that volumes of similar cylinders increase as the cube of their diameters, while the surface of their cold walls varies as the square of their diameters; so that for large cylinders the ratio of surface to volume is less than for small ones. This points to greater economy in the larger engines. The study of many experiments goes to prove that combustion takes place gradually in the gas-engine cylinder, and that the rate of increase of pressure or rapidity of firing is controlled by dilution and compression of the mixture, as well as by the rate of expansion or piston speed. The rate of combustion also depends on the size and shape of the explosion chamber, and is increased by the mechanical agitation of the mixture during combustion, and still more by the mode of firing.

VALUE OF INDICATOR CARDS

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 13.--Otto Four-Cycle Card.]

To the uninitiated, indicator cards are considerable of a mystery; to those capable of reading them they form an index relative to the action of any engine. An indicator card, such as shown at Fig. 13, is merely a graphical representation of the various pressures existing in the cylinder for different positions of the piston. The length is to some scale that represents the stroke of the piston. During the intake stroke, the pressure falls below the atmospheric line. During compression, the curve gradually becomes higher owing to increasing pressure as the volume is reduced. After ignition the pressure line moves upward almost straight, then as the piston goes down on the explosion stroke, the pressure falls gradually to the point of exhaust valve, opening when the sudden release of the imprisoned gas causes a reduction in pressure to nearly atmospheric. An indicator card, or a series of them, will always show by its lines the normal or defective condition of the inlet valve and pa.s.sages; the actual line of compression; the firing moment; the pressure of explosion; the velocity of combustion; the normal or defective line of expansion, as measured by the adiabatic curve, and the normal or defective operation of the exhaust valve, exhaust pa.s.sages, and exhaust pipe. In fact, all the cycles of an explosive motor may be made a practical study from a close investigation of the lines of an indicator card.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 14.--Diesel Motor Card.]

A most unique card is that of the Diesel motor (Fig. 14), which involves a distinct principle in the design and operation of internal-combustion motors, in that instead of taking a mixed charge for instantaneous explosion, its charge primarily is of air and its compression to a pressure at which a temperature is attained above the igniting point of the fuel, then injecting the fuel under a still higher pressure by which spontaneous combustion takes place gradually with increasing volume over the compression for part of the stroke or until the fuel charge is consumed. The motor thus operating between the pressures of 500 and 35 lbs. per square inch, with a clearance of about 7 per cent., has given an efficiency of 36 per cent. of the total heat value of kerosene oil.

COMPRESSION IN EXPLOSIVE MOTORS

That the compression in a gas, gasoline, or oil-engine has a direct relation to the power obtained, has been long known to experienced builders, having been suggested by M. Beau de Rocha, in 1862, and afterward brought into practical use in the four-cycle or Otto type about 1880. The degree of compression has had a growth from zero, in the early engines, to the highest available due to the varying ignition temperatures of the different gases and vapors used for explosive fuel, in order to avoid premature explosion from the heat of compression. Much of the increased power for equal-cylinder capacity is due to compression of the charge from the fact that the most powerful explosion of gases, or of any form of explosive material, takes place when the particles are in the closest contact or cohesion with one another, less energy in this form being consumed by the ingredients themselves to bring about their chemical combination, and consequently more energy is given out in useful or available work. This is best shown by the ignition of gunpowder, which, when ignited in the open air, burns rapidly, but without explosion, an explosion only taking place if the powder be confined or compressed into a small s.p.a.ce.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 15.--Diagram of Heat in the Gas Engine Cylinder.]

In a gas or gasoline-motor with a small clearance or compression s.p.a.ce--with high compression--the surface with which the burning gases come into contact is much smaller in comparison with the compression s.p.a.ce in a low-compression motor. Another advantage of a high-compression motor is that on account of the smaller clearance of combustion s.p.a.ce less cooling water is required than with a low-compression motor, as the temperature, and consequently the pressure, falls more rapidly. The loss of heat through the water-jacket is thus less in the case of a high-compression than in that of a low-compression motor. In the non-compression type of motor the best results were obtained with a charge of 16 to 18 parts of gas and 100 parts of air, while in the compression type the best results are obtained with an explosive mixture of 7 to 10 parts of gas and 100 parts of air, thus showing that by the utilization of compression a weaker charge with a greater thermal efficiency is permissible.

It has been found that the explosive pressure resulting from the ignition of the charge of gas or gasoline-vapor and air in the gas-engine cylinder is about 4-1/2 times the pressure prior to ignition.

The difficulty about getting high compression is that if the pressure is too high the charge is likely to ignite prematurely, as compression always results in increased temperature. The cylinder may become too hot, a deposit of carbon, a projecting electrode or plug body in the cylinder may become incandescent and ignite the charge which has been excessively heated by the high compression and mixture of the hot gases of the previous explosion.

FACTORS LIMITING COMPRESSION

With gasoline-vapor and air the compression should not be raised above about 90 to 95 pounds to the square inch, many manufacturers not going above 65 or 70 pounds. For natural gas the compression pressure may easily be raised to from 85 to 100 pounds per square inch. For gases of low calorific value, such as blast-furnace or producer-gas, the compression may be increased to from 140 to 190 pounds. In fact the ability to raise the compression to a high point with these gases is one of the princ.i.p.al reasons for their successful adoption for gas-engine use. In kerosene injection engines the compression of 250 pounds per square inch has been used with marked economy. Many troubles in regard to loss of power and increase of fuel have occurred and will no doubt continue, owing to the wear of valves, piston, and cylinder, which produces a loss in compression and explosive pressure and a waste of fuel by leakage. Faulty adjustment of valve movement is also a cause of loss of power; which may be from tardy closing of the inlet-valve or a too early opening of the exhaust-valve.

The explosive pressure varies to a considerable amount in proportion to the compression pressure by the difference in fuel value and the proportions of air mixtures, so that for good illuminating gas the explosive pressure may be from 2.5 to 4 times the compression pressure.

For natural gas 3 to 4.5, for gasoline 3 to 5, for producer-gas 2 to 3, and for kerosene by injection 3 to 6.

The compression temperatures, although well known and easily computed from a known normal temperature of the explosive mixture, are subject to the effect of the uncertain temperature of the gases of the previous explosion remaining in the cylinder, the temperature of its walls, and the relative volume of the charge, whether full or scant; which are terms too variable to make any computations reliable or available.

For the theoretical compression temperatures from a known normal temperature, we append a table of the rise in temperature for the compression pressures in the following table:

TABLE IV.--COMPRESSION TEMPERATURES FROM A NORMAL TEMPERATURE OF 60 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.

===============================+============================== 100 lbs. gauge 484 60 lbs. gauge 373 90 lbs. gauge 459 50 lbs. gauge 339 80 lbs. gauge 433 40 lbs. gauge 301 70 lbs. gauge 404 30 lbs. gauge 258 -------------------------------+------------------------------

CHART FOR DETERMINING COMPRESSION PRESSURES

A very useful chart (Fig. 16) for determining compression pressures in gasoline-engine cylinders for various ratios of compression s.p.a.ce to total cylinder volume is given by P. S. Tice, and described in the Chilton Automobile Directory by the originator as follows:

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 16.--Chart Showing Relation Between Compression Volume and Pressure.]

It is many times desirable to have at hand a convenient means for at once determining with accuracy what the compression pressure will be in a gasoline-engine cylinder, the relations.h.i.+p between the volume of the compression s.p.a.ce and the total cylinder volume or that swept by the piston being known. The curve at Fig. 16 is offered as such a means. It is based on empirical data gathered from upward of two dozen modern automobile engines and represents what may be taken to be the results as found in practice. It is usual for the designer to find compression pressure values, knowing the volumes from the equation

P_{2} = P_{1} (V_{1}/V_{2})^{1.4} 1

which is for adiabatic compression of air. Equation (1) is right enough in general form but gives results which are entirely too high, as almost all designers know from experience. The trouble lies in the interchange of heat between the compressed gases and the cylinder walls, in the diminution of the exponent (1.4 in the above) due to the lesser ratio of specific heat of gasoline vapor and in the transfer of heat from the gases which are being compressed to whatever fuel may enter the cylinder in an unvaporized condition. Also, there is always some piston leakage, and, if the form of the equation (1) is to be retained, this also tends to lower the value of the exponent. From experience with many engines, it appears that compression reaches its highest value in the cylinder for but a short range of motor speeds, usually during the mid-range. Also, it appears that, at those speeds at which compression shows its highest values, the initial pressure at the start of the compression stroke is from .5 to .9 lb. below atmospheric. Taking this latter loss value, which shows more often than those of lesser value, the compression is seen to start from an initial pressure of 13.9 lbs.

per sq. in. absolute.

Also, experiment shows that if the exponent be given the value 1.26, instead of 1.4, the equation will embrace all heat losses in the compressed gas, and compensate for the changed ratio of specific heats for the mixture and also for all piston leakage, in the average engine with rings in good condition and tight. In the light of the foregoing, and in view of results obtained from its use, the above curve is offered--values of P_{2} being found from the equation

P_{2} = 13.8 (V_{1}/V_{2})^{1.26}

In using this curve it must be remembered that pressures are absolute.

Thus: suppose it is desired to know the volumetric relations.h.i.+ps of the cylinder for a compression pressure of 75 lbs. gauge. Add atmospheric pressure to the desired gauge pressure 14.7 + 75 = 89.7 lbs. absolute.

Locate this pressure on the scale of ordinates and follow horizontally across to the curve and then vertically downward to the scale of abscissas, where the ratio of the combustion chamber volume to the total cylinder volume is given, which latter is equal to the sum of the combustion chamber volume and that of the piston sweep. In the above case it is found that the combustion s.p.a.ce for a compression pressure of 75 lbs. gauge will be .225 of the total cylinder volume, or .225 .775 = .2905 of the piston sweep volume. Conversely, knowing the volumetric ratios, compression pressure can be read directly by proceeding from the scale of abscissas vertically to the curve and thence horizontally to the scale of ordinates.

CAUSES OF HEAT LOSS AND INEFFICIENCY IN EXPLOSIVE MOTORS

The difference realized in the practical operation of an internal combustion heat engine from the computed effect derived from the values of the explosive elements is probably the most serious difficulty that engineers have encountered in their endeavors to arrive at a rational conclusion as to where the losses were located, and the ways and means of design that would eliminate the causes of loss and raise the efficiency step by step to a reasonable percentage of the total efficiency of a perfect cycle.

An authority on the relative condition of the chemical elements under combustion in closed cylinders attributes the variation of temperature shown in the fall of the expansion curve, and the suppression or r.e.t.a.r.ded evolution of heat, entirely to the cooling action of the cylinder walls, and to this nearly all the phenomena hitherto obscure in the cylinder of a gas-engine. Others attribute the great difference between the theoretical temperature of combustion and the actual temperature realized in the practical operation of the gas-engine, a loss of more than one-half of the total heat energy of the combustibles, partly to the dissociation of the elements of combustion at extremely high temperatures and their rea.s.sociation by expansion in the cylinder, to account for the supposed continued combustion and extra adiabatic curve of the expansion line on the indicator card.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 17.--The Thompson Indicator, an Instrument for Determining Compressions and Explosion Pressure Values and Recording Them on Chart.]

The loss of heat to the walls of the cylinder, piston, and clearance s.p.a.ce, as regards the proportion of wall surface to the volume, has gradually brought this point to its smallest ratio in the concave piston-head and globular cylinder-head, with the smallest possible s.p.a.ce in the inlet and exhaust pa.s.sage. The wall surface of a cylindrical clearance s.p.a.ce or combustion chamber of one-half its unit diameter in length is equal to 3.1416 square units, its volume but 0.3927 of a cubic unit; while the same wall surface in a spherical form has a volume of 0.5236 of a cubic unit. It will be readily seen that the volume is increased 33-1/3 per cent. in a spherical over a cylindrical form for equal wall surfaces at the moment of explosion, when it is desirable that the greatest amount of heat is generated, and carrying with it the greatest possible pressure from which the expansion takes place by the movement of the piston.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 18.--Spherical Combustion Chamber.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 19.--Enlarged Combustion Chamber.]

The spherical form cannot continue during the stroke for mechanical reasons; therefore some proportion of piston stroke of cylinder volume must be found to correspond with a spherical form of the combustion chamber to produce the least loss of heat through the walls during the combustion and expansion part of the stroke. This idea is ill.u.s.trated in Figs. 18 and 19, showing how the relative volumes of cylinder stroke and combustion chamber may be varied to suit the requirements due to the quality of the elements of combustion.

Although the concave piston-head shows economy in regard to the relation of the clearance volume to the wall area at the moment of explosive combustion, it may be clearly seen that its concavity increases its surface area and its capacity for absorbing heat, for which there is no provision for cooling the piston, save its contact with the walls of the cylinder and the slight air cooling of its back by its reciprocal motion. For this reason the concave piston-head has not been generally adopted and the concave cylinder-head, as shown in Fig. 19, with a flat piston-head is the latest and best practice in airplane engine construction.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 20.--Mercedes Aviation Engine Cylinder Section Showing Approximately Spherical Combustion Chamber and Concave Piston Top.]

The practical application of the principle just outlined to one of the most efficient airplane motors ever designed, the Mercedes, is clearly outlined at Fig. 20.

HEAT LOSSES TO COOLING WATER

The mean temperature of the wall surface of the combustion chamber and cylinder, as indicated by the temperatures of the circulating water, has been found to be an important item in the economy of the gas-engine.

Dugald Clerk, in England, a high authority in practical work with the gas-engine, found that 10 per cent. of the gas for a stated amount of power was saved by using water at a temperature in which the ejected water from the cylinder-jacket was near the boiling-point, and ventures the opinion that a still higher temperature for the circulating water may be used as a source of economy. This could be made practical in the case of aviation engines by adjusting the air-cooling surface of the radiator so as to maintain the inlet water at just below the boiling point, and by the rapid circulation induced by the pump pressure, to return the water from the cylinder-jacket a few degrees above the boiling point. The thermal displacement systems of cooling employed in automobiles are working under more favorable temperature conditions than those engines in which cooling is more energetic.

For a given amount of heat taken from the cylinder by the largest volume of circulating water, the difference in temperature between inlet and outlet of the water-jacket should be the least possible, and this condition of the water circulation gives a more even temperature to all parts of the cylinder; while, on the contrary, a cold-water supply, say at 60 F., so slow as to allow the ejected water to flow off at a temperature near the boiling-point, must make a great difference in temperature between the bottom and top of the cylinder, with a loss in economy in gas and other fuels, as well as in water, if it is obtained by measurement.

From the foregoing considerations of losses and inefficiencies, we find that the practice in motor design and construction has not yet reached the desired perfection in its cycular operation. Step by step improvements have been made with many changes in design though many have been without merit as an improvement, farther than to gratify the longings of designers for something different from the other thing, and to establish a special construction of their own. These efforts may in time produce a motor of normal or standard design for each kind of fuel that will give the highest possible efficiency for all conditions of service.

CHAPTER IV