Govt. Girls. Sr. Sec. School, Nehru Garden.

Jalandhar City.

PETROL ENGINE
Petrol engine was introduced by the engineers Gottlieb Daimler and Karl
Benz (both from Germany) 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. It is made up of about 150 moving parts. 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.

KINDS OF PETROL ENGINES

Reciprocating petrol engines are distinguished in a number of ways. Some
of them are as follows:
(1) Type of compression
(2) Valve arrangement
(3) The way they are cooled,
(4) The way they are supplied with air and fuel.
(5) Number of piston strokes per cycle,
(6) Cylinder arrangement

Classification based on number of stokes per cycle:

a) Two Stroke
b) Four Stroke

A) TWO STROKE PETROL ENGINE

From the name itself we get the idea about the functioning of the engine.
The engine ignites fuel at every upward stroke, so there are two strokes for
every ignition of fuel. They are called upward and downward stroke. As the
piston moves in upward direction from bottom to top in the first stroke the
air and fuel mixture gets compressed and ignited by spark plug as upward
stroke comes to end. This results in an explosion of mixture which forces
the piston to move downwards thereby producing power.
Since they have less moving parts they are light in weight .Also the design
is simple compared to four stroke engines. Big size bulky two-stroke cycle
engines have lubrication systems like that of four-stroke cycle engines.

B)FOUR STROKE PETROL ENGINE:

The four stroke engine is called so because the working of an internal
combustion engine is divided into four stages called four strokes of the
engine.
PARTS OF A PETROL ENGINE
Following are some of the important parts of petrol engine:

1) CYLINDERS - Cylinders are rigid tubes that serve as a bearing for

the pistons that move up and down inside them. They have highly polished
surfaces. This permits a close fit between piston and cylinder and prevents
gases from leaking past the piston. The cylinders in most car engines are
part of the block. Some engines have a cylinder sleeve made of specially
hardened steel or cast iron pressed into the cylinder block.

2) CYLINDER BLOCK - Cylinder block is a rigid frame that holds the

cylinders in proper alignment. If the engine is liquid cooled, the block is
jacketed, so that it can be surrounded by the liquid, or has passages for
the liquid around each cylinder. In automotive engines, the cylinder block
and crankcase form a single unit. Most cylinder blocks are made of cast
iron or aluminium.
3) PISTON AND CONNECTING RODS - There is a piston fitted in the
cylinder. This piston is connected to a connecting rod which in turn is
connected to the crank shaft. When the fuel-air mixture burns, the
expanding gases exert a force on the piston. This force is then transmitted
through a connecting rod to the crankshaft. The piston has two to six rings
to prevent the gases from escaping and to keep lubricating oil from getting
into the combustion chamber.
4) CYLINDER HEAD - Cylinder head is a casting bolted to the top of the
cylinder block. The cylinder head, together with the upper end of the
cylinder and the top of the piston, form the combustion chamber where the
fuel-air mixture burns. A cylinder head and block may be one unit.
5) CRANKCASE - Crankcase is a rigid frame that holds the crankshaft and
the crankshaft bearings. In small engines, all or part of the crankcase may
be a part of the cylinder block
6) VALVES - In a four-stroke cycle engine, each cylinder has one or two
intake valves, to let the air-fuel mixture into the combustion chamber, and
one or two exhaust valves, to let the burned gases escape. These are
called poppet valves, because they pop up and down as they open and
close. The opening in the cylinder block or head uncovered by the valve is
called the port. In many two-stroke cycle engines, the movement of the
piston takes the place of separate valves. As the piston moves, it covers
and uncovers the ports.
7) CRANK SHAFT - Crankshaft changes the reciprocating motion of the
pistons into rotary motion. The crankshaft has a number of cranks, or
throws. These cranks are displaced at angles to each other. For example,
in a six-cylinder, in-line, four-stroke cycle engine, the cranks are displaced
at 120° angles to each other. As a result, the engine delivers three equally
spaced power strokes in each revolution of the crankshaft to assure
smooth operation.
8) FLYWHEEL - Flywheel stores energy during a piston's power stroke and
releases it during other strokes. This helps to keep the crankshaft turning
at a constant speed
9) CAMSHAFT - Camshaft opens and closes the valves at the proper point
in the engine cycle. It runs the length of the engine and has one cam (lobe)
at each intake and exhaust valve. In a four-stroke cycle engine, the
camshaft is geared to the crankshaft so that it runs at half the crankshaft's
speed. The camshaft may be located in the head of an overhead valve
engine, or in the crankcase.
10) FUEL SYSTEM - Fuel system includes : (1) a storage tank for petrol, (2)
fuel lines to carry the petrol to the carburettor, (3) a carburettor to mix the
petrol with air, and (4) an intake manifold to distribute the fuel-air mixture to
the cylinders. The fuel system also includes a filter to clean dirt out of the
fuel and an air cleaner to take dirt out of the air that is mixed with the
petrol. In addition, the system may include a governor to limit the engine's
speed.
11) EXHAUST SYSTEM - Exhaust system consists of one or more parts. It
may include (1) an exhaust manifold to collect the burned gases from the
cylinders, (2) an exhaust pipe to carry the burned gases, and (3) a silencer
to silence the noise of the exhaust gases.
12) IGNITION SYSTEM - Ignition system is the electrical circuit necessary to
set fire to, or ignite, the fuel-air mixture in the different cylinders at different
times. In a car a storage battery provides electric current, which is
increased in voltage by an induction coil. The high-voltage current is
carried through a distributor, which delivers the electricity to each cylinder
at about the moment the piston reaches the top of the compression stroke.
There the electric current jumps a gap between two terminals and sets fire
to the petrol-air mixture. The terminals are encased in insulating material
and called a spark plug.
13) IGNITION SYSTEM - Ignition system is the electrical circuit necessary to
set fire to, or ignite, the fuel-air mixture in the different cylinders at different
times. In a car a storage battery provides electric current, which is
increased in voltage by an induction coil. The high-voltage current is
carried through a distributor, which delivers the electricity to each cylinder
at about the moment the piston reaches the top of the compression stroke.
There the electric current jumps a gap between two terminals and sets fire
to the petrol-air mixture. The terminals are encased in insulating material
and called a spark plug.

WORKING OF A PETROL ENGINE

The working of an internal combustion engine is divided into four stages

called four strokes of the engine and hence the engine is called a four
stroke engine.

THE INTAKE STROKE :

When the engine starts, the piston moves downwards in the cylinder,
because of which a region of low pressure is created in the cylinder, above
the piston. At this moment, the intake valve opens and the fuel
mixture(petrol vapour and air mixture) is sucked into the cylinder from the
carburetor.

THE COMPRESSION STROKE :

When the sufficient amount of the fuel mixture (petrol vapour and air
mixture) has entered the cylinder, the intake valve gets closed. The piston
is then forced to move upwards which compresses the fuel-mixture to
about one-eighth of its original volume. Higher the compression ratio, more
will be the efficiency of the engine.
THE POWER STROKE :
Before the piston completes its upward movement, compressing the petrol
vapour and air mixture, the spark plug produces a little electric spark inside
the cylinder and this spark sets fire to the petrol-air mixture. The petrol
vapour burns quickly in a little explosion, producing a large volume of
gases and enormous heat. The heat thus produced expands the gases
rapidly. The pressure of rapidly expanding hot gases pushes the piston
downward with a great force. The piston pushes the piston rod and the
piston rod pushes the crank shaft. The crank shaft is joined to the wheels
of a car. When the crank shaft turns, the wheels rotate and move the car.

THE EXHAUST STROKE:

When the piston has been pushed to the bottom of the cylinder by the hot
expanding gases in the power stroke, then the exhaust valve opens. After
that, due to the momentum gained by the wheels, the piston is pushed
upwards. The upward movement of the piston, expels the spent gases
through the exhaust valve into the atmosphere, carrying away the unused
heat. The exhaust valve then closes, the intake valve opens up, and the
above 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. In new engines, a small computer is used
to calculate these parameters and control one or more electric injectors.
Most of the new cars use electronic fuel injection as it allows the engine
computer to precisely control the fuel air mixture which increases energy
efficiency and reduces pollution.

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.