EMR 2511: MARINE ENGINES II

ENGINE TESTING AND PERFORMANCE

Engine performance is an indication of the degree of success an engine performs its assigned
task, i.e., the conversion of the chemical energy contained in the fuel into useful mechanical
work. The performance of an engine is evaluated based on the following.
(a) Specific Fuel Consumption.
(b) Brake Mean Effective Pressure.
(c) Specific Power Output.
(d) Specific Weight.
(e) Exhaust Smoke and Other Emissions.

BASIC MEASUREMENTS
The basic measurements to be undertaken to evaluate the performance of an engine on almost
all tests are the following:
(a) Speed
(b) Fuel consumption
(c) Air consumption
(d) Smoke density
(e) Brake horsepower
(f) Indicated power and friction power.
(g) Heat balance sheet or performance of SI and CI engine
(h) Exhaust gas analysis
1. Measurement of speed:
-One of the basic measurements is that of speed. A wide variety of speed measuring devices
are available in the market. They range from mechanical tachometers to digital and electrical
tachometers.
-The best method of measuring speed is to count the number of revolutions in each time. This
gives an accurate measurement of speed. Many engines are fitted with such revolution counters.
-A mechanical tachometer or an electrical tachometer can also be used for measuring the speed.
-The electrical tachometer has a three-phase permanent-magnet alternator to which a voltmeter
is attached. -The output of the alternator is a linear function of the speed and is directly indicated
on the voltmeter dial.
-Both electrical and mechanical types of tachometers are affected by the temperature variations

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and are not very accurate. For accurate and continuous measurement of speed a magnetic pick-
up placed near a toothed wheel coupled to the engine shaft can be used.
-The magnetic pick-up will produce a pulse for every revolution and a pulse counter will
accurately measure the speed.
2. Fuel consumption measurement:
Fuel consumption is measured in two ways:
(a) The fuel consumption of an engine is measured by determining the volume flow within a
given time interval and multiplying it by the specific gravity of the fuel which should be
measured occasionally to get an accurate value.
(b) Another method is to measure the time required for consumption of a given mass of fuel.
As already mentioned, two basic types of fuel measurement methods are:
✓ Volumetric type.
✓ Gravimetric type.
✓ The volumetric type of flow meter includes Burette method, Automatic Burette flow
meter andTurbine flow meter.
Gravimetric Fuel Flow Measurement
The efficiency of an engine is related to the mass of fuel consumed in kilograms. The method
of measuring volume flow and then correcting it for specific gravity variations is quite
inconvenient and inherently limited in accuracy. Instead, if the weight of the fuel consumed is
directly measured a great improvement in accuracy and cost can be obtained. There are three
types of gravimetric type systems which are commercially available include Actual weighing
of fuel consumed, Four Orifice Flow meter, etc.
3. Measurement of air consumption:
In IC engines, the satisfactory measurement of air consumption is quite difficult because the
flow is pulsating, due to the cyclic nature of the engine and because the air is a compressible
fluid. Therefore, the simple method of using an orifice in the induction pipe is not satisfactory
since the reading will be pulsating and unreliable.
All kinetic flow-inferring systems such as nozzles, orifices and venturis have a square law
relationship between flow rate and differential pressure which gives rise to severe errors on
unsteady flow. Pulsation produced errors are roughly inversely proportional to the pressure
across the orifice for a given set of flow conditions. The various methods and meters used for
air flow measurement include,
(a) Air box method, and

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(b) Viscous-flow air meter
4. Measurement of brake power:
The brake power measurement involves the determination of the torque and the angular speed
of the engine output shaft. The torque measuring device is called a dynamometer.
Dynamometers can be broadly classified into two main types, power absorption and
transmission dynamometers.
(i) Absorption Dynamometers
These dynamometers measure and absorb the power output of the engine to which they are
coupled. The power absorbed is usually dissipated as heat by some means. Examples are Prony
brake, rope brake, hydraulic dynamometers, etc.
(a) Prony brake dynamometer
One of the simplest methods of measuring brake power (output) is to attempt to stop the engine
by means of a brake on the flywheel and measure the weight which an arm attached tothe brake
will support, as it tries to rotate with the flywheel.
It consists of wooden block mounted on a flexible rope or band. When the wooden block is
pressed, it comes into contact with the rotating drum and takes the engine torque. The power
is dissipated as frictional resistance. Spring-loaded bolts are provided to tighten the wooden
block and hence increase the friction.
All the power absorbed is converted into heat and hence this type of dynamometer must be
cooled. The brake horsepower is given by:
BP = 2π NT
where, T= W × l. W is the weight applied at a radius l.

Figure 1: Prony Brake

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(b) Rope brake
It consists of several turns of rope wound around the rotating drum attached to theoutput
shaft. One side of the rope is connected to a spring balance and the other to a loading device.
The power is absorbed in friction between the rope and the drum. The drum therefore requires
cooling.

Figure 2: Rope break

Rope brake is cheap and easily constructed but not a very accurate method because
ofchanges in the friction coefficient of the rope with temperature.
The bp is given by:
bp = π DN (W − S)
where, D is the brake drum diameter, W is the weight in Newton and S is the spring scale
reading.

(c) Hydraulic Dynamometer

Hydraulic dynamometer works on the principle of dissipating the power in fluid
frictionrather than in dry friction.
-In principle its construction is like that of a fluid flywheel.
-It consists of an inner rotating member or impeller coupled to the output shaft of the engine.
-This impeller rotates in a casing filled with fluid.
-The outer casing, due to the centrifugal force developed, tends to revolve with the impeller,
but is resisted by a torque arm supporting the balance weight.

The frictional forces between the impeller and the fluid are measured by the spring-balance
fitted on the casing.
The heat developed due to dissipation of power is carried away by a continuous supply of

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the working fluid, usually water.
-The output can be controlled by regulating the sluice gates which can be moved in and out to
obstruct the flow of water partially or wholly between impeller and the casing.
The second schematic shows the most common type of water brake, known as the "variable
level" type. Water is added until the engine is held at a steady RPM against the load, with the
water then kept at that level and replaced by constant draining and refilling (which is needed
to carry away the heat created by absorbing the horsepower). The housing attempts to rotate
in response to the torque produced but are restrained by the scale or torque metering cell that
measures the torque.

Figure 3: Hydraulic Dynamometer

(d) Eddy Current Dynamometer

It consists of a stator on which are fitted several electromagnets and a rotor disc made of copper
or steel and coupled to the output shaft of the engine. When the rotor rotates eddy currents are
produced in the stator due to magnetic flux set up by the passage of field current in the
electromagnets. These eddy currents are dissipated in producing heat so that this typeof
dynamometer also requires some cooling arrangement. The torque is measured exactly asin
other types of absorption dynamometers, i.e., with the help of a moment arm. The load is
controlled by regulating the current in the electromagnets.

Figure

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4: Eddy Current Dynamometer

The following are the main advantages of eddy current dynamometer:

✓ High brake power per unit weight of dynamometer.
✓ They offer the highest ratio of constant power speed range (up to 5:1).
✓ Level of field excitation is below 1% of total power being handled by dynamometer, thus,
easy to control and programme.
✓ Development of eddy current is smooth hence the torque is also smooth and continuous
under all conditions.
✓ Relatively higher torque under low-speed conditions.
✓ It has no intricate rotating parts except shaft bearing.
✓ No natural limit to size-either small or large.

(e) Swinging Field D.C. Dynamometer

Basically, a swinging field d.c. dynamometer is a d.c shunt motor so supported on trunnion
bearings to measure their action torque that the outer case and filed coils tend to rotate with the
magnetic drag. Hence, the name swinging field. The torque is measured with an arm and
weighing equipment in the usual manner.
Many dynamometers are provided with suitable electric connections to run as motor also. Then
the dynamometer is reversible, i.e., works as motoring as well as power absorbing device.
When used as an absorption dynamometer it works as a d.c. generator and converts mechanical
energy into electric energy which is dissipated in an external resistor or fed back to the mains.
When used as a motoring device an external source of d.c. voltage is needed to drive the motor.
The load is controlled by changing the field current.
(f) Fan Dynamometer
It is also an absorption type of dynamometer in that when driven by the engine it absorbs the
engine power. Such dynamometers are useful mainly for rough testing and running. The
accuracy of the fan dynamometer is very poor. The power absorbed is determined by using
previous calibration of the fan brake.
(ii) Transmission Dynamometers
In transmission dynamometers, the power is transmitted to the load coupled to the engine
andindicated on some type of scale. These are also called torquemeters and mostly consist of a

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set of strain- gauges fixed on the rotating shaft and the torque is measured by the angular
deformation of the shaft which is indicated as strain of the strain gauge. Usually, a four-arm
bridge is used to reduce the effect of temperature to a minimum and the gauges are
arranged in pairs such thatthe effect of axial or transverse load on the strain gauges is
avoided. Transmission dynamometers are very accurate and are used where continuous
transmission ofload is necessary. These are used mainly in automatic units.

Figure 5: Transmission dynamometer

5. Indicated Power
This is the power developed by the pressure of the gas acting on the pistons. It is found by
recording and plotting the pressure against volume in the cylinder. The common methods
used to measure the indicated power are the Morse test and the indicator diagram.
(a) Morse test
✓ The Morse test is applicable only to multicylinder engines.
✓ The engine is first run at the required speed and the output is measured.
✓ Then, one cylinder is cut out by short circuiting the spark plugs or by disconnecting the injector.
✓ Under this condition all other cylinder’s ‘motor’ this cut-out cylinder.
✓ The output is measured by keeping the speed constant at its original value.
✓ The difference in the outputs is a measure of the indicated horsepower of the cut-out
cylinder.
✓ Thus, for each cylinder the ip is obtained and is added together to find the total ip of
the engine.
This method though gives reasonably accurate results and is liable to errors due to
changes in mixture distribution and other conditions by cutting out one cylinder. Again,
almost all engines have a common exhaust manifold for all cylinders and cutting out
of one cylinder may greatly affect the pulsations in exhaust system which may
significantly change the engine performance by imposing different back pressures.

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(b) Indicator diagram
These diagrams are taken with engine indicators. A P-V indicator diagram is illustrated in
the figure below.

Figure 6 P-V indicator diagrams

Modern systems use electronic pressure and volume transducers and data is gathered and
stored digitally in a computer and then displayed and processed. The indicated power can be
calculated from the indicator diagram as below:
The average force on the piston throughout one cycle is F,
where F=MEP x piston area=pmA.
Mean effective pressure (MEP), pm is the mean pressure during the cycle.
The work done in one cycle, W=Force x distance moved =FL=pmAL. L is the stroke and is
twice the radius of the crank shaft. Taking N as the number of cycles per second (speed of
shaft), the indicated power is given by:
I.P = pmLAN/nR. nR = 1 for a two-stroke engine and 2 for a four-stroke engine.

Mean effective pressure (pm)

The mean effective pressure is found from the indicator diagram as follows:
The area enclosed by the indicator diagram represents the work done per cycle per cylinder.
Let the area be Ad mm2. The average height of the graph is H mm. The base length of the
diagram is Y mm. The hatched area is equal to Ad therefore,
Ad =YH
H = Ad/Y
To convert H into pressure units, the pressure scale (spring rate) of the indicator measuring
system must be known. Let this be Sp kPa/mm. The Pm is then determined as:
Pm=SpH
Pm is the indicated mean effective pressure because it is used to calculate the indicated power.

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There is also brake mean effective pressure (BMEP), defined as the mean pressure which
would produce the brake power.
BP= (BMEP)LAN/nR.
The Mean effective pressure can also be obtained using work per cycle per cylinder. The
work per cycle per cylinder is given by:
𝑃𝑛𝑅
Work per cycle = 𝑁
, where 𝑛𝑅 is the number of crank revolutions for each power stroke

per cylinder.
𝑃𝑛𝑅
𝑃𝑚 =
𝑉𝑑 𝑁
In SI units,
𝑃(𝐾𝑊)𝑛𝑅 × 103
𝑃𝑚 =
𝑉𝑑 (𝑑𝑚3 )𝑁(𝑟𝑝𝑠)

6. Measurement of friction power

The difference between indicated power and the brake power output of an engine is the friction
power. Almost invariably, the difference between a good engine and a bad engine is due to the
difference between their frictional losses.
The frictional losses are ultimately dissipated to the cooling system (and exhaust) as they appear
in the form of frictional heat, and this influences the cooling capacity required.Moreover, lower
friction means availability of more brake power; hence brake specific fuel consumption is
lower.
The bsfc rises with an increase in speed. Thus, the level of friction decides the maximum output
of the engine which can be obtained economically. The friction force power of an engine is
determined by the following methods:

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(a) Willan’s line method.
(b) Motoring test.
(c) Difference between ip and bp.
(a) Willan’s line method
-In this method, gross fuel consumption vs. bp at a constant speed is plotted and the graph is
extrapolated back to zero fuel consumption.
-The point where this graph cuts the bp axis is an indication of the friction power of the engine
at that speed. This negative work represents the combined loss due to mechanical friction,
pumping and blow-by.
-The main drawback of this method is the long distance to be extrapolated from data measured
between 5 and 40% load towards the zero line of fuel input.
-The directional margin of error is rather wide because of the graph which may not be a straight
line many times.
-The changing slope along the curve indicates part efficiencies of increments of fuel. The
pronounced change in the slope of this line near full load reflects the limiting influence of the
air-fuel ratio and of the quality of combustion.
-Similarly, there is a slight curvature at light loads. This is perhaps due to difficulty in injecting
accurately and consistently very small quantities of fuel per cycle.
-Therefore, it is essential that great care should be taken at light loads to establish the true nature
of the curve.
-The Willan’s line for a swirl-chamber CI engine is straighter than that for a direct injection
type engine. The accuracy obtained in this method is good and compares favorably with other
methods if extrapolation is carefully done.

Figure 7: Willian’s line method

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(c) Motoring Test
-In the motoring test, the engine is first run up to the desired speed by its own power and allowed
to remain at the given speed and load conditions for some time so that oil, water, and engine
component temperatures reach stable conditions.
-The power of the engine during this period is absorbed by a swinging field type electric
dynamometer, which is most suitable for this test.

-The fuel supply is then cut-off and by suitable electric-switching devices the dynamometer is
converted to run as a motor to drive or ‘motor’ the engine at the same speed at which it was
previously running.
-The power supply to the motor is measured which is a measure of the friction horsepower of
the engine. During the motoring test the water supply is also cut off so that the actual operating
temperatures are maintained.
-This method, though determines the friction power at temperature conditions very near to the
actual operating temperatures at the test speed and load, does not give the true losses occurring
under firing conditions due to the following reasons:
✓ The temperatures in the motored engine are different from those in a firing engine becauseeven
if water circulation is stopped the incoming air cools the cylinder. This reduces the lubricating
oil temperature and increases friction, increasing the oil viscosity. This problem is much more
severing in air-cooled engines.
✓ The pressure on the bearings and piston rings is lower than the firing pressure. The load on
main and connecting road bearings are lower.
✓ The clearance between piston and cylinder wall is more (due to cooling). This reducespiston
friction.
✓ The air is drawn at a temperature less than when the engine is firing because it does not get heat
from the cylinder (rather loses heat to the cylinder). This makes the expansion line tobe lower
than the compression line on the p-v diagram. This loss is however counted in the indicator
diagram.
✓ During exhaust the back pressure is more because under motoring conditions sufficient pressure
difference is not available to impart gases the kinetic energy is necessary to expel them from
exhaust.
Motoring method, however, gives reasonably good results and is very suitable for finding the
losses due to various engine components. This insight into the losses caused by various
components and other parameters is obtained by progressive stripping-off of the under
progressive dismantling conditions keeping water and oil circulation intact. Then the cylinder

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head can be removed to evaluate, by difference, the compression loss. In this manner piston
ring, piston etc. can be removed and evaluated for their effect on overall friction.
(d) Difference between indicated power and brake power
(i) The method of finding the friction power by computing the difference between indicated
power, as obtained from anindicator diagram, and brake power, as obtained by a
dynamometer, is the ideal method.
(ii) In obtaining accurate indicator diagrams, especially at high engine speeds, this method is
usually only used in research laboratories. Its use at the commercial level is very limited.

7. Heat balance sheet:

The performance of an engine is also studied with heat balance-sheet. The main components
of the heat balance are:
-Heat equivalent to the effective (brake) work of the engine,
-Heat rejected to the cooling medium,
-Heat carried away from the engine with the exhaust gases, and
-Unaccounted losses.
The unaccounted losses include the radiation losses from the various parts of the engine and
heat lost due to incomplete combustion. The friction loss is not shown as a separate item to the
heat balance-sheet as the friction loss ultimately reappears as heat in cooling water, exhaust,
and radiation.

(i) Performance of SI engine:

-At full throttle the brake thermal efficiency at various speeds varies from 20 to 27 percent,
maximum efficiency being at the middle speed range.

Figure 8: Heat balance sheet for SI engine

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-The percentage heat rejected to coolant is more at lower speed (» 35%) and reduces at higher
speeds (» 25%). Considerably more heat is carried by exhaust at higher speeds.
-Torque and mean effective pressure do not strongly depend on the speed of the engine but
depend on the volumetric efficiency and friction losses. Maximum torque position corresponds
with the maximum air charge or minimum volumetric efficiency position.
-High power arises from the high speed. In the speed range before the maximum power is
obtained, doubling the speed doubles the power.
-At low engine speed the friction power is relatively low and bhp is nearly as large as ip. As
engine speed increases, however, friction power (fp) increases at continuously greater rate and
therefore bp reaches a peak and starts reducing even though ip is rising. At engine speeds above
the usual operating range, fp increases very rapidly. Also, at these higher speeds ip will reach
a maximum and then fall off. At some point, ip and fp will be equal, and bp will then drop to
zero.
(ii) Performance of CI engine:
The performance of a CI engine at constant speed and variable load is shown in figure 9.
✓ The efficiency of CI engine is more than that for SI engine, hence the total losses are
less. The loss from coolant is greater at low loads and radiation, etc. losses are greater
at high loads.
✓ The bmep, bp and torque directly increase with load as shown in Figure 10. The bhp
and bmep are continuously rising and are only limited by the load.
✓ The lowest brake specific fuel consumption and hence the maximum efficiency
occurs approximately 80% of the full load.

Figure 9: Heat balance vs. load for a CI engine at constant speed

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Figure 10: Performance curves of a 6-cylinder 4 stroke CI engine at constant speed

EFFICIENCIES
Brake Thermal Efficiency
𝜂𝐵𝑇𝐻 = 𝐵. 𝑃⁄𝐹. 𝑃
Indicated Thermal Efficiency
𝜂𝐼𝑇𝐻 = 𝐼. 𝑃⁄𝐹. 𝑃

Mechanical Efficiency
𝜂𝑀𝐸𝐶𝐻 = 𝐵. 𝑃 ⁄𝐼. 𝑃

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS ON MARINE ENGINES

Theoretical heat cycle: In the original patent by Rudolf Diesel the diesel engine operated on the
diesel cycle in which the heat was added at constant pressure. This was achieved by the blast
injection principle. Today the term is universally used to describe any reciprocating engine in
which the heat induced by compressing air in the cylinders ignites a finely atomized spray of
fuel. This means that the theoretical cycle on which the modern diesel engine works is better
represented by the dual or mixed cycle, diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 9. The area of the
diagram, to a suitable scale, represents the work done on the piston during one cycle. Starting
from point C, the air is compressed adiabatically to a point D. Fuel injection begins at D, and
heat is added to the cycle partly at constant volume as shown by vertical line DP, and partly at
constant pressure, as shown by horizontal line PE. At the point E expansion begins. This
proceeds adiabatically to point F when the heat is rejected to exhaust at constant volume as
shown by vertical line FC. The ideal efficiency of this cycle (i.e., of the hypothetical indicator

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diagram) is about 55–60 per cent: that is to say, about 40–45 per cent of the heat supplied is lost
to the exhaust. Since the compression and expansion strokes are assumed to be adiabatic, and
friction is disregarded, there is no loss to coolant or ambient. For a four-stroke engine the exhaust
and suction strokes are shown by the horizontal line at C, and this has no effect on the cycle.

Figure 11: Theoretical heat cycle of true diesel engine

Practical cycle: While the theoretical cycle facilitates simple calculation, it does not exactly represent the
true situation. This is because:
1. The way, and the rate at which heat is added to the compressed air (the heat release rate) is a
complex function of the hydraulics of the fuel injection equipment and the characteristic of its
operating mechanism; of the way the spray is atomized and distributed in the combustion space;
of the air movement at and after top dead center (TDC); and to a degree also of the qualities of
the fuel.
2. The compression and expansion strokes are not truly adiabatic. Heat is lost to the cylinder walls
to an extent which is influenced by the coolant temperature and by the design of the heat paths to
the coolant.
3. The exhaust and suction strokes on a four-stroke engine (and the appropriate phases of a two-
stroke cycle) do create pressure differences which the crankshaft feels as ‘pumping work’. It is
the designer’s objective to minimize all these losses without prejudice to cost or reliability, and to
minimize the cycle loss: the heat rejected to exhaust. The cycle efficiency is a function of the
compression ratio (or more correctly the effective expansion ratio of the gas/air mixture after
combustion).
Note: that in higher speed engines combustion events are often represented on a crank angle,
rather than a stroke basis, to achieve better accuracy in portraying events at the top dead center
(TDC).

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Figure 12: Typical indicator diagram (stroke based & crank angle based)

Efficiency: The only reason a practical engineer wants to run an engine at all is to achieve a desired
output of useful work, which is, for our present purposes, to drive a ship at a prescribed speed, and/or to
provide electricity at a prescribed kilowattage. To determine this power he must, therefore, allow not only
for the cycle losses mentioned above but for the friction losses in the cylinders, bearings, and gearing (if
any) together with the power consumed by engine-driven pumps and other auxiliary machines. He must
also allow for such things as windage. The reckoning is further complicated by the fact that the heat
rejected from the cylinder to exhaust is not necessarily totally lost, as practically all modern engines use
up to 25 per cent of that heat to drive a turbocharger. The remaining high temperature heat may be used to
raise steam, and low temperature heat for other purposes.
Thermal Efficiency (𝜂 𝑇𝐻 ): is the overall measure of performance. In absolute terms it is equal
to:
ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘
𝜂 𝑇𝐻 =
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑

As long as the units used agree it does not matter whether the heat or work is expressed in pounds–feet,
kilograms–meters, BTU, calories, kWh or joules. The recommended units to use are now those of the SI
system.
Heat converted into work per hour = P kWh=3600 P kJ
Where, P = the power output in kW
Heat supplied = 𝑀 × 𝐿𝑉
where M = mass of fuel used per hour in kg and K = calorific value of the fuel in kJ/kg

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3600𝑁
𝜂 𝑇𝐻 =
𝑀 × 𝐿𝑉

It is now necessary to decide where the work is to be measured. If it is to be measured in the cylinders, as
is usually done in slow-running machinery, by means of an indicator, the work measured (and hence
power) is indicated within the cylinder, and the calculation leads to the indicated thermal efficiency.
If the work is measured at the crankshaft output flange, it is net of friction, auxiliary drives, etc., and is
what would be measured by a brake, hence the term brake thermal efficiency.
The fuel is reckoned to have a higher (or gross) and a lower (or net) calorific value, according to whether
one calculates the heat recoverable if the exhaust products are cooled back to standard atmospheric
conditions or assessed at the exhaust outlet. The essential difference is that in the latter case the water
produced in combustion is released as steam and retains its latent heat of vaporization. This is the more
representative case and more desirable as water in the exhaust flow is likely to be corrosive. Today the net
or lower calorific value (LCV) is more widely used.

Example: Take the case of an engine producing a (brake) output of 10 000 kW for an hour using
2000 kg of fuel per hour having an LCV of 42 000 kJ/kg. Brake thermal efficiency is given by:

3600 × 10,000
𝜂 𝑇𝐻 =
200 × 42,000
= 42.9% (𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝐿𝐶𝑉)

Mechanical Efficiency (𝜂𝑀 )

𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑓𝑡 𝑏ℎ𝑝 𝑘𝑤(𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑘𝑒)
𝜂𝑀 = =
𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖ℎ𝑝 𝑘𝑤 (𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑)

Horsepower: Despite the introduction of the SI system, in which power is measured in kilowatts
(kW), horsepower cannot yet be discarded altogether. Power is the rate of doing work. In linear
measure it is the mean force acting on a piston multiplied by the distance it moves within a given
time. The force here is the mean pressure acting on the piston. This is obtained by averaging the
difference in pressure in the cylinder between corresponding points during the compression and
expansion strokes.
• It can be derived by measuring the area of an indicator diagram and dividing it by its length. This
naturally gives the indicated mean effective pressure (imep) or mean indicated pressure (mip).

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Let this be denoted by ‘pm’. Mean effective pressure is mainly useful as a design shorthand for
the severity of the loading imposed on the working parts by combustion.
• In that context it is usually derived from horsepower. If the latter is ‘brake’ horsepower (bhp),
the mep derived is the brake mean effective pressure (bmep); but it should be remembered that it
then has no direct physical significance of its own.
• To obtain the total force the mep must be multiplied by the area on which it acts. This in turn
comprises the area of one piston, a=πd2/4, multiplied by the number of cylinders in the engine,
denoted by Ncy. The distance moved per cycle by the force is the working stroke (l), and for the
chosen time unit, the total distance moved is the product of l x n, where n is the number of
working strokes in one cylinder in the specified time. Gathering all these factors gives the well-
known ‘plan’ formula:
𝑝 × 𝑙 × 𝐴 × 𝑛 × 𝑁𝑐𝑦
𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 =
𝑘
The value of the constant k depends on the units used. The units must be consistent as regards force,
length, and time and 𝑛 = 𝑁⁄𝑛𝑅 , where N is engine speed in rps.
If, for instance, SI units are used (newtons, meters, and seconds) k will be 1000 and the power will be
given in kW.
If imperial units are used (lb, feet and minutes) k will be 33 000 and the result is in imperial horsepower.
Onboard ship the marine engineer’s interest in the above formula will usually be to relate mep and power
for the engine with which he is directly concerned. In that case l, a, n become constants as well as k,
hence:
𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝑝 × 𝐶 × 𝑁𝑐𝑦
𝑙×𝑎×𝑛
𝐶=
𝑘
Torque
If F =the effective resulting single force assumed to act tangentially at given radius from the axis
of the shaft about which it acts
r =the nominated radius at which F is reckoned, and
N =revolutions per unit time of the shaft specified, then the circumferential distance moved by the
tangential force in unit time is 2πrN.
𝐹 × 2𝜋𝑟𝑁 𝐹𝑟 × 2𝜋𝑁
𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = =
𝐾 𝐾
The value of K depends on the system of units used, which, as before, must be consistent. In this
expression 𝐹 × 𝑟 = T, the torque acting on the shaft, and is measured (in SI units) in newton-meters. Note
that T is constant irrespective of the radius at which it acts. If N is in rev/min, and power is in kW, the

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constant K = 1000 so that:
𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 × 60 × 1000 30000 × 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
𝑇= = (𝑁 − 𝑀)
2𝜋𝑁 𝜋𝑁

Mean piston speed: This parameter is sometimes used as an indication of how highly rated an engine is.
However, although in principle a higher piston speed can imply a greater degree of stress, as well as wear,
etc., in modern practice the lubrication of piston rings and liner, as well as of other rubbing surfaces, has
become much more scientific. It no longer follows that a ‘high’ piston speed is of itself more detrimental
than a lower one in a well-designed engine. This is given by:
2×𝑙×𝑁
Sp= 60
This is given in meters/sec if l = stroke in meters and N = revolutions per minute.

24-hour fuel consumption

In SI units:
𝑤 × 𝐾𝑊 × 24
𝑊=
1000

1000 × 𝑊
𝑤=
𝐾𝑊 × 24
𝑤 = 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐾𝑔/𝐾𝑊ℎ
𝑊 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑠

SPECIFIC EMISSIONS AND EMISSIONS INDEX

Levels of emissions of oxides of Nitrogen (nitric oxide, NO, and nitrogen dioxide, NO2 usually grouped
as NOx), Carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbons (HC) and particulates are important engine
operating characteristics. The concentrations of gaseous emissions in the engine exhaust gases are usually
measured in parts per million or percentage by volume (which corresponds to the mole fraction multiplied
by 106 or by 102, respectively). Normalized indicators of emission levels are also useful. Specific
emissions are the mass flow rates of pollutant per unit power output:
𝑚̇𝑁𝑂𝑥
𝑠𝑁𝑂𝑥 =
𝑃
𝑚̇𝐶𝑂
𝑠𝐶𝑂 =
𝑃
𝑚̇𝐻𝐶
𝑠𝐻𝐶 =
𝑃
𝑚̇𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡
𝑠𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡 =
𝑃

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Indicated and brake-specific emissions can also be defined in a similar manner. Units in
common use are 𝜇𝑔/𝐽, 𝑔/𝐾𝑊ℎ and 𝑔/ℎ𝑝ℎ.
Alternatively, emission rates can be normalized by the fuel flow rate. An emission index (EI)
is commonly used. For example,
𝑚̇𝑁𝑂𝑥 (𝑔/𝑠)
𝐸𝐼𝑁𝑂𝑥 =
𝑚̇𝑓 (𝑘𝑔/𝑠)
Expressions for CO, HC and particulate matter can be obtained in a similar way.

Exercises
1. A 4-cylinder, 4-stroke cycle engine with a cylinder diameter of 100mm and a stroke of 120mm
was tested at 1600 revs/min and the following readings were obtained.
Fuel consumption = 0.27 l/min.
Specific gravity pf fuel = 0.74.
Brake power = 31.4 KW.
Mechanical efficiency = 80%
Calorific value of fuel =44000KJ/kg.
Determine:
Bsfc, imep and brake thermal efficiency.
2. A single cylinder engine running at 180 revs/min develops a torque of 8 Nm. The indicated power
of the engine is 1.8 KW. Find the loss due to friction power as a percentage of brake power.

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