Thermodynamic Performance Optimization of Reciprocating Internal Combustion (IC) Engines

Reciprocating IC engines are traditionally modeled as operating on air standard cycles that approximate indicator diagrams obtained in experiments on real engines. These indicator diagrams can best be approximated by the dual cycle for both gasoline and diesel engines. Analysis of air standard cycles unfortunately fails to capture second law effects such as exergy destruction due to the irreversibility of combustion. Indeed, a complete thermodynamic study of any process requires application of both the first and second laws of thermodynamics. This article gives a combined first and second law analysis of reciprocating IC engines in general with optimization of performance as primary goal. A practical dual-like cycle is assumed for the operation of a typical reciprocating IC engine and process efficiencies are assigned to allow for irreversibilities in the compression and expansion processes. The combustion process is modeled instead of being replaced simply by a heat input process to air as is common in air standard cycle analysis. The study shows that performance of the engine can indeed be optimized on the basis of geometrical design parameters such as the compression ratio as well as the air-fuel ratio used for the combustion.