Hybrid Car Engine: The Internal Combustion Engine

The engines in vehicles is a rather broad but interesting subject. People may be amazed to know that the ones currently being used today were drawn on many hundreds of blueprints before these were distributed towards the market. The current versions are the result of over a century worth of brainstorming and experience and will further impact the versions of the future.

What is the ICE?

ICE stands for internal combustion engine wherein the combustion of fuel and an oxidizer occurs. The combustion chamber is the space where all takes place causing an exothermic reaction that produces gas at a high pressure and temperature. The expanding hot gases will directly put pressure on sturdy engine parts causing them to move. Pistons, rotors or even the engine itself then begins movement which propels the complete automobile.

The first models of the ICE ran on an air/fuel mixture instead of compression. The initial part of the intake stroke sucks or blows in the mixture. Modern day ICEs currently includes in-cylinder compression. The engines were used in many different techniques and industries like generators, boats, aircrafts and a lot particularly, automobiles.

The Function

The internal combustion engine operates using a four-stroke cycle or the Otto cycle. The cycle involves four stages namely: induction, compression, power and exhaust. These aim to create an exothermic chemical process to start out vehicle propulsion. During induction, oxygen or other oxidizers are introduced to the cylinder to act with the fuel. Compression setting next starts since the gases start a reaction that continually increase temperature and pressure inside the cylinder.

When enough pressure is put on the corresponding engine parts, the hybrid car engine begins to obtain power through movement coming from direct force application. The aftermath of the entire compression process will result in exhaustion of byproducts like deadly carbon monoxide, co2 and nitrogen wastes. These gases are freely emitted into the atmosphere. The combustion process is started through engine ignition using the spark ignition method or the compression ignition system.

Where Does Gasoline Come In?

There are electric/gasoline-type systems that use a mix of lead-acid battery plus an induction coil to create a high-voltage electrical spark. The spark will then ignite the mix of air and fuel inside the cylinder. The battery is rechargeable even during operation through an alternator or generator driven by the engine itself. Gasoline engines receive an air and gasoline mixture to be compressed to less than 185 psi. The spark plug ignites the mixture throughout compression within the cylinder.

As for diesel engines, these require only pressure and heat produced by the engine throughout the compression process for ignition. Diesel compression is approximately 3 times higher compared to a gasoline engine. Diesel engines use air only. Some diesel fuel is dispersed in the cylinder with the use of a fuel injector right before peak compression to start ignition immediately. HCCI engines also require only heat and pressure but take in air and fuel. This method makes diesel and HCCI engines more vulnerable to cold starts.

The Polluting Effects

Combustion products or even the hot gases ignited and burnt inside the engine will have higher amounts of energy when compared to compressed fuel and air mixture. After obtainable energy are used up to drive the engine pistons, remaining combustion products will be vented or exhausted through a valve or the exhaust outlet to retrieve the piston in its original state also called TDC. Any heat that is not used up will become a waste product due to be removed from the engine using a liquid or air cooling system.

Air pollution emissions then result from incomplete combustion of carbonaceous fuel. Samples of engine byproducts are carbon monoxide, soot, nitrogen wastes, sulfur and uncombusted hydrocarbons. These also result if the products did not operate near the stoichiometric ratio required for effective combustion. The fuel would not have burnt off very well due to factors such as cool cylinder walls or lack of air. This is also known as quenching of the flame.

Both gasoline and diesel engines emit harmful gases that can be dangerous to humans along with the environment. The greenhouse gases start trapping hot air inside the atmosphere instead of permitting these to exit to space leading to climatic change. The rise of the ICE or internal combustion engine finally revealed its major flaw that is pollution.