So, you have a car, and you know how to start it. You know that it needs petroleum to drive it and that the wheel and the pedals help your car move and go-to destinations. But have you ever wondered what happens and what is inside the hood of your vehicle? Or maybe you want to understand your engine’s features. If you want to know more, stay tuned to talk about car engines and how it works.
Getting Power From Petroleum
Petroleum is a thick, black, energy-rich liquid discovered deep below. Petroleum is gathered and pumped to the surface before being carried or piped to a refinery and is split into three types which we all know as gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuels. Petrochemicals are utilized in the production of anything from paints to plastics.
Petrofuels are generated from hydrocarbons, which are carbon and hydrogen molecules. By simply burning them, hydrocarbons may be turned into usable energy. When hydrocarbons are burned in the air, their molecules split apart, this action will produce carbon dioxide gas and water, then it will release massive quantities of energy.
An automobile engine transforms the gas into motion in the same way that your body converts food into energy. Modern cars, known as hybrids, also run on electricity from batteries.
Internal Combustion
Internal combustion engines create the power required to move your vehicle through the use of tiny, controlled explosions. When an outbreak occurs in the piston or in a small, contained place in an engine, a massive quantity of energy is released expanding the gas. Such explosions occur hundreds of times each minute in a standard vehicle engine. The engine absorbs the energy and uses it to propel the vehicle.
The explosions cause the engine’s pistons to move. When the energy from the initial blast is nearly depleted, another explosion happens, forcing the pistons to move once again. This cycle is repeated indefinitely, providing the automobile with the necessary power to continue.
How Does A Four-Stroke Engine Make Power?
- Intake – The crankshaft’s motion pulls the piston down into the cylinder. Because the automobile is moving most of the time, the crankshaft is constantly spinning. The intake valve will open at the left, allowing the fuel and air to enter the cylinder through the pipe.
- Compression – The inflow valve shuts off then the piston will return to the top of the cylinder, compressing the fuel-air combination, making it more explosive. When the piston reaches the top of the cylinder, the sparking plug ignites.
- Power – The spark will ignite the fuel-air mixture and will cause a tiny explosion. The fuel then burns instantly, releasing hot gas that will pull the piston back down. Then the energy generated by the fuel is now powering the crankshaft.
- Exhaust – The outflow valve on the right turns on. While the crankshaft continues to circle, the piston is then propelled back up the cylinder again, pushing the exhaust gases produced by fuel combustion out of the exhaust outlet.
Parts Of An Automobile
Car engines are designed around a series of cylinders. The cylinders are composed of super-strong metal and are sealed shut, yet they open and close like bicycle pumps at one end. A car engine has two valves at the top of each cylinder that acts as “gates” to allow objects in or out.
The engine has pistons that go up and down within a cylinder. Lawnmowers typically have single-cylinder machines, whereas vehicles often have many cylinders, with famous four, six, and eight cylinders. The cylinders are arranged in one of three ways: inline, V, or flat, which is sometimes known as horizontally opposed or boxer. Different configurations offer varied advantages and drawbacks in smoothness, manufacturing cost, and form qualities.
Spark Plug
The spark plug is the one that provides the spark that helps ignite the air/fuel combination, allowing combustion, and for everything to operate properly, the spark must occur at precisely the right time.
Valves
Then the intake and exhaust valves will open at the appropriate times to allow air and fuel in and exhaust out. Note that both valves are closed during compression and combustion, sealing the combustion chamber.
Piston
It is a revolving disk contained within a cylinder that is sealed off from the outside world by piston rings and as the liquid or gas within the cylinder expands and contracts, the disk moves.
Piston Rings
Piston rings are the ones that prevent the fuel/air combination and exhaust from seeping into the sump during compression and combustion, they establish a sliding seal between the outer edge of each piston and the inner edge of the cylinder. The rings aid to keep oil from spilling out of the piston, becoming burned, and being lost.
Connecting Rod
The connecting rod is known as the component that links the piston to the crankshaft. It may spin at both ends, allowing its angle to alter as the piston and crankshaft move.
Crankshaft
A shaft operated by a crank mechanism is composed of a succession of cranks and crankpins to which an engine’s connecting rods are coupled. It is a mechanical component capable of converting reciprocating motion to rotating motion.
Sump
The oil pan or the sump is a metal dish that sits on the bottom of the engine block, retaining the engine oil while it is not circulating. The oil pump is composed of a pickup tube that dangles into the sump, absorbing oil; once utilized, the engine oil then returns to the sump.
How Many Cylinders Does An Engine Need?
The crankshaft of a four-stroke engine is only driven by one of the four phases, which is why vehicles normally have at least four cylinders that fire at various times. A 12-cylinder engine, on the other hand, always has at least three cylinders running at the same time. These engines are found in high-performance automobiles.
Problems That You Might Encounter With Your Engine
A faulty fuel mix, a lack of compression, or a lack of spark are the three most common causes, but there are thousands of other issues that can arise in addition to these.
Bad Fuel
This often occurs if the fuel system adds too much or too little fuel to the mix, which results in inefficient combustion. In other circumstances, the air intake might be obstructed, resulting in fuel but insufficient air. There might possibly be an impurity in the fuel preventing it from burning.
Lack Of Compression
The combustion process will not function correctly if the charge of air and fuel is not adequately compressed. A lack of compression can be caused by a number of circumstances, including worn piston rings, which enable the air/fuel mixture to leak through the piston during contraction. If the intake or exhaust valves are not sealing properly, this will cause a leak during compression or a hole in the cylinder to form.
Lack Of Spark
If your sparkplug or the wire that connects to it is worn out, the spark will be feeble; if the device that distributes a spark along the wire is not working properly, there will be no spark. If the spark occurs too early or too late in the cycle, the ignition timing will be inaccurate, and the fuel will not ignite at the proper time.
Engine Systems
Made up of a set of valves and a mechanism to open and close them. A camshaft, which has lobes that move up and down, is the device for opening and closing. The majority of engine subsystems may be implemented utilizing a variety of technologies, and better technologies can improve engine performance.
Most of the modern engines have overhead camshafts that are located above the valves, while in older machines, the camshaft was located in the sump near the crankshaft. Overhead cams activate the valves either directly or indirectly via a short link, and in many high-performance engines, each cylinder has two intake and two exhaust valves.
The ignition system provides a high-voltage electrical charge that is subsequently sent to the spark plugs through ignition wires, whereas the distributor consists of a wire in the middle and four to eight wires going out of it.
The fuel system of the engine gets gas from the gas tank; It combines it with air, allowing the correct air/fuel mixture to reach the cylinders. Nowadays, modern cars have two ways to distribute fuel, one is a port fuel injection and the other is the direct fuel injection. Older cars were carbureted, which meant that when the air came into the engine, a carburetor combined gas and air.
The lubrication system ensures that oil is delivered to all moving parts of the engine, enabling it to run smoothly. The pistons and any bearings that would enable the crankshaft and camshafts to use freely are the two primary pieces that require oil. The oil pump draws oil from the oil pan, filters it, and squirts it under high pressure onto the bearings and cylinder walls.
In these modern vehicles, the emission control system consists of a catalytic converter, which is a collection of sensors and actuators, and a computer. The oxygen sensor in the exhaust stream guarantees that there is enough oxygen for the catalyst to work and changes things. A battery provides 12-volt power to anything in the automobile that requires energy via the cabling.
Engines are evolving to handle numerous fuel sources with today’s advanced technology. However, knowing your present engine is an excellent approach to learning how to maintain it. What do you imagine the engines will look like in the future?
