Combustion chamber

Combustion chamber

A combustion chamber is the part of an engine in which fuel is burned.

Contents

Internal combustion engine

Diagram of jet engine showing the combustion chamber.

The hot gases produced by the combustion occupy a far greater volume than the original fuel, thus creating an increase in pressure within the limited volume of the chamber. This pressure can be used to do work, for example, to move a piston on a crankshaft or a turbine disc in a gas turbine. The energy can also be used to produce thrust when directed out of a nozzle as in a rocket engine.

Petrol or gasoline engine

A reciprocating engine is often designed so that the moving pistons are flush with the top of the cylinder block at top dead centre. The combustion chamber is recessed in the cylinder head and commonly contains a single intake valve and a single exhaust valve. Some engines use a dished piston and in this case the combustion chamber can be considered as partly within the cylinder. Various shapes of combustion chamber have been used, such as L-head (or flathead) for side-valve engines;"bathtub", "hemispherical" and "wedge" for overhead valve engines; and "pent-roof" for engines having 3, 4 or 5 valves per cylinder. The shape of the chamber has a marked effect on power output, efficiency and emissions; the designer's objectives are to burn all of the mixture as completely as possible while avoiding excessive temperatures (which create NOx). This is best achieved with a compact rather than elongated chamber. The intake valve/port is usually placed to give the mixture a pronounced "swirl" (the term is preferred to turbulence which implies movement without overall pattern) above the rising piston, improving mixing and combustion. The shape of the piston top also affects the amount of swirl. Note that swirl rotates about a horizontal axis, not (symmetrically) about a vertical axis. Finally, the spark plug must be situated in a position from which the flame front can reach all parts of the chamber at the desired point, usually around 15 degrees after top dead centre. It is strongly desirable to avoid narrow crevices where stagnant "end gas" can become trapped, as this tends to detonate violently after the main charge, adding little useful work and potentially damaging the engine. Also, the residual gases displace room for fresh air/fuel mixture and will thus reduce the power potential of each firing stroke.

Diesel engine

Diesel engines fall into two broad classes:

  • Direct injection, where the combustion chamber consists of a dished piston
  • Indirect injection, where the combustion chamber is in the cylinder head

Direct injection engines usually give better fuel economy but indirect injection engines can use a lower grade of fuel.

Harry Ricardo was prominent in developing combustion chambers for diesel engines, the best known[note 1] being the Ricardo Comet.

Gas turbine

The combustion chamber in gas turbines and jet engines (including ramjets and scramjets) is called the combustor.

The combustor is fed high pressure air by the compression system, adds fuel and burns the mix and feeds the hot, high pressure exhaust into the turbine components of the engine or out the exhaust nozzle.

Different types of combustors exist, mainly:

  • Can type: Can combustors are self contained cylindrical combustion chambers. Each "can" has its own fuel injector, liner,interconnectors,casing. Each "can" get an air source from individual opening.
  • Cannular type: Like the can type combustor, can annular combustors have discrete combustion zones contained in separate liners with their own fuel injectors. Unlike the can combustor, all the combustion zones share a common air casing.
  • Annular type: Annular combustors do away with the separate combustion zones and simply have a continuous liner and casing in a ring (the annulus).

Steam engine

The term combustion chamber is also used to refer to an additional space between the firebox and boiler in a steam locomotive. This space is used to allow further combustion of the fuel, providing greater heat to the boiler.

Large steam locomotives usually have a combustion chamber in the boiler to allow the use of shorter firetubes. This is because:

  • Long firetubes have a theoretical advantage in providing a large heating surface but, beyond a certain length, this is subject to diminishing returns.
  • Very long firetubes are prone to sagging in the middle.

Micro Combustion Chambers

Micro combustion chambers are the devices in which combustion happens at a very small volume, due to which surface to volume ratio increases which plays a vital role in stabilizing the flame.

See also

References

  1. ^ The Comet series was best known in later years. At the time, Ricardo achieved much of his fame for his earlier turbulent head, used in petrol sidevalve engines.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • combustion chamber — n. 1. the chamber in a reciprocating engine between the cylinder head and the piston, in which combustion occurs 2. the chamber inside a jet, or rocket, engine in which fuel and air, or an oxidizer, are mixed and burned: see COMBUSTOR …   English World dictionary

  • Combustion chamber — Com*bus tion cham ber (Mech.) (a) A space over, or in front of, a boiler furnace where the gases from the fire become more thoroughly mixed and burnt. (b) The clearance space in the cylinder of an internal combustion engine where the charge is… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • combustion chamber — The volume of the space in the cylinder above the piston with the piston at top dead center (TDC) in the compression stroke. The head of the piston, the cylinder walls, and the head form the chamber. Combustion of the fuel air mixture begins here …   Dictionary of automotive terms

  • combustion chamber — i. The section of the gas turbine engine into which fuel is injected and burned. The combustion results in very high temperatures, which expands the air flowing through the combustion chamber and directs it onto the turbine at a uniform speed and …   Aviation dictionary

  • combustion chamber — noun : a chamber within which combustion occurs: as a. : the space in some boiler furnaces where the gases from the fire become more thoroughly mixed with air and burned b. : the clearance space in the cylinder of an internal combustion engine… …   Useful english dictionary

  • combustion chamber — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms combustion chamber : singular combustion chamber plural combustion chambers physics the part of an engine where the fuel is burned …   English dictionary

  • combustion chamber — degimo kamera statusas T sritis Energetika apibrėžtis Kamera dujoms ar degalams deginti. Degimas vyksta periodiškai (stūmokliniuose vidaus degimo varikliuose) arba nuolatos (dujų turbinose). atitikmenys: angl. combustion chamber vok. Brennraum, f …   Aiškinamasis šiluminės ir branduolinės technikos terminų žodynas

  • combustion chamber — chamber within an engine in which ignition of fuel takes place …   English contemporary dictionary

  • combustion chamber volume — volume of combustion chamber (space above piston with piston on TDC) measured in cc (cubic centimetres) …   Dictionary of automotive terms

  • combustion chamber — Mach. a chamber, as in an engine or boiler, where combustion occurs. [1850 55] * * * …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”