Short Programs

Present and Future Internal Combustion Engines: Performance, Efficiency, Emissions, and Fuels [2.61s]

Date: July 12-16, 2010 | Tuition: $2,700

Background  |  Who Should Participate  |  Learning Objectives  |  Outline of the Program  |  Schedule  |  Participants' Comments  |  Staff  |  About the Presenters  |  Updates

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Background

Internal combustion engines dominate land transportation propulsion - cars, trucks, off-highway vehicles, railroad, marine, motor bikes - as well as provide mechanical and electrical power for a wide range of large and small applications. The two dominant types of internal combustion engines are spark-ignition and diesel. Their performance, efficiency, and emissions depend on the details of the processes which take place within the engine during the engine's operating cycle, and the characteristics of the fuel used. With stringent new emission and fuel economy standards, and major changes in fuels ahead, a thorough understanding of how these engines operate, their potential for improvement and their limitations, is vitally important.

Who Should Participate

This course is designed to provide professionals interested in this area with a fundamental review of how the design and operation of spark-ignition and diesel engines affect their performance, emissions, and fuel requirements. These would include practicing engineers in industry, government and academia in the areas of engine research, development and design, emission control, fuels, and lubricants.

The course requires a college level understanding of thermodynamics, mechanics, calculus and elementary chemistry.

Learning Objectives

• Define the different types of internal combustion engines and the parameters that define engine performance.
• Develop performance and efficiency aspects.
• Compare gas exchange processes in four-stroke, two-stroke cycle engines, and turbocharged engines.
• Explain fuel-air mixture preparation processes in gasoline and diesel engines.
• Understand spark-ignition (SI) engine combustion, SI engine knock, and SI engine emissions formation and control.
• Investigate diesel combustion and diesel engine emissions formation and control.
• Examine engine heat transfer phenomena, engine friction, engine fuel requirements, and overall engine operating characteristics.
• Analyze overall engine operating characteristics: turbo-charging, variable-valve-timing, gasoline direct injection, Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), and Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) systems.
• Review future power plant concepts and fuels opportunities.

Outline of the Program

The course consists of sessions devoted to the following themes:

• The different types of internal combustion engines and the parameters that define engine performance
• Thermodynamic analysis of engine cycles
• Gas exchange processes in four-stroke and two-stroke cycle engines
• Spark-ignition (SI) engine combustion
• SI engine knock
• SI engine emissions formation and control
• Diesel combustion
• Diesel engine emissions formation and control
• Engine heat transfer phenomena
• Engine friction and lubrication
• Engine operating characteristics
• Turbo-charging
• Advanced engine developments
• Future power plant concepts and fuels opportunities

The course will involve lectures, discussion and problem solving sessions, and laboratory demonstrations. Course notes will be provided.

Textbook

J. B. Heywood, Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals, McGraw-Hill, 1988.

Course schedule, registration times, special events

Class begins at 8:15 am on Monday and at 8:30 am each subsequent day. Class ends at 4:30 pm every day except Friday when it ends at 2:30 pm.

Registration is on Monday morning from 7:15 - 7:45 am.

Special events include a bbq for course participants and faculty on Thursday night. Evening activities are included in tuition.

Participants' Comments

Engineer, Harley-Davidson Motor Company
"The course helps develop your ability to consider the multiple engine design criteria being dealt with and how those criteria relate. Thought provoking and insightful in many ways."

Products Research Technologist, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering
"Great course to get a basic and detailed knowledge regarding internal combustion engines."

Recent Graduate from University Simon Bolivar
"It certainly opens windows for you in the future. Not only have you attended a course at MIT, but you receive information from very well-known professors. The course is very good and introduces you to the internal combustion engine's area."

Staff

Wai K. Cheng is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and Associate Director of the Sloan Automotive Laboratory.

John B. Heywood is Director of the Sloan Automotive Laboratory and the Sun Jae Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT.

About the Presenters

Wai K. Cheng
Professor Cheng got his BS degree from Caltech in 1974 and his Ph.D degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT in 1978. He is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and a member of the Sloan Automotive Laboratory. His research interests are in internal combustion engine combustion and emissions, and engine control systems. He is a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers.

John B. Heywood
Professor Heywood has been a faculty member at MIT since 1968, where he is Director of the Sloan Automotive Laboratory and Sun Jae Professor of Mechanical Engineering. His research is focused on internal combustion engines, their fuels requirements, and broader studies of future transportation technology, fuels, and emissions. He has published 190 papers in the technical literature, and is the author of a major text and professional reference, "Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals." He is a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers. He received a 1996 U.S. Department of Transportation Award for the Advancement of Motor Vehicle Research and Development. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has honorary degrees from Chalmers University of Technology and City University, London.

Updates

There are no updates at this time.