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A Thermodynamic Model for a Single Cylinder

Engine with Its Intake/Exhaust Systems Simulating
a Turbo-Charged V8 Diesel Engine

2011-01-1149
Published
04/12/2011

Ho Teng
AVL Powertrain Engineering Inc.
Copyright 2011 SAE International
doi:10.4271/2011-01-1149

ABSTRACT
In this paper, a thermodynamic model is discussed for a
single cylinder diesel engine with its intake and exhaust
systems simulating a turbo-charged V8 diesel engine.
Following criteria are used in determination of the gas
exchange systems of the single cylinder engine (SCE): 1) the
level of pressure fluctuations in the intake and exhaust
systems should be within the lower and upper bounds of
those simulated by the thermodynamic model for the V8
engine and patterns of the pressure waves should be similar;
2) the intake and exhaust flows should be reasonably close to
those of the V8 engine; 3) the cylinder pressures during the
combustion and gas exchange should be reasonably close to
those of the V8 engine under the same conditions for the
valve timing, fuel injection, rate of heat release and incylinder heat transfer. The thermodynamic model for the SCE
is developed using the 1D engine thermodynamic simulation
tool AVL BOOST. Besides the pipelines in the conventional
intake and exhaust systems, additional pressure wave tuning
pipes are added, with which the intake and exhaust systems
for the SCE can be tuned to simulate the gas dynamics in the
V8 engine. With the tuned intake and exhaust systems, the
simulated gas dynamics for the intake and exhaust flows
become very similar to those predicted by the thermodynamic
model for the V8 engine. Based on the layouts specified in
the SCE model, the intake and exhaust systems for the SCE
were developed. Good agreements are observed between the
simulated and measured intake and exhaust pressures of the
SCE.

INTRODUCTION
In the development of a multiple cylinder engine (MCE), the
combustion system of the MCE is often first investigated

SAE Int. J. Engines | Volume 4 | Issue 1

with a single cylinder engine (SCE). Ideally, the gas

dynamics in the intake and exhaust systems of the SCE
should simulate those of the MCE in order for the combustion
condition in the SCE to represent that in the MCE. In reality,
the gas exchange systems for the SCE are often designed only
simulating the average pressures in the intake and exhaust
systems of the MCE. As a result, the combustion conditions
in the SCE are often different from those in the MCE. For the
turbocharged diesel engines, amplitudes for the pressure
waves in the exhaust system are often on the same orders of
the average exhaust pressures, resulting in highly pulsatile
exhaust flows. The pulsations in the exhaust pressures have a
considerable influence on the gas exchange for the
turbocharged diesel engines. The combustion condition in the
engine cylinders is affected significantly by the dynamic gas
pressures in the intake and exhaust systems. In order to have
similar dynamics for the gas exchange, the intake and exhaust
systems for the SCE should be designed with the gas
dynamics similar to that of the MCE. To do so, the intake and
exhaust systems of the SCE may need additional pipe
branches to generate pressure waves of various patterns
through semi or full blocking of the flow channels,
interference and tuning of the pressure waves; the generated
and tuned pressure waves can simulate those from the
adjacent cylinders and interfere the gas exchange of the
cylinder that the SCE targets at. Through tuning the
interferences of the multiple pressure waves in the intake and
exhaust systems, the gas dynamics for the SCE may be tuned
to become similar to that of the MCE [1]. The principles for
designing and tuning the gas exchange systems for the piston
internal combustion engines have been summarized by Smith
and Morrison [1], Winterbone and Pearson [2], and Benson
[3]. A good literature review for the previous investigations
on pressure pulse generations, wave interferences and tunings
are provided in the references [2,3]. In their classical work on
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Figure 1. Schematic layout of the turbocharged V8 engine and boundaries for the SCE.
the gas exchange systems, Smith and Morrison [1] also
discussed the techniques for tuning the pressure waves in the
engine intake or exhaust system using the interferences of
pressure waves generated by different pipe branches. The
methods for generating pressure waves with various patterns
using different pipe branches are discussed in details in the
work of Benson [3]. Employing the principles and techniques
given in the references aforementioned, it is possible to
design the gas exchange dynamics of the SCE simulating
those of the corresponding turbocharged multi-cylinder diesel
engine.

Table 1. Basic parameters for the V8 engine

A thermodynamic model will be discussed in this study for a

single cylinder engine with its intake and exhaust systems
simulating a turbo-charged V8 diesel engine. The basic
parameters for the V8 engine are given in Table 1. The
schematic layout of the intake and exhaust systems for the V8
engine is shown in Figure 1. The thermodynamic models for
the SCE and the V8 engine are developed using the 1D
engine thermodynamic simulation tool AVL BOOST. The
BOOST model for the V8 engine was developed previously,
which provides a ground for developing the thermodynamic
model for the SCE. Because the interest of this study is the
gas exchange systems, the boundary conditions for the intake
and exhaust systems of the SCE are taken as the
thermodynamic states of the charge after the EGR mixer and
of the exhaust before the turbine (shown in Figure 1). The
corresponding thermodynamic properties for the charge and
the exhaust at these selected boundaries can be obtained from
the BOOST simulations for the V8 engine.

In the determination of the gas exchange systems for the SCE

model, following criteria are considered: 1) the level of
pressure fluctuations in the intake and exhaust systems should
be within the lower and upper bounds of those simulated by
the thermodynamic model for the V8 engine and patterns of
the pressure waves should be similar; 2) the intake and
exhaust flows of the SCE should be reasonably close to those
of the V8 engine; 3) the cylinder pressures for the SCE
should be reasonably close to those of the V8 engine under
the same conditions for the valve timing, fuel injection, rate
of heat release and in-cylinder heat transfer. Behavior of the
pressure waves in the intake and exhaust systems depends
primarily on the engine speed for a given design of the intake
and exhaust pipeline systems. The intake and exhaust systems
can be best tuned only at a single speed. Because the target
vehicle for the V8 engine application may require that the
engine to be operated most frequently in a speed range 2000
2200 rpm, 2050 rpm (corresponding to A speed of the ESC
13 mode for the V8 engine) is selected as the reference
engine speed. The full load point at this speed (i.e., A100
load point) is selected for the gas exchange system design in
order to gain good pressure wave patterns in the gas exchange
systems at the selected engine speed. The 25% load point at
the same speed (i.e., A25 load point) is selected for the
comparison of changes in the wave patterns with the engine
load. Details in the development of the intake and exhaust

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systems for the SCE will be discussed in the following

sections.

INTAKE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Figure 2 shows the layout of the intake system for the SCE. It
consists of an intake plenum, a tuning pipe, an intake receiver
and two intake runners, associated with the tangential and
helical ports of the V8 engine respectively. Because
amplitudes of the pressure waves in the intake system are
much smaller than the average intake pressures for a
turbocharged diesel engine, in the layout of the intake system,
the strategy is to limit intake pressure fluctuations within the
lower and upper bounds of the V8 engine and with only
limited tuning in the wave patterns. The intake receiver
represents the intake manifold. The dimensions of the intake
runners are carried over from those of the V8 engine. The
intake plenum is an upstream component and thus it should
be able to mitigate the influence of the supply pressure
fluctuations on the downstream components. The cylinder for
the SCE represents the cylinder 1 of the V8 engine. The
volume of the intake plenum is taken to be 20 L, which was
determined by the comparison of the mass aspiration into the
engine cylinder calculated by the BOOST models for the
SCE and the V8 engine at the selected engine speed.
The pressure fluctuations in the intake receiver influence the
flows into the intake runners. The dimensions of the receiver
should be determined from the consideration that the pressure
patterns in the intake runners to be governed effectively by
the tuning pipe. Various length/diameter (L/D) values for the
entrance section and the dead-headed section of the receiver
were investigated. The BOOST model did not detect a
significant difference in length combination for the two
sections of the receiver in the range L/D = 0.5 to 2 on the gas
dynamics. A combination of L/D = 0.5 for the dead-head
section and L/D = 2 for the entrance section was selected
from the consideration of minimizing the pressure loss. The
diameter of the receiver was selected also from the
consideration of minimizing the pressure loss of the charge
flow. The length for the receiver section between the two
runners was determined by the distance between the two
intake runners.
The tuning pipe between the intake plenum and the intake
receiver governs the patterns of the pressure waves in the
intake runners. Various values of the inner diameter d and
length 1 for the tuning pipe were investigated with the
BOOST simulations on the gas dynamics in the intake
runners at the selected engine speed. The simulation results
suggest that a tuning pipe with an inner diameter d = 2.5 in
and 1/d = 10 can generate wave patterns reasonably close to
those in the intake system of the V8 engine.

SAE Int. J. Engines | Volume 4 | Issue 1

Figure 2. Layout of the intake system for the SCE.

EXHAUST SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Figure 3 shows the layout of the exhaust system for the SCE.
To be in consistence with the BOOST model for the SCE, the
pipeline from the exhaust plenum to the EGR loop and the
valves for controlling of the exhaust back pressure are not
shown in Figure 3. The exhaust system consists of five pipes
in different lengths and diameters. These pipes form three
branches: the exhaust leg, the exhaust pipe line that leads the
exhaust to the exhaust plenum, and the interference pipe. As
shown in Figure 1, the exhaust legs on each bank of the V8
engine can communicate with each other via pressures waves
while the intake runners on each bank do not communicate
with each other directly due to being separated by the intake
receiver. Because the exhaust pipes are long and gas
velocities in the exhaust system are much higher than those in
the intake system, the dynamic pressures in the exhaust pipes
have a high energy level. As a result, the exhaust wave from
any cylinder can cause considerable pressure fluctuations in
all the exhaust legs on the same bank (in this study, cylinders
3, 5 and 7 in the bank 1 of the V8 engine). Thus, to simulate
the gas dynamics in the exhaust system for the V8 engine, the
strategy for the layout of the exhaust system of the SCE must
differ from that of the intake system.
Both the exhaust pipe and the interference pipe have two
sections with different diameters and pipe lengths. The
interference pipe is with one end dead-headed. The exhaust
pipe and the interference pipe are so structured because
compressive reflection waves can be generated at the sections
with semi-blocking or fully blocking to the gas flow. In
principle, the exhaust system for the SCE shown in Figure 3
can possibly generate a V8-like pattern for pressure pulses in
the exhaust leg in each of the engine working cycle. The
diameters and lengths for the pipes in the exhaust system
were tuned through the BOOST simulations on the gas
dynamics in the exhaust system for the SCE with comparison
of the gas dynamics for the V8 engine at the same engine
speed. Similar investigations on the exhaust plenum were
conducted as on the intake plenum. Because the exhaust
plenum provides the back pressure to the exhaust flow for the
SCE, the criterion for determination of its volume is that the
pressure of the exhaust plenum should be as close as possible
to the mean pressure in the exhaust pipe system in order to

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provide a stable resistance to the exhaust flow. The BOOST

simulations indicated that a 20-L exhaust plenum would
provide a reasonably stable exhaust back pressure.

dynamics for the gas exchange, these parameters will not be

discussed). Thus, the differences in the cylinder pressure
traces between the SCE model and the V8 model should be
due primarily to the difference in the intake and exhaust
flows and mass aspirated into the engine cylinders.

Figure 3. Layout of the exhaust system for the SCE.

THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS
The BOOST model for the SCE is shown in Figure 4. In the
BOOST model, the intake system is formed with the intake
system boundary (SB1), the intake pipe (1, d/l = 2.5 in/8 in),
the intake plenum (PL1), the tuning pipe (9), the intake
receiver (pipes 6-8) and the intake runners (pipes 2 and 3).
The intake ports are combined with the intake runners for
simplicity. The exhaust system is formed with the exhaust
port (4, dimensions carried over from the V8 model), the
exhaust leg (10), the exhaust pipe (14 and 11), the
interference pipe (12 and 13), the exhaust plenum (PL2), the
vent pipe (5) and the exhaust system boundary (SB2). In the
model, the flow restrictors R1 to R4 characterize the pressure
drops due to sudden changes in flow areas and the system
boundaries SB3 and SB4 model the dead-heads for the
receiver and the interference pipe. The dimensions for the
pipes in the intake and exhaust systems have been given in
Figures 2 and 3. The charge air entering the intake system
from the system boundary SB1 flows into the intake plenum
PL1 through the pipe 1, then it is lead by the pipes 9, 8, 6 and
7 to the intake runners 2 and 3 via the junctions J1 and J2.
The engine cylinder is modeled by the cylinder component
C1. The exhaust out of the engine cylinder flows through the
exhaust port 4, the exhaust leg 10 and the exhaust pipes 14
and 11 into the exhaust plenum then it is out of the engine
system through the vent pipe 5 and the system boundary SB2.
The pipes 12 and 13 represent the sections of the interference
pipe and the system boundary SB4 characterizes the deadhead end of the pipe 13. At the intake and exhaust system
boundaries (SB1 and SB2), the thermodynamic properties for
the charge and the exhaust gas are taken from the reference
points indicated in Figure 1 for the same load points
simulated by the V8 model. The thermodynamic properties at
SB1 and SB2 represent the cycle averaged values. In the
BOOST model for the SCE, the valve timings, the fuel
injection, the rate of heat release and the cylinder heat
transfer are assumed to be the same as those in the V8 model
for the same load point (because this study focuses on the

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Figure 4. The BOOST model for the SCE.

Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 compare the simulation results of the
SCE and the V8 engine for A100 load point with the SCE
simulates the cylinder 1 of the V8 engine. Figure 5 shows that
pressure waves in the intake runners of the SCE reasonably
simulate those predicted by the V8 model. Because the two
intake runners have similar wave patterns, only pressures for
one intake runner are presented. The fluctuations in the
runner pressure with respect to the mean value are less than
150 mbar and the pressure fluctuations are basically within
the lower and upper bounds of those for the V8 engine.
Figure 6 compares the pressure waves in the exhaust legs of
the SCE and the V8 engine. Because the exhaust pressure
waves were tuned with the interference pipe, the wave pattern
predicted by the SCE model shows a reasonable agreement
with that of the V8 engine. Although the first exhaust
pressure pulse in the exhaust valve open duration is slightly
off-phase, the second pressure pulse well simulates those for
the V8 engine. The amplitudes of the exhaust pressures are
within the lower and upper bounds of the V8 engine. The
pressure fluctuations with respect to the mean value in the
exhaust legs for the V8 model are about 1.5 bar, which is one
order of magnitude greater than those in the intake runner.
This indicates that for a turbocharged diesel engine, the gas
dynamics for the exhaust flow may affect the gas exchange
more than that for the intake flow. The intake and exhaust
plenum pressures for the SCE engine, which basically
represent the mean value of the intake runner and exhaust leg
pressures, are also plotted in Figures 5 and 6. Figures 7 and 8
compare the intake and exhaust flows and the mass aspirated
into the cylinder. These comparisons indicate that the

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volumetric efficiency for the SCE is reasonably close to that

for the V8 engine. Figure 9 shows cylinder pressures during
the combustion (high pressure) and gas exchange (low
pressure). A good agreement is observed between the
cylinder pressures of the SCE and the V8 engine.
Figures 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 show the same comparisons as in
Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 for A25 load point. It is seen in these
figures that the predictions of the SCE agree well with those
of the V8 engine. Except for the absolute values (which are
engine load related), no significant differences are observed
in the wave patterns for the intake and exhaust pressures, the
intake and exhaust flows and cylinder pressures during the
combustion and the gas exchange between A25 and A100
load points. This indicates that the pressure wave patterns for
the intake and exhaust flows are primarily governed by the
engine speed for a given pipeline design of the intake and
exhaust systems.

Figure 6. Exhaust leg pressures comparison for A100

load point.

Figures 15 and 16 show the comparisons of the simulated

intake and exhaust pressures of the SCE and the V8 engine
for the rated-power load point. It is seen that the wave pattern
for the intake pressures of the SCE become closer to those of
the V8 engine, indicating that the length of the tuning pipe
works better at 3300 rpm than at 2050 rpm. Although the
wave pattern for the exhaust pressures of the SCE also agrees
well with that of the V8 engine at 3300 rpm, the match in the
pressure pulses for the rated speed are not as good as those at
2050 rpm (at which the exhaust system was tuned). Figure 17
shows the comparison of the simulated and measured wave
patterns for the intake and exhaust pressures for the SCE for
C100 load point (engine speed 3000 rpm). The intake and
exhaust systems for the SCE were built based on the layouts
shown in Figures 2 and 3. Good agreements in patterns and
amplitudes of the intake and exhaust pressures are observed
in Figure 17. This indicates that the gas dynamics for the gas
exchange simulated with the BOOST model can provide a
good guidance to the intake and exhaust system designs of
the SCE as well as the MCE.

Figure 7. Intake and exhaust flows comparison for A100

load point.

Figure 5. Intake runner pressures comparison for A100

load point.

Figure 8. Mass aspirated in the cylinder for A100 load

point.

SAE Int. J. Engines | Volume 4 | Issue 1

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Figure 9. Cylinder pressure comparisons for A100 load

point.

Figure 12. Intake and exhaust flows comparison for A25

load point.

Figure 10. Intake runner pressures comparison for A25

load point.

Figure 13. Exhaust leg pressures comparison for A25

load point.

Figure 11. Exhaust leg pressures comparison for A25

load point.

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Figure 17. Comparison of tested and simulated intake

and exhaust pressures for C100 load point.
Figure 14. Cylinder pressure comparisons for A25 load
point.

Figure 15. Intake runner pressures comparison for rated

power load point.

Figure 16. Exhaust leg pressures comparison for rated

power load point.

SAE Int. J. Engines | Volume 4 | Issue 1

SUMMARY
A thermodynamic model was discussed for a single cylinder
diesel engine with its intake and exhaust systems simulating a
turbo-charged V8 diesel engine in this paper. The
thermodynamic model for the SCE was developed using the
1D engine thermodynamic simulation tool AVL BOOST. The
intake and exhaust systems for the SCE were developed
based on the principles and techniques for design and tuning
the intake and exhaust systems reported in the literature.
Following criteria were used in determination of the gas
exchange systems of the SCE: 1) the level of pressure
fluctuations in the intake and exhaust systems should be
within the lower and upper bounds of those of the V8 engine;
2) the intake and exhaust flows of the single cylinder engine
should be reasonably close to those of the V8 engine; 3) the
cylinder pressures for the single cylinder engine should be
reasonably close to those of the V8 engine under the same
conditions for the valve timing, fuel injection, rate of heat
release and in-cylinder heat transfer. The intake and exhaust
systems for the SCE engine were tuned at 2050 rpm, which is
the most frequently operated engine speed for the target
vehicle for the V8 engine application. With the tuned intake
and exhaust systems, the simulated gas dynamics for the
intake and exhaust flows and cylinder pressures during the
combustion and gas exchange simulated by the SCE become
very close to those predicted by the thermodynamic model
for the V8 engine for A100, A25 and the rated-power engine
load points. Based on the layouts specified in the SCE model,
the intake and exhaust systems of the SCE for developing the
combustion system of the turbo-charged V8 diesel engine
were developed. Good agreements were observed between
the simulated and measured intake and exhaust pressures of
the SCE. The V8-like gas dynamics for the intake and
exhaust flows for the SCE lays a good foundation for the
combustion investigation on the turbocharged V8 diesel
engine.

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REFERENCES
1. Smith, P.H. and Morrison, J.C., Scientific Design of
Exhaust and Intake Systems, 3rd edition, Bentley Publishers,
2004.
2. Winterbone, D.E. and Pearson, R.J., Design Techniques
for Engine Manifolds: Wave Action Methods for IC
Engines, SAE International, 2001.
3. Benson, R.S., Thermodynamics and Gas Dynamics of
Internal Combustion Engines, Volume 1, Clarendon Press,
1982.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Ho Teng, Senior Technical Specialist
AVL Powertrain Engineering, Inc.
ho.teng@avl.com

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