Cooling System

Necessity for cooling - The cooling system is provided in the IC engine for the following reasons

The temperature of the burning gases in the engine cylinder reaches up to 1500 to 2000C, which is
above the melting point of the material of the cylinder body and head of the engine. (Platinum, metal
which has one of the highest melting points, melts at 1750 C, iron at 1530C and aluminium at 657C.)
Therefore, if the heat is not dissipated, it would result in the failure of the cylinder material.

Due to very high temperatures, the film of the lubricating oil will get oxidized, thus producing carbon
deposits on the surface. This will result in piston seizure.

Due to overheating, large temperature differences may lead to a distortion of the engine components due
to the thermal stresses set up. This makes it necessary for, the temperature variation to be kept to a
minimum.

Higher temperatures also lower the volumetric efficiency of the engine.

Demerits of overcooling - Overcooling of the engine is. harmful because of the following reasons
1. At very low temperature, starting of engine becomes difficult.
2. Due to overcooling, engine life is reduced due to corrosion.
3. If the engine is overcooled some of the heat which could be used to expand the gases will be lost.
4. The fuel will not vaporise properly and some of the gases produced by combustion will condense on the
cylinder walls. This leads to dilution of the oil in the pump and the addition of harmful corrosive acids.
Removal of the oil film from the cylinder wall by unvaporised fuel leads to increased cylinder bore wear.
5. Inadequate lubrication of the engine, due to oil not being warm enough to flow freely, results in greater
frictional losses.
In general, due to overcooling the economy and life of the engine is reduced.
Demerits of undercooling
1. Undercooling can cause engine seizure, or at least-shorten valve life and possible distortion of the cylinder
block head or gasket.
2. A hot-spot inside the combustion chamber may be sufficient to cause pre-ignition, i.e., to ignite the fuel
before the spark plug does, thus causing loss of power and possible damage to the engine components.
3. Water in cooling system may boil and evaporate, and should the oil film burn away additional friction and
wear will occur between cylinder and piston.
Types of cooling system - Engine cooling is of two types. They are air cooling and water cooling.
Direct or air cooling - In air cooling, large quantities of air is circulated around the hot engine components. In
two wheeler engines, air flows over the engine components due to the movement of the vehicles. In other types,
where the engine is totally enclosed by the vehicle body, air is forced by a fan or blower of generous capacity.
The fan or blower is fixed to the flywheel.

The air is delivered through the ducts and is directed along the spaces between the fins. Baffles or cowling
surround the cylinder and direct air well over the cylinders and thereby improve cooling.
1. Forced air cooling 2. Natural air cooling 3. Air jacket cooling.
Forced Air Cooling - It is well known fact that the rate of heat transfer due to convection increases with an
increase in the velocity of the air flowing over a hot body. Engine mounted on sunny zip, Bajaj auto vehicle,
LML, Kinetic Honda employ this kind of cooling.
Natural Cooling - In normal course, large part of an engine exposed to the atmospheric air, when the vehicle
runs the air at certain relative velocity impinges upon the engine and sweeps away its heat. The heat carried
away by the air is due to natural convention. Therefore this method is known as natural air cooling. As the heat
dissipation is a function of frontal cross-sectional area of the engine, therefore there exists a need to enlarge this
area.
Air Jacket Cooling - In this cooling arrangement, the air is made to pass through the small passages formed in
the cylinder block and the cylinder head. The air is passed through a singular multi passages, either naturally or
by artificial means.
Advantages of air cooling
1. The design of the engine becomes simpler as no water jackets are required. The cylinder can be of identical
dimensions and individually detachable and therefore cheaper to renew in case of accident etc.
2. Absence of cooling pipes, radiator etc. makes the cooling system simpler.
3. No danger of coolant leakage etc.
4. The engine is not subjected to freezing troubles etc. usually encountered in case of water cooled engine.
5. The weight per B.P. of the air-cooled engine is less than that of water-cooled engine.
6. In this case engine is rather a self contained unit as it requires no external components e.g., radiator, headers,
tank etc.
7. Installation of air-cooled engines is easier.
8. The control of cooling system is much easier than in water-cooled system.
9. An air-cooled engine can take up some degree of damage. A broken fin does not affect much while a hole in
the radiator may stop a water-cooled engine.
10. High mean cylinder temperatures mean reduced carbon deposits on combustion chamber wall. This gives
sustained engine performance.
11. The warm-up performance of air-cooled "engine is better, this results in low wear of cylinders.
Disadvantages
1. Their movement is noisy.
2. Non-uniform cooling.
3. The output of air-cooled engine-is less than that of a liquid-cooled engine.
4. Maintenance is not easy.

5. Smaller useful compression ratio.

6. The volumetric efficiency of an air-cooled engine is lower due to high cylinder head temperatures.
Liquid Cooling - In the present day automotive engines, liquid cooling is widely used for the following reason
The resistance to heat transfer from the cylinder wall to a liquid in contact with it is low. When the velocities of
the liquid are fairly high, this resistance is very low. Due to this, the film heat transfer coefficients are high.
Also heat transfer is greater. This fact results in low temperature differences between the cylinder wall and the
coolant when liquid cooling is used instead of air cooling.
The most commonly used substances for cooling is water. Other liquids are ethylene glycol or Preston or
glycerin. These have boiling points much higher than water. But they have corrosive effects on engine parts.
In liquid cooled engines, spaces are provided around the cylinders and on the cylinder heads. These spaces are
called water jackets. The coolant is circulated through these jackets. In most of the automotive engines, the
coolant jacket is cast integral.
Open jacket or hopper method - There is a hopper or jacket containing water which surrounds the engine
cylinder. So long as the hopper contains water the engine continues to operate satisfactorily. As soon as the
water starts boiling it is replaced by cold water. The hopper is large enough to run for several hours without
refilling. A drain plug is provided in a low accessible position for draining water as and when required.
Non-Return Water Cooling System - This is suitable for large installations and where plenty of water is
available. The water from a storage tank is directly supplied to the engine cylinder. The hot water is not cooled
for reuse but simply discharges. The low H.P. engine, coupled with the irrigation pump is an example.
Thermosyphon cooling system - When a vessel of cold water is heated,
the hot water will tend to rise (by virtue of its lower density) and its place
will be taken over by cold water. This causes a definite circulation within
the water mass from top to bottom and vice versa. This is called natural
convection. The Thermosyphon, circulation cooling system shown in the
figure, works on this principle.
In the thermosyphon circulation cooling system, when the engine is cold
the whole water is at the same temperature and is at rest. When the engine
is operating, the water around the cylinder heads and cylinder walls gets
heated and flow up to the top header tank of the radiator. Now the cold water from the lower part of the radiator
flows and fills the coolant spaces in the cylinder head and the cylinder block. The hot water flows downward
through the radiator tubes. This water is cooled by the stream that flows past the tubes. Air is sucked by the fan
which is driven by the engine crankshaft. In this system, the water circulation through the cylinder, cylinder
head and the radiator is by natural means. For success in operation, the passages through the jackets and radiator
should be free and the connecting pipes large. Further the jackets should be placed as low as possible relatively
to the radiator, in order that the hot leg shall have as great a height as possible.

During operation the water level must on no account be allowed to fall below the level of the delivery pipe to
the radiator top. If this happens, water circulation will cease.
In general the thermo-syphon system requires a larger radiator and carries a greater body of water than the
pump circulation system. Further, a somewhat excessive temperature difference is necessary to produce the
requisite circulation. On the other hand, to some extent it automatically prevents the engine being run too cold.
The thermo-syphon circulation cooling system is simpler in construction and operation. This system is used in
some motor cars.
Limitations of thermo-syphon cooling system
(i) The cooling depends only on the temperature and is independent of the engine speed.
(ii) The rate of circulation is slow and insufficient. The circulation of water starts only after the engine has
become hot enough to cause thermo-syphon action.
(iii) This system requires that the radiator be above the engine for gravity flow of water to engine.
Forced or pump cooling - In this system, a pump is used to cause positive circulation of water in the water
jacket. Usually the pump is belt driven from the engine.

Merit - The main advantage of forced cooling is that cooling is ensured under all conditions of operation.
Demerits
(i) The cooling is not temperature dependent. Under certain circumstances, the engine may get overcooled.
(ii) The cooling requirement, while moving uphill, is increased because more fuel is burnt. The coolant
circulation, however, is reduced which may lead to overheating of the engine.
(iii) The cooling ceases when the engine stops. This is undesirable since cooling must continue till the
temperatures are reduced to normal values.
Thermostat cooling - Present day automotive engines are of larger power output and
operate at higher speeds. As such they tend to operate at higher temperatures. The rate
of coolant circulation in these engines must be greater in order to increase the cooling
effect. This necessitates the use of a water pump in these engines. The pump ensures
forced circulation of the coolant. The pump draws cold water from the radiator bottom
tank, circulates it through the engine coolant jacket and pushes it back to the hot water
tank (top tank of the radiator).
Pressurised water cooling - As shown in Figure, a cap is fitted on the radiator with two-valves, a safety valve
which is loaded by a compression spring and a vacuum valve. When the coolant is cold both the valves are shut,

but as the engine warms up the coolant temperature rises until it reaches a certain preset value corresponding to
the desired pressure when the safety valve opens; but if the coolant temperature falls during the engine
operation the valve will close again until the temperature again rises to the equivalent pressure value.

When the engine is switched off and the coolant cools down vacuum begins to form in the cooling system, but
when the internal pressure falls below atmospheric the vacuum valve is opened by the higher outside pressure
and the cooling system then attains atmospheric pressure.
A safety valve is incorporated in the filler cap so that if an attempt is made to unscrew it while the system is
under pressure, the first movement of the cap at once relieves the pressure and thus prevents the emission of
steam or the blowing off the cap due to higher internal pressure.
Advantages of pressurieed engine cooling over conventional thermo-syphon cooling system
(i) Effective and positive cooling of all parts. Local overheating is avoided.
(ii) It can take overload easily because as the engine speed increases the water circulation also increases, and
same effective cooling can be maintained at all the speeds.
(iii) In thermo-syphon system, the radiator should be kept well above the engine, to provide a height for natural
circulation. There is no such requirement for pressurised forced pump system.
(iv) With pressurised system the coolant temperature is maintained higher. This reduces corrosion.
(v) Smaller coolant passages can be used. This reduces weight and bulk of the engine.
(vi) No loss of water by boiling and evaporation.
Evaporative cooling - In this system, also called steam or vapour cooling, the temperature of the cooling water
is allowed to reach a temperature of 100C. This method of cooling utilises the high latent heat of vapourisation
of water to obtain cooling with minimum of water.

The cooling circuit is such that coolant is always liquid but the steam formed is flashed off in the separate
vessel. The makeup water so formed is sent back for cooling. This system is used for cooling of many types of
industrial engines.

Advantages of liquid cooling

1. Compact design of engine with appreciably smaller frontal area is possible.
2. The fuel consumption of high compression liquid-cooled engine is rather lower than for air-cooled one.
3. More even cooling of cylinder barrels and heads due to jacketing makes it easier to reduce the cylinder head
and valve seating temperature.
4. In case of water-cooled engine installation is not necessary at the front of mobile vehicles, aircrafts etc. as the
cooling system can be conveniently located wherever required. This is not possible in case of air-cooled
engines.
5. The size of the engine does not involve serious problem as far as design of cooling system is concerned. In
case of air-cooled engines particularly in high horse power range difficulty is encountered in circulation of
required quantity of air for cooling purposes.
6. Volumetric efficiency of water-cooled engines is higher than that of air-cooled engines.
Disadvantages
1. This is dependent system in which supply of water for circulation in the jacket is required.
2. Power absorbed by the pump for water circulation is considerably higher than that for cooling fans.
3. In the event of failure of cooling system serious damage may be caused to the engine.
4. Cost of system is considerably high.
5. System requires considerable attention for the maintenance of various parts of system.
6. The performance is weather sensitive.
7. The warm up performance is poor and has starting problems particularly in cold weather.
Radiator - In mobile units, the hot water let out by the engine must be cooled by some method and then recirculated by the cooling system. Radiator is widely used for this purpose in transport vehicles. The radiator
presents a large amount of cooling surface to the air so that the water passing downward through it in thin
steams is cooled efficiently. The practical factors that govern the choice of the available radiator are available
space. There are three types of radiators: (i) gilled tube radiator, (ii) tubular radiator and (iii) honey comb or
cellular radiator.
Gilled tube radiator - This is perhaps the oldest type of radiator, although it is still in use. In this, water flows
inside the tubes. Each tube has a large number of annular rings or fins pressed firmly over its outside surface.
Tubular radiator - The only difference between a gilled tubes radiator and a tubular one is that in this case
there are no separate fins for individual tubes. The radiator vertical tubes pass through thin fine copper sheets
which run horizontally.
Honey comb or cellular radiator - The cellular radiator consists of a large number of individual air cells which
are surrounded by water. In this, the clogging of any passage affects only a small parts of the cooling surface.
However, in the tubular radiator, if one tube becomes clogged, the cooling effect of the entire tube is lost.

In the vertical water tube type, the water falls through a nest of tubes from an upper header tank to a lower tank
and air flows horizontally between the tubes. In the cellular type, the air flows horizontally through short tubes
assembled honeycomb fashion with small clearances between them through which the water circulates
vertically from top to bottom.
Thermostat - The primary purpose of a thermostat is to quickly bring the engine temperature up to the
recommended operating temperature. There are three types of thermostats: (i) bellow type, (ii) bimetallic type
and (iii) pellet type.
Bellow type valve - Flexible bellows are filled with alcohol or ether. When the bellows is heated, the liquid
vaporises, creating enough pressure to expand the bellows. When the unit is cooled, the gas condenses. The
pressure reduces and the bellows collapse to close the valve.
Bimetallic type valve - This consists of a bimetallic strip. The unequal expansion of two metallic strips causes
the valve to open and allows the water to flow in the radiator.
Pellet type valve - A copper impregnated wax pellet expands when heated and contracts when cooled. The
pellet is connected to the valve through a piston, such that on expansion of the pellet, it opens the valve. A coil
spring closes the valve when the pellet contracts.
Antifreeze Mixture - In western countries if the water used in the radiator freezes because of cold climates,
then ice formed has more volume and produces cracks in the cylinder blocks, pipes, and radiator. So, to prevent
freezing antifreeze mixtures or solutions are added in the cooling water. The ideal antifreeze solutions should
have the following properties
(a) It should dissolve in water easily.
(b) It should not evaporate.
(c) It should not deposit any foreign matter in cooling system.
(d) It should not have any harmful effect on any part of cooling system.

(e) It should be cheap and easily available.

(f) It should not corrode the system.
No single antifreeze satisfies all the requirements. Normally following are used as antifreeze solutions
(a) Methyl, ethyl and isopropyl alcohols.
(b) A solution of alcohol and water.
(c) Ethylene Glycol.
(d) A solution of water and Ethylene Glycol.
(e) Glycerin along with water, etc.

Lubrication System
Lubrication circuit is one of the most important ones in the engine. The engine cannot run smoothly for more
than a few minutes without the lubricating oil. Whenever two metallic surfaces move over each other under
direct contact, dry or solid friction is produced. This is due to the irregularities on the two surfaces interlocking
each other. The dry friction thus. created produces a lot of heat and results in wear of the metal surface.
Purpose of lubrication
Reducing frictional effect - The primary purpose of the lubrication is to reduce friction and wear between two
rubbing surfaces. Two rubbing surfaces always produce friction. The continuous friction produce heat which
causes wearing of parts and loss of power. In order to avoid friction, the contact of two sliding surfaces must be
reduced as far a possible. This can be done by proper lubrication only. Lubrication forms an oil film between
two moving surfaces. Lubrication also reduces noise produced by the movement of two metal surfaces over
each other.
Cooling effect - The heat, generated by piston, cylinder, and bearings is removed by lubrication to a great
extent. Lubrication creates cooling effect on the engine parts.
Sealing effect - The lubricant enters into the gap between the cylinder liner, piston and piston rings. Thus, it
prevents leakage of gases from the engine cylinder.
Cleaning effect - Lubrication keeps the engine clean by removing dirt or carbon from inside of the engine along
with the oil.
Absorbs Contaminants - The additives in oil helps in absorbing the contaminants that enter the lubrication
system.
To reduce wear of the moving parts by way of lubricating the surfaces and keeping them apart.
Absorb shocks between bearings and other engine parts, thus reducing engine noise and extending engine life.
Methods of lubrication - The different parts of an engine are lubricated by anyone combinations of the
following methods.
1. Petroil or Mist lubricating system
2. Wet sump lubrication system Splash lubrication, Semi pressure lubrication system and Full pressure

system.

3. Dry sump lubrication system.

Petroil or Mist lubricating system - This system of lubrication is generally adopted in two stroke petrol
engines like scooters, mopeds and motor cycles. It is the simplest form of lubricating system. It does not consist
of any separate part like oil pump for the purpose of lubrication. The lubricating oil is mixed into the petrol
itself while filling in the petrol tank of the vehicle, in a specified ratio. When the fuel goes into the crank
chamber during the engine operation, the oil particles go deep into the bearing surfaces and lubricate them. The
piston rings, cylinder walls, piston pin etc. are lubricated in the same way. If the engine is allowed to remain
unused for a considerable time, the lubricating oil separates off from petrol and leads to clogging of passages in
the carburetor, resulting in the engine starting trouble.
Advantages
1. System is simple.
2. Low cost (because no oil pump, filter etc. are required).
Disadvantages
1.Some lubrication oil will burn and cause heavy exhaust emissions and deposits on piston crown, ring grooves
and exhaust port and thus hamper the good performance of the engine.
2. Since the lubricating oil comes in contact with acidic vapours produced during the combustion process, it
rapidly loses its anti-corrosion properties resulting in corrosion damage of bearing.
3. The oil and fuel must be thoroughly mixed for effective lubrication. This requires either separate mixing prior
to use or use of some additive to give the oil good mixing characteristics.
4. Owing to higher exhaust temperature and less efficient scavenging the crankcase oil is diluted. In addition
some lubricating oil burns in combustion chamber. This results in 5 to 15 per cent higher lubricant consumption
for two stroke engine of similar size.
5. As there is no control over the lubricating oil, once introduced with fuel, most of the two stroke engines are
over-oiled most of the time.
Wet sump lubrication system
Splash lubrication - In the splash lubrication system, the oil retained in the oil pan is churned and splashed up
by the internal parts of the engine (connecting rod big end and crankshaft) into a combination of liquid and mist.
This oil mist is sprayed over the interior of the engine i.e. on the cylinder walls and on the underside of the
piston crown. Some of the oil splashed gets collected in pockets over the main bearings. The collected oils then
flow through the bearings by means of oil hole and grooves in the bearing surfaces.
In one design, the connecting rod big end caps have scoops. These scoops pick up oil from the oil pan, during
the lower ends of the connecting rod travel. The connecting rod caps have drilled holes. Through these holes,
part of the oil picked up by the scoop reaches the end bearings. The remaining oil lubricates the rest of the
engine parts by splash i.e. the throwing of oil by the connecting rods, crankshaft and other oiled moving parts.
In another design, the connecting rod big end cap has thin projections. These projections improve oil splashing.

Semi pressure lubrication system - In a combination splash and force feed, oil is delivered to some parts by
means of splashing and other parts through oil passages under pressure from the oil pump. The oil from the
pump enters the oil galleries. From the oil galleries, it flows to the main bearings and camshaft bearings. The
main bearings have oil-feed holes or grooves that feed oil into drilled passages in the crankshaft. The oil flows
through these passages to the connecting rod bearings. From there, on some engines, it flows through holes
drilled in the connecting rods to the piston-pin bearings. Cylinder walls are lubricated by splashing oil thrown
off from the connecting-rod bearings. Some engines use small troughs under each connecting rod that are kept
full by small nozzles which deliver oil under pressure from the oil pump. These oil nozzles deliver an
increasingly heavy stream as speed increases. At very high speeds these oil streams are powerful enough to
strike the dippers directly. This causes a much heavier splash so that adequate lubrication of the pistons and the
connecting-rod bearings is provided at higher speeds. If a combination system is used on an overhead valve
engine, the upper valve train is lubricated by pressure from the pump.
Full Pressure Lubrication System

In this system of lubrication, the engine ports are lubricated under pressure feed. The lubricating oil is stored in
a separate tank on the sump, from where an oil pump takes the oil through a strainer and delivers it through a
filter to the main oil gallery at a pressure of 2-4 kg/cm2. The oil from the main gallery, goes to the main
bearings, falls back to the sump, some is splashed to lubricate the cylinder walls and the remaining goes through
a hole to the crankpin. From the crankpin it goes into the piston pin through a hole in the connecting rod web,
where it lubricates the piston rings.
For lubricating camshaft and timing gears, the oil is led through a separate oil line from the oil gallery. The
valve tappets are lubricated by connecting the main oil gallery to the tappet guide surfaces through drilled holes.
An oil pressure gauge at the instrument panel indicates the oil pressure in the system clear off the oil from dust
metal particles and other harmful particles.
Dry sump lubrication - The dry sump lubrication is used in more expensive cars. In the dry sump pressure
lubrication system, there is no oil sump in the crankshaft chamber. In this system, the oil is kept either in a
separate tank or reservoir, provided with cooling fins. Two pumps are used in this system. One pump sucks the
oil from the reservoir and forces it under pressure to the various bearings of the engine, as in the wet sump
system. The other pump (also called scavenger oil pump) is of large capacity. This pump sucks oil which
drains down to the bottom of the crankshaft chamber, and returns it to the oil reservoir.
The main advantage of the dry sump lubrication system is that the oil is cooled during its circulation. As such,
the oil has better lubricating value. Dry sump system is suitable for engines fitted to vehicles which may have
to work in inclined positions.