Power Generated by SI Engine

by Evan Hunt

Submitted : Spring 2010

In this project I was given data representing the volume vs. pressure of an individual cylinder, which was recorded from a 4-cylinder, 4-stroke engine running at 6000 RPM (open throttle). Along with the data I was told, the work done on or by the gas in the cylinder was equivalent to the area between the graphs produced by the data. The problem was to find how much horsepower this particular engine was generating at 6000 RPM. To solve this I found equations that most closely represented the graph of this data. I then took the integrals of these equations, which gave me the area inside the graph. After converting my answer into Joules, I then found the Joules per second or Watts which were being produced at 6000 RPM. This answer I then converted into horsepower, which I found to be 250.6 hp.

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