How much heat energy a petrol engine would require to do 20 kWh of wor...
How much heat energy a petrol engine would require to do 20 kWh of wor...
The fuel's calorific value is 44 MJ/kg.
To calculate the amount of heat energy required, we can use the equation:
Heat energy = Work done / Efficiency
First, we need to calculate the efficiency of the engine. We can use the formula:
Efficiency = 1 - (1 / compression ratio)^((gamma - 1) / gamma)
where gamma is the specific heat ratio of the engine. For a petrol engine, gamma is typically around 1.4.
So, plugging in the values, we get:
Efficiency = 1 - (1 / 9)^(0.4) = 0.576
Now we can calculate the amount of heat energy required:
Heat energy = 20 kWh / 0.576 = 34.72 kWh
To convert this to joules, we multiply by 3,600,000 (1 kWh = 3,600,000 J):
Heat energy = 125,001,600 J
Finally, we can calculate the mass of fuel required using its calorific value:
Mass of fuel = Heat energy / Calorific value
Mass of fuel = 125,001,600 J / 44 MJ/kg = 2.84 kg
Therefore, a petrol engine with an adiabatic compression ratio of 9 would require approximately 2.84 kg of fuel to do 20 kWh of work.