Basics principles

Volumetric Efficiency:
Is the ability of an engine to introduce air into the combustion chamber. The more air we can
introduce into the chamber the more fuel we can inject and generate more power. Peak torque
occurs at the engine speed and loading at which an engine is most efficient at ingesting air
into the cylinders. Therefore, peak torque is also peak volumetric
efficiency or VE.

Fuel Burn Rate:

Is the rate at which the Fuel Burns inside the chamber. It has been studied and found that the fuel
burns the fastest at 11.1:1 (AFR).

Spark Advance:
Is which is optimally timed to achieve best torque by producing peak cylinder pressure at about
+/-15 degrees ATDC (after top dead center piston position), increase octane requirements by a
half to three-quarters of an octane number per degree of advance. Spark advance also
increases cylinder pressure and allows more time for detonation to
occur.

Air/Fuel Ratios (AFR):

Ideally, air/fuel ratio should vary not only according to loading but also according to the amount of
air present in a particular cylinder at a particular time (cylinder VE). Richer AFR combat knock by
the intercooling effect of the cooling heat of vaporization of liquid fuels and a set of related
factors. The volatility of fuels affect not only octane number
requirements but drivability in general. The chemically ideal AFR
mixture, at which all air and gasoline are consumed in combustion
occurs with 14.68 parts air and 1 part fuel, which is rounded to 14.7.
This ratio is referred to as "stoichiometric" or "stoich".

At high loading and wide-open throttle. richer mixtures give better power by making sure that all
air molecules in the combustion chamber have fuel present to burn. At wide-open throttle, where
the objective is maximum pwer, all four-cycle gasoline engines require mixtures that fall
between lean and rich best torque, in the 11.5 to 13.3 gasoline range.
Since this best torque mixture spread narrows at higher speeds, a good
goal for naturally aspirated engines is 12.0 to 12.5, perhaps richer if
fuel is being used for combustion cooling in a turbo/supercharger
engine.

Typical mixtures giving best drivability are in the range of 13.0 to 14.5 gasoline-air mixtures,
depending on speed and loading.

Temperature:
Inlet air temperature increases octane requirements by 0.5 octane number per 10 degree
increase. Temperature affects fuel performance in several ways. Colder air is denser than hotter
air, raising cylinder pressure. Colder air inhibits fuel vaporization. But hotter air directly raises
combustion temperatures, which increases the possibility of knock.

Air-Pressure:
Increasing altitude reduces octane number requirements by about 1.5 octane numbers per 1,000
feet above see level.

Detonation:
When an engine knocks or detonates, combustion begins normally with the flame front burning
smoothly through the air/fuel mixture. But under some circumstances, as pressure and
temperatures rise as combustion proceeds, at a certain point, remaining end gases explode
violently all at once rather than burning evenly. This is detonation,
also referred to by mechanics and tuners as knock or spark knock.

Preignition: It is another form of abnormal combustion in which the air/fuel mixture is ignited by
something other than the spark plug, including glowing combustion chamber deposits, sharp
edges or burrs on the head or block, or even overheated spark-plugs electrode. Heavy,
prolonged knock can generate hot spots that cause surface ignition,
which is the most damaging side-effect of knock. Surface ignition that
occurs prior to the plug firing is called preignition, and surface
ignition occuring after the plug fires is called post ignition. The
preignition opposes the pressure generated by the piston resulting in
power loss, engine roughness, and severe heating of the piston crown.
* Understanding Detonation is extremely important. To learn and gain more information please
click on the following link Detonation vs. Pre-Ignition