Historical collections document vertical oil-fuelled engines, including single-cylinder and four-stroke Gardner examples. This calculator does not model kerosene combustion; it evaluates a generic single-cylinder four-stroke power calculation from an entered IMEP and assumed mechanical efficiency.
Vertical Kerosene Oil Engine Interactive Calculator
Enter bore, stroke, assumed IMEP, shaft speed and assumed mechanical efficiency. Results are an ideal single-cylinder four-stroke calculation—not measured engine output or a kerosene-combustion model.
Equation Used
- The model has one cylinder and a four-stroke operating cycle.
- Entered IMEP is a uniform work-equivalent pressure over the power stroke.
- Piston area is circular and bore and stroke are ideal dimensions.
- Mechanical efficiency is an entered fraction used only as BHP/IHP.
- Torque is inferred from brake horsepower and rpm; kilowatts are converted from brake horsepower.
- Fuel preparation, ignition, actual indicator diagrams, pumping work, heat, friction prediction, valve timing, combustion, emissions, cooling, lubrication, governor behavior, flywheel inertia, stress, durability and safety are omitted.
Single-Cylinder Four-Stroke Power Calculation
The FAA's PLANK relation obtains indicated horsepower from indicated mean effective pressure, stroke length, piston area, power strokes per minute and cylinder count. This page fixes the count at one and uses RPM/2 for a four-stroke cycle. Historical collection records support the vertical oil-engine topology, not the entered IMEP or efficiency.
What This Calculator Represents
The tool calculates ideal indicated power from entered geometry, speed and assumed IMEP, applies an assumed mechanical-efficiency fraction for brake power, and converts that brake power to torque and kilowatts. It does not predict how a kerosene engine develops pressure.
Ideal PLANK and Shaft Conversions
L=S/12 ft
N=RPM/2
IHP=P L A N/33000
BHP=IHP eta_m
T=5252 BHP/RPM
kW=0.7457 BHP
The fixed one-cylinder, four-stroke assumptions are essential to the result.
Worked Idealized Example
For 4.5 in bore, 5.5 in stroke, assumed IMEP of 94.3 psi, 600 rpm and assumed mechanical efficiency of 80%, ideal indicated power is about 6.25 IHP, assumed brake power is about 5.00 BHP, inferred shaft torque is about 43.8 lb-ft and shaft power is about 3.73 kW.
Model Boundary
- Calculated: ideal indicated power, efficiency-scaled brake power, torque and kilowatt conversions.
- Illustrated: a vertical single-cylinder piston, crank and flywheel through a four-stroke cycle.
- Not calculated: actual IMEP, fuel vaporization, ignition, compression, indicator diagram, pumping work, combustion, pressure history, friction, heat rejection, valve timing, emissions, cooling, lubrication, dynamics, stress, durability or safety.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the calculator predict kerosene combustion?
No.
Is entered IMEP a measured value?
Not necessarily; the calculator treats it as an assumption.
Why is RPM divided by two?
The fixed four-stroke model has one power stroke per two revolutions.
Does brake power include a friction model?
No; it only multiplies indicated power by the entered efficiency.
Is torque measured at a flywheel?
No; it is inferred algebraically from assumed BHP and rpm.
Can this rate an actual engine?
No.
References
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