The Application of the Diesel Engine Simulator

for the Diagnostic Training

Stefan Kluj
Gdynia Maritime University, ul. Morska 83, 81-225 Gdynia, Poland
kluj@am.gdynia.pl

The diesel engine simulator, equipped with the specialized diagnostic model of the high power, medium speed, four stroke
diesel engine is the subject of this paper. The program simulates an engine operation under various conditions and
introduces various defects. The package is particularly suited to the diagnostic training, providing the instructors with a
powerful teaching tool and the students with an increased understanding of the relation between the engine technical state
and its operating parameters.

KEYWORDS: simulation, diagnostics, diesel engines, training.

INTRODUCTION on). The simulated engine reacts naturally under almost

any combination of factors, although some combinations
The idea for the role that could be played by a diesel make operation impossible as they would in real life.
engine simulator came to the author during the course of
his work lecturing in the subject of marine diesel engine
operation, maintenance and diagnostics. Originally, the
requirement was for a teaching aid, to support the
lectures. In a lecture hall, it is very difficult to
convincingly illustrate certain aspects of a diesel engine
operation; it is not possible to have a real engine on
which to demonstrate, and even if a real engine is used
separately to the lecture, it takes a great deal of time to
set up and then monitor the faults. After using program
created by the author to act as a teaching aid as described
above, the response from his students made the author
decide to extend the software so that it could also be used
as a personal teaching aid by students in their own time. It
became clear as students used the software more and
more that there was a great deal of training potential in
this kind of a simulator.

PROGRAM DESIGN
Fig. 1 The simplified model of the turbocharging system
The first version of the PC-based diesel engine simulator, (1-air filter, 2 – air compressor, 3 – air cooler,
called Turbo Diesel for Windows was developed in 4- air receiver, 5 – cylinder, 6 – exhaust receiver,
1994 [2], the latest one called Turbo Diesel 3 (Fig. 3) 7 – gas turbine, 8 – exhaust duct).
was completed by the author in 2003. The ‘heart’ of the
In order to validate the software, it was necessary to
program is a diesel engine mathematical model, based on
model an actual engine so that the calculated values
the physical structure of the modelled object (Fig.1). The
produced by the software could be compared to values
model has been developed using the actual factory test
measured on the real engine (see Fig.2).
bed results and the classic thermodynamic equations. The
package allows an engine operation under selected initial
conditions (for example, torque, RPM, ambient air
pressure) and variable technical state (for example a dirty
air blower, broken piston rings, a worn fuel pump and so
 Turbocharger Speed [rpm] The simulator has been designed with a great care about
40000
the user interface. The implementation of the typical
35000 Microsoft Windows controls (i.e. menus, dialogues,
30000 pushbuttons and scrollbars) should make the simulator
25000
operation easier, especially for the user with at least basic
20000
experience with the graphics user interface. The simulator
makes use of the multimedia features which are typical
15000
for today’s personal computers. The digitised engine
10000
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
sound has been synchronised with an engine speed in
Engine Power [kW]
order to create the typical engine room atmosphere.

The general approach to the diesel simulator application

Fig. 2 The comparison of the simulated and measured in the diagnostic teaching was based on the author’s long
(dot line and squares) turbocharger speed. time academic experience in giving courses on diesel
engines diagnostics and on some available publications
[5,6] as well. The main teaching tasks implemented in the
The diagnostic simulator is designed to teach the simulator have been listed below:
principles of the generic diesel engine operation. It is not
designed to teach an operation of any specific engine or
type of engine.

Fig. 3 Simulator main window.

• Diagnostic principles. 1. The student has to start the engine and observe the
The first requirement was for the software to teach operation parameters.
about the relation between the diesel engine technical 2. Later, he can increase and decrease the engine load
state and its operating parameters. This is performed and observe the parameters.
by the program in ‘Evaluation Mode’. In this mode a 3. The trainee should find his way around the engine by
student can freely change engine load and operating changing some of the parameters and observing the
conditions, can select different engine faults, mix effect on the gauges. The program tutorial shows
them and see the effects of these changes by how to do this and how to start making diagnoses by
inspecting the engine parameters. The student learns observing the gauges.
to understand the relationship between an engine state 4. The current simulation setup and the engine
and the engine parameters. This is important parameters can be saved in the setup file.
particularly for students early on in their training. It 5. The trainee can also load the previously saved
also makes clear the importance of the proper simulation setup from a file, which is much faster
diagnostic method application, since only the correct than making a new calculation).
diagnostic methodology can enable the identification
of the engine faults. The current simulation setup and the engine parameters
• Maintenance strategy and assessment can be printed directly from the program menu.
The second requirement was for a more pressurised
mode where the student would be obliged to put his
knowledge into practice - i.e. run the simulated engine WORKING IN LIVE RUN MODE
and take responsibility for its condition and
maintenance. In the program ‘Live Run’ mode, the The Live Run mode is rather like other computer
student becomes in effect a qualified user. he needs to simulations (a flight simulator for example); the operator
monitor closely the engine operating parameters and has to act as a qualified user, working against the
carry out repairs when necessary. Apart from reacting computer, which simulates dangerous situations, faults
to the student’s actions, the software also generates and so on. Although the scenario is written by an author,
random wear and tear factors, which means that no random factors are also introduced by the computer.
Live Run is ever exactly the same as another. The
student’s performance is logged and scored for Each Live Run starts with the engine in a particular
assessment and de-briefing. technical state (set by the instructor or loaded from a
previously created and saved setup). As time proceeds,
• Design and implementation of course material any faults which are present at the outset become
The third requirement was for a lesson-mode, both for aggravated and affect the parameters. The student
instructors to be able to create their own specific monitors the engine state and can carry out repairs or
course material, and for students who could be given maintenance at any time; correct actions lead to more
set material to work through. The program has a efficient and economical running while negligence, wrong
separate lesson-writing program, where instructors or unnecessary actions lead to a loss of economical
can create course material. These courses can then be efficiency.
loaded into the main program for students to complete Time is measured in steps (the user can speed these up or
as required. slow them down at will). At the end of each time step,
which he can think of as day's operation, the computer
recalculates the state of the engine and gives the student
WORKING IN EVALUATION MODE his current score in dollars; the higher the score, the more
efficient the student is.
In Evaluation Mode the student can work in the
instructor’s absence while trying to learn the relationship The following points are worth noting:
between the technical state of the engine or the operating • the student is free to inspect all the available engine
conditions on the one hand and the operation parameters parameters, perform maintenance and repairs and
on the other. change the load, but cannot change the engine setup
directly.
The following list gives the recommended training plan • in certain circumstances, constant engine deterioration
for students: can cause an emergency stop. This means an
additional penalty on top of the repairs needed to
restart the engine.
• the accumulating score is permanently shown in the running the Turbo Diesel 3 model engine. Gauges show
special "Live Run Info" dialogue box; it will be saved more than one value (Fig. 5). For single gauges the two
together with the engine setup while saving a Live readings are the current and reference value. On multiple
Run. gauges you see the actual value for each cylinder and the
• the Live Run can be ended at any time. The current reference value which is common to all three. The bigger
result and the cost factors will be saved automatically the difference between the actual and reference values the
in the Results file, which lists all of the last fifty Live worse the technical state is. The principle that the
Run scores, and the student can save the current status deviations should be used rather instead of the actual
in a special file. parameter values is very important especially for the
student without an experience of the simulated engine
Generally speaking: the student should repair only what type (Fig. 4). He can very hardly estimate if the observed
is necessary, when it is necessary. parameter value is correct so the parameter deviation is of
a great help for the analysis.

INSPECTING ENGINE PARAMETERS

There are many different diesel engine and ambient

parameters, which can be continuously monitored while

Fig. 4 The parameter deviations shown in Output Data window.

 Here is the example list of the turbocharging system
possible simulations:
• air filter - increase in air path resistance
• air blower - decrease in air flow efficiency
• gas turbine - increase in gas path resistance
• air cooler - decrease in air resistance

Some of the operating conditions can be also changed

and they are listed below:
• engine speed
• engine load
• ambient air pressure and temperature
• cooling water pressure and temperature
• lubricating oil pressure and temperature
.
Fig. 5 Different parameter values at the single gauge.

The gauges are combined into panels to group related

parameters logically. The example of the lubricating
system panel has been shown below (see Fig. 6).

CHANGING THE ENGINE SETUP

The technical state of the engine elements, as well as the

engine load and operating conditions, can be changed
with the program setup. The engine fault simulations are
connected with a turbocharging system, combustion
chamber, fuel system, cooling system and a lubricating
system. The simulations can be mixed freely although
some combinations make operation impossible as they Fig. 7 The simulation mixing window
would in real life (Fig. 7).
Every change in the technical state or in the operation
conditions starts the calculation process. The calculation
loop has to be repeated many types until the balance
conditions listed below are fulfilled:
• the power required by the air compressor has to be
balanced with the power produced by the gas
turbine within the given range.
• the air mass flow delivered by the air compressor
has to be balanced with the gas flow consumed by
the gas turbine within the given range.
• the pressure drop on all passive flow resistors has to
be balanced with compression ration produced by
the air compressor.

It takes up to a few seconds until the engine parameters

are stable depending on the actual fault setup.

Fig. 6 Lubricating system panel

 .
The Setup Expert (Fig. 8) which has been also integrated
in the simulator can always explain the relation between CONCLUSION
the change in the engine setup and the change in operation
parameters, as this is very important when learning about More than twenty years of the author’s experience of
engine diagnostics. different types diagnostic simulators have proved that this
kind of a simulator can be successfully used for marine
engineers education and assessment. The power of the
personal computers combined with multimedia features,
like sound and animation, makes the simulation
reasonably fast and realistic. Even if this kind of a
simulator cannot replace the laboratory with the actual
engines, it can surely extend their capabilities.

The very important feature of a presented simulator is its

low cost and the possibility to be used also for stand-alone
education. This makes such a kind of a simulator very
attractive for low budget colleges in developing countries,
and for the ship owners, because of the possibility to be
installed also on board. The well cut, complete teaching
program and a set of pre-prepared lessons should be
always a part of a simulator package.

Fig. 8 Setup Expert window

REFERENCES
The package enables a student to carry out maintenance
and repair in the live run mode. He will be told when a [1] S. Kluj, The Marine Diesel Engine Diagnostic
particular activity was last carried out, as well as its price. Computer Simulator ARGUS, Tagungsmaterial der 18
The example maintenance and repairs are listed below: Internationale Tagung der Ingineur Hochschule fuer
• cooling pump repair Seefahrt, Warnemuende, 1988.
[2] S. Kluj, The Role And Mission of a PC-based Engine
• water cooler cleaning
Room Simulator, Proceedings of ICERS 2, Rimouski,
• cooling system washing.
1995.
• oil filter and cooler cleaning
[3] S. Kluj, The Role and Mission of the Engine Room
• turbocharger air side washing Simulator, Proceedings of the 3rd East-West Congress on
• turbocharger gas side washing Engineering Education, Gdynia, 1996.
• air filter cleaning [4] S. Kluj, The Relation Between Learning Objectives
• air cooler cleaning and the Appropriate Simulator Type, Proceedings of 5th
• exhaust system cleaning International Conference on Engine Room Simulators ,
• fuel pump adjustment. Singapore, 2001.
[5] M. Percier, M. Caillou, L. Wagemann, Adapting
The global cost of the selected repairs is added to any Simulators for Training and the Evaluation of Operator
previous repair and maintenance costs. This is a very Performance, Proceedings of ICERS 2, Rimouski, (1995).
important measure of his competency and can be used for [6] D. Bichat-Gobard, Ongoing Research into the Use of
his assessment. The engine user who has spent less money Simulators as an Assessment Tool to Check an
for the simulated engine operation costs (maintenance, Applicant’s Competency as an Engineer, Proceedings of
repairs and fuel) will be usually more wanted by the ICERS 2, Rimouski, (1995).
company as the other one who produces higher operation
costs. The author’s experience has shown that for example
the trainees with a significant practice as engineer officer
at sea require less money on the simulated engine running
than the young inexperienced cadets.