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Cylinder Deactivation
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CYLINDER DEACTIVATION
1. INTRODUCTION
With alternatives to the petrol engine being announced ever so often you could be forgiven for
thinking that the old favorite the petrol engine is on its last legs but nothing could be further from the
truth and possibilities for developing the petrol engines are endless. One of the most crucial jobs on
the agenda is to find ways of reducing fuel consumption, cutting emissions of the green house gas CO 2
and also the toxic
emissions which threaten air quality. One such fast emerging technology is
cylinder deactivation where a number of cylinders are shut down when less is needed to save fuel.
The simple fact is that when you only need small amounts of power such as crawling around
town what you really need is a smaller engine. To put it another way an engine performs most
efficiently when its working harder so ask it to do the work of an engine half its size and efficiency
suffers. Pumping or throttling losses are mostly to blame. Cylinder deactivation is one of the
technologies that improve fuel economy, the objective of which is to reduce engine pumping losses
under certain vehicle operating conditions.
When a petrol engine is working with the throttle wide open pumping losses are minimal. But at part
throttle the engine wastes energy trying to breathe through a restricted airway and the bigger engine,
the bigger the problem. Deactivating half the cylinders at part load is much like temporarily fitting a
smaller engine.
During World War II, enterprising car owners disconnected a spark plug wire or two in hopes of
stretching their precious gasoline ration. Unfortunately, it didnt improve gas mileage. Nevertheless,
Cadillac resurrected the concept out of desperation during the second energy crisis. The modulated
displacement 6.0L V-8- 6-4 introduced in 1981 disabled two, then four cylinders during part-throttle
operation to improve the gas mileage of every model in Cadillacs lineup. A digital dash display
reported not only range, average mpg, and instantaneous mpg, but also
how many
cylinders were operating. Customers enjoyed the mileage boost but not the
side effects. Many of them ordered dealers to cure their Cadillacs of the shakes and stumbles even if
that meant disconnecting the modulated-displacement system
Like wide ties, short skirts and $2-per-gallon gas, snoozing cylinders are back. General Motors, the
first to show renewed interest in the idea, calls it Displacement on Demand (DoD). DaimlerChrysler,
the first manufacturer to hit the U.S. market with a modern cylinder shut-down system calls its
approach Multi- Displacement System (MDS). And Honda, who beat everyone to the punch by
equipping Japanese-market Inspire models with cylinder deactivation last year, calls the approach
Variable Cylinder Management (VCM)
The motivation is the same as before improved gas mileage. Disabling cylinders finally makes sense
because of the strides achieved in electronic power train controls. According to GM, computing power
has been increased 50-fold in the past two decades and the memory available for control algorithms is
100 times greater. This time around, manufacturers expect to disable unnecessary cylinders so
seamlessly that the driver never knows whats happening under the hood.
2. CYLINDER DEACTIVATION-MECHANISM
Cylinder Deactivation is the method of deactivating Cylinders as per the Power requirement
of the Engine in order to achieve better Fuel efficiency as well as Emission Control. Cylinder
deactivation works because only a small fraction of an engines peak horsepower is needed to
maintain cruising speed. Passenger cars require 25 or so horsepower to cruise at 60 mph while 35
horsepower is enough to drive a large SUV at that speed. Using a reduced number of hard working
cylinders to produce the necessary power is more efficient than employing the full complement of
lightly loaded cylinders. The energy savings come from reduced pumping losses. In all gasoline
engines, energy is consumed drawing the air needed for combustion past a partially closed throttle
plate.
Shutting down half the cylinders demands a wider throttle setting to ingest the same amount of air
drawn in when all the cylinders are working. The wider throttle position yields lower pumping losses
and better mileage. Operating half the valves also diminishes the energy spent turning the camshaft.
Minimizing the load carried by half the pistons and connecting rods trims friction and reduces energy
losses to the cooling system. The mechanical components needed to disable cylinders are surprisingly
simple. All three systems scheduled for 2004 implementation use a computer-controlled squirt of oil
pressure to slide a pin inside either selected valve lifters (DaimlerChrysler and GM systems) or half of
the rocker arms (Honda). The normal transfer of motion from a cam lobe to a valve stem is thereby
interrupted. In DCX and GM pushrod applications, the outer portion of each disabled lifter telescopes
over the inner portion to maintain contact with the cam lobe without opening the valve. The Honda
approach is a variation of the VTEC (variable valve timing electronic control) cam-lobe-switching
scheme used for more than a decade. Instead of skipping between high- and low-lift cam lobes, VCM
selects
a
rocker-arm
alignment
that
delivers
no
valve
lift.
In every case, the engine control computer triggers cylinder deactivation after studying coolant
temperature, vehicle speed and engine load parameters. Each cylinder is disabled by interrupting not
solenoid valves
hydraulic subsystem
mode (intake valve opening to exhaust valve opening of a cylinder) is 180 crank degrees greater than
the operating window for bank control mode (intake valve
opening of one cylinder to exhaust valve opening of the second cylinder). This virtual doubling of the
switching window for individual cylinder control permits mode switching at higher RPM and increases
robustness to variation.
Cylinder Bank Control is commonly used in Engines which is having Cylinders in more than one bank.
e.g. V engines, Boxer engines.
Individual Cylinder Control is mainly used in inline cylinder engines.
7. DEACTIVATION USING VARIABLE PROFILE CAM SHAFT
This technique was developed by lotus automotive systems that allow the engine to effectively have
multiple camshafts. As the engine moves into different rpm ranges, the engine's computer can
activate alternate lobes on the camshaft and change the
Cams timing. This technique uses a Cam Profile Switching tappet (CPS) to switch between two
different Cam profiles. Cylinder deactivation can be attained by switching between a normal Cam lobe
and a plane circular lobe, which does not produce any lift at all. In this way, the engine gets the best
features of low-speed and high-speed camshafts in the same engine.
This is similar to the patented V-Tech technology used in Honda engines in which whenever
the engine speed increases the combustion time reduces in order to keep the combustion time nearly
constant. Here the valve should be opened a little earlier than normal condition. This is achieved by
the varying the position of the cam shaft which is placed in pressure actuators which is controlled by a
micro processor and electronic circuits. Whenever the engine speed increases these pressure
actuators presses or pushes the cam shaft towards the valve lifter. By doing this the valve can be kept
opened for a longer time and the valve will be opened more than the usual or normal condition.
8. ADVANTAGES OF CYLINDER DEACTIVATED ENGINES OVER NORMAL ENGINES
Better breathing capability of the engine, thereby reducing power consumed in suction
stroke.
Engine balancing- Deactivating cylinders can cause change in engine balancing which can
lead to very violent vibration and increased noise levels. This can be avoided to some extend
using hydraulic engine mounts located at different points on the engine and using noise
reducing materials. The conventional way of attaching counter masses to the moving parts
like crank shaft is very difficult as it is very difficult to calculate and attach the counter mass.
Increased cost of manufacturing- Though the process of deactivation will reduce the
operating cost, the cost of the additional parts or the de activation components like electronic
control module and the complexity in the design and manufacture of the lifter pin mechanism
will increase the cost of manufacturing and thus the vehicle owner will be benefited in a long
run only.
Overall increase in weight- Due to the presence of additional components like hydraulic lines
used in hydraulic sub system, lifter locking mechanism, and solenoid valves etc. the overall
weight of the system increases and thus engine becomes more bulky and takes more power
to run the vehicle.
Complexity of system makes maintenance difficult. - Complex lifter locking mechanism and
solenoid valves are difficult to maintain. Also, we make several assumptions that the oil
reaches both the side at the same time, the calculations will not give the true value.
Since these methods are still under experimental stage, the reliability of the engine is not
predicted yet.
GENERAL MOTORS: uses displacement on demand system which is said to save fuel by 20%
HONDA: Is conducting research to incorporate cylinder deactivation with its patented VTECH
engine
PORSHE and SUBARU: Uses lotus designed various cam plus which works almost similar to
Vtech engine
Mercedes-Benz: optional on certain European market V-8s since 1998; U.S. market V-12
mileage improved by a claimed 20 percent in 2001 and 2002 model years. Technology retired
(in U.S.) with 2003 arrival of turbocharged V-12 engines.
INA: German bearing and valve train specialist supplies switching lifters for DCs 5.7L Hemi
V-8 and GMs 3.9L V-6.
Eaton Automotive: supplies a portion of the LOMAs and switching lifters for GMs 5.3L V-8.
Also developing valve deactivation systems for light- and heavy-duty European diesel
engines.
Siemens-VDO Automotive: exploring cylinder deactivation for possible future use. Delphi
Automotive: supplies a portion of the LOMAs and switching lifters for GMs 5.3L V-8.
Ford Motor Company: has investigated cylinder deactivation but no applications planned for
near future.
Nissan and Toyota: no near-term plans to implement cylinder deactivation.
11. FUTURE TRENDS
Research is under progress for a new technology named as Active Valve Train Technology,
which uses valve controls with high speed hydraulic actuators there by eliminating the use of Cam
shaft.
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