Faults of Fuel Injector:

To ensure the engine’s performance and efficiency is as intended, it is of

significance importance for engineers to understand the effect, indications and
causes of the fuel injector faults. However, according to (Dewan, 2015) the fuel
injectors of the diesel engines have the following fault causes, indications and
effect:

Fuel Injectors’ Causes:

1. Insufficient cooling or significant increase in temperature:
If a Reduction in the fuel valve cooling efficiency or improper transferring of
heat to cylinder head occurs, it will also effect the cooling of the fuel injector
itself. As a result, the temperature of the injectors working space will increase.
However, such condition can have
unpleasant outcome such as increasing the
chances of leakage of the nozzle due to the
reduction in the needle and seat hardness.
Additionally, it can cause an expansion or
even boiling of fuel out of fuel sac which is
an area below the needle tip (Jääskeläinen,
2019) as shown in figure, this will cause the
forming of carbon deposit.
Figure. Basic diesel injector nozzle with single
cone seat

2. Excessive cooling:
Some types of vessels’ old designs used to have a water cooling system for the
fuel. However, excessive cooling of the fuel injector will result in an extreme
corrosion of the injector’s tip. Additionally, it will affect the spraying pattern of
fuel. To clarify this claim, the corrosion occurs because the excessive cooling
will drop the temperature under the condensation limit along with the existence
of Sulphur in the fuel.
3. Nozzle leakage:
When there is a leakage from the nozzle, carbon deposits accumulation will
form. However, checking the smoke levels and observing the temperature of
the exhaust gas can be considered a detection for such fault.
4. Spring weakness:
Throughout various operations over a long period, it is common for a spring to
fatigue. However, snice the injector opening and closing mechanism is
dependent to the pressure; the spring weakness will cause the injector to open
and close at lesser pressure than desired. As a result, there will be a formation
of bigger fuel droplets during injection, the maximum pressure of the cylinder
will drop (late combustion) and it will result in increasing the amount of smoke
and raising the exhaust gas temperature (afterburning).
5. Slack needle:
A small amount of leakage is mandatory to supply lubrication to dynamic parts
between the needle and body. However, a slack needle will increase the amount
of fuel supplied or leaked resulting in bigger fuel particles. As a result dirt will
be carried out through the leaked fuel in which will result in undesired friction
that will cause the needle to be limp.
6. Insufficient atomization:
In case of insufficient or poor atomization, the time of the fuel combustion will
increase due to large size of fuel droplets. As a result, the smoke and
temperature of the exhaust gas will increase and the engine will become noisier.
7. Poor penetration:
In case of poor penetration, the fuel and air mixture inside the cylinder is
unbalanced. To clarify, the middle area has more fuel than air require for a
perfect combust (over-rich mixture). As a result, the smoke and temperature of
the exhaust gas will increase and the incorrect fuel and air mixed areas will
cause longer period for the combustion process.
8. Over penetration
When the mass of the air inside the cylinder is low or when the nozzle holes
size are larger than intended, the distance of fuel traveled during the injection
 process will increase and hit the liner surface (wet wall). As a result, lack of
lubrication, liner temperature will increase and thermal stress will occur.

Reference:
Dewan, M. (2015). Fuel Injector of Diesel Engines - Marine Study. [online] Marine
Study. Available at: https://marinestudy.net/fuel-injector-of-diesel-engines/
[Accessed 18 Mar. 2019].
Dewan, M. (2015). Fuel Injector of Diesel Engines - Marine Study. [online] Marine Study.
Available at: https://marinestudy.net/fuel-injector-of-diesel-engines/ [Accessed 18 Mar.
2019].