Chapt7 - Injection - SI Engines

POLITECNICO
DI MILANO
Fuel Injection in SI Engines

POLITECNICO
Introduction DI MILANO
• The task of fuel metering is to control the mass and physical conditions of
fuel, added to the new air that is induced in the cylinder at the beginning of
each working cycle.
• An IC engine requires a certain air/fuel ratio to work properly at any operating

condition.
• Air/fuel mixing in IC engines is influenced by:

 Injection system
 Fuel spray evolution
 Fuel properties
 Charge motions
• All these aspect needs to be analyzed in detail.

POLITECNICO
Introduction DI MILANO
• Spark-ignition engines use fuels which are sufficiently volatile to be easily

vaporized and mixed with air, before combustion is started with a spark-plug
(premixed charge).
• As a consequence, the task of

fuel metering is mainly reduced
to the control of the fuel mass,
necessary to obtain an air
fuel/ratio a required by the
engine in each point of its
operating map.
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Mixture requirements DI MILANO
• The optimum air/fuel ratio a for SI engines depends on the engine

performance which has to be optimized.
Specific power [kW/dm3] Equivalence ratio f
Pe/Vt
Global efficiency hg [%]

hg
bsfc [g/MJ]
bsfc
Rich mixture Lean mixture
as
Air/fuel ratio a
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• At full load conditions, with a given filling coefficient:
1) The maximum power is obtained with a slightly rich mixture:

 f = astoich/a ≈ 1.1
2) The maximum efficiency (or minimum specific fuel consumption) requires a

lean mixture:
 f = astoich/a ≈ 0.9
3) To reduce the pollutant emissions and to allow a correct operation of the

three way catalyst, the engine should run with stoichiometric mixtures (f =
1). In this way, conversion efficiencies for CO, NOx and HC are very high.
• For each operating regime, the best trade-off between these different
requirements has to be found, choosing the air/fuel ratio a which gives the
best value for the most important performance parameters in that specific
operating conditions.
POLITECNICO
Optimum a values of a conventional SI engine for passenger cars
Air/fuel
ratio
bmep [MPa]
Engine speed [rps]

POLITECNICO
• In passenger car SI engines, the fuel metering system has to provide a

mixture close to stoichiometric, so that the three-way catalyst converter,
used to clean up the exhaust gases from pollutants, can operate with high
simultaneous conversion efficiencies both in reduction and oxidation of
chemical reactions.
• Only in the high power area, which is

not involved in the city use of the car,
richer mixture are required to
approximated the value of maximum
power and to improve drivability and
sport behavior of the car.
• In new stratified-charge, SI engines, a

more complex set of A/F ratio is
required over their operating map.
POLITECNICO
• In any case, the fuel metering systems of SI engines have to control the fuel
mass and mix it with air, to satisfy the complex mixture requirements of the
engine. This result can be achieved using one of the following physical
principles:
1) Carburetion: the pressure drop, produced by the air flow rate through a
converging-diverging nozzle, to meter an appropriate fuel flow
2) Injection: the pressure increase produced in the fuel by a suitable pump, to

inject a fuel spray in the induced air.
POLITECNICO
Carburetors DI MILANO
• Carburetors have been widely used in

the past because of their operating
simplicity.
• However, during the last decades, the

increasingly severe legislations on
pollutant emissions imposed the
injection systems in passenger car SI
engines.
• Today, carburetors are only used on SI

engines for minor applications:
chainsaws, for example.
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Evolution of fuel metering systems DI MILANO
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Evolution of fuel metering systems DI MILANO
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Gasoline injection DI MILANO
• Several gasoline injection systems have been developed for SI engines. They
are based on different solutions for the main components of the system. The
injector can be placed:
1) Outside the combustion chamber, so that the fuel is injected in the intake
system: indirect-injection, port-fuel injection (PFI).
2) On the head of each cylinder, so

that the fuel is directly injected
into the combustion chambers
(direct-injection, GDI).
POLITECNICO
POLITECNICO
Single point,
indirect-injection
Multi-point,
indirect-injection
Direct-injection
Throttle-valve
POLITECNICO
Indirect-injection DI MILANO
• Single-point injection systems: they replaced carburetors. The single injector

was placed upstream the throttle valve, in the position of the traditional
carburetor. This solution is simple and cheap, however it does not allow a
very precise control of the fuel distribution among the cylinders and the
air/fuel ratio.
POLITECNICO
• Multi-point injection systems: they are now widely used. Gasoline is injected
in the air stream near the intake port of each cylinder. The injection occurs
during the first part of the intake stroke, so that the liquid spray has enough
time to mix with the air and to evaporate, forming a homogeneous mixture
before the combustion starts (with uniform air/fuel ratio).
POLITECNICO
POLITECNICO
• Advantages of indirect-injection:
1) A low pressure is required upstream the injectors (0.3, 0.4 MPa), because the
droplet size in the liquid spray has not major importance for the air-fuel mixture
formation.
2) The plant cost is reduced because of the

low injection pressure and the position of the
injectors, which do not have to face the high
temperatures and pressures of the combustion
chamber.
3) The typical high velocities, reached by the

fluids during their passage through the valve
throat, are used to improve the
homogenization of the cylinder charge.
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Principle of intake manifold injection

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Opening of injectors at different operating points

POLITECNICO
Liquid film impingement and its effects on fuel-air mixing process

POLITECNICO
Liquid film impingement and its effects on fuel-air mixing process

POLITECNICO
Injector types for PFI engines

POLITECNICO
Bosch
POLITECNICO
POLITECNICO
Direct-injection (GDI) DI MILANO
• Nowadays, different Gasoline Direct-Injection Engines (GDI) are available on

the market. The main advantages of direct-injection for SI engines are:
1) Better control of the air-fuel distribution in each cylinder.
2) Reduced knock risks (very important in turbocharged,

downsized engines)
3) Possibility to run the engine with stratified charge

combustion, where the mixture is no longer
homogeneous within the combustion chamber, but
stratified.
4) The mixture is rich close to the spark-plug, while is lean
far from it. The overall equivalence ratio is lean. In this
way, both fast flame propagation and reduced fuel
consumption can be achieved.
5) Furthermore, it is also possible to regulate the engine
load by varying the air/fuel ratio since very lean mixtures
(a > 30) can be used.
POLITECNICO
• In case of GDI engines, the pressure inside the cylinder is higher than in
the intake manifold and the time available for the injection of the total
mass of gasoline is shorter. Because of both these reasons, higher
injection pressures have to be used (10-20 MPa).
• More robust and expensive injectors are required,
because they have to stand the increased injection
pressures and the high cylinder temperatures and
pressures.
• Gasoline direct-injection represents the most
convenient way to obtain a stratified injection, in
those points of the engine operating map where the
combustion of a stratified charge is convenient. At the
same time, this injection system allows to return to the
homogeneous mixture, just advancing the injection
timing (i.e. 270° BTDC, during the first part of the
induction stroke), to leave a longer time for the
mixture homogeneization inside the cylinder.
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Stratified vs homogeneous operation

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Classification of GDI processes for mixture formation

POLITECNICO
Direct-injection system for SI engines

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Direct-injection system for SI engines
(2) (3)
(14)
(9) (13) (7)
(12) (6)
(8) (4) (11)
(10)
(5)
(1)
POLITECNICO
(2) (3)
(14)
(9) (13) (7)
(12) (6)
(8) (4) (11)
(10)
(5)
(1)
• The system consists of a low pressure stage, where gasoline is kept at a low
constant value (0.35 MPa) by an electric pump (1) placed in the fuel tank. This
stage supplies gasoline to the high pressure pump (2), which is driven by the
engine and increases the fuel pressure to values ranging from 2 to 20-30 MPa.
POLITECNICO
(2) (3)
(14)
(9) (13) (7)
(12) (6)
(8) (4) (11)
(10)
(5)
(1)
• The compressed gasoline is collected in a common-rail (3), which supplies

each electro-injector (4) for the different cylinders. The injection timing and
fuel mass are settled by the electronic control unit (5).
POLITECNICO
(2) (3)
(14)
(9) (13) (7)
(12) (6)
(8) (4) (11)
(10)
(5)
(1)
• The injection timing and fuel mass are settled by the electronic control unit
(5) through voltage pulses sent to the electro-injectors, on the basis of
information taken from several sensors:
air mass flow rate, engine speed and load, oxygen sensors in the exhaust
gases, pressure in the common-rail, cooling and lubricant temperature,
amount of EGR, …
POLITECNICO
(2) (3)
(14)
(9) (13) (7)
(12) (6)
(8) (4) (11)
(10)
(5)
(1)
• The pressure in the common-rail is measured by the sensor (6) and kept to
desired value by the pressure control valve (7).
POLITECNICO
(2) (3)
(14)
(9) (13) (7)
(12) (6)
(8) (4) (11)
(10)
(5)
(1)
• The air mass flow rate is controlled by the driver, as a function of both the
required load and the fuel/air mixture characteristics (homogeneous or
stratified charge), by means of an electronically controlled throttle valve (8).
POLITECNICO
(2) (3)
(14)
(9) (13) (7)
(12) (6)
(8) (4) (11)
(10)
(5)
(1)
• The actual value of the air mass flow rate is measured by the meter (9), based
on the principle of a hot wire kept at constant temperature (by electric Joule
effect), while is cooled by the air flow.
POLITECNICO
(2) (3)
(14)
(9) (13) (7)
(12) (6)
(8) (4) (11)
(10)
(5)
(1)
• Two oxygen sensors (10), placed upstream and downstream the catalytic
converters (11), control the desired air/fuel ratio and the efficiency of
catalysts.
POLITECNICO
(2) (3)
(14)
(9) (13) (7)
(12) (6)
(8) (4) (11)
(10)
(5)
(1)
• The valve (12) and the pressure sensor (13) in the intake manifold control the
amount of recycled exhaust gases (EGR) to the intake system to reduce the
nitric oxide emissions.
POLITECNICO
Oxygen sensors DI MILANO
• Oxygen sensors are used to precisely control the mixture air/fuel ratio,
which is supplied to the engine under various speed, loads and temperature
operating conditions.
(2) (3)
(14)
• An oxygen sensor in the exhaust system,
(9) (13) (7)
detects whether the engine is operating
with lean or rich mixture, providing a signal
(12) (6)
to the ECU of the injection system
(8) to keep (4) (11)
the actual air/fuel ratio as its set value. (10)
(5)
• The transducer is called oxygen sensor or
lambda (l) sensor.
(1)
POLITECNICO
• The sensor consists in a cell

where a solid state
Air Air Electrodes electrolyte (made of ZrO2)
Ceramic
separates two electrodes of
gas-permeable microporous
platinum.
Air Exhaust
gases • The atmospheric air gets to
Catode Anode
the inner electrode surface
Zirconium
dioxide through suitable holes in the
sensor body.
Exhaust • Similar openings in the steel
gases protection housing expose
the outer electrode surface
to the exhaust gases.
POLITECNICO
• The outer electrode,

Air Electrodes exposed to exhaust gases, is
Air
Ceramic covered by a thin layer of
porous ceramic, to protect it
from the thermal and
Air Exhaust chemical actions of burned
gases gases.
Catode Anode
Zirconium
dioxide • The cell separates two gas
mixtures (atmospheric air
Exhaust and burned gases), where
gases the oxygen presents strongly
different partial pressures.
POLITECNICO
• Once a cell proper

temperature is reached
Air Electrodes (above 300°C), at the
Air
Ceramic platinum electrodes
electrochemical oxidation-
reduction reactions of
Air Exhaust oxygen occurs, while oxygen
gases ions conducts the electric
Catode Anode
Zirconium charge through the solid
dioxide electrolyte.
• The voltage available
Exhaust between the two electrodes
gases depends only on the
difference in the oxygen
partial pressures on both
sides of the element.
POLITECNICO
Mixture air-excess index l

POLITECNICO
rich lean
• When the engine is running with rich

mixtures (l < 1), actually O2 is not
present in the burned gases. The very
high O2 partial pressure difference
causes a large flow of oxygen ions to
pass from the inner to the outer
electrode, producing a relatively high
voltage signal from the l sensor.

POLITECNICO
rich lean
• When the mixture entering the cylinders

shifts into a slightly lean fuel/air ratio,
the O2 partial pressure in the exhaust
gases abruptly increases of many orders
of magnitude (about 106). This change is
sufficient to suddenly cut down the
oxygen ions migration through the solid-
state electrolyte and consequently drops
down the sensor voltage signal.

POLITECNICO
• The l sensor measures the oxygen

rich lean content in the exhaust gases, which
directly relates to the fuel/air ratio of
the mixture entering the cylinders.
• The sensor signal shows a relatively
large stepped voltage variation at the
stoichiometric mixture (l = 1).
• This makes a l-sensor particularly
proper for a closed-loop control system,
which has to keep the composition of
the induction mixture in a very narrow
range around l = 1, to maximize the
global conversion efficiency of a three-
Mixture air-excess index l way catalytic converter.
POLITECNICO
Fuel metering DI MILANO
• In a SI engine, there are different sensors sending to the engine ECU the
information about the changes of parameters influencing the required
optimum mixture composition. On the basis of these values, the control unit
states the mass of fuel mf that has to be injected per cycle in each cylinder,
under those specific operating conditions. The final action of the process is
then completed by electro-magnetically operating injectors.
POLITECNICO
Electro-magnetically operating injector

Electric
connection
Injector Helical
nozzle spring Fuel filter
Jet
Solenoid
needle
valve
POLITECNICO
Electric
connection
Injector Helical
nozzle spring Fuel filter
Jet
Solenoid
needle
valve
• With a proper timing, an electric pulse (for a time length Dt) is sent to the
solenoid valve to rise (≈0.1 mm) the jet needle from its seat. The fuel is so
forced by its upstream pressure to exit through the injector calibrated nozzle.
When the electric pulse drops down, the spring again compresses the jet
needle on its seat, cutting down the fuel injection.
POLITECNICO
Nozzles for GDI injection

POLITECNICO
Nozzles for GDI injection

POLITECNICO
• Since the pressure difference Dp , acting along the injector, is kept constant by
the pressure regulator of the injection system, the mass mf of injected fuel
can be related to the pressure difference Dp and the time interval Dt by the
following expression:
Dt Dt
m f   m f dt  2  f Dp   Aeff dt
0 0
• Aeff is the instantaneous effective flow area of

the injector nozzle. By introducing its average
effective area:
Dt Dt
Aeff    Aeff t   dt    Cd t   Anozz  dt
1 1
Dt 0 Dt 0
• The amount of injected fuel becomes:
m f  2 f Dp  Aeff  Dt
POLITECNICO
• For a desired mixture composition (a = ma/mf), on the basis of the measured

total air mass flow rate, the control unit can predict (by the previous equation)
the value of the required Dt:
m a 

ma ncyl n
a 
mf 2  f Dp  Aeff  Dt
m a 

ncyl n
Dt 
2  f Dp  Aeff  a
POLITECNICO
• Therefore, on the basis of the influence produced by the engine operating

conditions, the following main parameters have to be continuously
measured in an injection system, to properly control the injected fuel mass:
1) the inducted air mass flow rate, as the main

information about the air mass trapped in the
cylinders;
2) the engine speed, to find the required fuel mass
that must be injected per cycle in each cylinder;
3) the engine load, to select (together with the
engine speed) the optimum air/fuel ratio for
each operating condition;
4) the pressure difference across the injector
nozzle, to control the fuel mass injected during
its operating interval;
5) The crank angle, to set the correct timing of the
injection process within the engine power cycle;
POLITECNICO
6) the oxygen content in the exhaust gases, to

precisely control the actual air/fuel ratio;
7) the temperature and pressure of the ambient
air, to consider the density of the air supplied
to the cylinders;
8) the coolant and lubricant temperatures, to
take into account the engine thermal
conditions (cold start, warm-up, etc.);
9) the amount of exhaust gas recycled to the
intake, to control the propagation speed of the
flame front;
10) the signal of a knock sensor, to use a mixture
composition suitable to avoid abnormal
combustions.
POLITECNICO
Exercise DI MILANO
POLITECNICO
Exercise DI MILANO
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Exercise DI MILANO
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Mixture formation for GDI engines DI MILANO
• The injected fuel leaves the nozzle as a jet with high speed, which breaks up
in small droplets because of its high velocity, relative to the surrounding air,
and of the turbulence in the jet itself and in the air.
• The aerodynamic interactions promote a continuous generation of droplets

of smaller and smaller diameter and their progressive evaporation.
• Finally, the fuel vapor mixes with the air, forming a burnable mixture.
POLITECNICO
• The mixture formation process is not of major importance in PFI engines.

• In case of direct-injection, the characteristics of the spray produced by the
injector and its aerodynamic interaction are more crucial, especially when a
stratified charge is sought.
• The three main physical characteristics of
the spray are given by:
1) The mean diameter of the component
droplets (atomization)
2) The mean space travelled by the droplets
(penetration)
3) The angular opening of the spray (diffusion).
• A correct mixture distribution is usually reached by controlling the spray

evolution in time and space through the values of: injection pressure,
injector geometry, turbulent air motion and combustion chamber
geometry.
POLITECNICO
Spray atomization: effects of turbulence, cavitation

POLITECNICO
Spray atomization: effects of turbulence, cavitation

POLITECNICO
Primary Secondary
breakup breakup
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Spray penetration: effects of injection pressure
120 minj= 50 mg/stroke

110
100
Tip penetration [mm]
90
80
70
60
Pinj 10 MPa
50 Pinj 15 MPa
40 Pinj 20 MPa
30
20
10
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Time [s]
POLITECNICO
Spray cone angle: effects of injection pressure

26
minj= 50 mg/stroke
24
Spray cone angle [deg]
22
20 Pinj 10 MPa
Pinj 15 MPa
18
Pinj 20 MPa
16
14
12
10
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Time [s]
POLITECNICO
Spray emerging from a 6-hole GDI injector

Pinj 20 Mpa - minj 50 mg/stroke
50 s 100 s 200 s 500 s 700 s
Pinj 10 Mpa - minj 50 mg/stroke

50 s 100 s 200 s 500 s 700 s

Chapt7 - Injection - SI Engines

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POLITECNICO

Fuel Injection in SI Engines

• An IC engine requires a certain air/fuel ratio to work properly at any operating

• Air/fuel mixing in IC engines is influenced by:

• All these aspect needs to be analyzed in detail.

• Spark-ignition engines use fuels which are sufficiently volatile to be easily

• As a consequence, the task of

• The optimum air/fuel ratio a for SI engines depends on the engine

Global efficiency hg [%]

Rich mixture Lean mixture

• At full load conditions, with a given filling coefficient:

1) The maximum power is obtained with a slightly rich mixture:

2) The maximum efficiency (or minimum specific fuel consumption) requires a

3) To reduce the pollutant emissions and to allow a correct operation of the

Optimum a values of a conventional SI engine for passenger cars

Engine speed [rps]

• In passenger car SI engines, the fuel metering system has to provide a

• Only in the high power area, which is

• In new stratified-charge, SI engines, a

2) Injection: the pressure increase produced in the fuel by a suitable pump, to

• Carburetors have been widely used in

• However, during the last decades, the

• Today, carburetors are only used on SI

2) On the head of each cylinder, so

• Single-point injection systems: they replaced carburetors. The single injector

2) The plant cost is reduced because of the

3) The typical high velocities, reached by the

Principle of intake manifold injection

Opening of injectors at different operating points

Liquid film impingement and its effects on fuel-air mixing process

Liquid film impingement and its effects on fuel-air mixing process

Injector types for PFI engines

• Nowadays, different Gasoline Direct-Injection Engines (GDI) are available on

2) Reduced knock risks (very important in turbocharged,

3) Possibility to run the engine with stratified charge

Stratified vs homogeneous operation

Classification of GDI processes for mixture formation

Direct-injection system for SI engines

Direct-injection system for SI engines

(9) (13) (7)

(9) (13) (7)

(9) (13) (7)

• The compressed gasoline is collected in a common-rail (3), which supplies

(9) (13) (7)

(9) (13) (7)

(9) (13) (7)

(9) (13) (7)

(9) (13) (7)

(9) (13) (7)

• The sensor consists in a cell

• The outer electrode,

• Once a cell proper

Mixture air-excess index l

• When the engine is running with rich

Mixture air-excess index l

• When the mixture entering the cylinders

Mixture air-excess index l

• The l sensor measures the oxygen

Electro-magnetically operating injector

Nozzles for GDI injection

Nozzles for GDI injection

• Aeff is the instantaneous effective flow area of

• For a desired mixture composition (a = ma/mf), on the basis of the measured