Chapter 7

FUELING SYSTEM OF SI & CI ENGINES

Overview of this chapter:

 Introduction

 Carburetion

 fuel injection system

 Electronic fuel injection System

 Introduction :

Engine induction and fuel system must prepare a fuel-air mixture that satisfies the
requirements of the engine over its entire operating regime. Optimum air-fuel ratio for an SI
engine is that which gives

o required power output o consistent with smooth and

reliable operation
o with lowest fuel consumption
o less emission

Relative proportions of fuel and air that give the above requirements depend on engine
speed and load. At full load, complete utilization of inducted air to obtain maximum power for a

given displaced volume is the critical issue. At part-load at a given speed, efficient utilization of
fuel is the critical issue. The variation of air fuel ratio with respect to power output and throttle
opening is shown in below Fig.
Fuel supply system in SI Engine :

 Carburetion

Carburetion is the process of formation of a combustible fuel-air mixture by mixing the

proper amount of fuel with air before it is admitted into the engine cylinder.

Carburetion comes from the words “car” and “burette” because the carburetor “meters” the
appropriate quantity of liquid fuel (like a burette) and mixed it with air before sending the
mixture into the engine cylinder.

There are two main types of carburettor:

(i) Fixed jet (or fixed venturi)

(ii) Variable jet (or variable venturi)

 Some Important makes of Carburettor:

1. Solex carburettor : Constant choke type, Famous for easy starting, Good performance
and reliability. Used in Fiat, Willys Jeep, Standard cars

2. Carter Carburettor : Constant choke type, American make, used in Jeep

3. Zenith Carburettor : Constant choke type

4. S. U Carburettor : used in British cars, Hindustan Ambassador car, Variable choke, only
one jet ( No separate Idling or acceleration pump)

Factors affecting Carburetion:

1. Engine speed: In a 4-stroke engine running at 3000rpm, the intake will take about 10 ms
during which the fuel has to evaporate, mix with air and be inducted into the engine.

2. Vaporization characteristics of the fuel: Will require a volatile fuel for quick
evaporation and mixing with air.

3. The temperature of the incoming air : Must be high enough to be able to evaporate the
fuel and yet not too high as to reduce mass of fresh charge.

4. Design of the carburetor: This will help in proper introduction of fuel into the air
stream and provide proper distribution of the mixture to the various cylinders.

Simple Carburetor:
 The air enters the intake section of the carburetor (1) from the air cleaner which removes
suspended dust particles. The air then flows into the carburetor venturi (a converging-diverging
nozzle) (2), where the air velocity increases and the pressure decreases. The fuel level is
maintained at a constant height in the float chamber which is connected via an air duct to the
carburetor intake section (1).

The fuel flows through the main jet (a calibrated orifice) as a result of the pressure
difference between the float chamber and the venturi throat and through the fuel discharge nozzle
into the venturi throat where the air stream atomizes the liquid fuel. The fuel-air mixture flows
through the diverging section of the venturi where the flow decelerates and some pressure
recovery occurs. The flow then passes the throttle valve and enters the intake manifold.

Modern carburetor design:

The changes required in the elementary carburetor so that it provides the equivalence ratio
required at various engine operating condition. It is compensated by modern carburetor design
which are as follows.

1. The main metering system must be compensated to provide a constant lean or

stoichiometric mixture over 20 to 80% of the air flow range.
 2. An idle system must be added to meter the fuel flow at idle and light loads to provide a
rich mixture.

3. An enrichment system must be provided so that the engine can get a rich mixture as WOT
conditions is approached and maximum power can be obtained.

4. An accelerator pump must be provided so that additional fuel can be introduced into the
engine only when the throttle is suddenly opened.

5. A choke must be added to enrich the mixture during cold starting and warm-up to ensure
that a combustible mixture is provided to each cylinder at the time of ignition.

6. Altitude compensation is necessary to adjust the fuel flow which makes the mixture rich
when air density is lowered.

7. Increase in the magnitude of the pressure drop available for controlling the fuel flow is
provided by introducing boost venturis (Venturis in series) or Multiple-barrel
carburetors (Venturis in parallel).

SI engine fuel injection system:

 Fuel Injection in the CI Engine

For the compression ignition [CI] engine, it is very important to promote a means of
injecting fuel into the cylinder at the proper time in the cycle. This is so because the injection
system starts and controls the combustion process.

The injection system of the compression ignition engine should fulfill the following
objectives (functions) consistently and precisely:
 1. Meter the appropriate quantity of fuel, as demanded by the speed of, and the load on, the
engine at the given time.

2. Distribute the metered fuel equally among cylinders in a multi-cylinder engine.

3. Inject the fuel at the correct time (with respect to crank angle) in the cycle.

4. Inject the fuel at the correct rate (per unit time or crank angle degree).

5. Inject the fuel with the correct spray pattern and sufficient atomization as demanded by
the design of the combustion chamber, to provide proper penetration also.

6. Begin and end injection sharply without dribbling or after injection.

To accomplish above objectives, a number of functional elements are required. These

constitute together, the fuel injection system of the engine. These elements are as follows.

1. Pumping elements to transfer the fuel from the tank to the cylinder, along with the
associate piping and hardware.

2. Metering elements to measure and supply the fuel at the rate as desired by the speed and
load conditions prevailing.

3. Metering controls to adjust the rate of the metering elements for changes in load and
speed of the engine.

4. Distributing elements to divide the metered fuel equally among the cylinders in a multi
cylinder engine.

5. Timing controls to adjust the start and stop of injection.

6. Mixing elements to atomize and distribute the fuel within the combustion chamber.

Typical fuel feed system for CI engine:

There are two main classifications for fuel-injection systems, namely

1. air injection

2. solid (or mechanical or airless) injection systems.

1. Air injection type:

In this fuel injection system, the air compressor is used to pressurize the fuel to inject into the
combustion chamber.

2. Airless, Mechanical, or Solid injection systems:

It consist of 3 types. They are,

1. Individual pump and injector system: This consists of a separate metering and
compression pump for each cylinder.

2. Distribution system: This consists of a single pump for compressing the fuel (which may
also meter), plus a delivery device for distributing the fuel to the cylinders (which may
also meter).
 3. Common rail system: A single pump for compressing the fuel, plus a metering element
for each cylinder.

1. Individual pump and injector system: This consists of a separate metering and compression
pump for each cylinder as shown in below Figure.

2. Distribution system: This consists of a single pump for compressing the fuel (which may
also meter), plus a delivery device for distributing the fuel to the cylinders (which may also
meter).

3. Common Rail Direct injection system: In this modern injection system, all the injectors are
supplied by a common fuel supply line or a manifold called the common rail. The common
rail has pressure sensor which is used to know the fuel injection pressure. The nozzles,
common rail, supply pump are connected to ECU and EDU as shown in Fig.
Comparison of different CI engine fuel injection system:

Job Air Injection Solid Injection system

system

Individual Pump Distributor Common Rail

Metering Pump Pump Pump Injection Valve

Timing Fuel cam Pump cam Fuel cam Fuel cam
Injection rate Spray valve Pump cam Fuel cam Spray valve

Atomization Spray valve Spray tip Spray tip Spray tip

Distribution Spray valve Spray tip Spray tip Spray tip

Fuel Injector:

It has 3 types:

1. Blast injectors (used high pressure compressor for high pressure fuel).
 2. Mechanically operated injectors (consist
mechanical set of camshaft, cams, rocker gear).

3. Automatic injectors (consist of a spring loaded needle valve

and operated hydraulically by the pressure of fuel).

The typical fuel injector is as shown in below Figure.

 Electronic Control Unit for Fuel Injection:

The electronic control system which provides engines with the means to properly meter the
fuel and control Ignition timing.
 The system can be divided into three distinct elements with three operational phases.

1. Input Sensors

2. Electronic Control Unit

3. Output Actuators

1. Input Sensors:

 Sensors are devices that convert a physical parameter such as temperature, pressure or
speed into a signal that can be measured electrically.

 Once the physical parameter has been converted to an electrical single equivalent, it is
easily input into a computer or microcontroller for manipulating, analyzing and
displaying.

 Sensors are becoming smarter, more accurate and cheaper. They will play an ever
increasing role in just about every field imaginable.

 Type of sensors: Engine Speed & Crank Location, Air Property Sensors (MAF, MAP,
etc.), Knock Sensor, Throttle Position.

2. Electronic Control Unit:

 Engine Control Unit is a programmable microcontroller based device.

 It takes signals from sensors (in our case two sensors i.e. Position and MAP Sensor) and
decides the Injection and Ignition Timing and Duration of injection at different operating
conditions.

 Engine Control Unit is programmed with open loop control strategy with inbuilt map
control for A/F ratio range.

 The internal operations of ECU are :

o Load Measurement and/or Calculation

 o Timing Mapping

o Fuel Calculations and/or Mapping

o Knock Signal Analysis and Knock Retard

o Fuel and Timing Corrections (coolant temp, air temp, etc.)

3. Output Actuators

 Modern ECU’s have many outputs, but only a few are crucial for engine operation.

 Most important are the fuel injectors and the spark signal

 Secondary outputs include emissions and boost control solenoids, throttle actuation, and
communication outputs.