Fuel Injection

1. Introduction.

It is the most effective component that affects the performance and operation
mainly of C.I. engines. Basically, both fuel injection and carburetion systems have the
same aim, which is the preparation and supply of combustible mixture to the engine as
per the engine requirements. However, they perform this task differently. For example

(A) Fuel Atomization: both systems have to atomize the fuel before igniting it for
proper mixing with the air. For the Carburetor, this depends on the incoming air
velocity, which has to be greater than the fuel velocity, whereas for the injector, the
fuel speed at the point of injection has to be greater.

(B) Fuel supply: For the case of carburetor, the amount of fuel supply depends on
the amount of air velocity passing through the throat, whereas for the injector it
depends on the pump pressure.

2. Objectives of Fuel Injection Systems.

Especially for C.I. engines, injection system must satisfy the following requirements:

(A) Meter the correct amount of fuel as per engine demand,

(B) Equally distribute this fuel among all cylinders,
(C) Inject this fuel inside the cylinder at the correct time and rate,
(D) Inject this fuel into the cylinder with a proper pattern and atomization as
the combustion chamber design demands,
(E) Start and end of injection should be sharp without dribbling or after
injection,
(F) Injection timing should vary as per engine load and speed and
(G) It should maintain all the above requirements throughout its operational life
with higher degree of reliability.

To accomplish these requirements, a number of functional elements are needed. They

include:

(A) Pumping Element (to move the fuel from the tank to the cylinder),
(B) Metering Element (to measure and supply the fuel at rate as per the engine
demand),
(C) Metering Control (to adjust the rate of fuel metering element as per engine
demands),
(D) Timing Control (to adjust the start and end of the injection process),
(E) Mixing Element (to atomize and distribute the fuel inside the combustion
chamber).

3. Classification of Injection systems.

For producing the required pressure for preparation of the fuel, either air or
mechanical means are used.
(A) Air Injection System : in this system, fuel is forced into the cylinder by means of
compressed air. This is rarely used nowadays as it is bulky and requires multi-stage
compressors. It has certain advantages of producing good mixing between the air
and fuel and it allows the use of cheaper and higher viscosity fuels.
(B) Solid Injection System : this is also called “Air-Less Mechanical Injection”. In this
system, liquid alone is injected into the cylinder.

4. Injection pump governor.

As the fuel delivered is dependent on the injection pump characteristics and air
intake, some means of control on the amount to be supplied by the pump has to be
applied to correct the amount of fuel supplied as per the engine demand. This is done
by means of a governor, which may be either mechanical or pneumatic type. Example:
As the engine speed increases, the amount of the fuel delivered by the pump also
increases at the same time the engine’s volumetric efficiency decreases, if no
correction is made on the amount of fuel supply this results in excess fueling at higher
speeds. At idling speeds the opposite situation occurs and engines stalls due to fuel
deficiency. Further, as the engine load increases, the fuel supplied by the pump
increases causing excessive carbon deposits. These variations of engine demand as
well as fuel supply by pump must be adjusted and controlled. This is done by the
governor.

5. Fuel Injector.
The design of the fuel injector affects the rate and degree of completeness of
the fuel combustion process. By atomizing the fuel to very fine droplets, its surface
area increases and hence more rapid evaporation and better mixing of fuel with air
inside the cylinder takes place. This results in a better and fast combustion of the fuel.
The proper atomization of the fuel depends on the injection pressure.
The injector consists of: Needle Valve, Compression Spring, Nozzle and Injector
body. The main requirements of the injection nozzle are:
(1st) Proper atomization of the fuel,
(2nd) Distribution of the fuel as per the combustion chamber design (this is
affected by injection pressure, fuel physical properties like viscosity and
S.I.T. and finally on the density of air inside cylinder),
(3rd) Allow for proper mixing with the air and
(4th) Prevention of impingement of fuel on the cylinder walls.

6. Nozzle.

Nozzle is that part of an injector through which the liquid fuel is sprayed into the
combustion chamber. The nozzle should fulfill the following functions:

(i) Atomization: This is a very important function since it is the first phase in obtaining
proper mixing of the fuel and air in the combustion chamber.
(ii) Distribution of Fuel: Distribution of fuel to the required areas within the combustion
chamber. Factors affecting the distribution of the fuel are:
(a) Injection Pressure: Higher the injection pressure better the dispersion and
penetration of the fuel into all the desired location in combustion chamber.
 (b) Density of Air in the cylinder: If the density of compressed air in the combustion
chamber is high then the resistance to the movement of the droplets is higher and
dispersion of the fuel is better.
(c) Physical Properties of Fuel: The properties like self-ignition temperature, vapour
pressure, viscosity, etc. play an important role in the distribution of fuel.

(iii) Prevention of impingement on walls: Prevention of the fuel from impinging directly
on the walls of combustion chamber’s piston. This is necessary because fuel striking
the walls decomposes and produces carbon deposits.
(iv) Mixing: Proper mixing between the air anf fuel in case of non-turbulent
combustion chamber should be taken care of by the nozzle.
The injection process follows certain stages as shown in the figure (follow lecturer).
Now, at the exit of the fuel jet, the fuel velocity Uf is of the order of 400 m/s and is
given by the following equation :
2 * ( Pinj  Pcyl )
U f  CD (m/s)
f
Where : CD : coefficint of discharge for the orifice
Pinj : fuel pressure at the inlet to injector (Pa)
Pcyl : cylinder pressure (Pa)
f : density of the fuel (kg/m3)

The spray from a circular orifice has a denser and compact core, surrounded by a
cone of fuel drovlets of various sizes and vaporized liquid. Larger droplets provide a
higher penetration into the chamber hut smaller droplets are required for quick
mixing and evaporation of the fuel. The diameter of most of the droplets in a fuel
spray is less than 5 microns. The droplet sizes depends on various factors which are
listed below:
(A) Mean droplet size decreases with increase in injection pressure.
(B) Mean droplet size decreaces with increase in air density.
(C) Mean droplet size increases with increase in fuel viscosity.
(D) Size of droplets increases with increase in the size of the orifice

The quantity of the fuel injected per cycle depends to a great extent upon the
power output of the engine. As already mentioned the fuel is supplied into the
combustion chamber through the nozzle holes and the velocity of the fuel for good
atomization is of the order of 400 m s. The velocity of the fuel through nozzle orifice
in terms of h can be given by :
U f  2* g *h (m/s)
where h is the pressure difference between injection and cylinder pressure measured in
m of fuel column.

The volume of the fuel injected per second, Q , is given by :

Q = Area of all orifices * fuel jet velocity * time of one injection * number of
injections per second for one orifice
This can be mathematically written as follows :
 .
π 2   θ 60 
Q   * d orifice * n  * U * *  * psps (m3/s)
 4  f  360 N

Where : N : engine RPM

dorifice : diameter of one orifice (m)
n : number of orifices
Ninj : number of injections per minute
 : is the duration of injection in crank angle degrees

The rate of fuel injected/degree of crankshaft rotation is a function of injector

camshaft velocity, the diameter of injector or plunger and flow area of the tip orifice.
Increasing the rate of injection decreases the duration of injection for a given fuel
input and subsequently introduces a chance in injection timing. A higher rate of
injection may permit injection timing to be retarded from optimum value. This helps in
maintaining fuel economy without excessive smoke emission. However, increase in
injection rate requires an increase in injection pressure and increase in the load on the
injector push rod and the cam. This may affect the durability and life of the injector
and engine.

7. Fuel Injection for S.I. Engines.

Presently, fuel injection systems are being used for fuel supply in the S.I.
engines. This is due to the following drawbacks of the conventional carburetor system:
(1st) Uneven distribution of fuel to cylinders for multi-cylinder engines.
(2nd) Loss of volumetric efficiency due to many restrictions on airflow path.
(3rd) Risk of backfire.
(4th) Surging of the fuel tank during tilting or acrobatic movement of the car.
(5th) Loss of fuel due to evaporation from the secondary fuel tank.
(6th) Carburetors icing at lower atmospheric temperature.

 The main advantages of fuel injection systems are
(1st) Better fuel distribution among cylinders for multi-cylinder engines.
(2nd) Improved volumetric efficiency due to lesser restrictions on airflow path.
(3rd) Freedom from carburetor icing and backfire.
(4th) Absence of fuel surging.
(5th) Better starting and acceleration of engine.

 The main disadvantages of the fuel injection systems are :
(A) More noisy operation due to high pressure pump.
(B) More weight and bulky system.
(C) Higher initial and maintenance cost.