Gasoline Fuel

System
Fuel tank
 Fuel tank
The fuel tank is made of a thin sheet steel.

Separators serve as “dampers” when the

vehicle starts or stops suddenly or when it is
driving on rough roads, otherwise the liquid
fuel would noisily around inside the tank. It
might even spill out of the tank through the
fuel inlet hose
 Fuel pump
• Since the fuel tank is positioned lower than
the carburetor, the gasoline fuel does not
flow naturally to the carburetor; it needs the
fuel pump.

• Two types of fuel pumps are used: the

mechanical type and the electric type.
Fuel pump
Operation
Intake
Discharge
Idling
 CARBURETORS AND THEIR SYSTEMS

Carburetion & Carburetor

•The process of preparing combustible air fuel mixture in
the petrol engine is called carburetion.
•A device which does this process is called carburetor
(Is a mixing device).
•The carburetor atomizes the fuel and mixes it with air in
correct proportions according to the engine operating
conditions.
 Requirements of Carburetors
The requirements of a good carburetor as follows:
• Easy engine starting, particularly under low
ambient conditions
• Ability to give full power quickly after starting the
engine
• Smooth engine operation at various loads
• Quick acceleration of the engine
• Developing sufficient power at high engine
speeds
• Good fuel economy
• Ensuring full torque at low speeds
• Simple and compact in construction
 Mixture Strength - Air Fuel Ratio
• Air fuel ratio is the ratio of the weight of air to the
weight of fuel supplied to an engine cylinder
during a cycle of operations.
1. Chemically correct (or) Stoichiometric (or)
Theoretical (or) Actual (or) Ideal Air Fuel
Mixture
A mixture that contains just enough air for complete
combustion of the fuel is called a chemically
correct or stoichiometric air fuel ratio. This value for
normally 14.7:1 for gasoline engines
(approximately 15: 1).
2. Lean Mixture (economical air fuel ratio)
• A mixture is said to be lean if it contains more air than
the air quantity in the theoretical mixture.
• It is the ratio consuming the least amount of fuel for a
given power range.
• This ratio (16-18:1) is larger (i.e., leaner) than the
theoretical ratio.
3. Rich Mixture (power air fuel ratio)
• A mixture is said to be rich if it contains more fuel
than the fuel quantity in the theoretical mixture.
Power air-fuel ratio is the ratio providing the
maximum power performance at a given rpm.
• This ratio (12-13:1) is smaller (i.e. richer) than the
theoretical ratio. Contrary to the economical ratio, the
proportion of fuel is increased to permit maximum
combustion of the regulated volume of intake air.
 Desirable Mixture Strength
The approximate proportions of air to fuel (by weight)
for different engine operating conditions are:
 A Simple (or) Elementary Carburetor
• It consists of a float chamber, venturi, discharge
jet or main nozzle, choke valve and throttle valve.
 Float Chamber (or) Float Bowl:
• It consists of a float and needle supply valve.
• This system maintains a constant petrol level
in the float chamber.
QUESTION:
What If the fuel level is too high or is too low
in the float chamber?
 fuel level too high
• fuel will continue to flow from the discharge jet
or main nozzle.
• This will make air fuel mixture become too rich.
• This result in wastage of fuel, engine stall or
poor running and the pollutant exhaust
emissions such as hydrocarbons and carbon
monoxide.
 too low fuel level
• The vacuum in the venturi will not pull enough
fuel out of the float chamber.
• The air fuel mixture will become too lean.
This result in engine stall or poor running.
Venturi (or) Choke Tube:
• Venturi is a tube of decreasing cross section which
reaches a minimum at the throat (restricted section).
• During suction stroke air is drawn through the venturi.
• The air passing through the venturi increasing in
velocity and the pressure in the venturi throat
decreases.
 Main Nozzle (or) Discharge Jet:
• This is a part that directs fuel from the carburetor bowl to the
throat of the venturi.
Throttle Valve:
• The throttle valve is a round disc located between the venturi
and the engine inlet of the induction system. The throttle is
connected to the accelerator pedal by a flexible cable.
• Depressing the accelerator pedal opens the throttle valve and
permits an increased amount of air fuel mixture to reach the
engine cylinders.
• This will increase the power output of the engine and hence the
vehicles speed.
Choke Valve:
It is a valve which is used for controlling the amount of air
passing to the venturi when starting a cold engine.
 Types of Carburetors
1 Based on the direction of air flow
•Up Draught

•Down Draught

•Side Draught
2. Based on the venturi & depression
• Fixed Venturi (or) Constant Choke Carburetor:
The venturi area is always maintained to be
constant. But the depression or vacuum which
cause flow of fuel and air
Examples: Solex, Carter, Stomberg, Weber, and
Zenith Carburetors
• Variable Venturi (or) Constant Vacuum
Carburetor:
The venturi area is being varied as per the demand
on the engine, while the vacuum or depression is
maintained to be always constant.
Example: SU carburetor
 Carburetor Systems
• The fixed venturI carburetor has six systems
and several devices that provide the correct
air-fuel mixture for different operating
conditions. These include:
1. Float System
2. Idle and Low speed System
3. Main-Metering System
4. Power System
5. Accelerator Pump System
6. Choke System
1. Float System
 2. Idle and Low Speed System
• a. Idle System
When the throttle valve is closed or only slightly
open, only a small amount of air can pass
through the air horn. With low air speed, there is
very little vacuum in the venture. No fuel will
feed from the fuel nozzle. To supply fuel during
idle, an idling system is built into the carburetor.
This system has an opening in the side of the
carburetor below the throttle valve. This hole is
called idle port. The port is connected by a
passage to the float bowl or float chamber. In
addition to the idle port, there is an idle-mixture
screw located behind the idle port to control the
amount of mixture discharge through it.
b. Low Speed System
• If the throttle valve is open just a little for low
speed, the edge of the throttle valve moves past
the idle port. More air can flow past the throttle
valve now, reducing the vacuum in the intake
manifold. So less fuel flows from the idle port.
However, the low speed port now comes into
action. The throttle valve has moved past and
above the low speed port. The vacuum in the
intake manifold can act on the low speed
port as well as on the idle port. Both ports
discharge fuel to maintain required amount of
air-fuel mixture for low speed.
 3. Main-Metering System
• If the throttle valve is opened farther, more air
will flow through. This means that there will
be less vacuum in the intake manifold. As a
result, the idle and low speed ports stop
discharging fuel. However, with more air
flow, there is a vacuum in the venturi. This
causes the main nozzle or discharge jet to
discharge fuel. Therefore, fuel gets mixed
with the air passing through.
 4. Power System
• When a driver wants full power, the
accelerator pedal is pushed to the floor (i.e.
to the maximum position). This causes the
throttle valve to open wide. Another system
in the carburetor comes into action to
additional fuel. This system is called power
system. It can be a piston type or metering
rod type.
• In piston type a vacuum piston or diaphragm is
used to lift the metering rod. The space above the
piston is connected to the inlet manifold vacuum.
When there is vacuum in the inlet manifold, the
vacuum holds the piston up. In this position the
metering rod is up and the additional fuel flow is
restricted.
• However, when the throttle is opened wide, the
vacuum is lost and can no longer hold the piston up.
A spring pushes the piston down. This lowers the
metering rod so that additional fuel can flow into the
carburetor. So that a rich mixture is formed and is
delivered to the engine for full power operation.
 Q: what happen if
1. the power valve does not seal well?
2. vacuum escapes from around the power piston, or if the vacuum
passage becomes clogged?
3. the power piston sticks in the up position?

• If the power valve does not seal well, the air-fuel mixture used
in the primary high- speed circuit will be too rich, resulting in
poor fuel economy.
• If vacuum escapes from around the power piston, or if the
vacuum passage becomes clogged, the power piston will
remain down, causing the power valve to remain open, and
the air fuel mixture to be too rich. This will result in poor fuel
economy.
• If, on the other hand, the power piston sticks in the up
position, the power valve will not open (which means that the
power circuit will not operate), resulting in poor acceleration
and insufficient power1
 5, Acceleration Pump System
• There is another operating condition that needs a
rich mixture. This condition occurs when the
accelerator pedal is pushed down suddenly to
increase the speed. when the throttle valve is
suddenly opened, although the amount of air drawn
into the carburetor immediately increases, more
gasoline is not immediately delivered by the main
nozzle (because gasoline is heavier than air). For
this reason, the air-fuel mixture will become
temporarily lean during acceleration unless this is
prevented by the implementation of an acceleration
circuit.
• This can be either piston type or diaphragm type.
• When the accelerator pedal is stepped on, the
gasoline in the pump cylinder is put under pressure
by the pump plunger. This causes the gasoline to
push up outlet steel ball and to be sprayed into
venturi by the pump jet.
• When the accelerator pedal is released, the pump
plunger rises, and the outlet steel ball blocks the
outlet. The inlet steel ball then unblocks the inlet,
allowing gasoline to be drawn up into the pump
cylinder from the float chamber.
Diaphragm type pump
6. CHOKE SYSTEM

Mechanical chock
 Automatic chock
a) During starting
b) AFTER STARTING