High Pressure Electronic Fuel Injection for Small Displacement Single Cylinder Diesel Engines

Abstract

Smalldisplacement singlecylinder diesel engines employ mechanically actuated fuel injection systems. These mechanically governed systems, while robust and low cost, lack the ability to fully vary injection parameters, such as timing, pulse duration, and injection pressure. The ability of a particular injection system to vary these injection parameters impacts engine efficiency, power, noise, and emissions. Modern, multicylinder automotive engines employ some form of electronically controlled injection to take advantage of the benefits of fully variable injection, including advanced strategies such as multipulse injections and rate shaping. Modern diesel electronic fuel injection (EFI) systems also operate at considerably higher injection pressures than mechanical fuel systems used in smallbore industrial engines. As the cost of electronic fuel systems continues to decrease and the demand for highefficiency engines increases, EFI becomes a more viable option for incorporation into small industrial diesel engines. In particular, this technology may be wellsuited for demanding and critical applications, such as military power generation. In this study, a smallbore singlecylinder diesel was retrofit with a custom highpressure EFI system. Compared to the mechanical injector, the electronic, commonrail injector had a 50% smaller orifice diameter and was designed for a fourfold higher injection pressure. The mechanical governor was also replaced with an electronic speed controller. The baseline and modified engines were installed on a dynamometer, and measurements of exhaust emissions, fuel consumption, brake torque, and incylinder pressure were made. The electronic injector leads to lower smoke opacity and NOx emissions, while CO and hydrocarbon emissions were observed to increase slightly, likely due to some wall wetting of fuel with the initial prototype injector. Testing with low ignition quality fuels was also performed, and the electronic fuel system enabled the engine to operate with fuel having a cetane number as low as 30.