STRATIFIED CHARGING

Constructors of gasoline engines are faced with higher and higher requirements as regards to
ecological issues and an increase in engine efficiency at a simultaneous decrease in fuel
consumption. Satisfaction of these requirements is possible owing to the recognition of the
phenomena occurring inside the engine cylinder, the choice of suitable optimal parameters of the
fuel injection process, and the determination of the geometrical shapes of the combustion chamber
and the piston head. All these parameters indeed have a considerable impact on the improvement
of gasoline engines performance, and they increase their efficiency.
The increase in the engine efficiency is basically the result of the change in the fuel supply method,
that is by proper regulation of the petrol-air mixture composition depending on the rotational speed
and load. This is why the lean mixture combustion in the gasoline engine. Further lowering of the
temperature during the development of the fuel-air mixture, which is an outcome of the heat being
taken away from the evaporated spout by the surrounding air, makes it possible to increase the
compression ratio, which translates to the increase of the ideal efficiency.
A stratified charge engine is a type of internal combustion engine, used in automobiles, in which the
fuel is injected into the cylinder just before ignition. This allows for higher compression ratios
without "knock," and leaner air/fuel ratio than in conventional internal combustion engines.
Conventionally, a four-stroke (petrol or
gasoline) Otto cycle engine is fuelled by
drawing a mixture of air and fuel into the
combustion chamber during the intake stroke.
This produces a homogeneous charge: a
homogeneous mixture of air and fuel, which is
ignited by a spark plug at a predetermined
moment near the top of the compression
stroke.
In a homogeneous charge system, the air/fuel
ratio is kept very close to stoichiometric,
meaning it contains the exact amount of air
necessary for a complete combustion of the fuel. This gives stable combustion, but it places an
upper limit on the engine's efficiency: any attempt to improve fuel economy by running a lean
mixture with a homogeneous charge results in unstable combustion; this impacts on power and
emissions, notably of nitrogen oxides or NOx.

Period t1 from the fuel injection moment to contact of the stream with the piston head, including
air resistance

Period t2 from the moment of entry into curvature of the piston head to the half-length of the
curvature, including frictional resistance between the fuel stream and the piston head

Period t3 from the half-length of the piston head curvature to the moment when the fuel stream
exits the head, including both frictional and air resistances for the evaporating fuel

Period t4 from exit the curvature of the piston head to the moment when the fuel stream reaches
the sparking plug points.

Advantages
Direct fuelling of petrol engines offers considerable advantages over port-fuelling, a type of fuel
injection in which the fuel injectors are placed in the intake ports, giving homogeneous charges.
Powerful electronic management systems mean that there is no significant cost penalty. With the

further impetus of tightening emissions legislation, the motor industry in Europe and North America
has now almost switched completely to direct fuelling for the new petrol engines it is introducing.
High compression ratio
First, a higher mechanical compression ratio (or, with super-charged or turbo-charged engines,
maximum combustion pressure) may be used for better thermodynamic efficiency. Since fuel is not
present in the combustion chamber until virtually the point at which combustion is required to
begin, there is no risk of pre-ignition or engine knock.
Lean burn
The engine may also run on a much leaner overall air/fuel ratio, using stratified charge, in which a
small charge of a rich fuel mixture is ignited first and used to improve combustion of a larger charge
of a lean fuel mixture.

Disadvantages
Disadvantages include:

Increased injector cost and complexity

Higher fuel pressure requirements
Carbon build-up on the back of the intake valve[citation needed] due to the lack of gasoline
passing by the intake valve to act as a cleaning agent for the valve on traditional multi-port
injection designs
Increased NOx formation, due to the presence of local extremely rich zones. These zones are
not present in a gasoline engine, because the air and fuel is better mixed.
Combustion management
Combustion can be problematic if a lean mixture is present at the spark plug. However,
fuelling a petrol engine directly allows more fuel to be directed towards the spark-plug than
elsewhere in the combustion-chamber. This results in a stratified charge: one in which the
air/fuel ratio is not homogeneous throughout the combustion-chamber, but varies in a
controlled (and potentially quite complex) way across the volume of the cylinder.

Charge stratification can also be achieved where there is no 'in cylinder' stratification: the inlet
mixture can be so lean that it is unable to be ignited by the limited energy provided by a
conventional spark plug. This exceptionally lean mixture can, however, be ignited by the use of a
conventional mixture strength of 12-15:1, in the case of a petrol fuelled engine, being fed into a
small combustion chamber adjacent to and connected to the main lean-mixture chamber. The large
flame front from this burning mixture is sufficient to combust the charge. It can be seen from this
method of charge stratification that the lean charge is 'burnt' and the engine utilising this form of
stratification is no longer subject to ' knock' or uncontrolled combustion. The fuel being burnt in the
lean charge is therefore not 'knock' or octane restricted. This type of stratification therefore can
utilise a wide variety of fuels; the specific energy output being dependent only on the calorific value
of the fuel.

A relatively rich air/fuel mixture is directed to the spark-plug using multi-hole injectors. This mixture
is sparked, giving a strong, even and predictable flame-front. This in turn results in a high-quality
combustion of the much weaker mixture elsewhere in the cylinder.

Comparison with diesel engine

It is worth comparing contemporary directly fuelled petrol engines with direct-injection diesel
engines. Petrol can burn faster than diesel fuel, allowing higher maximum engine speeds and thus
greater maximum power for sporting engines. Diesel fuel, on the other hand, has a higher energy
density, and in combination with higher combustion pressures can deliver very strong torque and
high thermodynamic efficiency for more "normal" road vehicles.
This comparison of 'burn' rates is a rather simplistic view. Although Petrol and Diesel engines appear
similar in operation, the two types operate on entirely different principles. In earlier manufactured
editions the external characteristics were obvious. Most petrol engines were carburetted, sucking
the fuel/air mixture into the engine, while the diesel only sucked in air and the fuel was directly
injected at high pressure into the cylinder. In the conventional four-stroke petrol engine the spark
plug commences to ignite the mixture in the cylinder at up to forty degrees before top dead centre
while the piston is still travelling up the bore. Within this movement of the piston up the bore,
controlled combustion of the mixture takes place and the maximum pressure occurs just after top
dead centre, with the pressure diminishing as the piston travels down the bore. i.e. the cylinder
volume in relation to the cylinder pressure-time generation remains essentially constant over the
combustion cycle. Diesel motor operation on the other hand inhales and compresses air only by the
motion of the piston moving to top dead centre. At this point maximum cylinder pressure has been
reached. The fuel is now injected into the cylinder and the fuel ' burn' or expansion is started at this
point by the high temperature of the, now compressed, air. As the fuel burns it expands exerting
pressure on the piston, which in turn develops torque at the crankshaft. It can be seen that the
diesel motor is operating at constant pressure. As the gas expands the piston is also moving down
the cylinder. By this process the piston and subsequently the crank experiences a greater torque,
which is also exerted over a longer time interval than its petrol equivalent.

SUBMITTTED BY:
1.

HARIOM SINGHANI (BT13MEC080)

2.

SOMESH SAURABH (BT13MEC081)

3.

SUMEDH WARADE (BT13MEC084)