Unit 2 : Diesel Engines

Syllabus: Diesel Engines: Working principle. combustion and pressure rise. Fuel injection
systems, jerk pump, fuel injector, modern fuel injection systems, CRDI system, Algorithm of
ignition timing calculation and Injection duration calculation. Application of Artificial Intelligence
in engine management system.

Q1: Explain with a neat sketch the working of a 4 stroke diesel engine?

The induction stroke, during which only air is taken in, as a result of the partial vacuum or
depression produced by the retreating piston.
The compression stroke, in which the advancing piston compresses the air into the very small
volume of the combustion chamber and increases its temperature high enough to make sure
self-ignition of the fuel charge. This demands compression pressures significantly in excess of
those employed in the petrol engine.

The power stroke, Diesel is sprayed has fine droplets in to turbulent hot air to catch fire in no
time and during which the gases of combustion expand and perform useful work on the
retreating piston.

The exhaust stroke, during which the products of combustion are purged from the cylinder and
combustion chamber by the advancing piston and discharged into the exhaust system. As in the
case of petrol engine, the timing for the opening and closing of the inlet and exhaust valves and
that for injecting the fuel, departs from the basic four-stroke operating cycle

Q2: What are the major differences between petrol and diesel engines?

Note: The answers are elaborate and sometimes repeated, only for better understanding.
Answer according to marks.

The following are the differences between petrol and diesel engines
Q3: Why are diesel engines called as CI engines?

A CI engine is an engine in which the air and fuel mixture is ignited by the heat of
compression and therefore called as Compression Ignition(CI) engine. The diesel fuel
sprayed in to the air compressed to a very high pressure(35 bar) and high temperature
(6000C) catches fire( ignites).

Q: What are the differences between petrol and diesel?

Petrol is highly volatile( vaporizes easily ) and mixes with air forming a homogeneous
mixture but diesel is oily, sticks to your fingers ( do not vaporize easily) and therefore
difficult mix with air. It is reason why they are being burnt differently inside the engine.

Diesel is cheaper (Rs 69/litre) compared to petrol ( Rs 75.20/litre). also the density of
diesel is about 0.832 kg/L about 11.6% more than petrol (gasoline), which has a density
of about 0.745 kg/L.

Q4: what is clearance volume?

Volume above the piston when it is in TDC( top dead centre).

Q4: What is compression ratio?

Q4: What is the range of compression ratio of diesel engines?

The compression ratios are higher in the order of 18 : 1 upto 23:1.

Q4: What is the range of compression ratio of Petrol engines?

The compression ratios are kept lower to prevent the air and petrol mixture catching fire before
the end of compression stroke. Typical ratios are in the order of 7 : 1 upto 14:1.
Q2: What is the major difference in combustion for a petrol engine to a diesel engine?

The major difference between diesel and gasoline is the way these explosions happen. In a
gasoline engine, fuel is mixed with air, compressed by pistons and ignited by sparks from spark
plugs. In a diesel engine, however, the air is compressed first, and then the fuel is injected.

Q8: What are the four stages in diesel combustion?

The combustion in a CI engine is considered to be taking place in four stages:

i) Ignition delay period/pre-flame combustion

ii) Rapid combustion/uncontrolled combustion
iii) Controlled combustion and
iv) After-burning

i) Ignition delay period: ignition delay (0.7-3ms) period is counted from the start injection
to the point where the pressure time curve separates from the compression curve
indicated as start of combustion. The delay period in the CI engine influence both
engine design and performance
ii) Rapid combustion: the period of rapid combustion also called the uncontrolled
combustion, is that phase in which the pressure rise rapid. The period of rapid
combustion is counted from the beginning of the combustion to the point of maximum
pressure on the indicator diagram.
iii) Controlled Combustion: The temperature and pressure in the second stage is
already quite high. Hence the fuel droplets injected during the second stage burn faster
with reduced ignition delay as soon as they find necessary oxygen and any father
pressure rise is controlled by the injection rate. The period of controlled combustion is
assumed to end at maximum cycle temperature.
iv) After burning: combustion does not cease with the completion of the injection
process. The unburnt and partially burnt fuel particles left in the combustion chamber
start burning as soon as they come into contact with the oxygen. The process continues
for a certain duration called the after burning period.

Q7: What is ignition delay?

Ignition delay is the time between fuel injection and fuel ignition. During this time the fuel get
mixed with hot compressed air and vaporizes. After the ignition delay, spontaneous ignition of
the fuel occurs. The longer the ignition delay, more fuel will be injected and vaporizes inside the
combustion chamber.

Q: Explain the procedure of ignition timing with an algorathim. or

Q) Explain the procedure for Ignition timing calculation.

Explain how Ignition advance can be controlled electronically.
Data relating to the ideal ignition timing for a particular engine are collected from dynamometer
tests and operational tests in the vehicle. These data are stored in the form of look-up tables in
ROM. These look-up tables hold data relative to the speed and load of the engine. The number
of look-up values is determined by the computing power of the microcontroller, in other words
the number of bits, as this determines the size of memory that can be addressed. Inputs from
speed and load sensors are converted to digital numbers and these form the reference to find
the ideal timing value. A value can also be looked up for the temperature correction. These two
digital numbers are now added to give a final figure. Further corrections can be added in this
way for conditions such as overrun and even barometric pressure if required. This ‘timing
number’ is used to set the point at which the coil is switched off; that is, the actual ignition
point. The ECU receives a timing pulse from the ‘missing flywheel tooth’ and starts a ‘down
counter’. The coil is fired (switched off) when the counter reaches the ‘timing number’. The
computing of the actual ‘timing number’ is represented by Figure.
.

To prevent engine damage caused by detonation or combustion knock, but still allow the timing
to be set as far advanced as possible, a knock sensor is used. The knock sensor (accelerometer)
detects the onset of combustion knock, but the detection process only takes place in a ‘knock
window’. This window is just a few degrees of crankshaft rotation either side of top dead centre
compression for each cylinder. This window is the only time knock can occur and is also a quiet
time as far as valve opening and closing is concerned. The sensor is tuned to respond to a
particular frequency range of about 5–10 kHz, which also helps to eliminate erroneous signals.
The resonant frequency of this type of accelerometer is greater than about 25 kHz. The signal
from the knock sensor is filtered and integrated in the ECU. A detection circuit determines a
yes/no answer to whether the engine knocked or not. When knock is detected on a particular
cylinder, the timing for that cylinder is retarded by a set figure, often 2 °, each time the cylinder
fires, until the knocking stops. The timing is then advanced more slowly back towards the look-
up value. Figure below represents this process in more detail.

Q: Explain the procedure of ignition timing with an algorathim.

Q)Explain the procedure for Injection timing calculation.

The main criteria for the quantity of fuel required for injection are engine speed and load.
Further corrections are then added. Figure 10.62 represents the process carried out in a digital
electronic control unit to calculate injection duration. The process of injection duration
calculation is summarized as follows.

Q: Explain the working of a CRDI engine with a schematic diagram of the essential
components.
Common-rail direct injection is a direct fuel injection system for diesel engines. Third-generation
common-rail diesels now feature piezoelectric injectors for increased precision. High pressure
injection delivers power and fuel consumption benefits over earlier lower pressure fuel injection,
by injecting fuel as a larger number of smaller droplets, giving a much higher ratio of surface
area to volume. This provides improved vaporization from the surface of the fuel droplets, and so
more efficient combining of atmospheric oxygen with vaporized fuel delivering more complete
and cleaner combustion.

The line diagram of CRDI shows that the system is controlled by ECU. The sensors in the
system are used to feed the input in the ECU. ECU will provide the signal to the injectors on the
basis of engine factors like engine load, engine speed, temperature etc. The required quantity of
fuel in required time will be calculated by it.

In common-rail systems, a high-pressure pump stores a reservoir of fuel at high pressure — up to

and above 2,000 bars (200 MPa; 29,000 psi). The term "common rail" refers to the fact that all of
the fuel injectors are supplied by a common fuel rail which is nothing more than a pressure
accumulator where the fuel is stored at high pressure. This accumulator supplies multiple fuel
injectors with high-pressure fuel. This simplifies the purpose of the high-pressure pump in that it
only needs to maintain a target pressure (either mechanically or electronically controlled). The
fuel injectors are typically ECU-controlled.

In the system the advance solenoid fuel injectors will be used instead of using conventional
injectors. In this system a common fuel distribution pipe is used to distribute the fuel evenly for
all cylinders. That is why the system is called common rail system. This helps to maintain the
pressure and the fuel can be stored here. So the supply and storage is maintained constant to the
solenoid injectors by the common rail. In the modern engine with CRDI the injectors are used
with turbocharger to increase the efficiency. It helps to reduce emissions and improves power
output.

Q:What are the basic components of a CRDI system?

Q:What are the features which make CRDI so popular? OR

Q:What are the advantages of CRDI engine?

CRDI systems have the following features which make them desirable than ever before.

This has a high pressure pump and a rail which acts as a reservoir which lead to the
following advantages

 Higher injection pressures results in larger number of smaller droplets, giving a much
higher ratio of surface area to volume. This provides improved vaporization from the
surface of the fuel droplets, and so takes less time to complete combustion(Higher fuel
efficiency)

 Even at low engine speeds the desired pressure is achieved, so combustion is efficient at
all engine speeds.

Solenoid or piezoelectric valves make possible fine electronic control over the fuel-
injection time and quantity. As many as 7 injections are possible leading to the following
advantages

 To lower engine noise, the engine's electronic control unit can inject a small amount of
diesel ("pilot" injection), just before the main injection event, thus reducing sudden rise in
pressure (explosiveness and vibration)

 Main injection produces a prolonged pressure on the piston as it rotates during the power
stroke. so more torque even at low speeds.

 ECU works in close loop with sensors like oxygen sensor and therefore lowers emissions
and also leads to better response from the engine

 Optimizing injection timing and quantity for variations in fuel quality for cold starting,
and so on.