S.I.

Engine
Mixture Preparation
Carburetion
Perhaps soon to be obsolete?

Mixture Requirements
Engine induction and fuel system must prepare a
fuel-air mixture that satisfies the requirements
of the engine over its entire operating regime.
Optimum air-fuel ratio for an SI engine is that
which gives
1. required power output
2. with lowest fuel consumption
3. consistent with smooth and reliable operation

Mixture Requirements (Continued)

The constraints of emissions may
dictate a different air-fuel ratio and
also require recycling some exhaust gas.
(EGR)
Relative proportions of fuel and air that give
the above requirements depend on engine
speed and load.
Mixture strength is given in terms of air-fuel or
fuel-air ratio or equivalence ratio.

Mixture Requirements (Continued)

Mixture requirements are different for full load
(wide-open throttle or WOT) and for part-load
operation.
At full load, complete utilization of inducted air to
obtain maximum power for a given displaced
volume is the critical issue.
At part-load at a given speed, efficient utilization of
fuel is the critical issue.
As seen in the next slide, at WOT, maximum power
for a given volumetric efficiency is obtained at a
mixture slightly richer than stoichiometric, 1.1

Mixture Requirements (Continued)

At part-load (or part-throttle) it is advantageous to dilute the
fuel-air mixture with excess air or with recycled exhaust
gas. This dilution improves fuel conversion efficiency for
three reasons:
1. The expansion stroke work is increased for a given
expansion ratio due to the change in thermodynamic
properties,
2. For a given mean effective pressure, the intake pressure
increases with increasing dilution, so pumping work
decreases,
3. Heat losses to the walls are reduced because the
burned gas temperatures are lower.
In the absence of strict NOx emission control, excess air is
the obvious diluent at part load and the engine runs lean

Requirements with emission control

For control of NO, HC and CO, operating the engine with
stoichiometric mixture is advantageous so that a threeway catalyst can be used for emission control. In such a
case, for further decrease in NO the diluent used is EGR.
Amount used will depend on the EGR tolerance of the
engine at a given speed and load based on the details of
the engine combustion process.
Increasing excess air or EGR will slow down the
combustion process and increase combustion variability
so as load decreases, less dilution must be provided and
at idle, no EGR may be used and mixture will have to be
made rich.

What is carburetion?
The process of formation of a combustible fuel-air
mixture by mixing the proper amount of fuel with
air before it is admitted into the engine cylinder.
Comes from the words car and burette because
the carburetor meters the appropriate quantity
of liquid fuel (like a burette) and mixed it with air
before sending the mixture into the engine
cylinder.

Factors affecting Carburetion

1.

2.
3.
4.

Engine speed. In a 4-stroke engine running at 3000

rev/min, the intake will take about 10 ms during which
the fuel has to evaporate, mix with air and be inducted
into the engine.
Vaporization characteristics of the fuel. Will require a
volatile fuel for quick evaporation and mixing with air.
The temperature of the in coming air. Must be high
enough to be able to evaporate the fuel and yet not too
high as to reduce mass of fresh charge.
Design of the carburetor. This will help in proper
introduction of fuel into the air stream and provide
proper distribution of the mixture to the various
cylinders.

Calculation of Air-fuel Ratio

Applying the steady flow energy equation to
sections A-A and B-B per unit mass flow of air:

1 2
2

q w h2 h1 C2 C1
2

Here, q and w are the heat and work transfers

from the entrance to the throat and h and C
stand for enthalpy and velocity respectively.
If we assume reversible adiabatic conditions, and
there is no work transfer, q=0, w=0, and if
approach velocity C10 we get

C2

2 h1 h2

If air is assumed to be a perfect gas we get

h c pT hence we can write
C2 2c p T1 T2
Assume flow from inlet to throat to be isentropic
1

T2 p2

then

T1 p1

p2

T1 T2 T1 1

p1

Substituting for T1 T2 from Eq. 5 in Eq. 3, we get

p2

C 2 2c p T1 1

p1

( 6)

By the continuity equation we can write down the theoretical mass flow rate of air
.

m a 1 A1C1 2 A2 C 2

(7 )

where A1 and A2 are the cross-sectional areas at the air inlet (point 1)
and venturi throat (point 2).
To calculate the mass flow rate of air at the throat, we have assumed the flow to be
isentropic till the throat so the equation relating p and v (or ) can be used.

p1v1 p2 v2

p1
p2

1
2

(8 B)

(8 A)

p2
2 1
p1

 p2
m a 1
p1

A2

p2

2c p T1 1

p1

p2

ma
p1
.

Thus

(9)

p1
1
RT1

For a perfect gas we have

(9 A)

p2
p1

A2 2c p T1 1

RT1
p1

(10 A)

and rearranging the above equation we have

ma

A2 p1
R T1

p2

2c p
p1

p2

p1

(10 B )

Since the fluid flowing in the intake is air, we can put in the approximate
values of R = 287 J/kgK, cp = 1005 J/kgK and = 1.4 at 300K.

A2 p1 p 2

ma 0.1562
T1 p1

1.43

0.1562

A2 p1

p2

p1

where

T1

1.43

p2

p1

p2

p1

1.71

(11)

1.71

Here, pressure p is in N/m2, area A is in m2,and temperature T is in K.

If we take the ambient temperature T1 = 300Kand ambient pressure
p1 = 105 N/m2, then
.

ma 901.8 A2

(12)

Equation 11 gives the theoretical mass flow rate of air. The actual mass flow rate,
.

, can be obtained by multiplying the equation by the coefficient of discharge

for the venturi, Cd,a. Thus
.

ma

where

C d ,a

ma 0.1562 C d ,a

ma

A2 p1
T1

(13)

(14)

ma

The coefficient of discharge and area are both constant for a given venturi, thus
.

ma

p1
T1

(15)

Since we have to determine the air-fuel ratio, we now calculate the fuel flow
rate.
The fuel is a liquid before mixing with the air, it can be taken to be incompressible.
We can apply Bernoullis equation between the atmospheric conditions prevailing
at the top of the fuel surface in the float bowl, which corresponds to point 1 and
the point where the fuel will flow out, at the venturi, which corresponds to point 2.
Fuel flow will take place because of the drop in pressure at point 1 due to the
venturi effect. Thus

C 2f

p1
p2

gz
f f
2

(16)

where f is the density of the fuel in kg/m3, Cf is the velocity of the fuel
at the exit of the fuel nozzle (fuel jet), and z is the depth of the jet exit
below the level of fuel in the float bowl. This quantity must always be
above zero otherwise fuel will flow out of the jet at all times. The value
of z is usually of the order of 10 mm.
From Eq. 16 we can obtain an expression for the fuel velocity at the jet exit as

p1 p 2

C f 2
gz
f

(17)

Applying the continuity equation for the fuel, we can obtain the theoretical
.
.
mass flow rate,

mf

mf f A f C f

A f 2 f p1 p 2 f gz

(18)

where Af is the exit area of the fuel jet in m2. If Cd,f is the coefficient of discharge
.
of the fuel nozzle (jet) given by

Cd , f

mf

(19)

mf
.

then

m f C d , f A f 2 f p1 p 2 f gz

(20)

Air
A ma
.
Fuel F m
f

Since

C d ,a A2
A
0.1562
F
Cd , f A f
If we put p

p1 p 2

(21)

p1

2 f T1 p1 p 2 f gz

(22)

, we get the following equation for the air-fuel ratio

a
f

A C d ,a A2

F Cd , f A f
where

p2

p1

p a

pa f gz

p2

p1

p2
1
p1

1
2

(23)

(24)

For the normal carburetor operating range, where

p a
0.1
p1

, the effects of compressibility which reduce below 1.0 are small.

The equivalence ratio, , where

A

F

A
F

(25)

is given by

C d ,a A2
Cd , f A f

a
f

f gz

p a

1
2

(26)

In Eq. 22, if we take T1 = 300K and p1 = 105 N/m2 then

C d ,a A2
A
901.8
F
Cd , f A f

2 f p1 p 2 f gz

(27)

The coefficient of discharge defined in Eq 19 represents the effect of all deviations

from the ideal one-dimensional isentropic flow. It is influenced by many factors of
which the most important are: 1.Fluid mass flow rate,
2.Orifice length-to-diameter ratio,
3.Orifice area-to-approach area ratio,
4.Orifice surface area,
5.Orifice surface roughness,
6.Orifice inlet and exit chamfers,
7.Fluid specific gravity,
8.Fluid viscosity, and
9.Fluid surface tension.

The use of the orifice Reynolds number

VDo
Re o

(28)

as a correlating parameter for the coefficient

of discharge accounts for the effects of
mass flow rate, fluid density and viscosity,
and length scale to a good approximation.
The discharge coefficient of a typical
carburetor main fuel-metering system
orifice increases smoothly with increasing
orifice Reynolds number, Reo.

Air-fuel ratio neglecting

compressibility of air
If we assume air to be incompressible,
then we can apply Bernoullis equation to
air flow also. Since initial velocity is
Thus
assumed zero, we have
p1
p 2 C 22

(29)
a a
2
Thus

p1 p 2
C 2 2

(30)

.
Applying the continuity
equation
for the fuel, we can obtain the theoretical mass
.
, from
flow rate,
ma a A2 C 2
a

A2 2 a p1 p 2

(31)

where A2 is the venturi in m2.. If Cd,a is the coefficient of discharge of the

venturi given by
ma

C d ,a

ma
.

then

(32)

m a C d ,a A2 2 a p1 p 2
.

Since

Air
A ma
.
Fuel F m
f

(34)

(33)

A C d ,a A2

F Cd , f A f
A C d ,a A2

F Cd , f A f

a p1 p 2
f p1 p 2 f gz
a
f

p1 p 2

p 2 f gz

If we assume z = 0, then

A C d ,a A2

F Cd , f A f

a
f

(36)

(35)

(35 A)

Carburetor Performance
In Eq. 26, the terms A1, A2, a, and f are all
constant for a given carburetor, fuel, and ambient
conditions. Also, for very low flows, pa fgz.
However, the discharge coefficients Cd,a and Cd,f
and , all vary with flow rate. Hence, the
equivalence ratio delivered by an elementary
carburetor is not constant.

Figure shows the performance of an

elementary carburetor. The top graph shows the
variation of Cd,a and Cd,f and with the venturi
pressure drop. For pa fgz, there is no fuel flow.
Once fuel starts to flow, the fuel flow rate
increases more rapidly than the air flow rate. The
carburetor delivers a mixture of increasing
equivalence ratio as the flow rate increases.

Discussion of Figure
Suppose the venturi and fuel orifice (jet) are sized
to give a stoichiometric mixture at an air flow rate
corresponding to 1 kN/m2 venturi pressure drop
(middle graph of Fig). At higher flow rates, the
carburetor will deliver a fuel-rich mixture. At very
high flow rates the carburetor will deliver an
essentially constant equivalence ratio. At lower air
flow rates, the mixture delivered leans out rapidly.
Thus, the elementary carburetor cannot provide
the variation in mixture ratio which the engine
requires over the complete load range at any
given speed.

Summary of the Deficiencies of

the Elementary Carburetor
1.
2.
3.

4.
5.

At low loads, the mixture becomes leaner; the engine

requires the mixture to be enriched at low loads. The mixture
is richest at idle.
At intermediate loads, the equivalence ratio increases
slightly as the air flow rate increases; the engine requires an
almost constant equivalence ratio.
As the air flow approaches the maximum (WOT) value, the
equivalence ratio remains essentially constant; the engine
requires an equivalence ratio of about 1.1 at maximum
engine power.
The elementary carburetor cannot compensate for transient
phenomena in the intake manifold. It also cannot provide a
rich mixture during engine starting and warm-up.
It cannot adjust to changes in ambient air density due to
changes in altitude.

Modern Carburetor Design

The changes required in the elementary carburetor so that it
provides the equivalence ratio required at various air flow rates
are as follows.
1. The main metering system must be compensated to provide a
constant lean or stoichiometric mixture over 20 to 80% of the air
flow range.
2. An idle system must be added to meter the fuel flow at idle and
light loads to provide a rich mixture.
3. An enrichment system must be provided so that the engine can
get a rich mixture as WOT conditions is approached and
maximum power can be obtained.
4. An accelerator pump must be provided so that additional fuel
can be introduced into the engine only when the throttle is
suddenly opened.
5. A choke must be added to enrich the mixture during cold starting
and warm-up to ensure that a combustible mixture is provided to
each cylinder at the time of ignition.
6. Altitude compensation is necessary to adjust the fuel flow which
makes the mixture rich when air density is lowered.
7. Increase in the magnitude of the pressure drop available for
controlling the fuel flow is provided by introducing boost
venturis (Venturis in series) or Multiple-barrel carburetors
(Venturis in parallel).