Internal Combustion Laboratory

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Experiment No 08
ELECTRONIC INJECTION SYSTEM IN S.I.
ENGINE
AIM OF EXPERIMENT: Study of MPFI/SPFI and Carburettor
system.
Modern carburettors, though highly developed, have certain inherent drawbacks: -

(i) In multi-cylinder engine, the air-fuel ratio mixture supplied to various cylinders varies
in quality and quantity since the induction (inlet) passages are of unequal length and offers
different resistance to mixture flow. The mixture proportion is also affected due to
condensation of fuel in the induction passage.

(ii) Carburettors with their choke tubes, jets, throttle valves, inlet pipes, bends, etc. do give
a free flow passage for the mixture. Thus, there is loss of volumetric efficiency on this
account.

(iii) The carburettor has many wearing components. After wear it operates less efficiently.

(iv) Surging of fuel takes place when the carburettor is tilted unless special means are
adapted to check it. Some of the above disadvantage of a carburettor may be avoided by
introducing the fuel by injection rather than by carburetion. Gasoline injection system
offers the following advantages :-

(i) to have uniform distribution of mixture in multi-cylinder engine

(ii) improves breathing capacity i.e. volumetric efficiency

(iii) to reduce detonation and

(iv) prevent fuel losses during scavenging in case of two-stroke engine.

Types of Injection System

Gasoline injection system are grouped under two heads :-

(i) Single-point fuel injection system (SPFI)

(ii) Multi-point fuel injection system (MPFI)

1
 Internal Combustion Laboratory
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi

(i) Single-point fuel injection :-

In single point injection system, one injector is mounted inside the throttle body assembly.
This throttle body is very similar to carburettor throttle body with the throttle valve
controlling the amount of charge entering the intake manifold. An injector is placed
slightly above the throat of the throttle body. The injector sprays into the air where the
gasoline mixes with the air. This mixture then passes through the throttle valve and enters
into the intake manifold. The fuel injection system could be either continuous or timed. In
continuos fuel injection system, the gasoline is sprayed continuously from the injector
depending upon the speed and power demand. The system usually has a rotary pump that
maintains a fuel line gauge pressure of about 0.75 to 1.5 bar. The timing and duration of
the fuel injection is determined during the early part of the suction stroke and is sprayed
from injector into the throttle body in pulses and not continuous depending upon speed and
power of the engine.

(ii) Multi-point fuel injection :-

2
 Internal Combustion Laboratory
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi

Multi-point fuel injection has one injector for each cylinder and the fuel is injected in more
than one locations. This is more common and is often called port injection system. The
spray nozzle injects the fuel in the manifold or the cylinder head port at about 2 bar. In this
system also the fuel injection is controlled by ECU depending on speed and power
demand. Multi-point fuel injectionsystem are further classified as :-

(I) D-MPFI system: D-MPFI systems are the manifold injection system in which the
vacuum in the intake manifold and the air density is sensed first and sends the information
to ECU. The speed (rpm) sensor also sends the information about the rpm of the engine to
the ECU. The ECU in turn sends command to the injector to regulate the amount of
gasoline mixes with air and the mixture enters the cylinder.

(II) L-MPFI system: The L- MPFI is the port injection system where the metering of the
fuel is regulated by engine speed and the amount of air that actually enters the cylinder.
This is called air-flow metering. The air flow sensors measure the amount of air and sends
information to ECU. Similarly the speed sensor senses the engine speed and sends
information to ECU. The ECU processes the information received and sends appropriate
command to injector to regulate the supply of gasoline. When injection takes place, the
gasoline-air mixture enters the cylinder.

3
 Internal Combustion Laboratory
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi

COMPONENTS OF GASOLINE INJECTION SYSTEM:

The objectives of the gasoline injection system are to meter,atomize and uniformly
distribute the gasoline (fuel) throughout the air mass in the cylinder and to maintain
required A/F ratio as per load and speed of the engine. To achieve this, a number of
components are required. The functions of which are mentioned below:

1. PUMPING ELEMENT: Moves the fuel from fuel tank through pipes and filters to the
injectors.

2. METERING ELEMENT: Measures and supplies the fuel at the rate demanded by load
and speed of the engine.

3. MIXING ELEMENT: Atomizes the fuel and mixes it with air to form a homogeneous
mixture of required A/F ratio in accordance with engine speed and load.

4. DISTRIBUTING ELEMENT: Divide the metering fuel equally among cylinders.

5. AMBIENT CONTROL: Compensates for changes in temperature and pressure of

MODERN ELECTRONIC GASOLINE INJECTION SYSTEM

Modern electronic gasoline injection system use engine sensors, an Electric Control Unit
(ECU) and solenoid operated fuel injectors to meter and inject right quantity of fuel. The
system uses electrical and electronic devices to monitor and control engine operation.

The typical sensors for an electronic fuel injection system includes the following:

1 Exhaust gas or oxygen sensor: It senses the amount of oxygen in the engine exhaust
and calculates, A/F. Sensor output voltage changes in proportion to A/F.

2 Air flow sensor: It senses and monitors the mass or volume of air flowing into the intake
manifold for adjusting the quantity of fuel.

3 Air inlet temperature sensor: It senses the temperature of the ambient air entering the
intake manifold and fine tunes the mixture strength.

4 Engine coolant temperature sensor: It senses the temperature of engine coolant and
from this data ECU adjusts the mixture strength to rich side for cold starting.

5 Throttle position sensor: It senses the movement of the throttle so that mixture flow can
be adjusted for engine speed and acceleration.

6 Manifold pressure sensor: It senses and monitors vacuum in the engine intake manifold
so that mixture strength can be adjusted with changes in engine load.

4
 Internal Combustion Laboratory
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi

7 Camshaft position sensor: It senses the rotation of engine camshaft for timimg and
speed of ignition.

8 Knock sensor: It is a microphone type sensor that senses and detects knocking/pre-
ignition noise so that ignition timing can be retarded. An Electronic Control Unit (ECU)
receives electrical signal in the form of current or voltage from various sensors and uses
the information data to operate injectors, ignition system and other engine system devices.
As a result, less unburnt fuel appears in the exhaust with good economy and better mileage
and reduced pollutant emission. The fuel injector is an electronic fuel injection (EFI) is
basically a fuel valve. When it is not energized, spring pressure makes the injector to
remain closed and no fuel will enter the engine. When ECU sends the signal through the
injector coil, the magnetic field attracts the injector armature and as a result the fuel is
injected into the intake manifold. The ECU decides and controls the injector pulse width
signal based on the signals received from various sensors. The pulse width of the electrical
signal is an indication of the period for which each injector is energized and kept open.

Under full load condition, the ECU will sense a wide open throttle, high vacuum pressure
in the intake manifold and high inlet air flow. The ECU will send the electrical signal of
high pulse width to enrich the mixture strength and enable engine to produce higher power
output. Under low load and idling condition, the ECU will shorten the pulse width by
which the injectors inject the fuel in proportion thereby making the mixture leaner and will
result in reduced power and fuel economy. EFI system has a separate cold start injector
too. It is an extra injector that sprays fuel into the center of intake manifold when engine is
cold. It ensures engine easy start-up in very cold weather.

Demerits of EFI system:

In spite of all merits some of the disadvantages of EFI system are:

1 high maintenance cost.

2 difficulty in servicing.

3 malfunctioning of one or more sensors result in malfunctioning of the entire engine

Functional division of EFI system:

The Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) system is functionally divided into following three
main components:

1 Electronic Control Unit (ECU).

2 Fuel system.

3 Air induction system.

5
 Internal Combustion Laboratory
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi

Electronic Control Unit: Electronic Control System receives the information from the
various sensors in the form of electrical signals regarding intake air temperature, oxygen
content in the exhaust, coolant temperature, throttle position, vacuum pressure, air-flow
etc. The ECU processes all these signals and sends appropriate commands to the injectors
for timing and volume of fuel to be injected in the form of pulse width of the signals. At
the starting, the cold start injectors is operated by the cold start injector time switch. The
ignition sensor sends information about the engine speed and accordingly ECU monitors
and control injectors and fuel supply. The pressure regulator regulates pressure of the fuel.
Cold Start Injector :-

When the engine is cold, the starting of the engine is not very easy. When a cold engine is
started, it requires a rich mixture. The cold start injector serves the purpose of supplying
more fuel at starting. The cold start injector is a type of Solenoid valve to which power is
supplied from the battery for opening and closing of the valve for fuel injection. The
duration of fuel injection through cold start injector is controlled by timing switch through
ECU. When the engine is cold started, the starter motor cranks the engine. Since the
throttle is almost closed, the engine sucks the air through air valve. The main injector
injects the fuel near the port depending on the signal from ECU which is a processed
signal from the air flow and engine speed signal. During starting, to meet the requirement
of rich mixture, the cold start injector also injects the fuel. The volume of fuel injection
through cold start injector is controlled by timing switch. When the engine is hot, the cold
start injector will stop injection and only the main injector will inject fuel to the manifold.
When the engine temperature is low, the air valve opens completely during start up and the
air flows through air valve as the throttle is almost closed. As the engine temperature rises
to normal operating temperature, the air valve closes completely and air flows though
throttle. The fuel is injected in the manifold in the exhaust stroke of the engine when the
crank is 60 degrees before TDC. The duration of onjection is a function of required A/F
ratio and the air flow rate and throttle opening. At the beginning of the suction stroke, inlet
valve opens and the air-fuel mixture is sucked into the cylinder during suction stroke.