2) Introduction 2.1) Background
2) Introduction 2.1) Background
2) Introduction 2.1) Background
2.1) Background
For the fuel delivery system for most gasoline engines, carburetors were the
common technique used in late 1980s which then later replaced by EFI in
many sophisticated vehicles due to its inadequacy to provide better air-
fuel ratio constantly, better emission control, cold starting and many others.
But still in Nepal motorcycles and small engine vehicles have carburetors
as the main engine system. Carburetor is unable to hold the mixture of fuel
and air close to the stoichiometric thereby causing the production of more
emissions even when a catalytic converter is installed in the exhaust system.
Therefore, it has lower efficiency and high emission value thereby making it
impossible to comply with the prevailing emission legislations until some
serious modifications are made.
Carburetor engine:
Carburetor is a device that consists of a tube which allows air and fuel into the
engine through valves, mixing them together in different amounts to suit a
wide range of different driving conditions.
A throttle plate controls the flow of air. A narrow venturi tube creates a
vacuum and fuel is entered through a jet.
Fuel Atomization and Vaporization
In order to change gasoline from a liquid into a combustible form, first the
liquid fuel enters the carburetor, where it is sprayed into incoming air
and atomized i.e. reduced to mist. The resulting air-fuel mixture then moves
into the intake manifold, where the mist is changed into vapor. Vaporization
takes place only when the fuel is hot enough to boil. Since the intake
manifold pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure, the boiling point of
gasoline drops when it enters the manifold. Heat from the intake manifold
floor combines with heat absorbed from air particles surrounding the fuel
particles to begin vaporization. It is also helped by raising the temperature of
the intake manifold, since the higher the temperature, the more complete is
the vaporization. This heated area in the intake manifold is called a hot spot.
When there is poor vaporization, too much liquid fuel reaches the cylinders.
Some of this extra fuel is given off as unburned hydrocarbons, and some
wash away oil from the cylinder wall causing engine wear. The rest is
carried past the piston rings blow by gases. Sometimes there is poor
vaporization, which may happen due to several factors as follows. (i) A too
low mixture velocity. (ii) A cold manifold or low manifold vacuum. (iii)
Cold incoming air. (iv) Insufficient volatility of fuel. (v) Poor manifold
design. (vi) Low flow capacity of carburetor
Factors affecting carburetion
a) Engine speed: In order to have high quality carburetion, the air velocity
of the air stream at the point where the fuel in injected has to
be increased. This is achieved by introducing a venture section in the
path of the air.
b) Vaporizing characteristics of the fuel: Presence of highly volatile
hydrocarbons in the fuel, suitable evaporation characteristics of the
fuel are necessary for efficient carburetion especially at high engine
speeds.
c)
The temperature of the incoming air: Higher atmospheric temperature
of the air increases the vaporization of the fuel and produces
more homogenous mixture.
d)
The design of carburetor: There are different types of carburetor based
on the design. Carburetor must be designed for quality carburetion at
various operating conditions (idling condition to maximum power
requirement.)
Working:
a) Cold starting: When the engine is cold, fuel vaporizes less readily and
tends to condense on the walls of the intake manifold, starving the cylinders
of fuel and making the engine difficult to start; thus, a richer mixture (more
fuel to air) is required to start and run the engine until it warms up.
b) Hot starting: During hot starting, carburetion might be flooded (i.e. much fuel
into the carburetor). So, it is recommended to steadily hold the throttle full
open while continuing to crank the engine. This permits the maximum flow
of air through the engine.
c) Idling: The choke valve regulates the amount of air flow in the carburetor. The
throttle valve determines the amount of air that enters the carburetor and the
amount of fuel it drags in from the pipe to the side. These two valves can be
used to tune the idling speed of carburetor engine.
Drawbacks of carburetor:
f) The engine requires rich mixture of fuel at low loads but fuel becomes leaner
at low loads.
g) Vapor locking & cold starting problems.
h) Open loop fuel injection system.
i) At high altitudes, the air becomes lighter. The carburetor engine cannot
compensate for the change in air density.
2.1.1) Origin of Idea: The evolution of EFI system and better environmental pollution
control norms has pushed the carbureted engines towards obsolescence due to
their inherent design problems. This has made the existing manufactures & users
of old carbureted engine vehicle a setback. In this research work we try to
optimize the carburetor performance by using ECU, injectors & sensors with
minimum costs.
From this figure, we can conclude that O2 emission is high at lean mixture as the air
has abundance of oxygen at lean mixture whereas CO, HC, H2, emission is high at
rich mixture as there is lack of oxygen and mixture has enough fuel contents. At
correct air fuel mixture, CO2 and water vapor are mainly obtained as
byproduct of fuel combustion.
Fig: Equivalence ratio and relative emission
(Air–fuel equivalence ratio, λ (lambda), is the ratio of actual AFR to stoichiometry for
a given mixture. λ = 1.0 is at stoichiometry, rich mixtures λ < 1.0, and lean mixtures λ
> 1.0.)
From this figure, we can conclude that NOx emission is high and HC and CO emission
is less at lean mixture as the air has abundance of oxygen at lean mixture whereas CO,
HC, H2, emission is high and NOx emission is low or absent at rich mixture as there is
lack of oxygen and mixture has enough fuel contents. At correct air fuel mixture, CO2
and water vapor are mainly obtained as byproduct of fuel combustion.
Incomplete combustion: If the mixture is rich or lean; the flame propagation becomes
weak, causes incomplete combustion and result in HC emission
Factors which lead to incomplete flame propagation
c. Poor carburetion and mixture preparation
d. Poor condition of the ignition system
e. Scavenging problem due to improper valve over lap
f. Poor swirl and turbulence
g. Excess exhaust residual gas within the cylinder
h. Exhaust gas recirculation not properly controlled
Tλ= (e)- Ꝭ αλ L
Detector is divided into 2 equal volumes by a thin metallic diaphragm. When chopper
blocks the radiation, pressure in both parts of detector is same and diaphragm remains
in neutral position. As chopper blocks and unblocks radiation, radiant energy from
one source pass through reference cell unchanged, whereas sample cell absorbs IR
energy at wavelength of compound in cell. The absorption is proportional to
concentration of compound to be measured in sample cell. These unequal energies
are transmitted to 2 volumes of detector, and pressure difference thus produced
causes movement of diaphragm of detector. This changes capacitance of diaphragm
and a fixed probe, thus generate ac signal, amplified, rectified to dc & displayed
on a meter. The signal is function of concentration of measured compound.
2.4.
Research objective
Aims & Objectives:
Aims:
a) Improve fuel efficiency
b) Sensor testing
c) Sensor and engine assembly
d) Engine testing with electronic control unit (ECU)
Objectives:
The main objectives behind doing this research are as follows:
a) Modifying traditional carburetor into throttle body injection using
ECU and fuel injectors and thus enhancing performance.
b) Data analyzing between traditional carburetor & Throttle body injection
in terms of power, performance & efficiency
c) Checking emissions.
d) Reduced overall costs as compared to fully EFI system.
e) Elimination of vapor locking problem.
3) Methodology:
A systematic methodology was followed, starting from literature review to achieve
the objectives of this project.
1. Reviewing the literature related to carburetor fuel system and throttle body fuel
injection system.
2. Preparing electrical circuit required for operation of TBI system.
3. Preparation of layout of TBI system
4. Selection of materials used for construction of throttle body fuel injection.
5. Construction of the real model of TBI system
6. Demonstration of the functionality of TBI system.
And the amount of fuel that should be metered into the engine by an injector
is determined using equation: P V = n R T Where, P = gas pressure,
V= gas volume,
n= no. of mole,
R= ideal gas constant
The gas pressure can be measured from MAP sensor, Temperature can
be approximated or thermometer/thermistor can be used, and gas volume can be
calculated by measuring RPM of engine and engine displacement.
Engine performance parameters
Following are the different parameters of engine performance:
1.Speed
2. Fuel consumption
3. Brake horse power
4. Indicated H.P. & Friction H.P.
5. Smoke density
6. Heat going to cooling water
7. Heat going to exhaust
8.Exhaust gas analysis
Objective of testing
1. Engine performance during development
2. Engine performance testing by government agencies for certification.
A. Measurement of speed
The best method of measuring speed is to count the number of revolutions in a given
time. This gives an accurate measurement of speed. Many engines are fitted with such
revolution’s counters. It is measured by crankshaft position sensor.
Different types of tachometer available in the market are:
1. On the basis of method of display: Analog & Digital
2. On the basis of data acquisition: Contact & non-contact
Measurement of Fuel
consumption
It is measured by determining the volume flow in a given time interval and
multiplying it by the specific gravity of the fuel. It is measured by burette method.
Mass flow rate of fuel supply:
= Volume/time x Density of fuel
Density of fuel= Sp. Gravity of fuel x Density of water
4. Expected outcome
At the end of the project we are expecting the following outcomes which are pointed
below:
a. The fuel efficiency of the carried experiment with optimization of carburetor should
be higher than that of normal carburetor engine.
b. After the successful conduction of the experiment, the practical application of
optimizing conventional carburetor can be done in old motorbikes and small engine
vehicles.
c. The percentage of HC, CO, and carbon particles in the emission must be down by
some value.
d. Brake-specific fuel consumption must be lower.
5. Budget Structure
6. Working Schedule
6.1 Flowchart:
The flowchart for the overall project is shown in figure below. This
flow chart will serve as the general guidance to steer this project in the
right
direction.
Research Flowchart
6.2 Project schedule
Gantt Chart
2078-04-15 2078-06-04 2078-07-24 2078-09-12 2078-11-01 2078-12-21
Proposal making
Budget estimation
Collection of parts
Experimental setup
Experiment Execution
Data Collection
Data Analysis
Documentation
Report- making
7) References:
d. Katijan, A., Latif, M. F. A., Zahmani, Q. F., Zaman, S., Kadir, K. A., & Veza,
I. (2019). An Experimental Study for Emission of Four Stroke Carbureted
and Fuel Injection Motorcycle Engine. Journal of Advanced Research in
Fluid
Mechanics and Thermal Sciences, 62(2), 256-264.
e. Muslim, M. T., Selamat, H., Alimin, A. J., Rohi, N. M., & Hushim, M.
F. (2014). A review on retrofit fuel injection technology for small
carburetted motorcycle engines towards lower fuel consumption and
cleaner exhaust emission. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 35,
279-284.