Experimental and computational studies on the effects of reduced fuel injection pressure and spark plug protrusion on the performance and emissions of a small-bore gasoline direct-injection engine

Abstract

Application of direct injection (DI) technology in small-bore engines, the type used in two- and three-wheelers, could improve their performance significantly. It is recognised that the use of high fuel injection pressure is beneficial in large-bore engines for a good mixture preparation. However, simple systems incorporated with low-pressure DI are desirable in small-engine segment of automobiles. Further, high fuel pressures will result in excessive wall wetting when cylinder dimensions are small. Extensive studies were carried out to investigate the minimum fuel injection pressure required for homogeneous and lean modes of operation in such small bore DI engine. The effect of spark plug protrusion in the combustion chamber was also investigated under the spray-guided configuration. Comprehensive experiments and CFD simulations were performed for estimating the engine efficiency, emissions, mixture preparation characteristics, fuel spray and fuel impingement on combustion chamber walls. Results have demonstrated that engine performance and emissions did not deteriorate when fuel injection pressure was reduced from 150 to 50 bar at full load. However, at very low pressures, like 20–30 bar, THC, CO and smoke emissions increased. Fuel injection pressure did not influence the lean limit, that is, equivalence ratio of about 0.77, but influenced the thermal efficiency at lean conditions. In order to attain high efficiency, under lean conditions, a minimum fuel pressure of 80 bar was required. The spark plug protrusion that resulted in a gap of 0.75 mm with respect to the incoming fuel spray cone has given the best engine performance, while higher protrusions affected the tumble flow and led to the stratification of charge near the spark plug, which resulted in elevated CO and smoke emissions. Hence, this work highlights that relatively lower direct injection pressures are suitable in small bore engines, which will impact the development of cost effective components for such applications.