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In the development of clean and high efficiency engines, proper fuel management is critical, especially in direct injection engines. The Clean Combustion Engine Lab has developed a comprehensive fuel management system. It includes precise fuel conditioning and measurement units, multiple fuel delivery systems, as well as fuel injection control hardware and software. Moreover, various fuel injection characterization equipment are used to investigate fuel injection processes, such as rate of injection, spray angle, spray droplet size and distribution.
Fuel conditioning and measurement units
Reliable fuel conditioning is a prerequisite for accurate fuel consumption measurement which is critical in engine test analysis. An assortment of fuel conditioning and measurement units are used in the engine test cells. These conditioning and measurement units include a set of AVL fuel flow conditioning and measurement units, a Horiba fuel pressure control unit, and three Ono Sokki fuel flow meters. They can condition fuel to controlled temperatures (-20ºC to 95ºC) to enable accurate fuel consumption measurement, improve test repeatability, and to test extraordinary conditions.
Fuel delivery systems
Fuel delivery systems include both low pressure and high pressure fuel carts. All portable fuel carts were custom designed and manufactured in-house. They can be used either for port fuel injection tests or as a fuel feed system for high pressure fuel injection pump carts. Two high pressure fuel carts are used for high pressure injection applications with injection pressures of up to 2000 bar. The fuel line is connected to a common rail which delivers fuel to high pressure injectors. IPOD piezo or solenoid injector drivers are used to drive the injectors. In addition, multiple valves, pressure regulators, heat exchangers, filters and fuel flow meters are mounted on the fuel carts to ensure proper operation of the fuel delivery systems. These components were selected to be alcohol tolerant so that alcohol fuels such as n-butanol can also be used.
The portable design ensures the application of these systems in various research projects, such as engine tests or off-line fuel injection tests. Diverse fuels, such as diesel, ethanol, and n-butanol, can be delivered to implement either single or dual fuel research.
Injection control programs
In-house developed injection control programs based on National Instrument software are used to operate the injector hardware. Precise control of fuel injection pressure, timing, and duration can be configured and adjusted in engine tests.The fuel injection can be implemented at a resolution of 0.1°CA (~0.0056 ms at 3000 rpm) and up to 12 independent injections per cycle can be commanded.