Fuel Injection

DOE-HDBK-1018/1-93 FUNDAMENTALS OF THE DIESEL CYCLE Diesel Engine Fundamentals The above numbers are ideal and provide a good example of what is occurring in an engine during compression. In an actual engine, pressures reach only about 690 psia. This is due primarily to the heat loss to the surrounding engine parts. Fuel Injection Figure 18 Fuel Injection Fuel in a liquid state is injected into the cylinder at a precise time and rate to ensure that the combustion pressure is forced on the piston neither too early nor too late, as shown in Figure 18. The fuel enters the cylinder where the heated compressed air is present; however, it will only burn when it is in a vaporized state (attained through the addition of heat to cause vaporization) and intimately mixed with a supply of oxygen. The first minute droplets of fuel enter the combustion chamber and are quickly vaporized. The vaporization of the fuel causes the air surrounding the fuel to cool and it requires time for the air to reheat sufficiently to ignite the vaporized fuel. But once ignition has started, the additional heat from combustion helps to further vaporize the new fuel entering the chamber, as long as oxygen is present. Fuel injection starts at 28� BTDC and ends at 3� ATDC; therefore, fuel is injected for a duration of 31�. Power Both valves are closed, and the fresh air charge has Figure 19 Power been compressed. The fuel has been injected and is starting to burn. After the piston passes TDC, heat is rapidly released by the ignition of the fuel, causing a rise in cylinder pressure. Combustion temperatures are around 2336�F. This rise in pressure forces the piston downward and increases the force on the crankshaft for the power stroke as illustrated in Figure 19. The energy generated by the combustion process is not all harnessed. In a two stroke diesel engine, only about 38% of the generated power is harnessed to do work, about 30% is wasted in the form of heat rejected to the cooling system, and about 32% in the form of heat is rejected out the exhaust. In comparison, the four-stroke diesel engine has a thermal distribution of 42% converted ME-01 Rev. 0 Page 24