EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS ON THE COMBUSTION

CHARACTERISTICS OF A CRDI FOUR CYLINDER ENGINE

USING DIFFERENT FUEL INJECTION STRATAGIES

Master of Technology

Automobile Engineering

by

Mr. SHUBHAM SHARMA

173713

Under the supervision of

Dr. MADHU MURTHY K

(Professor)

Department of Mechanical Engineering

National Institute of Technology, Warangal

1.Introduction:-
Internal combustion (IC) engines are the major power source for transportation sector as well as
for stationary applications. Higher particulate matters and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in emissions
and are the major disadvantages of conventional diesel engines.
The combustion, emissions and performance characteristics of a CRDI diesel engine are directly
affected by several factors including fuel injection pressure (FIP), start of injection (SOI) timing,
Boost pressure, fuel quantity injected, number of injections etc. Heat transfer is closely related to
different in cylinder phenomenon namely flame quenching due to cold cylinder walls, knocking
due to excessive rate of pressure rise (ROPR) and frictional losses due to degradation of
lubricating oil at high temperatures. Heat transfer also affects charge and wall surface
temperatures, which have important influence on the formation of pollutants such as NOx,
carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbons (HCs). SOI timing is an important
parameter, which not only affects the combustion but also controls the heat transfer from the
engine cylinder. In order to atomize the liquid fuel into small droplets, very high pressure
difference across the injector nozzle is necessary in order to enable rapid atomization/evaporation
of fuel. Whenever FIP is relatively lower, fuel droplet diameters tend to become larger, therefore
ignition delay increases, This leads to higher in-cylinder pressure and ROPR during the premixed
combustion phase. When FIP is increased, fuel droplet diameters become smaller and the
physical delay shortens. This leads to improved fuel-air mixing, therefore smoke level and CO
emission become lower. However, too high a FIP causes shorter ignition delay, which leads to
in-homogeneity in fuel-air mixture, resulting in relatively lower combustion efficiency.
Increasing FIP also increases the premixed phase combustion heat release and early part of
mixing controlled phase combustion heat release, which raises the steady state heat transfer.
It has been shown that, change in SOI timing altered the in-cylinder pressure and temperature
at time of injection. Consequently, important factors, which influenced emissions such as
ignition delay and fuel adherence to walls were also significantly affected. It was shown that
earlier SOI timing caused lower in-cylinder air temperatures and pressures; therefore ignition
delay increased and vice-versa. The effect of SOI timings on the brake specific fuel consumption
(BSFC) and NOx emissions in a low heat rejection (LHR) indirect injection (IDI) diesel engine.
Optimization of FIP and SOI timings is necessary in order to obtain lower BSFC; lower heat
losses, superior combustion and lower emissions.

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In this experiment Taguchi method is used for Optimization of variables so we could able to find
out less combinations of parameters for our analysis and research.
In this experiments we are working with five control parameters that are Pilot Injection Timing
(PIT) , Pilot Injection Quantity(PIQ) , Fuel Injection Pressure(FIP) , Main Injection
Timing(MIT) Boost Pressure . And Every Parameter have Three Different Variables. Taguchi
method Optimized all Variables and given 27 optimized combinations for effective value of
Experiment. After experiment and achievement of values of bsfc, Heat loss, NOx, CO and UHC,
ANOVA Method will be Used for analysis and study Purpose.

2. Literature survey:-

Avinash Kumar Agarwal*, Akhilendra Pratap Singh worked on Combustion characteristics of a

common rail direct injection engine and reported that higher FIPs delivered higher peak in-
cylinder pressures.When FIP is increased, fuel droplet diameters become smaller and the
physical delay shortens. This leads to improved fuel-air mixing, therefore smoke level and CO
emission become lower. However, too high a FIP causes shorter ignition delay, which leads to
in-homogeneity in fuel-air mixture, resulting in relatively lower combustion efficiency.(1)
Hongyuan wei, Chunde Yao, Wang Pan,Guopeng Han concluded that Both Increase in pilot
injection quantity and advance pilot injection timing cause an increase in in-cylinder temperature
and pressure before main combustion.With the rise of pilot quantity and the advance of pilot
injection timing,HC and CO emissions decrease gradually but NOx emissions ascend.(2)
Ekrem Buyukkaya, Muhammet Cerit concluded that Variation in SOI timing strongly influenced
exhaust emissions, especially NOx emissions due to changing maximum in-cylinder temperature
.Exhaust gases recirculation EGR leads to reduce the NOx emissions but increases HC and CO
emissions resulting in lower combustion efficiency.(3)
Bo Yang, Long Wang, Le Ning, Ke Zeng worked on Effects of pilot injection timing
reported that Effects of pilot injection timing on the combustion noise and particle emissions of
a diesel fuel engine at low load. Combustion noise increased with advancing pilot injection
timing .Considering the risk of knocking, the combustion noise is an obstacle factor limited the
pilot injection timing advanced.(4)
Hyun Kyu Suh. investigated multiple fuel injection strategies and reported that pilot injections
improves combustion efficiency, and different injection strategies can be operate engine more

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stably in low compression ratio engine. multiple injection enhances the complete combustion of
main injection thus, less unburned HC emission remained during combustion process.(5)
Shyam Kumar Karna, Dr. Rajeshwar Sahai worked on Taguchi Method and reported that
optimisation of process parameters can be done through taguchi method to control over quality,
productivity and cost aspects of the process. In this paper the approach is based on Taguchi
method, and the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) are employed
to study the performance characteristics. (6)
Mohd Muqeem,Dr.Mukhtar Ahmad, Dr.A.F.Sherwani worked on Turbocharging of Diesel
Engine for Improving Performance and Exhaust Emissions and reported that it is possible not
only to increase a boost pressure and charge air flow rate with VGT at low engine speeds,
enabling a higher torque, but also to reduce fuel consumption at higher engine speeds, due to
lower pumping losses with full utilization of the exhaust flow. It was also concluded that Diesel
engines emit more diesel PM (particulate matter) than gasoline engines because of the relatively
low rate of utilization of air . (7)
Vinitkuma K. Modi,Darshak A review the taguchi method, design of experiment (doe) &
analysis of variance (anova) and reported that ANOVA is technique that can apply for evaluation
the percentage contribution of various process parameters on the selected performance
characteristics. This ANOVA provides the information about how important is the effect of
each controlled parameter on the quality characteristics of attention. The total variation in the
result is the sum of variation due to various controlled factors, their interactions and due to
experimental error. It can be said that ANOVA for raw data and S/N data can be applied to find
the significant parameters and measures or calculate their effect on the performance
characteristics in process.(8)

3. Objectives and Scope:-

Fuel injection parameters such as fuel injection pressure (FIP) and start of injection (SOI) timing
significantly affect combustion, performance, emission and durability of a common rail direct
injection (CRDI) diesel engine. In direct injection compression ignition (DICI) engines, fuel
vaporization and heat transfer characteristics affect fuel-air mixing, which is also influenced by
the FIP and SOI timings. These injection parameters significantly control the rate of pressure rise
(ROPR), and heat release rate (HRR), which in-turn affect the heat transfer from the engine

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cylinder as well as the engine power output. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the fuel
injection parameters to develop efficient and clean combustion diesel engines. These engines are
widely used in automotive, agricultural and industrial applications due to their high-energy
conversion efficiencies and robustness. Current compression ignition (CI) engines are operated
by mineral diesel derived from crude petroleum refining.The combustion, emissions and
performance characteristics of a CRDI diesel engine are directly affected by several factors
including fuel injection pressure (FIP), start of injection (SOI) timing, fuel quantity injected,
number of injections, combustion chamber design, number of nozzles, spray pattern, etc.
However, some of these parameters also affect engine power output indirectly, and heat transfer
is one such important parameter. Heat transfer is closely related to different in cylinder
phenomenon namely flame quenching due to cold cylinder walls, knocking due to excessive rate
of pressure rise (ROPR) and frictional losses due to degradation of lubricating oil at high
temperatures. At high loads, in-cylinder temperature exceeds the design limits, leading to
reduction in lubricating oil viscosity, resulting in higher frictional losses. Overheating of the
piston, exhaust valve, cylinder head, valve seats and other components is also harmful because
this may lead to piston burnout and cracks in the combustion chamber walls, eventually leading
to catastrophic destruction of the engine . Heat transfer also affects charge and wall surface
temperatures, which have important influence on the formation of pollutants such as NOx,
carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbons (HCs). SOI timing is an important
parameter, which not only affects the combustion but also controls the heat transfer from the
engine cylinder. Our objective is to

1. Find out optimized strategy which gives us less emissions from engine and gives better
power and efficiency at required load. This operating window of SOI timing and FIP
needs to be selected based on the misfire, heat loss and emissions determined beforehand.
2. To compare emission parameters by considering the two input variables and five input
variables separately.

4. Work done/planned on each objective:-

This experiment will be done in college premise only in Automotive workshop at scorpio
2179 cc Engine . Specifications of Engine are

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 Number of cylinder Four

Volume 2179 cc

Compression ratio 18:1

No. of valves/cylinder 4

No. of strokes 4

Ignition CI

Maximum Torque (Nm) 250@1750-2500 RPM

Maximum Power (BHP) 100@4000 RPM

Table .1

In This Experiment Speed will be constant at rated speed and load also will be constant. There
are five control variables which will be optimized. These variables are pilot injection timing
(PIT) , pilot injection quantity (PIQ) , fuel injection pressure (FIP), main injection timing (MIT) ,
and boost pressure and by study of this five results will be analyzed and optimized . in this case
noise output are brake specific fuel consumption (bsfc), heat loss , NOx , CO , and UHC .
every control variable is devided in to three level . PIT are 20btdc , 25btdc , 30btdc . PIQ are
10%, 15% , 20% . FIP are 500b, 750b, and 1000b. MIT are 0 btdc , 5btdc , and 10btdc. Boost
pressure are 120b, 140b , and 160b . In this case total experiments need to be done is equal to
total combinations between control variable. So there are total combinations (level^factors) are
243 . To reduce time consumed and effort, Design of experiment need to be done by help of
Taguchi method and later Anova method has to be done for analysis and study purpose . taguchi
method is a method of design of experiment which is based on statical method developed by
genichi taguchi to improve the quality of outputs. It’s a robust design model .in this when a
product moves from its target will cause the loss even if the products lies or not within limits.
taguchi method minimize the variation in product response while keeping the mean response on
target. Since the method is applied in a systematic way at a pre-production stage (off-line), it can

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greatly reduce the number of time-consuming tests, thus saving in costs and wasted products.
After applied taguchi method we gets limited noise variables to perform. After completion on
experiment Anova method will be used for analysis. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is a
collection of statistical models and their associated estimation procedures (such as the "variation"
among and between groups) used to analyze the differences among group means in a sample.
ANOVA was developed by statistician. In the ANOVA setting, the observed variance in a
particular variable is partitioned into components attributable to different sources of variation. In
its simplest form, ANOVA provides a statistical test of whether the population means of
several groups are equal. ANOVA is useful for comparing (testing) three or more group means
for statistical significance.

5. Conclusions:-
According to literature survey it can be conclude that variable like fuel injection pressure directly
affects the performance of an engine. The main philosophy of having an injection pressure is to
inject a fuel in atomized form for high performance of a vehicle. The more it atomizes the more
particles get ignited, the less fuel is consumed ultimately fuel usage is reduced. In other words
fuel efficiency is increased. It can be understood that the effect of pilot injection on NOx and
soot when pilot injection was used to reduce combustion noise.
The combustion noise was reduced by pilot injection, however, at high load and large EGR, the
smoke has shown strong trade-off of combustion noise. Smoke emission has relationship with
pilot flame when main injection starts; reducing pilot flame can contribute to control smoke
emission. More flexibility in pilot quantity and interval can be a solution for breakthrough the
trade-off of combustion noise and smoke, this requires much effort to further improve the
common rail injection system. The results show that the early pilot injection timing contributed
to the lower smoke level and higher NOx emissions. The higher level of NOx is due to higher
combustion temperatures resulting from the complete combustion. Meanwhile, the lower smoke
level is due to complete fuel combustion and soot oxidation. The early pilot injection timing
produces an intermediate main ignition delay which also contributed to complete combustion.
The formation of smoke is higher at a high engine load compared with low engine load due to
the higher amount of fuel being injected. Increasing the fuel injection pressure in the combustion
chamber due to better mixing of fuel and air so that the rate of heat release energy and peak
pressure increases. By increasing the spray pressure, diameter of fuel droplets has been decrease,

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so small diameters cause faster atomization and evaporation. Increasing the spraying pressure
generate the output work per cycle. Growing the spraying pressure will produce faster mixture
formation, hence combustion delay time was reduced and the maximum energy release was also
gone up. By Increasing the spraying pressure from 275 bar to 1000 bar, the soot pollution will
experience up to 58% and power up to12% grow. If we analyze the research done on boost
pressure of turbocharger then we found a turbine driven forced induction device that increases an
internal combustion engine’s efficiency and power output by forcing extra compressed air into
the combustion chamber. The boost threshold of a turbocharger system is the lower bound of the
region within which the compressor operates. Below a certain rate of flow, a compressor
produces insignificant boost. This limits boost at a particular RPM, regardless of exhaust gas
pressure. Newer turbocharger and engine developments have steadily reduced boost thresholds.

6. Contributions made by the student till date:-

There are several steps in this project can be described like this

6.1 Selection of independent variables: Before conducting the experiment, the knowledge of the
process investigated and prime importance for identifying the factors likely to influence the
outcome. In order to compile a comprehensive list of factors, the input to the experiment is
obtained from all the people involved in such type of research on IC engine. And after literature
survey dependency of variables studied.

6.2 Number of level decided: Once the independent variables are decided, the number of levels
for each variable is decided. The selection of number of levels depend on how the performance
parameter is affected due to different level settings. Since in this study the independent variable
is not linearly related, that's why we have choose three levels.

6.3 Selection of an orthogonal array: Before selecting the orthogonal array, the minimum number
of experiments to be conducted fixed based on the total number of degree of freedom present in
the study.

Here in this case five independent variable each having three level the total degree of freedom is
twelve . Hence the selected orthogonal array should have minimum 27 experiments. An L27

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orthogonal satisfies this requirement. Once the minimum number of experiments is decided, the
further selection of orthogonal array is based on the number of independent variables end
number of factor levels for each independent variable.

6.4 Assigning the independent variables to columns:

The order in which the independent variables are assigned to the vertical column is very
essential. During design this was noted that the significance and the percent contribution of the
independent variables changes depending on the label value assigned.

6.5 preparation of design of Taguchi array: so after this matrix of L27 was prepared on the basics
of taguchi like this:-

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6.6 result of experiment on taking FIP and MIT as a variables:-

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After getting emission parameters in this matrix ANOVA technique applied which given the
variation in Nox on changing FIP and MIT.

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This graph shows change in Nox emission with change in main injection timing from 0 btdc to
10btdc and change in fuel injection pressure from 500 bar to 1000 bar .

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Interaction Plot for NOx when main injection timing varies from 0 btdc to 10btdc and fuel
injection pressure varies from 500 bar to 1000 bar

6.7 We can see that from anova method we got relative graph of nox emission when two
variables are changing.

6.8 Now the experiment will be conducted on the basis of above matrix for four cylinder
turbocharged crdi engine.

6.9 Analysis of the data: Once the mean value of each level of a particular independent variable
is calculated, the sum of square of deviation of each of the mean value from the ground mean
value is calculated.. by conducting the sensitivity analysis, the performance analysis of variance
(ANOVA) method will be applied.

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7.References:-

(1) Avinash Kumar Agarwal*, Akhilendra Pratap Singh, Rakesh Kumar Maurya IIT Kanpur
Combustion characteristics of a common rail direct injection engine using di?erent fuel injection
strategie. International Journal of Thermal Science. Volume 134, December 2018, Pages 475-
484

(2) Hongyuan wei, Chunde Yao, Wang Pan,Guopeng Han, Zhancheng Dou, Taoyang Wu,
Meijuan Liu, Bin Wang, Jian Gao, Chao Chen,Junjie Shi. Experimental investigations of the
effects of pilot injection on combustion and gaseous emission characteristics of diesel/methanol
dual fuel engine. Fuel Elsevier Volume 188, 15 January 2017, Pages 427-441

(3) Ekrem Buyukkaya, Muhammet Cerit .Experimental study of NOx emissions and injection
timing of a low heat rejection diesel engine. International Journal of Thermal Sciences. Volume
47, Issue 8, August 2008, Pages 1096-1106

(4) Bo Yang, Long Wang, Le Ning, Ke Zen. Effects of pilot injection timing on the combustion
noise and particle emissions of a diesel/natural gas dual-fuel engine at low load. Elsevier journal
Publication:Applied Thermal Engineering.Volume 102, 5 June 2016, Pages 822-828

(5) Hyun Kyu Su. Investigations of multiple injection strategies for the improvement of
combustion and exhaust emissions characteristics in a low compression ratio (CR) engine.
journal Elsevier Applied Energy Volume 88, Issue 12, December 2011, Pages 5013-5019

(6) Shyam Kumar Karna, Dr. Rajeshwar Sahai .An Overview on Taguchi Method
International Journal of Engineering and Mathematical Science, jan-June 2012, Volume 1,
pages.11-18

(7) Mohd Muqeem,Dr.Mukhtar Ahmad, Dr.A.F.Sherwani. Turbocharging of Diesel Engine for

Improving Performance and Exhaust Emissions: A Review IOSR Journal of Mechanical and
Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE) Volume 12, Issue 4 Ver. III (Jul.-Aug. 2015), PP 22-29

(8) Vinitkumar K. Modi,Darshak A.Desai

review of taguchi method, design of experiment (doe) & analysis of variance (anova) for quality
improvements through optimization in foundry.Journal of Emerging Technologies and
Innovative Research January 2018, Volume 5, Issue 1 , (ISSN-2349-5162)

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