Altitude Performance Comparison of A Wankel Engine With Carburetor and Fuel Injection

The modern automobile engine has enjoyed more than a century of continuous development dating back to 1878, when the German engineer, Dr. Nicholas August Otto exhibited his first four-cycle engine. The quests for positive displacement rotary piston machines have attracted the attention of several centuries and actually pre-date the invention of the reciprocat ing piston principles. A bewildering variety of possible rotary engine configurations seem to have been tried and at the same time, confused inventive minds, thereby preventing the early success of purely rotating engines.

Over the period of time, engine technology, which was in paper those days staged a come back, and started entering the market. One such, new technology is the Wankel engine development. This engine has already made their impact in the aeronautical field, and its use in automobile field is being explored. These engines are available in both carburetor and Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) version. Both versions of the engines have their merits and demerits. However, the Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) engine has got an edge over the carburetor engine in terms of better fuel control with the help of a microprocessor. Its advantage is clearly felt in altitudes. This paper discusses the altitude performance comparison of a Wankel engine tested with a carburetor and fuel injection system. The tests were conducted in a Climatic Test Facility (CTF), which can simulate altitude upto 14000 feet (4242 m). The results show that fuel injection has better prospects in altitude operation.