Back-Pressure and Fuel Type Effects on Exhaust Gas Oxygen Sensor Readings for a Single Cylinder Spark Ignition Engine Running on Gasoline and Ethanol

Application of more and more complex control strategies in spark ignition (SI) engines is required for ensuring high conversion efficiency and effective emissions reduction. Closed loop fuel injection is being implemented on an ever wider scale in small size SI units that generally feature single cylinder architecture. For such systems the readings from the exhaust gas oxygen sensor are essential for controlling air-fuel ratio and indirectly combustion. The present study looked at the influence of pressure oscillations on the values given by the sensor, for different equivalence ratio settings in wide open throttle conditions for an experimental SI unit. As expected, the readings were found to be influenced by pressure oscillations in the exhaust line during lean operation, while with stoichiometric and rich fueling the effects were minimal. Fuel type was also found to be an important aspect. Gasoline was compared to ethanol, and the latter underlined the effect of combustion efficiency on how the sensor readings need to be interpreted. Quasi-dimensional simulation using the GT-Power software was also used to provide further insight into the correlation between combustion phenomena and read air-fuel ratio. Following the combined experimental and numerical approach, the bases were put for defining an algorithm capable of compensating the effects of pressure oscillations without the need for an additional sensor.