Improvements on the Start Performance of Diesel Engine by Fuel Control Strategy Optimization and Heating Measures

The incomplete combustion and misfire of diesel engine during starting result in unwanted white smoke. The histories of combustion and emission in different phases under different start conditions were studied in this paper. The optimization of the fuel injection control strategy under start conditions was performed. When the diesel engine is started under low temperature, the control strategy adapted to start the engine with a certain constant fuel mass injected per cycle, there may be misfire cycles in the initial period or in the transitional process, which is mainly caused by the mismatch between the fuel mass injected per cycle and the instantaneous engine speed. Therefore, an optimized control strategy was put forward, namely, the engine starts with high fuel mass injection in the first several cycles and then decreases step by step during the transitional period until it operates at idle condition. This strategy was validated to decrease significantly the misfire cycles. When the start conditions are improved by preheating intake air or coolant, the misfire and incomplete combustion which easily occur during the transitional period may be eliminated.