Optimized E.F.I. for Natural Gas Fueled Engines

Increasing emphasis on natural gas as a clean, economical, and abundant fuel, encourages the search for the optimum approach to management of fuel, air and combustion to achieve the best results in power, fuel economy and low exhaust emissions. Electronic injection of fuel directly into the throttle body, intake ports or directly into the cylinder offers important advantages over carburetion or mixing valves. This is particularly true in the case of installations in which the gas supply is available at several atmospheres pressure above maximum intake manifold pressure. The use of choked-flow pulse- width-modulated electronic injectors offers precision control over the engine operating range with a wide variety of options for both stoichiometric and lean bum applications. A complete system utilizing commercially available components together with the application, calibration and engine mapping techniques is described. It is projected that ultimately electronic fuel injection will replace carburetors and mixing valves in the same manner as occurred for gasoline fueled engines and for the same reasons. The application to the twin fuel and dual fuel installations is also discussed, along with a perspective of the potential for future improvements.