Browse Topic: Fuel pumps
This study presents a fully integrated, vehicle-level thermal management model for gasoline fuel tanks, designed to predict transient fuel temperatures, tank wall heating, and vapor generation under real-world driving conditions. The model simulates coupled thermal contributions from exhaust radiation, transient underbody airflow, conductive heat transfer, in-tank pump heating, and dynamic changes in fuel composition and level. Validation against on-road measurements shows strong agreement for fuel temperature and vapor flow profiles. Results confirm that exhaust radiative heating is the dominant thermal load, particularly during the post-shutdown heat soak period. A well-designed heat shield reduced peak tank wall temperature by approximately 27 °C, significantly lowering fuel heating and evaporation. Parametric analysis indicates that while fuel Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) and tank material influence evaporation, their effect is secondary to external heat mitigation. While this model employs simplifications, such as assuming a uniform bulk fuel temperature and using empirically based convective correlations, these assumptions proved adequate for vehicle-level thermal management analysis. This adequacy is supported by the strong correlation between the model’s predictions and experimental field data across realistic driving scenarios. As a practical tool, the model successfully supports the optimization of thermal protection strategies and guides heat shield design decisions. Future work to incorporate measurement uncertainties, localized thermal stratification, and experimental validation of vapor composition would further strengthen predictive accuracy and extend the model's applicability to more detailed design phases.
As the global energy transition moves to increased levels of electrification for passenger cars, then the number and role of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) increases rapidly. For these, the power reaches the road from an internal combustion engine (ICE) and/or an electric motor, with several switches between these three modes, over a typical drive-cycle. Consequently, this comes with a large increase in the number of significant engine stop and start events. Such events are potentially challenging for the HEV engine lubricant, as by comparison, for standard ICE cycles there is almost continuous relative movement of the two lubricated surfaces, for most areas of the engine. Based on both field and test cell observations, a challenging area for the lubricant within the gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine is the high pressure (HP) fuel pump, typically driven by a cam and follower, whilst lubricated by engine oil. From engine start, the speeds are low, also the fuel pump loads are high and transient. The loads continue to be variable and highly transient over a drive-cycle. A novel motoring friction test rig is described, which measures transient GDI HP fuel pump friction accurately. Using the same engine, further comparison data showing the contribution of this to engine friction is presented over the Worldwide Harmonized Light Duty Transient Cycle (WLTC), for both ICE and two types of HEV operating in charge sustaining mode (CS mode); lubricant friction differentiation in this area is shown. Based on measured data from vehicles tested on a chassis dynamometer, this friction rig runs from a controlled cold start, whilst also achieving the correct transient oil and coolant warm-up profiles. Further, it achieves the vehicle highly transient fuel flow, so the relevant transient GDI pump cam loading, over the WLTC. The frictional energy required is used to compare engine lubricants.
The major area in which the automotive manufacturers are working is to produce high-performance vehicles with lighter weight, higher fuel economy and lower emissions. In this regard, hollow camshafts are widely used in modern diesel and gasoline engines due to their inherent advantages of less rotational inertia, less friction, less weight and better design flexibility. However, the dynamic loads of chain system, valve train and fuel injection pump (if applicable) makes it challenging to design over-head hollow camshafts with the required factor of safety (FOS). In the present work, high-fidelity FE model of a hollow camshaft assembly is simulated to evaluate the structural performance for assembly loads, valve train operating loads, fuel injection pump loads and chain system loads. The investigation is carried out in a high power-density (70 kW/lit) 4-cylinder in-line diesel engine. The camshaft is used for operating the intake valves which induce varying stresses in-line with the engine firing order. Moreover, the camshaft is also used to drive the high-pressure fuel injection pump (FIP) at the rear-end which can add significant torsional stresses. Furthermore, the stresses induced by the hub-loads of timing chain is found to be having a significant effect on the bending behavior of the front-end of the camshaft. In addition to these operating stresses, the camshaft is subjected to different kinds of mean stresses induced by the bolt (used to fasten the drive-sprocket) and interference fit of the camshaft child parts (cam and front plug). Hence, the authors propose a robust and reliable evaluation methodology to evaluate the structural performance and factor of safety (FOS). The dynamic bending behavior of the camshaft under press-fit loads of cam lobes and front plug is discussed. The present work also covers the load-path and multi axial stress state induced on the hollow camshaft under varying load conditions apart from estimating the fatigue life. Moreover, the investigation includes the assessment of different parameters influencing the stress multi-axiality on the camshaft to arrive at potential improvements in the camshaft design. Overall, the results arrived using this methodology is found to be having a good correlation with the parts used for durability testing. Thus, the proposed methodology can be used for evaluating hollow camshafts of modern engines subjected to complex and highly dynamic loads.
With the advent of stricter regulation for tail pipe emission and urge to reduce the carbon foot prints, the engine hardware has undergone through evolutionary changes over the years i.e., boosting, low viscosity engine oil, high pressure fuel injection, cooled EGR, friction reduction, downsizing etc. These technological changes have led to the challenge of increase in radiated noise level from the engine (source) due to increased number of auxiliary drives on engine i.e., Turbo charger, HP fuel pump along with faster combustion & harsher operating conditions. The fuel system is one such system which has become most intricate with operating pressure going above 2000bar in the fuel rail and capability of up to 10 fuel injection per combustion. These changes in hardware could result in abnormal noise generation during specific operating conditions which may result in customer annoyance inside vehicle cabin. This paper explains some of the abnormal intermittent noise sources in the engine and physical phenomenon which results in a ticking type noises which are usually observed during the low engine load and low rpm condition. The method such as Acoustic holography, beam forming, sound intensity could be used to identify noise source location by measuring the sound pressure field with multiple microphones. The measurement of the In-cylinder pressure, noise and vibration data and the experimentation with ECU parameters related to Fuel injection system could help in understanding the broad classification of noise i.e., engine parts knocking, combustion noise & actuator noise. Further this paper describes an approach to mitigate the ticking noise generated from fuel injection system through optimization of hydraulic operational modes of fuel system by ECU calibration parameter tuning.
Direct injection spark ignition engines represent an effective technology to achieve the goal of carbon dioxide emission reduction. Further reduction of the carbon footprint can be achieved by using carbon-neutral fuels. Oxygenated alcohols are well consolidated fuels for spark ignition engines providing also the advantages of knock resistance and low soot tendency production. Methanol and ethanol are possible candidates as alternative fuels to gasoline due to their similar properties. In this study a blend at 25 % v/v of ethanol in gasoline (E25) and a blend with 80% gasoline, 5 % v/v ethanol and 15% v/v of methanol (GEM) were tested. These blends were considered since E25 is already available at fuel pump in some countries. The GEM blend, instead, could represent a valid alternative in the next future. Experiments were carried out on a high performance, turbocharged 1.8 L direct injection spark ignition engine over the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Cycle. Gaseous emissions and particles in the range 5.6 - 560 nm were measured at exhaust. Experimental results showed that gaseous emissions are affected beyond of the fuel properties also by the specific phase of the cycle. The results all over the WLTC highlighted the beneficial effect of E25 and even more of GEM blend on CO, THC and NOx emissions. With regard to the particle emissions, they are reduced for alcohol blends compared to gasoline showing a shift of size distribution versus larger particles when methanol is added to the ethanol and gasoline.
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D613 test method involves the use of a variable compression ratio CFR F5 engine to determine the cetane number of diesel fuels for use in compression ignition engines. The CFR F5 remains relatively unchanged since its conception, utilizing a swirl prechamber, mechanical jerk fuel pump, and a 10.3 MPa cracking pressure pintle nozzle mechanical injector. Recent efforts to improve the repeatability of the F5 engine involved the development of prototype engines equipped with electronic fuel injection (EFI) and upgraded high-speed instrumentation. These modifications have demonstrated the capability to improve the ASTM D613 precision limits by at least a factor of two. Parameterization of injection strategy has further optimized the test method, producing cycle-to-cycle variations of ignition delay analogous to modern day compression ignition engines. This study aims to expand on these improvements by identifying and quantifying similarities in ignition characteristics between the EFI F5 and a single-cylinder Caterpillar C9.3B heavy-duty diesel engine. Parametrization studies of injection advance and intake air temperature at fixed compression ratio and a gross indicated load of 2 bar were performed on both platforms with reference fuels at varying cetane number. Apparent heat release analysis was performed for the F5 and C9.3B. Despite the different combustion systems, the F5 and C9.3B have very similar ignition delay characteristics as the fuel and operating conditions are varied. This study validates the F5 engines importance and relevance as the primary cetane rating methodology for diesel fuels used in compression ignition engines.
In the Brazilian automotive market, the Flex Fuel vehicles are known for their ability to run with gasoline, ethanol, or any proportional mixture of them. To allow this flexibility, the vehicle’s fuel system has been adapted to support differences in fuel types available in the Brazilian market, including contaminated fuel that in this paper will be treated as aggressive ethanol. The fuel pump, which has the function of supply fuel to the engine, had to be specially developed for the flex fuel application to support the specific characteristics in Brazilian ethanol. The focus of this paper is to evaluate the influence of different fuels - gasoline, ethanol, and aggressive ethanol in the sparking level of the DC fuel pump commutation system. Using a digital oscilloscope, the voltage signals of the fuel pump were recorded, and it was applied a mathematical formulation to determine the sparking level of the DC motor for the different fuels. The results show that the higher the voltage, the larger the spark level intensity in all fuels considered herein. In addition, the increase in the fuel conductivity also showed an increase on the value for the evaluated parameter. Consequently, the fuel electrical conductivity that is one of the parameters monitored by the Brazilian specification, has a critical influence on the fuel pump operation, which can affect the fuel pump lifetime, due to electro erosion wear caused on the carbon brush and carbon commutator owing to the sparking level.
The introduction of CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) norms has put a lot of importance on improving the fuel economy of passenger car vehicles. One of the areas to improve the fuel economy is by reducing engine friction. Camshaft drive torque reduction is one such area that helps in engine friction reduction. This paper explains the camshaft drive torque optimization work done on a passenger car Diesel engine with DOHC (double overhead camshaft). The exhaust camshaft of the engine drives the high-pressure Fuel Injection Pump (FIP) in addition to valve actuation. Camshaft drive torque is reduced by reducing the chain load. This is done through optimum phasing of the FIP lobe that drives the fuel injection pump and the cam lobe actuating the exhaust valves. Additional boundary condition for the phasing is ensuring that the FIP lobe is in the fall region of its profile while the piston is at TDC. This helps in avoiding rail pressure fluctuation. This work is done on the BS VI variant of the engine and results are also compared with the BS IV version of the same engine. Changes in the fuel injection system are also explained. CAE simulations were performed to identify the FIP lobe orientation where the addition of FIP load along with valve train loads results in lowest chain load. Finalizing the FIP lobe orientation led to the re-design of FIP housing which was done successfully. Based on the above optimization the finalized design of camshaft with FIP lobe and chain system was validated in both engine testbed and vehicle conditions successfully. Chain loads are also measured on the engine and they are compared against the simulation results.
Transmission of vibration and noise to the occupants and especially driver contributes significantly to the quality perception of the motor vehicle and eventually, it affects the overall ride comfort. These forces mainly reach to customer through tactile locations, i.e. floor, gearshift lever, steering wheel and seat. Showroom/Parking customer drive pattern of a vehicle evinces the steering system and driver’s seat rail vibration as strikingly linked aspect to evaluate human comfort [1]. This paper deals with the study of vibration at steering wheel and seat affecting human comfort at engine idle rpm with AC ON and OFF condition for passenger vehicles. The transmissibility of engine and radiator induced vibrations has been investigated with respect to modal alignment of steering and seat system. It has been observed that engine (dominant order or firing order) and radiator fan (1st order) excitation frequencies in proximity to system natural frequency drivesresonance and amplifies the vibration level perceivable to customer. Moreover, due to the upper tolerance limit of power train mount stiffness, rigid body mode of power train is close to the engine excitation frequency. This paper also deals with the fuel pump noise intrusion inside the cabin in showroom/parking drive pattern of a vehicle. Disparate system’s such as steering wheel, seat, radiator fan and fuel pump NVH performance has cascaded down from vehicle to subsystem and component level using the functionally designed and developed test rigs to interpret the root cause and securing the well modal separation of system from engine and radiator fan excitation frequencies. The whole work aims at the target setting and achieving the same at commencement of project and thus reducing development time and cost throughout the project duration of full vehicle NVH refinements.
Fuel filter’s precise sizing and specification have been challenging with a Diesel engine, considering the severe operating environment and conditions, especially for off-road applications like agriculture, construction, road-making equipment, etc. The scenario further worsens in countries having the worst fuel cleanliness level (beyond 23/22/19 as per ISO-4406), improper storage, handling, and transportation of fuel. In an attempt to be on the safer side, automotive and fuel filter manufacturers prefer to over-design fuel filters - this resulting in cost addition of product and service and high warranty of the Fuel Injection system if fuel filters are under-designed. Factors and variables affecting fuel filtration efficiency over service and engine life have not been clearly known. Inefficient fuel filtration leads to Fuel injection systems’ premature failure, especially critical injectors’ internal parts, like nozzle, needle valve, and control valve, thus directly impacting engine performance with low power/torque, higher fuel consumption, and smoke, etc. In this study, Final Tier-4 or Bharat Stage-4 55kW diesel engines have been considered; however, the fuel filter selection and validation methodologies discussed in this paper can be deployed to other engine ratings as well. This paper includes a holistic overview of fuel cleanliness and filtration, starting from the very first point of filling fuel to the tank to the inlet of the High-pressure fuel injection pump. The paper covers detailed fuel filter specification guidelines and calculations for the targeted region’s worst fuel cleanliness. Further importantly, it gives the off-road industry’s first robust multi-level fuel filters validation approach - starting from an engine to machines/vehicles, and finally to a unique injector durability test to robustly sign off fuel filter specification.
The Octane Number test was unveiled in 1928 with a lukewarm response from the oil and automotive industries. The test represented a noble attempt for capturing the antiknock performance of a fuel given the limited knowledge of knock at the time. The test compares the antiknock performance of a fuel in a test engine to a reference fuel. Though simplistic, the test is ingrained in society and has undergone only minor revision despite dramatic changes in engines and fuels. Many studies have discussed the inadequacies of the test, with recent ones questioning their relevancy. This paper provides an overview of these issues, focusing on how to make the tests relevant to modern engines and fuels. Three techniques are recommended for updating the tests. The first technique adjusts the definition for the antiknock index, which is the “Octane Number” displayed on the fuel pump. The antiknock index is currently the average of the Octane Number measured at two test conditions, but recent studies indicate a more complicated relationship. The second technique changes the test’s references fuels, which are currently paraffins. By replacing iso-octane with toluene in the reference fuel blend, it behaves more similarly to modern fuels. The third technique involves changing the test conditions to better replicate the range of knock-limited conditions in modern engines. In particular, the tests would need to achieve higher in-cylinder pressures and lower in-cylinder temperatures. This paper discusses the merits of each of these three approaches while also looking at the challenges with implementing these changes.
This SAE Recommended Practice defines a guideline for the fuel injection pump designer to select appropriate fastener designs which are considered to be tamper-resistant. It applies to fuel injection pumps used on diesel engines.
This part of SAE J968 specifies two types of calibrating nozzle and holder assemblies intended for the testing and setting of diesel injection pumps on test benches. It applies to: a A calibrating nozzle and holder assembly with a single hole orifice plate; b A calibrating nozzle and holder assembly with a delay pintle type nozzle. The approximate range of the calibrating nozzle and holder assembly is up to: a 300 mm3/stroke with the single hole orifice plate; b 150 mm3/stroke with the delay pintle type nozzle. Setting and maintenance requirements are specified in ISO 4008/3.
This paper explains the methodology to design a high power-density diesel engine capable of 180 bar peak firing pressure yet achieving the lowest level of mechanical friction. The base engine architecture consists of an 8 mm crank-offset which is an optimized value to have the lowest piston side forces. The honing specification is changed from a standard plateau honing to an improved torque plate slide honing with optimized surface finish values. The cumulative tangential force of the piston rings is reduced to an extreme value of 28.5 N. A rectangular special coated top ring and a low-friction architecture oil ring are used to reduce the friction without increasing the blow-by and oil consumption. A special low-friction coating is applied on the piston skirt in addition to the optimized skirt profile to have reduced contact pressure. The piston pin is coated with diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating to have the lowest friction. The main bearing and crankpin diameter and width are optimized to have the lowest friction yet meeting the bearing unit-load and oil film thickness requirements. A unique oil supply concept is introduced to reduce the oil flow through the main bearings by 24%. The oil pump is driven by a chain to reduce the operating speed and rotor diameter and inertia. Water pump efficiency is improved by adopting a closed-vane curved impeller and low-friction bearing. Chain guides are designed with polyamide 46 (PA46) material to reduce the friction; low friction coating on the chain links is used for further friction reduction. A low-friction single-plunger fuel injection pump (FIP) is used in place of a 3-plunger pump. Engine oil with special additives is used to reduce the cold-friction yet maintaining the required dynamic viscosity at high temperatures. Overall, the final measurement results confirm that the overall engine friction is measured to be about 0.806 bar at a motoring speed of 2000 rpm at 90 deg.C. coolant and oil temperature. The authors give further insight into the future friction reduction potentials which include further reduction of oil ring tension (5N), belt system tension reduction by using an over-running alternator decoupler (OAD), the introduction of variable oil pump, switchable piston cooling jets and switchable water pump. With these measures, it is estimated that the engine friction can be further brought down to an ultra-low value of about 0.680 bar.
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