MEA341s (UG2018) - Automo ve Fuel Systems

DI & IDI injec on system in CI engine

omar youssry Mohamed

2001021
In a compression igni on COMPRESSION IGNETION engine the fuel injec on system and the
combus on chamber design cannot be seperated Unlike spark igni on SI engines where fuel
and air are mixed before entering the cylinder direct injec onesel engines must mix fuel and air
inside the cylinder in just a few milliseconds This is called a heterogenous mixture

The combus on chamber design controls how air moves and how the fuel spray meets this air
This interac on direct injec onrectly affects engine power thermal efficency noise and exhaust
emissions

Generally COMPRESSION IGNETION combus on chambers are direct injec onvided into two
main types based on fuel injec on loca on Direct injec onrect injec on DIRECT INJECTION
where fuel is injected straight into the main cylinder and indirect injec onrect injec on IN-
DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION where fuel is injected into a small pre chamber connected to
the main cylinder

This text explains the design working advantages and limits of both systems

2 Direct injec onrect Injec on DIRECT INJECTION Systems

Concept and Construc on
In direct injec onrect injec on systems the injector is fi ed direct injec onrectly into the
cylinder head and sprays fuel straight into the main combus on space above the piston Because
there is no extra chamber to help mix air the piston top usually has a deep bowl shape

The shape of this bowl is very important The injector is normally placed in the center and uses a
mul hole nozzle to spray fuel evenly

Air movement in DIRECT INJECTION engines depends on swirl created by the intake port and
squish which happens when the piston moves near top dead center and pushes air into the
bowl

Types of DIRECT INJECTION Combus on Chambers

Shallow chambers are used in large slow engines where mixing me is long so strong turbulence
is not needed

Hemispherical bowls are simple round shapes found in older engines

Toroidal bowls have a donut shape with a raised center that guides air in a compression
igne onrcular mo on

Re entrant bowls are used in modern high speed engines The bowl opening narrows at the top
which forces air in at high speed crea ng strong turbulence and fast mixing
Advantages of Direct injec onrect Injec on
The biggest advantage is high thermal efficency Because the chamber is compact heat loss to
walls is low This means more energy is used to push the piston and fuel consump on is lower

Cold star ng is also be er since less heat is lost and the air stays hot DIRECT INJECTION engines
can o en start without glow plugs in mild cold weather

Durability is higher because there are no pre chambers that can crack from heat stress

Direct injec onsadvantages of Direct injec onrect Injec on

Older DIRECT INJECTION engines were noisy because mixing was slower Igni on delay became
long so fuel built up and burned suddenly causing loud direct injec onesel knock

DIRECT INJECTION engines also need very high injec on pressure to atomize fuel properly This
requires strong pumps and modern systems reach very high pressures

3 Indirect injec onrect Injec on IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION Systems

Concept and Construc on
In indirect injec onrect injec on the cylinder is direct injec onvided into two spaces the main
chamber above the piston and a small pre chamber in the cylinder head

The injector sprays fuel only into this pre chamber which is connected to the main cylinder by a
narrow passage called the throat

Types of IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION Chambers

The swirl chamber also called Ricardo Comet is the most common It is spherical and the throat
enters at an angle so air spins very fast during compression Fuel is injected into this strong swirl
giving good mixing

Pre combus on chambers are cylindrical and use small holes to connect to the main chamber
They depend more on pressure direct injec onfference than swirl

Air cell designs are old and no longer used They stored air pressure and released it to help
mixing

Combus on Process in IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION

During compression air is forced into the pre chamber where it becomes very hot and turbulent
Fuel is injected and igni on starts in the pre chamber but there is not enough air to burn it all

Pressure rises fast and the burning mixture shoots through the throat into the main cylinder
This jet mixes with remaining air and completes combus on
Advantages of Indirect injec onrect Injec on
IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION engines run smoother and quieter because combus on
happens in two stages This reduces pressure rise rate and vibra on

Lower injec on pressure is needed since air mo on does most of the mixing Pintle injectors
with low pressure were enough

IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION engines could also run at higher rpm compared to old
DIRECT INJECTION engines

Direct injec onsadvantages of Indirect injec onrect Injec on

The biggest problem is heat loss The pre chamber has large surface area and strong turbulence
which transfers heat to coolant This reduces efficompression igne onency by around 10 to 15
percent

Cold star ng is direct injec onfficult because the cold pre chamber removes heat from air IN-
DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION engines always need glow plugs even in warm condirect
injec on ons

The throat area also suffers from high thermal stress which o en leads to cylinder head cracking

4 Comparison Between DIRECT INJECTION and IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION

Choosing between DIRECT INJECTION and IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION is always a
balance between efficompression igne onency and smoothness DIRECT INJECTION engines are
more efficompression igne onent but noisier while IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION
engines are smoother but waste more fuel

Feature Direct Injec on (DI) Indirect Injec on (IDI)

Loca on of Fuel Injected directly onto piston Injected into pre-chamber

Created by chamber shape

Air Mo on Created by piston bowl (Squish)
(Swirl)

Injec on Moderate (turbulence helps

Very High (to atomize)
Pressure mix)

Fuel Efficiency Excellent (low heat loss) Lower (high heat loss)
 Feature Direct Injec on (DI) Indirect Injec on (IDI)

Noise / Vibra on Historically loud (hard knock) Quieter / So er

Easy (o en no glow plugs

Star ng Hard (always needs glow plugs)
needed)

Complexity Simple Head, Complex Piston Complex Head, Simple Piston

5 Evolu on Why DIRECT INJECTION Replaced IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION

IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION engines were popular in small cars because people direct
injec onsliked noisy direct injec onesel engines But in the late 1990s turbocharging and
electronic common rail injec on changed everything

High pressure injec on solved atomiza on problems and pilot injec on reduced noise This
made DIRECT INJECTION engines quiet and smooth

Once noise was no longer an issue manufacturers switched fully to DIRECT INJECTION to gain
be er fuel economy and meet emission laws

Today IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION engines are almost obsolete in cars but are s ll
used in some small agricultural machines where simplicompression igne onty ma ers more
than efficompression igne onency

6 Conclusion
The comparison of DIRECT INJECTION and IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT INJECTION shows the main
direct injec onesel challenge which is mixing fuel and air very quickly IN-DIRECT INJECTIONRECT
INJECTION solved this using chamber shape and air mo on but lost efficompression
igne onency DIRECT INJECTION solved it using high pressure fuel injec on

Modern engines combine DIRECT INJECTION with turbocharging and electronic control giving
both high efficompression igne onency and smooth opera on making DIRECT INJECTION the
standard in todays direct injec onesel engines