Common Rail Direct Injection

System

CONTENTS
1. Introduction to Common Rail
2. Structure of Common Rail Direct Injection System
3. Common Rail Injection System
4. Operating Principle
5. Advantages
6. An insight to Cdi Engine
7. Conclusion
8. Reference

COMMON RAIL DIESEL INJECTION

INTRODUCTION
Diesels known for their power handling capabilities acquired the title workhorse
engines. Diesels may reside in heavy-duty trucks, buses, tractors, and trains, not to mention
large ships, bulldozers, cranes, and other construction equipment. Gasoline engines might
dwell in the typical passenger vehicle, lawn equipment and recreational vehicles.
There are basically 2 types of popular engines used in the world today:
1. Petrol engines
2. Diesel engines
Petrol fuel is injected as an air/fuel mixture into the combustion chamber and ignited
by the spark from spark plugs. Diesel fuel is pressurized and injected into the combustion
chamber through a fuel injector nozzle, just when the air in the chamber has been subjected
to high pressure that it is hot enough to ignite the fuel spontaneously.
Traditional fuel injection systems for diesel engines are designed with the objective to
secure acceptable fuel spray characteristics during the combustion process at all load
conditions. Incorrect injection causes reduced efficiency and increased emission of harmful
species.. Among the advantages claimed with respect to the common rail concept are
injection rate shaping, variable timing and duration of the injection, in addition to variable
injection pressure, enabling high injection pressure even at low engine loads. Medium speed
diesel engines are different from the automotive diesel engines, especially in that the majority
of them operate at constant load and speed most of the time, and the advantages of the
more complicated common rail system may not be justified. The common rail injection
system is not capable of supplying all possible rate shapes, and rate shaping is mostly
restricted to delivering a pre injection prior to the main injection. When the rate of injection is
the key to an effective combustion process, it is vital to determine how the 4 rate of injection
from the common rail system compares to the rate of injection from a traditional injection
system.

STRUCTURE OF COMMON RAIL DIRECT INJECTION SYSTEM

The Common Rail Direct Diesel Injection system consists of the following parts:

Injection nozzle:
Injects fuel into the combustion chamber (for direct injection) or pre-combustion (for
indirect injection).

Fuel Supply Pump:

The fuel supply pump in low pressure stage is responsible for maintaining an
adequate supply of fuel to the high pressure components. This applies:
1. Irrespective of operating state.
2. With a minimum of noise.
3. at necessary pressure.
4. Throughout the vehicles service life.
The fuel supply pump draws fuel out of the fuel tank and conveys it continuously in the
required quantity to the high pressure fuel injection installation. Many pumps leed themselves
automatically so that starting is possible even when
fuel tank has run dry.
There are three designs:
1. electric fuel pump
2. Mechanically driven gear pump
3. Tandem fuel pumps.
In axial-piston and radial-piston distributor pumps, a vane type supply pump is used as
pre-supply pump and is integrated directly in the fuel injection pump.

Fuel Filter:
The service life design of the fuel injection system depends on a specific
minimum purity of the fuel. Functions of fuel filter are:
1. Particulate filtration:.
2. Water Separation:
Two filters can also be fitted in parallel, resulting in greater particulate storage
capacity. Connecting the filter in series produces a higher filtration efficiency. Pre-filter
is fitted on the suction or pressure side if requirements are particularly high with a filter
fineness matched to the main filter.

The Rail of Common Rail Injection

System:
The common rail is a modular system, and can
therefore be easily adapted for different engines.
Besides acting as fuel accumulator, the fuel rail also
distributes fuel to the injectors. The function of the high
pressure accumulator is to maintain the fuel at high
pressure. In so doing accumulator volume has to dampen pressure fluctuations caused by
fuel pulses delivered by the fuel pump and the fuel injection cycles. This ensures that, when
the injector opens the injection pressure remains constant.

High-pressure Line:
In common rail systems, they serve as the connection between the high pressure
pump and the rail and from rail to the injector. The pipe is made of steel as it has to withstand
high pressures. The following types of fittings are used:
1. Sealing cone and union nut
2. Heavy duty insert fittings
3. Perpendicular connection fittings.
The high pressure fuel lines must withstand the systems maximum pressure as well as
pressure variations that can attain very high fluctuations. The lines are seamless precision
made steel tubing in killed cast steel which has particularly consistent microstructure.

Fuel injection pumps:

Diesel fuel injection pumps are
generally divided into two categories:
1.

2.

3.

Mechanically controlled fuel

injection pumps are available as:
1.In-line type
2. Distributor type
Electronically controlled fuel
injection pumps are available as:
1. In-line type
2. Distributor type
Common Rail type

Mechanically controlled fuel injection pumps:

In-line Fuel Injection pumps have the same number of plungers as cylinders in the
engine. They have been around the longest and include Camshaft-Less (PFR) types.

Electronically controlled fuel injection pump:

An electronically controlled fuel injection pump utilizes a microcomputer to control fuel
injection quantity and injection timing according to running conditions of the engine. Unlike
conventional mechanical control, fuel injection quantity and injection timing are controlled
electronically, thereby resulting in fine and accurate control. It can be referred to as Electronic
Control Diesel or ECD.

Electronically controlled fuel injection pump:

An electronically controlled fuel injection pump utilizes a microcomputer to control fuel
injection quantity and injection timing according to running conditions of the engine. Unlike
conventional mechanical control, fuel injection quantity and injection timing are controlled
electronically, thereby resulting in fine and accurate control. It can be referred to as Electronic
Control Diesel or ECD.

High-pressure stage of the radial-piston distributor injection pump:

Radial-piston

high-pressure

pumps

produce

higher

injection

pressures than Axial-piston high-pressure pumps. Consequently, they also

require more power to drive themThe radial-piston high-pressure pump is
driven directly by the distributor Pump driveshaft.
The main pump components are
the cam ring
the roller supports
rollers
the delivery plungers
the drive plate
the front section (head) of the distributor shaft
The drive shaft drives the drive plate by means of radially positioned guide
slots. The guide slots simultaneously act as the locating slots for the roller supports. The roller
supports and the rollers held by They run around the inner cam profile of the cam ring that
surrounds the drive shaft. The number of cams corresponds to the number of cylinders in the
engine. The drive plate drives the distributor shaft. The head of the distributor shaft holds the
delivery lungers which are aligned radially to the drive-shaft axis (hence the name radial-piston
high-pressure pump). The delivery plungers rest against the roller supports. As the roller
supports are forced outwards by centrifugal force, the delivery plungers follow the profile of the
cam ring and describe a cyclical reciprocating motion.

Injector:
A fuel injector is nothing but an electronically
controlled valve. It is supplied with pressurized fuel
by the fuel pump in your car, and it is capable of
opening and closing many times per second.
Different types of injectors are

Solenoid Valve Injector:

When

the

injector

is

energized,

an

electromagnet moves a plunger that opens the valve,

allowing the pressurized fuel to squirt out through a
tiny nozzle. The nozzle is designed to atomize the fuel
to make as fine am mist as possible so that it can burn
easily.

Piezo-Inline Injector:
The nozzle needle on piezo-inline injector is
controlled indirectly by servo valve. The required injected
fuel quantity is then controlled by the valve triggering
period. The nozzle is kept closed by the rail pressure

exerted in the control chamber. When the piezo actuator is triggered, the serve valve opens and
closes the bypass passage. The amount of fuel supplied to the engine is determined by the
amount of time the fuel injector stays open. This is called the pulse width, and it is controlled by
the ECU.

Electronic Control Unit:

An Engine Control Unit (ECU), also known as Engine
Management System (EMS) is an electronic device,
fundamentally a computer, that is part of an internal
combustion engine, which reads several sensors in the
engine and uses the information to control the ignition
systems of the engine.

An electronic control unit contains the hardware and software (firmware). The
hardware consists of electronic components on a printed circuit board (PCB). The main
component on this circuit board is a microcontroller chip (CPU). The software is stored in the
microcontroller or other chips on the PCB, typically in EPROMs or flash memory so the CPU
can be re-programmed by uploading updated code. This is also referred to as an (electronic)
Engine Management System (EMS).
There are two main types of control for multi-port systems
The fuel injectors can all open at the same time,
Each one can open just before the intake valve for its cylinder opens (this is called
sequential multi-port fuel injection).
The amount of fuel supplied to the engine is determined by the amount of time the fuel
injector stays open. This is called the pulse width, and it is controlled by the ECU. The range
of tasks performed by the engine control unit includes the following functions:
Common-rail injection
Delivery control of the high-pressure pump
Engine speed limitation
Deceleration fuel cut-off
Fuel pump
Air supply
Drive control
Diagnosis

A separate data network links the engine management system with the generator and
the glow control unit, which lies at the heart of an innovative quick-start low system. This
shortens the preheating time for the engine to just a moment, so hat the diesel is now also
the equal of a petrol engine in this respect.

Nothing COMMON About It.

More Torque, Less Emission and Less Noise.
While the Japanese are leading in petrol direct injection technology, Germany's Bosch,
working in conjunction with several European car makers, pioneered Common Rail Direct
Injection for diesel engines.
Compare with petrol, diesel is the
lower quality ingredient of petroleum
family. Diesel particles are larger and
heavier

than

difficult

to

petrol,

thus

pulverise.

more

Imperfect

pulverisation leads to more unburnt

particles, hence more pollutant, lower
fuel

efficiency

and

less

power.

Common-rail technology is intended

to improve the pulverisation process.
The rail assembly used in CRDi is as shown in figure.
The main components on the rail assembly are:
1. Common pressure accumulator (the rail)
2. High pressure regulator (option)
3. Inlet metered high-pressure supply pump with
integrated lift pump
4. Injectors
5. Electronic control unit (ECU)
6. Filter unit
To improve pulverisation, the fuel must be injected at a very high pressure, so high
that normal fuel injectors cannot achieve. In common-rail system, the fuel pressure is
implemented by a strong pump instead of fuel injectors. The high-pressure fuel is fed to

individual fuel injectors via a common rigid pipe (hence the name of "common-rail"). In the
current first generation design, the pipe withstand the pressure as high as 1,350 bar or
20,000 psi. Fuel always remains under such pressure even in stand-by state. Therefore
whenever the injector (which acts as a valve rather than a pressure generator) opens, the
high-pressure fuel can be injected into combustion chamber quickly. As a result, not only
pulverisation is improved by the higher fuel pressure, but the duration of fuel injection can be
shortened and the timing can be precisely controlled.
Benefited by the precise timing, common-rail injection system can introduce a "postcombustion", which injects small amount of fuel during the expansion phase thus create a
small scale combustion before the normal combustion takes place.

OPERATING PRINCIPLE
A feed pump delivers the fuel through a filter unit to the high pressure pump through
feed pipe.
The high-pressure pump delivers fuel to the high-pressure accumulator (the rail). The
electronically controlled injectors inject fuel into the combustion chamber when the solenoid
valve is actuated. Because the injection pressure is independent of engine speed and load,
the actual start of injection, the injection pressure, and the duration of injection can be freely
chosen from a wide range.The introduction of pilot injection, which is adjusted depending on
engine needs, results in significant engine noise reduction, together with a reduction in NOx
emissions.
The pressure in the system is controlled by the actuator. The figure shows all the
components in a common rail system for a fully equipped, 4 cylinder, passenger car diesel
engine. Depending on the type of vehicle and its application, some of the components may
not be fitted.
The sensors and setpoint generators are not depicted in their real installation position
to simplify presentation. Exceptions are the exhaust-gas treatment sensors and the rail
pressure sensor as their installation positions are required to understand the system. Data
exchange between the various sections takes place via the CAN bus in the interfaces
suction:
Starter Motor
Alternator
Electronic Immobilizer

 Transmission control
Traction Control System
Electronic Stability Program

System Diagram For Passenger Cars

ADVANTAGES
-More power is developed
-Increased fuel efficiency
-More stability
-Pollutants are reduced
-Particulates of exhaust are reduced
-Exhaust gas recirculation is enhanced
-Precise injection timing is obtained
-Pilot and post injection increase the combustion quality
-The powerful microcomputer makes the whole system more perfect

AN INSIGHT INTO THE CDI ENGINE

Pilot Injection Feature:
The high combustion pressure of up to 145 bar
(2130 psi) in the CDI engine, and the rate at which
this pressure rises during the combustion process
normally produce higher noise levels in direct
injection engines than in their pre-chamber (indirect
injection) counterparts.

CONCLUSION
CRDI technology revolutionized diesel engines. It has changed the way one looks as
diesel cars by providing the above said advantages.

REFERENCES:
http/www.crdi.technolog.co.in
www.google.com