Chapter 5 and 6

Mixture Formation in SI
and CI Engines
 Mixture Formation in SI
5.1 Carburettor:
• Carburation – the process of vaporization of liquid hydrocarbon
fuels.
• Fuels such as Petrol, benzol and alcohol vaporize slightly at
atmospheric conditions.
• The engine suction is sufficient to vaporize these fuels and no
preheating is required.
• The device used for vaporizing these fuels is called Carburettor.
Functions of carburretor:
1. Maintain a small reserve of petrol under a constant head.
2. Vaporize the petrol by means of engine suction , atomize it and
produce a homogeneous air fuel mixture.
3. Supply the required quantity of air and fuel vapor at correct mixture
strength according to the varying requirements of the engine at all
speeds and loads of the engine.
The Simple caburettor has the following Parts:
1. Float Chamber

2. Venturi

3. Nozzle with metering orifice

4. Throttle Valve

1. Float Chamber
• The fuel is pumped or flows by gravity into float chamber.
• When the fuel reaches the proper height in the chamber , the
float rises sufficiently to cut off flow.
• The level of fuel is kept constant in the fuel chamber.
2. Venturi
• The fuel flows out the float chamber through metering orifice into
nozzle which opens into the venturi throat.
• The pressure drop produced in the venturi throat by the air flows is
used directly to control the rate of fuel flow through fuel orifice
The Simple carburetor has the following Parts:
• The vacuum produced at the venturi throat due to air flow is called
carburetor depression.
2. Nozzle with metering orifice
• The carburetor depression causes a pressure difference across the
metering orifice.
• The fuel is sprayed into the air stream and carried to the engine
cylinder.
• The fuel vaporize due to low pressure produced by the venturi.
3. Throttle
• It serves as a damper at the inlet of the engine and control the speed
and the power of the engine .
• It regulates the amount of air flowing to the engine and checks the
quantity of fuel.
• The amount of mixture is regulated to control the power and the speed
of the engine.
• The mixture quality is also affected as the throttle opening affects the
carburettor depression.
5.3 Eletronic Fueling Injection System
5.3a Gasoline Injection System:
Modern Carburettors , though highly develop , have certain drawback :
1. Non uniform of distribution of mixture in multi-cylinder engines due
to unequal lengths of induction passages.
2. Loss of volumetric efficiency due to resistance of mixture flow.
3. There are chances of backfire and fuel ignition outside the carburetor
4. Surging of fuel in tilted carburettor especially in aircraft.
5. The carburettor performance deteriorates due to wearing of its parts.
6. Freezing of Mixtures at low temperatures.
A petrol injection system can be used to overcome the above
limitations of carburation. Two types of Petrol injection systems:
1. Continuous Injection System
2. Timed Injection System
5.3a Gasoline Injection System:
1. Continuous Injection System- Fuel is sprayed continuously into
air supply system at low pressure the amount of fuel is
controlled by air throttle opening . No timing device is used. It
has certain advantages :
a. Ensures uniform mixture strength supply to all cylinders.
b. Promotes efficient atomization of fuel.
c. Higher volumetric efficiency due to evaporative cooling of
compressed charge.
d. System requires only one fuel injection pump and one
injector.
5.3a Gasoline Injection System:
2. Timed Injection System
The fuel is injected only during induction stroke over limited
period . The system is similar to injection system used in high
speed engines.
a. Multiple plunger jack pump system – The system consist of a
pump with separate plunger for each cylinder. The nozzle
pressure is 100 to 300 bar.
b. Low pressure single pump distribution system – The supply
pressure is only 3.5 to 7 bar. The system consist of single
plunger or gear pump which supplies fuel to rotating
distributor.
5.3a Gasoline Injection System:
Some Advantages of Petrol Injection:
1. Increased of efficiency , power and torque outputs.
2. Better distribution of mixture to each cylinder.
3. Lower specific fuel consumption.
4. Freedom from flow backs .
5. Better starting and acceleration.
5.3a Gasoline Injection System:
Disadvantages of Petrol Injection:
1. Higher initial cost due to large number of precise and
complicated components.
2. Complex design and maintenance problems.
3. More Noise.
4. High weight and bulk of system than that of a carburretor.
5.3a Sample of Electronic Control Injection System:
5.3a Sample of Electronic Control Injection System:
Disadvantages of Petrol Injection:
1. Higher initial cost due to large number of precise and
complicated components.
2. Complex design and maintenance problems.
3. More Noise.
4. High weight and bulk of system than that of a carburretor.
 Mixture Formation in CI
5.4 Fuel Injection System
• The fuel injection system is the heart of the engine which has
to supply, meter , inject and atomise the fuel.
• The engine performance depends upon the accurate and
reliable functioning of the system which is manufactured
with fine tolerance and hence is very costly.
• Diesel does not vaporise by engine suction. Therefore,
carburation is not possible in diesel engines Only air is drawn
into the cylinder during suction stroke and compressed to
very high pressure.
• This raises the air temperature sufficient for auto ignition of
fuel.
• The temperature of compressed air is higher than the ignition
temperature of the fuel.
• The fuel is injected into the engine cylinder almost towards the
end of the compression stroke.
• For proper atomization, dispersion and penetration of fuel
spray required for proper mixing of fuel and air and
combustion, the oil is injected at a high pressure of 100-150 bar
Fuel Injection Requirements
The fuel injection system must ensure the following
requirements:
1. The unit must meter and deliver the correct quantity of
fuel at the precise instant required for a wider range of
speeds and loads of the engine.
2. The beginning and end of injection must be sharp.
3. The injection fuel must be properly atomised.
4. The fuel must be properly sprayed to ensure uniform
distribution and penetration into the space of
combustion chamber.
Fuel Injection Requirements
In order to meet the above requirements, the fuel injection
system must have the following functional elements.
1. Pumping

2. Metering and metering control

3. Distribution

4. Timing Control

5. Mixing
Types of Injection Systems
Basically there are two types of fuel injection system:
1. Air injection System
2. Solid Injection System

1. Air injection system –

• air and fuel are supplied in the fuel valve where they
are mixed and supplied to the engine cylinder.
• The fuel metered and pumped to the fuel valve by a
fuel pumped driven by camshaft.
• The fuel valve is opened by means of mechanical
linkage operated by the camshaft which controls the
timing of the fuel injection.
• A multi stage compressor supplies air at 60-70 bar to the fuel
valve.
• When the fuel valve is opened, the blast air sweeps fuel and
well atomized fuel spray is sent to the combustion chamber.
• This system gives very good atomization and dispersion of
fuel.
• However, additional multi-stage compressor and mechanical
linkage increase the engine weight, lowers mechanical
efficiency and is often source of trouble. This method is
particularly unsuitable for portable engines.
2. Solid Injection System
• The fuel is supplied to the cylinder directly by an injector.
• This may also called airless mechanical or hydraulic injection system.
• A fuel pump is used to supply high pressure fuel to an injector which
injects a fine spray of fuel to the compressed air in the combustion
chamber.

Fuel Injector:
Fuel Injector:
Fuel Pump:
Fuel Pump:
5.5. Individual Pump System:

• In the individual pumps system each cylinder of the engine is

provided with individual injection valve, high pressure pump
and metering device run by the crankshaft of the engine.
• The high pressure pump plunger is actuated by a cam and
produces fuel pressure that is necessary to open the injection
valve at the correct time.
• The amount of fuel injected depends upon the effective stroke
of the engine.
5.5. Individual Pump System:
5.6. Rotary Distributing Pump System:

• The fuel supply is delivered to a rotating distributor at the

correct time and then the distributor supplies fuel to the
injector of individual cylinders.
• Pump has to make as many injection strokes per cycle as
the number of cylinders. The distributor merely selects the
cylinder to receive the fuel.
End of Chapter 5 and
Chapter 6