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Common rail
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Common rail direct fuel injection is a modern variant of direct fuel injection system for petrol and diesel engines.
On diesel engines, it features a high-pressure (over ) fuel rail feeding individual solenoid valves, as opposed to low-pressure fuel pump feeding unit injectors (Pumpe Düse or pump nozzles), or high-pressure fuel line to mechanical valves controlled by cams on the camshaft. Third-generation common rail diesels now feature piezoelectric injectors for increased precision, with fuel pressures up to .
In petrol engines, it is utilised in gasoline direct injection engine technology.
common rail system prototype was developed in the late 1960s by Robert Huber of Switzerland and the technology further developed by Dr. Marco Ganser at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, later of Ganser-Hydromag AG (est.1995) in Oberägeri.
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Common rail direct fuel injection is a modern variant of direct fuel injection system for petrol and diesel engines.
On diesel engines, it features a high-pressure (over ) fuel rail feeding individual solenoid valves, as opposed to low-pressure fuel pump feeding unit injectors (Pumpe Düse or pump nozzles), or high-pressure fuel line to mechanical valves controlled by cams on the camshaft. Third-generation common rail diesels now feature piezoelectric injectors for increased precision, with fuel pressures up to .
In petrol engines, it is utilised in gasoline direct injection engine technology.
History
The common rail system prototype was developed in the late 1960s by Robert Huber of Switzerland and the technology further developed by Dr. Marco Ganser at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, later of Ganser-Hydromag AG (est.1995) in Oberägeri. In the mid-1990s Dr. Shohei Itoh and Masahiko Miyaki of the Denso Corporation, a Japanese automotive parts manufacturer, developed the common rail fuel system for heavy duty vehicles and turned it into practical use on their ECD-U2 common-rail system mounted on the Hino Rising Ranger truck and sold for general use in 1995. Denso claims the first commercial high pressure common rail system in 1995 .
Modern common rail systems, whilst working on the same principle, are governed by an engine control unit (ECU) which opens each injector electronically rather than mechanically. This was extensively prototyped in the 1990s with collaboration between Magneti Marelli, Centro Ricerche Fiat and Elasis. After research and development by the Fiat Group the design was acquired by the German company Robert Bosch GmbH for completion of development and refinement for mass-production. In hindsight the sale appeared to be a tactical error for Fiat as the new technology proved to be highly profitable. The company had little choice but to sell, however, as it was in a poor financial state at the time and lacked the resources to complete development on its own. In 1997 they extended its use for passenger cars. The first passenger car that used the common rail system was the 1997 model Alfa Romeo 156 1.9 JTD, and later on that same year Mercedes-Benz C 220 CDI.
Common rail engines have been used in marine and locomotive applications for some time. The Cooper-Bessemer GN-8 (circa 1942) is an example of a hydraulically operated common rail diesel engine, also known as a modified common rail.
The engines are suitable for all types of road cars with diesel engines, ranging from city cars such as the Fiat Nuova Panda to executive cars such as the Volvo S80.
Common rail today
Today the common rail system has brought about a revolution in diesel engine technology. Robert Bosch GmbH, Delphi Automotive Systems, Denso Corporation, and Siemens VDO (now owned by Continental AG) are the main suppliers of modern common rail systems. The car makers refer to their common rail engines by their own brand names:
Principles
Solenoid or piezoelectric valves make possible fine electronic control over the fuel injection time and quantity, and the higher pressure that the common rail technology makes available provides better fuel atomisation. In order to lower engine noise the engine's electronic control unit can inject a small amount of diesel just before the main injection event ("pilot" injection), thus reducing its explosiveness and vibration, as well as optimising injection timing and quantity for variations in fuel quality, cold starting, and so on. Some advanced common rail fuel systems perform as many as five injections per stroke.
Common rail engines require no heating up time and produce lower engine noise and emissions than older systems.
Diesel engines have historically used various forms of fuel injection. Two common types include the unit injection system and the distributor/inline pump systems (See diesel engine and unit injector for more information). While these older systems provided accurate fuel quantity and injection timing control they were limited by several factors:
- They were cam driven and injection pressure was proportional to engine speed. This typically meant that the highest injection pressure could only be achieved at the highest engine speed and the maximum achievable injection pressure decreased as engine speed decreased. This relationship is true with all pumps, even those used on common rail systems; with the unit or distributor systems, however, the injection pressure is tied to the instantaneous pressure of a single pumping event with no accumulator and thus the relationship is more prominent and troublesome.
- They were limited on the number of and timing of injection events that could be commanded during a single combustion event. While multiple injection events is possible with these older systems, it is much more difficult and costly to achieve.
- For the typical distributor/inline system the start of injection occurred at a pre-determined pressure (often referred to as: pop pressure) and ended at a pre-determined pressure. This characteristic results from "dummy" injectors in the cylinder head which opened and closed at pressures determined by the spring preload applied to the plunger in the injector. Once the pressure in the injector reached a pre-determined level, the plunger would lift and injection would start.
In common rail systems a high pressure pump stores a reservoir of fuel at high pressure — up to and above . The term "common rail" refers to the fact that all of the fuel injectors are supplied by a common fuel rail which is nothing more than a pressure accumulator where the fuel is stored at high pressure. This accumulator supplies multiple fuel injectors with high pressure fuel. This simplifies the purpose of the high pressure pump in that it only has to maintain a commanded pressure at a target (either mechanically or electronically controlled). The fuel injectors are typically ECU-controlled. When the fuel injectors are electrically activated a hydraulic valve (consisting of a nozzle and plunger) is mechanically or hydraulically opened and fuel is sprayed into the cylinders at the desired pressure. Since the fuel pressure energy is stored remotely and the injectors are electrically actuated the injection pressure at the start and end of injection is very near the pressure in the accumulator (rail), thus producing a square injection rate. If the accumulator, pump, and plumbing are sized properly, the injection pressure and rate will be the same for each of the multiple injection events.
See also
External links
- This animation explains the common rail's functioning
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