Manivannan P. V.

In this work an Engine Management System (EMS) using a low cost 8-bit microcontroller specifically for the cost sensitive small two-wheeler application was designed and developed. Only the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) and the cam position sensor (also used for speed measurement) were used. A small capacity 125CC four stroke two-wheeler was converted into a Port Fuel Injected (PFI) engine and was coupled to a fully instrumented Eddy Current Dynamometer. Air-fuel ratio was controlled using the open loop, lookup-table [speed (N) and throttle (α)] based technique. Spark Time was controlled using a proportional / fuzzy logic based close loop control algorithm for the idle speed control to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Test results show a significant improvement in engine performance over the original carbureted engine, in terms of fuel consumption, emissions and idle speed fluctuations. The Proportional controller resulted in significantly lower speed fluctuations and HC / CO emissions than the fuzzy logic controller. Though the fuzzy logic controller resulted in low cycle by cycle variations than the original carbureted engine, it leads to significantly higher HC levels. The performance fuzzy logic can be improved by modifying the membership function shapes with more engine test data. Copyright © 2007 by ASME.

In this work an Engine Management System (EMS) using a low cost 8-bit microcontroller specifically for the cost sensitive small two-wheeler application was designed and developed. Only the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) and the cam position sensor (also used for speed measurement) were used. A small capacity 125CC four stroke two-wheeler was converted into a Port Fuel Injected (PFI) engine and was coupled to a fully instrumented Eddy Current Dynamometer. Air-fuel ratio was controlled using the open loop, lookup-table [speed (N) and throttle (α)] based technique. Spark Time was controlled using a proportional / fuzzy logic based close loop control algorithm for the idle speed control to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Test results show a significant improvement in engine performance over the original carbureted engine, in terms of fuel consumption, emissions and idle speed fluctuations. The Proportional controller resulted in significantly lower speed fluctuations and HC / CO emissions than the fuzzy logic controller. Though the fuzzy logic controller resulted in low cycle by cycle variations than the original carbureted engine, it leads to significantly higher HC levels. The performance fuzzy logic can be improved by modifying the membership function shapes with more engine test data.

In the case of small SI engines for two-wheelers emission reduction will preferably be achieved through the use of lean mixtures since catalytic converters will increase the cost. In such cases a very close control over the air fuel ratio will be needed. In this work a carbureted 125cc small capacity two-wheeler engine was modified to operate with Port Fuel Injection (PFI) for improved control over the air fuel ratio. A throttle body was specially made to house the injector and a position sensor. A cam position sensor, crank angle sensor, manifold air pressure (MAP) sensor, 60-2 toothed wheel for precise control of the events on the angle basis were used. Extensive tests were conducted with the throttle body and fuel injector to obtain the mathematical models for the inlet manifold and fuel injector. These were used to make the model based controller. The dSPACE - Micro Auto Box platform was used to develop and test the control algorithms. Software was written using SIMULINK. The closed loop PID algorithm was used for air-fuel ratio control and map based spark time control for steady state operation and model based control during the transient operation. The controller is able to maintain air fuel ratio as demanded in both steady and transient conditions in the test bed and there are significant improvements in CO, HC, NOX emissions and fuel consumption as compared to the carbureted operation.

An electronic system was developed for the control of the injection timing and injected fuel quantity for studies on a passenger car engine. This system can be used to produce maps of these parameters for implementation in an electronic control unit. The complete electronic hardware which included the cam position sensor, pulse shaping, pulse delay and sequencing features was developed and tested. The system could control the injection pulse width for the different cylinders independent of each other. The developed system was used to conduct parametric studies. The results obtained were compared with that obtained from the base carbureted engine. There was a significant improvement in brake thermal efficiency and reduction in HC and CO emissions with the injection system. A retarded injection timing was needed at low loads. The volumetric efficiency of the injection system was much higher than the carbureted version. Since the system was tuned for lean mixtures the power output was lower.

A personal computer (PC) based electronic governor was developed in this work for a diesel engine. A stepper motor was used to actuate the rack of the inline fuel pump of the engine with a bell crank lever. The digital output of the system was used to control the stepper motor using special hardware. This governor was tested under different steady and transient operating conditions. The electronic governor performed satisfactorily. In most cases the speed settled down in time duration comparable to that with the mechanical governor. The electronic governor could operate with no change in the mean speed with engine output. The performance was very sensitive to the P, I and D parameters of the control software. It was felt that the system could be improved with a stepper motor of finer steps and higher torque.

The ionization current across the spark plug gap is obtained by applying a constant voltage using DC power source across the spark gap after the high-voltage discharge. The methodology involves study and comparison of different knock detection methods (cylinder gas pressure, accelerometer and ion current) through literature survey, development of analytical models (ionization current, chemical equilibrium, kinetic Nitric Oxides) to estimate crank angle resolved cylinder gas pressure from the measured values of ionization current. Model refinements and validations, development of Ignition Coil integrated DC power source and ion current measurement circuit, Transistorized Coil Ignition and microcontroller based knock controller have been carried out. Experiments have been conducted to validate the model with the reference method (cylinder gas pressure). The ion current and cylinder gas pressure signals are measured during knocking conditions and it is shown that ion current signals can be used to detect knock. A circuit to detect ion current by using single spark plug has been developed and applied successfully. The nature of ion currents has been studied and a model has been developed to estimate cylinder gas pressure from this signal. This has been validated and applied to detect presence of knock. A microcontroller-based system with software has been developed to control the spark timing based on knock intensity. The purpose of this work is to implement it in a two wheeler small engine with a long term goal to increase compression ratio in lean burn engines with high likelihood of knock. Copyright © 2009 SAE International.

Simple and cost effective electronically controlled injection systems have to be developed to combat the problem of urban pollution. In this work an electronically controlled fuel injection system developed in the Internal Combustion Engine Laboratory of Indian Institute of Technology Madras has been tested in detail on a two-stroke SI engine. The system is fitted on the intake manifold of a single cylinder, air cooled two-stroke scooter engine. Tests have been done at 3000 rpm and 4000 rpm at different throttle positions. The optimum injector pulse widths for thermal efficiency, lowest HC emissions and highest power are all different. The maximum brake thermal efficiency values are 22.6% and 23% at 3000 and 4000 rpm respectively. At a power output of 3 kW and 4000 rpm the brake thermal efficiency is about 21% for the carbureted engine. It increases to 23% with the fuel injection system. HC emissions are considerably lower than the carbureted version at all operating conditions and speeds. The engine can work with leaner mixtures with the injection system in general as compared to the carburetor. The maximum power increases with the injection system. The developed system can be used for mapping the engine for the development of software for injection system control.