GDI support

Testing and development of Megasquirt 3

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357supermagnum
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GDI support

Post by 357supermagnum »

The major advantages of a GDI engine are increased fuel efficiency and high power output. In addition, the cooling effect of the injected fuel, and the more evenly dispersed mixtures allow for more aggressive ignition timing curves. Emissions levels can also be more accurately controlled with the GDI system. The cited gains are achieved by the precise control over the amount of fuel and injection timings which are varied according to the load conditions. In addition, there are no throttling losses in some GDI engines, when compared to a conventional fuel injected or carbureted engine, which greatly improves efficiency, and reduces 'pumping losses' in engines without a throttle plate. Engine speed is controlled by the engine control unit/engine management system (EMS), which regulates fuel injection function and ignition timing, instead of having a throttle plate which restricts the incoming air supply. Adding this function to the EMS requires considerable enhancement of its processing and memory, as direct injection plus the engine speed management must have very precise algorithms for good performance/driveability.

The engine management system continually chooses among three combustion modes: ultra lean burn, stoichiometric, and full power output. Each mode is characterized by the air-fuel ratio. The stoichiometric air-fuel ratio for petrol (gasoline) is 14.7:1 by weight, but ultra lean mode can involve ratios as high as 65:1 (or even higher in some engines, for very limited periods). These mixtures are much leaner than in a conventional engine and reduce fuel consumption considerably.

* Ultra lean burn mode is used for light-load running conditions, at constant or reducing road speeds, where no acceleration is required. The fuel is not injected at the intake stroke but rather at the latter stages of the compression stroke, so that the small amount of air-fuel mixture is optimally placed near the spark plug. This stratified charge is surrounded mostly by air which keeps the fuel and the flame away from the cylinder walls for lowest emissions and heat losses. The combustion takes place in a toroidal (donut-shaped) cavity on the piston's surface.
This technique enables the use of ultra-lean mixtures impossible with carburetors or conventional fuel injection.
* Stoichiometric mode is used for moderate load conditions. Fuel is injected during the intake stroke, creating a homogenous fuel-air mixture in the cylinder. From the stoichiometric ratio, an optimum burn results in a clean exhaust emission, further cleaned by the catalytic converter.
* Full power mode is used for rapid acceleration and heavy loads (as when climbing a hill). The air-fuel mixture is homogenous and the ratio is slightly richer than stoichiometric, which helps prevent knock (pinging). The fuel is injected during the intake stroke.

Direct injection may also be accompanied by other engine technologies such as variable valve timing (VVT) and tuned/multi path or variable length intake manifolding (VLIM, or VIM). Water injection or (more commonly) exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) may help reduce the high nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions which can result from burning ultra lean mixtures.

It is also possible to inject more than once during a single cycle. After the first fuel charge has been ignited, it is possible to add fuel as the piston descends. The benfits are more power and economy, but certain octane fuels have been seen to cause exhaust valve erosion. For this reason, most companies have ceased to use the Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI) operation during normal running.

Tuning up an early generation FSI power plant to generate higher power is difficult, since the only time it is possible to inject fuel is during the induction phase. Conventional injection engines can inject throughout the 4 stroke sequence, as the injector squirts onto the back of a closed valve. A direct injection engine, where the injector injects directly into the cylinder is limited to the suction stroke of the piston. As the RPM increases, the time available to inject fuel decreases. Newer FSI systems that have sufficient fuel pressure to inject even late in compression phase do not suffer to the same extent, however they still cannot inject during the exhaust cycle (they could but it would just waste fuel). Hence all other factors being equal a FSI needs higher capacity injectors to achieve the same power as a conventional engine.

The benefits of direct injection are even more pronounced in two-stroke engines, because it eliminates much of the pollution they cause. In conventional two-strokes, the exhaust and intake ports are both open at the same time, at the bottom of the piston stroke. A large portion of the fuel/air mixture entering the cylinder from the crankcase through the intake ports goes directly out, unburned, through the exhaust port. With direct injection, only air comes from the crankcase, and fuel is not injected until the piston rises and all ports are closed.

Two types of GDi are used in two-strokes: low-pressure air-assisted, and high pressure. The former, developed by Orbital Engine Corporation of Australia (now Orbital Corporation) injects a mixture of fuel and compressed air into the combustion chamber. When the air expands it atomizes the fuel. The Orbital system is used in motor scooters manufactured by Aprilia, Piaggio, Peugeot and Kymco, in outboard motors manufactured by Mercury and Tohatsu, and in personal watercraft manufactured by Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP).

In the early 1990s, Ficht GmbH of Kirchseeon, Germany developed a high-pressure direct injector for use with two stroke engines. Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) licensed the technology in 1995 and introduced it on a production outboard engine in 1996. OMC purchased a controlling interest in Ficht in 1998. Beset by extensive warranty claims for its Ficht outboards and prior and concurrent management-financial problems, OMC declared bankruptcy in December 2000 and the engine manufacturing portion and brands (Evinrude Outboard Motors and Johnson Outboards), including the Ficht technology, were purchased by BRP in 2001.

Evinrude introduced the E-Tec system, an improvement to the Ficht fuel injection, in 2003, based on U.S. patent 6,398,511. In 2004, Evinrude received the EPA Clean Air Excellence Award for their outboards utilizing the E-Tec system. The E-Tec system has recently also been adapted for use in performance two-stroke snowmobiles.

Yamaha also has a high-pressure direct injection (HPDI) system for two-stroke outboards. It differs from the Ficht/E-Tec and Orbital direct injection systems because it uses a separate, belt driven, high pressure, mechanical fuel pump to generate the pressure necessary for injection in a closed chamber. This is similar to most current 4-stroke automotive designs.

EnviroFit, a non-profit corporation sponsored by Colorado State University, has developed direct injection retrofit kits for two-stroke motorcycles in a project to reduce air pollution in Southeast Asia, using technology developed by Orbital Corporation of Australia.The World Health Organization says air pollution in Southeast Asia and the Pacific causes 537,000 premature deaths each year. The 100-million two-stroke taxis and motorcycles in that part of the world are a major cause.

Future
Twin-fuel engines

Code named Bobcat, the new twin-fuel engine from Ford is based on a 5.0L V8 engine block but uses E85 cylinder injection and gasoline port injection. The engine was co-developed with Ethanol Boosting Systems, LLC of Cambridge, Massachusetts, which calls its trademarked process DI Octane Boost. The direct injection of ethanol increases the octane of regular gasoline from 88-91 octane to more than 150 octane. The Bobcat project was unveiled to the United States Department of Energy and the SAE International in April 2009.

Picture of a typical GDI injector's voltage form:
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With the sequential firing GDI systems, the injector only opens to a maximum of 5mS. As the fuel requirement increases, the injector remains at 5mS and the pump pressure increases to meet the demand, allowing the injector to open and close quickly and efficiently. No more "Duty Cycle" as we have known it. These engines use a very high specification injector, Hitachi, Bosch, Denso and Siemens being the major suppliers.

The only aftermarked kit i am aware of is the kit made by envirofit, and developed by Orbital Engine Corporation in Perth, Australia.
the retrofit kit reportedly reduces carbon monoxide emissions by 76%, carbon dioxide emissions by 35%, and hydrocarbon emissions by 89% compared to the standard carburetted 2-stroke engine. Also there was fuel efficiency gains of up to 35%, and up to a 50% reduction in lubricating oil consumption.
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piledriver
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Re: GDI support

Post by piledriver »

OK, so the $64 question is does MS2-extra-sequential/MS3 finally have the resolution to control a low pressure air GDI setup as found of the 2 stroke boat motors?
(Orbital-style)
Always doing things the hard way, MS2 sequential w/ v1.01 mainboard, LS2 coils. 80 mile/day commuter status.
racingmini_mtl
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Re: GDI support

Post by racingmini_mtl »

I don't think the issue here is the code but the hardware. If you have suitable injector drivers, the code should be precise enough since injection timing has the same precision as ignition timing.

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Keithg
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Re: GDI support

Post by Keithg »

I would think that you could develop an MSQ that would provide the 5ms across the board. The other question is how do you control the variable pressure fuel pump and the air assist? I think your best bet would be to start with MS2 and make the code modifications required. Sounds like a great development project. Let us know how you get on with it.

KeithG
piledriver
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Re: GDI support

Post by piledriver »

Keithg wrote:I would think that you could develop an MSQ that would provide the 5ms across the board. The other question is how do you control the variable pressure fuel pump and the air assist? I think your best bet would be to start with MS2 and make the code modifications required. Sounds like a great development project. Let us know how you get on with it.

KeithG
Exercised my Google-fu a bit more...

EDIT: Note-- the entire top post of this thread is copied and pasted from here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_direct_injection
If you are going to post other peoples work, at least provide proper attribution..

Actually recent Orbtal setups use ~std port injectors to meter fuel and a "second stage" injector coil for the air+fuel shot.

http://bioage.typepad.com/photos/uncate ... jector.png
http://www.orbeng.com.au/orbital/tp/pdf ... 1-1415.pdf

They could almost certainly be run to a reasonable degree with a "standard" MS2-extra setup as long as you had sequential COP ignition side.
You could probably even run staged injectors with a set of std port injectors for the high load regimes. (desirable)

You could (possibly) inject the metered/mixed A/F shot with the ignition coil outputs and use a separate ignition. (slave MS2?)
Possible limitation--- crank angle limits for "ignition" (actually injector timing in this case), the sequential injection code is far more powerful here.
There's probably a better way...
Perhaps MS3 is flexible enough to do it alone.?

If the "ignition map" provides sufficient range of injection point adjustment/timing resolution... No code required.
Not even hardware hacking, just unplanned use of existing hardware and code.

If GM/Ford would finally put them on a production engine we could play like now, as all that is then missing is a cheap/available/reliable ~400 PSI air source.

I'll let everyone know "how I get on with it' as soon as I find some that aren't sized for a moped.
Always doing things the hard way, MS2 sequential w/ v1.01 mainboard, LS2 coils. 80 mile/day commuter status.
357supermagnum
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Re: GDI support

Post by 357supermagnum »

The hardware bit is a problem due to the non standard voltages, it needs a special board with suitable charging and storage circuits.
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