Effect of Varying Fuel Injection Timing on Engine Performance of CNG Direct Injection in Retrofitted SI Engine

Abstract

The study of engine performance under different fuel injection timing of a CNG direct injection engine was carried out in a retrofitted car engine. The experiment was performed on a 1297cc, 4-stroke, four cylinder SI engine having compression ratio 9. The base gasoline engine was converted into bi-fuel engine by installing both CNG port injection (CNG-PI) and CNG direct injection (CNG-DI) system in a single gasoline engine. The injection timing was varied from early injection (EI) timing at 220° BTDC to a late injection (LI) timing of 120° BTDC. The experimental study was limited by an engine speed upto 2700 rpm due to high thermal loading at higher speed. The results indicate that, the late injection timing 120° BTDC gives 10-12% higher brake power at a lower engine speed upto 1800 rpm as the volumetric efficiency is better at a lower speed. The optimal injection timing 160° BTDC produces higher performance over the entire speed range from 1200 rpm to 2500 rpm due to sufficient and optimum time available for preparation of CNG-air mixture. The early injection timing 210° BTDC gives very good engine performance for engine speed above 2700 rpm which accelerates better air-fuel mixing at a higher speed.