UNIT II FUEL SYSTEMS

Air-fuel Requirement in SI Engines (Automobile)

Air-fuel Requirement in SI Engines
The spark-ignition automobile engines run on a mixture of gasoline and air. The amount
of mixture the engine can take in depends upon following major factors:
(i) Engine displacement.

(ii) Maximum revolution per minute (rpm) of engine. (Hi) Carburettor air flow capacity.

(iu) Volumetric efficiency of engine.

There is a direct relationship between an engine’s air flow and it’s fuel requirement. This
relationship is called the air-fuel ratio.

Air-fuel Ratios
The air-fuel ratio is the proportions by weight of air and gasoline mixed by the
carburettor as required for combustion by the engine. This ratio is extremely important
for an engine because there are limits to how rich (with more fuel) or how lean (with less
fuel) it can be, and still remain fully combustible for efficient firing. The mixtures with
which the engine can operate range from 8:1 to 18.5:1 i.e. from 8 kg of air/kg of fuel to
18.5 kg of air/kg of fuel. Richer or leaner air-fuel ratio limit causes the engine to misfire,
or simply refuse to run at all.

Stoichiometric Air-Fuel Ratio

The ideal mixture or ratio at which all the fuels blend with all of the oxygen in the air and
be completely burned is called the stoichiometric ratio, a chemically perfect combination.
In theory, an air fuel ratio of about 14.7:1 i.e. 14.7 kg of air/kg of gasoline produce this
ratio, but the exact ratio at which perfect mixture and complete combustion take place
depends on the molecular structure of gasoline, which can vary somewhat.

Engine Air-fuel Ratios

An automobile SI engine, as indicated above, works with the air-fuel mixture ranging
from 8:1 to 18.5:1. But the ideal ratio would be one that provides both the maximum
power and the best economy, while producing the least emissions. But such a ratio does
not exist because the fuel requirements of an engine vary widely depending upon
temperature, load, and speed conditions. The best fuel economy is obtained with a 15:1 to
16:1 ratio, while maximum power output is achieved with a 12.5:1 to 13.5:1 ratio. A rich
 UNIT II FUEL SYSTEMS

mixture in the order of 11:1 is required for idle heavy load, and high-speed conditions. A
lean mixture is required for normal cruising and light load conditions. Figure 9.36
represents the characteristic curves showing the effect of mixture ratio on efficiency and
fuel consumption.

Effect of air-fuel ratio on efficiency and fuel consumption.

Practically for complete combustion, through mixing of the fuel in excess air (to a limited
extent above that of the ideal condition) is needed. Lean mixtures are used to obtain best
economy through minimum fuel consumption whereas rich mixtures used to suppress
combustion knock and to obtain maximum power from the engine. However, improper
distribution of mixture to each cylinder and imperfect/incomplete vaporization of fuel in
air necessitates the use of rich mixture to obtain maximum power output. A rich mixture
is also required to overcome the effect of dilution of incoming mixture due to entrapped
exhaust gases in the cylinder and of air leakage because of the high vacuum in the
manifold, under idling or no-load condition. Maximum power is desired at full load while
best economy is expected at part throttle conditions. Thus required air fuel ratios result
from maximum economy to maximum power. The carburetor must be able to vary the
air-fuel ratio quickly to provide the best possible mixture for the engine’s requirements at
a given moment.
The best air-fuel ratio for one engine may not be the best ratio for another, even when the
two engines are of the same size and design. To accurately determine the best mixture,
 UNIT II FUEL SYSTEMS

the engine should be run on a dynamometer to measure speed, load and power
requirements for all types of driving conditions.

With a slightly rich mixture, the combustion flame travels faster and conversely with a
slightly weak mixture, the flame travel becomes slower. If a very rich mixture is used
then some “neat” petrol enters cylinder, washes away lubricant from cylinder walls and
gets past piston to contaminate engine oil. A very sooty deposit occurs in the combustion
chamber. On the other hand, if an engine runs on an excessively weak mixture, then
overheating particularly of such parts as valves, pistons and spark plugs occurs. This
causes detonation and pre-ignition together or separately.

The approximate proportions of air to petrol (by weight) suitable for the different
operating conditions are indicated below:

Starting 9: :1
Idling 12 : :1
Acceleration 12 : :1
Economy 16: :1
Full power 12 : :1

It makes no difference if an engine is carbureted or fuel injected, the engine still needs
the same air-fuel mixture ratios.
 UNIT-II
FUEL SYSTEM
Carburetion

Introduction

Spark-ignition engines normally use volatile liquid fuels. Preparation of fuel-air mixture is done outside
the engine cylinder and formation of a homogeneous mixture is normally not completed in the inlet
manifold. Fuel droplets, which remain in suspension, continue to evaporate and mix with air even
during suction and compression processes. The process of mixture preparation is extremely important
for spark-ignition engines. The purpose of carburetion is to provide a combustible mixture of fuel and
air in the required quantity and quality for efficient operation of the engine under all conditions.

Definition of Carburetion

The process of formation of a combustible fuel-air mixture by mixing the proper amount of fuel with
air before admission to engine cylinder is called carburetion and the device which does this job is
called a carburetor.

Factors Affecting Carburetion

Of the various factors, the process of carburetion is influenced by

i. The engine speed
ii. The vaporization characteristics of the fuel
iii. The temperature of the incoming air and
iv. The design of the carburetor

Principle of Carburetion

Both air and gasoline are drawn through the carburetor and into the engine cylinders by the suction
created by the downward movement of the piston. This suction is due to an increase in the volume of
the cylinder and a consequent decrease in the gas pressure in this chamber. It is the difference in
pressure between the atmosphere and cylinder that causes the air to flow into the chamber. In the
carburetor, air passing into the combustion chamber picks up discharged from a tube. This tube has a
fine orifice called carburetor jet that is exposed to the air path. The rate at which fuel is discharged into
the air depends on the pressure difference or pressure head between the float chamber and the throat of
the venturi and on the area of the outlet of the tube. In order that the fuel drawn from the nozzle may be
thoroughly atomized, the suction effect must be strong and the nozzle outlet comparatively small. In
order to produce a strong suction, the pipe in the carburetor carrying air to the engine is made to have a
restriction. At this restriction called throat due to increase in velocity of flow, a suction effect is created.
The restriction is made in the form of a venturi to minimize throttling losses. The end of the fuel jet is
located at the venturi or throat of the carburetor. The geometry of venturi tube is as shown in Fig.16.6.
It has a narrower path at the center so that the flow area through which the air must pass is considerably
reduced. As the same amount of air must pass through every point in the tube, its velocity will be
greatest at the narrowest point. The smaller the area, the greater will be the velocity of the air, and
thereby the suction is proportionately increased
As mentioned earlier, the opening of the fuel discharge jet is usually loped where the suction is
maximum. Normally, this is just below the narrowest section of the venturi tube. The spray of gasoline
from the nozzle and the air entering through the venturi tube are mixed together in this region and a
combustible mixture is formed which passes through the intake manifold into the cylinders. Most of the
fuel gets atomized and simultaneously a small part will be vaporized. Increased air velocity at the
throat of the venturi helps he rate of evaporation of fuel. The difficulty of obtaining a mixture of
sufficiently high fuel vapour-air ratio for efficient starting of the engine and for uniform fuel-air ratio
indifferent cylinders (in case of multi cylinder engine) cannot be fully met by the increased air velocity
alone at the venturi throat.

The Simple Carburetor

Carburetors are highly complex. Let us first understand the working principle bf a simple or elementary
carburetor that provides an air fuel mixture for cruising or normal range at a single speed. Later, other
mechanisms to provide for the various special requirements like starting, idling, variable load and
speed operation and acceleration will be included. Figure 3. shows the details of a simple carburetor.

Figure: 3 The Simple Carburetor

The simple carburetor mainly consists of a float chamber, fuel discharge nozzle and a metering orifice,
a venturi, a throttle valve and a choke. The float and a needle valve system maintain a constant level of
gasoline in the float chamber. If the amount of fuel in the float chamber falls below the designed level,
the float goes down, thereby opening the fuel supply valve and admitting fuel. When the designed level
has been reached, the float closes the fuel supply valve thus stopping additional fuel flow from the
supply system. Float chamber is vented either to the atmosphere or to the” upstream side of the
venturi.During suction stroke air is drawn through the venturi.

As already described, venturi is a tube of decreasing cross-section with a minimum area at the
throat, Venturi tube is also known as the choke tube and is so shaped that it offers minimum resistance
to the air flow. As the air passes through the venturi the velocity increases reaching a maximum at the
venturi throat. Correspondingly, the pressure decreases reaching a minimum. From the float chamber,
the fuel is fed to a discharge jet, the tip of which is located in the throat of the venturi. Because of the
differential pressure between the float chamber and the throat of the venturi, known as carburetor
depression, fuel is discharged into the air stream. The fuel discharge is affected by the size of the
discharge jet and it is chosen to give the required air-fuel ratio. The pressure at the throat at the fully
open throttle condition lies between 4 to 5 cm of Hg, below atmospheric and seldom exceeds8 cm Hg
below atmospheric. To avoid overflow of fuel through the jet, the level of the liquid in the float
chamber is maintained at a level slightly below the tip of the discharge jet. This is called the tip of the
nozzle. The difference in the height between the top of the nozzle and the float chamber level is marked
h in Fig.3.

The gasoline engine is quantity governed, which means that when power output is to be varied
at a particular speed, the amount of charge delivered to the cylinder is varied. This is achieved by
means of a throttle valve usually of the butterfly type that is situated after the venturi tube. As the
throttle is closed less air flows through the venturi tube and less is the quantity of air-fuel mixture
delivered to the cylinder and hence power output is reduced. As the” throttle is opened, more air flows
through the choke tube resulting in increased quantity of mixture being delivered to the engine. This
increases the engine power output. A simple carburetor of the type described above suffers from a
fundamental drawback in that it provides the required A/F ratio only at one throttle position. At the
other throttle positions the mixture is either leaner or richer depending on whether the throttle is opened
less or more. As the throttle opening is varied, the air flow varies and creates a certain pressure
differential between the float chamber and the venturi throat. The same pressure differential regulates
the flow of fuel through the nozzle. Therefore, the velocity of flow of air II and fuel vary in a similar
manner. At the same time, the density I of air decrease as the pressure at the venturi throat decrease
with increasing air flow whereas that of the fuel remains unchanged. This results in a simple carburetor
producing a progressively rich mixture with increasing throttle opening.

The Choke and The Throttle

When the vehicle is kept stationary for a long period during cool winter seasons, may be overnight,
starting becomes more difficult. As already explained, at low cranking speeds and intake temperatures a
very rich mixture is required to initiate combustion. Some times air-fuel ratio as rich as 9:1 is required.
The main reason is that very large fraction of the fuel may remain as liquid suspended in air even in the
cylinder. For initiating combustion, fuel-vapour and air in the form of mixture at a ratio that can sustain
combustion is required. It may be noted that at very low temperature vapour fraction of the fuel is also
very small and this forms combustible mixture to initiate combustion. Hence, a very rich mixture must
be supplied. The most popular method of providing such mixture is by the use of choke valve. This is
simple butterfly valve located between the entrance to the carburetor and the venturi throat as shown in
Fig.3.

When the choke is partly closed, large pressure drop occurs at the venturi throat that would
normally result from the quantity of air passing through the venturi throat. The very large depression at
the throat inducts large amount of fuel from the main nozzle and provides a very rich mixture so that
the ratio of the evaporated fuel to air in the cylinder is within the combustible limits. Sometimes, the
choke valves are spring loaded to ensure that large carburetor depression and excessive choking does
not persist after the engine has started, and reached a desired speed. This choke can be made to operate
automatically by means of a thermostat so that the choke is closed when engine is cold and goes out of
operation when engine warms up after starting. The speed and the output of an engine is controlled by
the use of the throttle valve, which is located on the downstream side of the venturi.

The more the throttle is closed the greater is the obstruction to the flow of the mixture placed in
the passage and the less is the quantity of mixture delivered to .the cylinders. The decreased quantity of
mixture gives a less powerful impulse to the pistons and the output of the engine is reduced
accordingly. As the throttle is opened, the output of the engine increases. Opening the throttle usually
increases the speed of the engine. But this is not always the case as the load on the engine is also a
factor. For example, opening the throttle when the motor vehicle is starting to climb a hill may or may
not increase the vehicle speed, depending upon the steepness of the hill and the extent of throttle
opening. In short, the throttle is simply a means to regulate the output of the engine by varying the
quantity of charge going into the cylinder.

Compensating Devices

An automobile on road has to run on different loads and speeds. The road conditions play a vital role.
Especially on city roads, one may be able to operate the vehicle between 25 to 60% of the throttle only.
During such conditions the carburetor must be able to supply nearly constant air-fuel ratio mixture that
is economical (16:1).However, the tendency of a simple carburetor is to progressively richen the
mixture as the throttle starts opening. The main metering system alone will not be sufficient to take
care of the needs of the engine. Therefore, certain compensating devices are usually added
in the carburetor along with the main metering system so as to supply a mixture with the required air-
fuel ratio. A number of compensating devices are in use. The important ones are

i. Air-bleed jet
ii. Compensating jet
iii. Emulsion tube
iv. Back suction control mechanism
v. Auxiliary air valve
vi. Auxiliary air port

As already mentioned, in modern carburetors automatic compensating devices are provided to maintain
the desired mixture proportions at the higher speeds. The type of compensation mechanism used
determines the metering system of the carburetor. The principle of operation of various compensating
devices are discussed briefly in the following sections.

Air-bleed jet
 Figure: 4 Air bleed principle in a typical carburetor

Figure 4. illustrates a principle of an air-bleed system in atypical modern downdraught carburetor. As

could be seen it contains an air-bleed into the main nozzle. An orifice restricts the flow of air through
this bleed and therefore it is called restricted air-bleed jet that is very popular. When the engine is not
operating the main jet and the air bleed jet will be filled with fuel. When the engine starts, initially the
fuel starts coming through the main as well as the air bleed jet (A). As the engine picks up, only air
starts coming through the air bleed and mixes with fuel at B making a air fuel emulsion. Thus the fluid
stream that has become an emulsion of air and liquid has negligible viscosity and surface tension. Thus
the flow rate of fuel is augmented and more fuel is sucked at low suctions. ‘By proper design of hole
size at B compatible with the entry hole at A, it is possible to maintain a fairly uniform mixture ratio for
the entire power range of the operation of an engine. If the fuel flow nozzle of the air-bleed system is
placed in the centre of the venturi, both the air-bleed nozzle and the venturi are subjected to same
engine suction resulting approximately same fuel-air mixture for the entire power range of operation.

Compensating Jet
 Figure: 5 Compensating Jet device

The principle of compensating jet device is to make the mixture leaner as the throttle opens
progressively. In this method, as can be seen from Fig.5 in addition to the main jet, a compensating jet
is incorporated. The compensating jet is connected to the compensation well. The compensating well is
also vented to atmosphere like the main float chamber. The compensating well is supplied with fuel
from the main float chamber through a restricting orifice. With the increase in airflow rate, there is
decrease of fuel level in the compensating well, with the result that fuel supply through the
compensating jet decreases. The compensating jet thus progressively makes the mixture leaner as the
main jet progressively makes the mixture richer. The main jet curve and the compensating jet curve are
more or less reciprocals of each other.

Emulsion Tube

The mixture correction is attempted by air bleeding in modern carburetor. In one such arrangement as
shown in Fig.6, the main metering jet is kept at a level of about 25 mm below the fuel level in the float
chamber. Therefore, it is also called submerged jet. The jet is located at the bottom of a well. The sides
of the well have holes. As can be seen from the figure these holes are in communication with the
atmosphere. In the beginning the level of petrol in the float chamber and the well is the same. When the
throttle is opened the pressure at the venturi throat decreases and petrol is drawn into the air stream.
This results in progressively uncovering the

Figure: 6 Emulsion Tube

holes in the central tube leading to increasing air-fuel ratios or decreasing richness of mixture when all
holes have been uncovered. Normal flow takes place from the main jet. The air is drawn through these
holes in the well, and the fuel is emulsified and the pressure differential across the column of fuel is not
as high as that in simple carburetor.
Figure: 6 Emulsion Tube

Acceleration Pump System

Acceleration is a transient phenomenon. In order to accelerate the vehicle and consequently its engine,
the mixture required is very rich and the richness of the mixture has to be obtained quickly and very
rapidly. In automobile engines situations arise when it is necessary to accelerate the vehicle. This
requires an increased output from the engine in a very short time. If the throttle is suddenly opened
there is a corresponding increase in the air flow. However, because of the inertia of the liquid fuel, the
fuel flow does not increase in proportion to the increase in air flow. This results in a temporary lean
mixture ca11singtheengine to misfire and a temporary reduction in power output.

To prevent this condition, all modern carburetors are equipped with an accelerating system. Figure 7.
illustrates simplified sketch of one such device. The pump comprises of a spring loaded plunger that
takes care of the situation with the rapid opening of the throttle valve. The plunger moves into the
cylinder and forces an additional jet of fuel at the venturi throat. When the throttle is partly open, the
spring sets the plunger back. There is also an arrangement which ensures that fuel in the pump cylinder
is not forced through the jet when valve is slowly opened or leaks past the plunger or some holes into
the float chamber.

Mechanical linkage system, in some carburetor, is substituted by an arrangement where by the pump
plunger is held up by manifold vacuum. When this vacuum is decreased by rapid opening of the
throttle, a spring forces the plunger down pumping the fuel through the jet.

Figure: 7 Acceleration pump system

Types of Carburetors

There are three general types of carburetors depending on the direction of flow of air. The first is the up
draught type shown in Fig.8(a) in which the air enters at the bottom and leaves at the top so that the
direction of its flow is upwards. The disadvantage of the up draught carburetor is that it must lift the
sprayed fuel droplet by air friction. Hence, it must be designed for relatively small mixing tube and
throat so that even at low engine speeds the air velocity is sufficient to lift and carry the fuel particles
along. Otherwise, the fuel droplets tend to separate out providing only a lean mixture to the engine. On
the other hand, the mixing tube is finite and small then it cannot supply mixture to the engine at a
sufficiently rapid rate at high speeds.
 Figure: 8 Types of Carburetors

In order to overcome this drawback the downdraught carburetor [Fig.8 (b)] is adopted. It is placed at a
level higher than the inlet manifold and in which the air and mixture generally follow a downward
course. Here the fuel does not have to be lifted by air friction as in the up draught carburetors but move
into the cylinders by gravity even if the air velocity is low. Hence, the mixing tube and throat can be
made large which makes high engine speeds and high specific outputs possible.

A cross-draught carburetor consists of a horizontal mixing tube with a float chamber on one side of it
[Fig.8(c)]. By using across-draught carburetor in engines, one right-angled turn in the inlet passage is
eliminated and the resistance to flow is reduced.

Constant Choke Carburetor:

In the constant choke carburetor, the air and fuel flow areas are always maintained to be constant. But
the pressure difference or depression, which causes the flow of fuel and air, is being varied as per the
demand on the engine. Solex and Zenith carburetors belong to this class.

Constant Vacuum Carburetor:

In the constant vacuum carburetor, (sometimes called variable choke carburetor) air and fuel flow areas
are being varied as per the demand on the engine, while the vacuum is maintained to be always same.
The S.U. and Carter carburetors belong to tills class.

Multiple Venturi Carburetor:

Multiple venturi system uses double or triple venturi. The boost venturi is located concentrically within
the main venturi.The discharge edge of the boost venturi is located at the throat of the main venturi.
The boost venturi is positioned upstream of the throat of the larger main venturi. Only a fraction of the
total air flows though the boost venturi. Now the pressure at the boost venturi exit equals the pressure
at the main venturi throat. The fuel nozzle is located at the throat of the boost venturi.
Electronic Unit Injectors

Above: Types of high-pressure fuel systems

Unit Injectors are less commonly also called Combined Pump and Nozzle
Acronyms are: MUI, (Mechanical Unit Injectors) EUI, (Electronic Unit Injectors) and HEUI.
(Hydraulically actuated Electronic Unit Injector)
The pumping plunger and nozzle are located in the same body and a camshaft actuates the injector. A
common fuel manifold will supply all the injectors.
Functions
Electronic unit injectors are mechanically pressurized and electronically controlled. This means
injection timing, duration, and metering are controlled by the ECM or electronic governor.
Unit injection systems functions are incorporated into one unit the following functions:

• Time fuel delivery

• Pressurize the fuel for combustion

• Atomize and distribute fuel in the combustion chamber

 Diesel Engines - Facts
‰ The diesel engine is a type of internal
combustion engine (more specifically, a
compression ignition engine) in which the fuel is
ignited by being suddenly exposed to the high
temperature and pressure of a compressed gas
containing oxygen (usually atmospheric air),
rather than a separate source of ignition energy
(such as a spark plug), as is the case in the
petrol engine.

‰ This is known as the diesel cycle, after

German engineer Rudolf Diesel, who invented
it in 1892 and received the patent on February
23, 1893.
2
 Diesel Engines - Facts

• Initial CI engines were large

and slow.

• Heavy distillate petroleum was

forced into the cylinder using
compressed air.

• Robert Bosch began producing

injection systems in 1927.

3
 CI vs. SI Engines
• SI engines draw fuel and air into the
cylinder.
• Fuel must be injected into the cylinder at
the desired time of combustion in CI
engines.
• Air intake is throttled to the SI engine -- no
throttling in CI engines.
• Compression ratios must be high enough to
cause auto-ignition in CI engines.
• Upper compression ratio in SI engines is
limited by the auto-ignition temperature.
• Flame front in SI engines smooth and
controlled.
• CI combustion is rapid and uncontrolled at
the beginning.
4
 Diesel Engines - Facts

‰ In very cold weather, diesel fuel

thickens and increases in viscosity and
forms wax crystals or a gel. This can
make it difficult for the fuel injector to
get fuel into the cylinder in an effective
manner, making cold weather starts
difficult at times, though recent
advances in diesel fuel technology
have made these difficulties rare.

5
 Diesel Engines - Facts

‰ A common method to electrically

heat the fuel filter and fuel lines. Other
engines utilize small electric heaters
called glow plugs inside the cylinder
to warm the cylinders prior to starting.
A small number use resistive grid
heaters in the intake manifold to warm
the inlet air until the engine reaches
operating temperature.

6
 Diesel Engines - Facts
‰ A vital component of any diesel engine
system is the governor, which limits the speed
of the engine by controlling the rate of fuel
delivery.

‰ Older governors were driven by a gear

system from the engine (and thus supplied
fuel only linearly with engine speed.)

‰ Modern electronically-controlled engines

achieve this through the electronic control
module (ECM) or electronic control unit (ECU).

7
 Diesel Engines - Facts
‰ The addition of a turbocharger or
supercharger (boost pressures can be
higher on diesels) to the engine greatly
assists in increasing fuel economy and
power output.

‰ The higher compression ratio allows a

diesel engine to be more efficient than a
comparable spark ignition engine, although
the calorific value of the fuel is slightly lower
at 45.3 MJ/kg to gasoline at 45.8 MJ/kg.

8
 Diesel Engines - Applications
‰ High-Speed (approximately 1200 rpm and
greater) engines are used to power lorries
(trucks), buses, tractors, cars, yachts,
compressors, pumps and small generators.
‰ Large electrical generators are driven by
medium speed engines, (approx. 300 to 1200
rpm) optimized to run at a set speed and
provide a rapid response to load changes.
‰ The largest diesel engines are used to power
ships. These engines have power outputs over
80,000 kW, turn at about 60 to 100 rpm, and are
up to 15 m tall. They often run on cheap low-
grade fuel, which require extra heat treatment
in the ship for tanking and before injection due
to their low volatility. 9
 Fuel Injection System -Requirements
‰The fuel injection should occur at the correct
moment
‰ It should supply the fuel in correct quantity as
required by the varying engine loads
‰ The injected fuel must be broken into very fine
droplets
‰ The spray pattern should ensure rapid mixing
of fuel and air
‰ It should supply equal quantities of metered
fuel to all the cylinders in a multi cylinder engines
‰ The beginning and the end of injection should
be sharp
10
 Elements of Fuel Injection System
‰ Pumping elements: to supply fuel from fuel
tank to cylinder
‰ Metering elements: to meter fuel supply as
per load and speed
‰ Distribution elements: to divide the metered
fuel equally among the cylinders

‰ Timing controls: to adjust the start and the stop

of injection

‰ Mixing elements: to atomize and distribute the

fuel within the combustion chamber

11
 Types of Injection Systems

‰ Air (Blast) Injection System: In air blast

injection system, fuel is forced into the cylinder
by means of compressed air.

‰ This system is little used universally at present,

because it requires a multistage air
compressor, which increases engine weight
and reduces brake power.

‰ This method is capable of producing better

atomization and penetration of fuel resulting in
higher brake mean effective pressure.

12
 Types of Injection Systems – Contd.

‰ Solid Injection System: In solid injection, the

liquid fuel is injected directly into the
combustion chamber without the aid of
compressed air. Hence, it is termed as airless
mechanical injection or solid injection.

‰ Every solid injection system must have

™ a pressuring unit (the pump)

and
™ an atomizing unit (the injector).

13
 Solid Injection - Classification

‰ Depending upon the location of the pumps

and injectors, and the manner of their
operations, solid injection systems may be
further classified as follows:

™ Common Rail System

™ Unit Injection System
™ Individual Pump and Nozzle System
™ Distributor System

14
 Common Rail System
Injector

High presure line

High pressure pump

Fuel supply

Header
(a)

™ In this system, a high-pressure pump supplies

fuel to a fuel header as shown. The high-pressure
in the header forces the fuel to each of the nozzles
located in the cylinders. At the proper time, a
mechanically operated (by means of push rod
and rocker arm) valve allows the fuel to enter the
cylinder through nozzle.
15
 Unit Injection System
Injector
(includes high pressure pump)

Low pressure pump

Low pressure lines Return

(b)

™ Here, the pump and nozzle are combined in

one housing. Each cylinder is provided with one of
these unit injectors. Fuel is brought up to the
injector by a low-pressure pump, where at the
proper time, a rocker arm activates the plunger
and thus injects the fuel into the cylinder. The
quantity of fuel injected is controlled by the
effective stroke of the plunger.
16
 Individual Pump and Nozzle Systems
High pressure line Injector

High pressure line

Low pressure
pump
Fuel supply

High pressure pump

(c) Pumps in Clusters
Injector
Separate pumps
High pressure
pumps
High pressure line
Low pressure pump

Fuel supply

High pressure line

(d)
17
 Individual Pump & Nozzle Systems – contd.

™ In this system, each cylinder is provided with

one pump and one injector. This type differs
from the unit injector in that the pump and
injector are separated from each other, i.e., the
injector is located on the cylinder, while the
pump is placed on the side of the engine. Each
pump may be placed close to the cylinder, or
may be arranged in a cluster. The high-pressure
pump plunger is actuated by a cam, and
produces the fuel pressure necessary to open
the injector valve at the correct time. The
quantity of fuel injected is again controlled by
the effective stroke of the plunger.

18
 Distributor System

™ Here, the pump which pressurizes the fuel also

meters and times it. The fuel pump after metering
the required quantity of fuel supplies it to a
rotating distributor at the correct time for supply to
each cylinder. Since there is one metering
element in each pump, a uniform distribution is
ensured. 19
 Injection Pump and Governor
‰ The main objective of the fuel injection pump
is to deliver accurately a metered quantity of
fuel under high pressure at the correct instant to
the injector fitted on each cylinder. Two types of
pumps are generally used viz., jerk type and
distributor type.
‰ Fuel delivered by a pump increases with
speed while the opposite is true about the air
intake. This results in over fueling at higher
speeds. At low speeds, the engine tends to stall
due to insufficiency of fuel. To overcome this,
injector pump governors are generally used.
Two types of governors are found in applications
viz., (a) mechanical governor and (b)
pneumatic governor.
20
 Fuel Injectors and Nozzles
‰ Quick and complete combustion is ensured by
a well designed fuel injector. By atomizing the
fuel into very fine droplets, it increases the
surface area of the droplets resulting in better
mixing and subsequent combustion. Atomization
is done by forcing the fuel through a small orifice
under high pressure. An injector assembly
consists of the following components.

™ a needle valve
™ a compression spring
™ a nozzle
™ an injector body
21
 Conventional Injection Nozzles

Body

Fuel supply Spring

Needle valve

Nozzle

Components of injector nozzle

22
Cutaway of Conventional
Injection Nozzle

23
 Operation

‰ Fuel is injected by a pump. The pump exerts

sufficient pressure/force that lifts the nozzle
valve.

‰ When the nozzle valve is lifted up, fuel is

sprayed into the combustion chamber. As the
fuel supply is exhausted, the spring pushes the
valve back on its seat.

‰ The spring tension and hence the valve

operating pressure is controlled by adjusting the
screw at the top.

24
 Nozzle
‰ The nozzle sprays the liquid fuel. The functions
of the nozzle are: (a) atomization, (b)
distribution of fuel to the required area, (c) non-
impingement on the walls, and (d) no dribbling.

Note: High injection pressure allows better

dispersion and penetration into the combustion
chamber. High air density in the cylinder gives
high resistance to the droplets. This further
causes dispersion.

Note: The fuel striking on the walls decomposes

and produces carbon deposits. This causes
smoky exhaust and increases fuel consumption.
25
 Types of Nozzles

Auxiliary hole
Hole angle
(a) Single hole (b) Pintle nozzle (d) Pintaux nozzle
(c) Multiple hole

150 600 200

18 Mpa 8-10 Mpa 18 Mpa

26
Nozzles

Nozzle Holder

27
 Types of Nozzles
‰ The single hole nozzle requires a
high injection pressure and this type
of nozzle has a tendency to dribble.
The spray cone angle is usually
narrow, and this gives poor mixing
unless the velocity is high.
(a) Single hole

‰ The pintle nozzle has been

developed to avoid weak injection
and dribbling. The spindle is
provided with a pintle capable of
protruding in and out. Pintle nozzle
results in good atomization and
(b) Pintle nozzle
reduced penetration.
28
29
 Types of Nozzles
‰ A multihole nozzle, where the
number of holes may vary from 4
to 18, allows a proper mixing of air
and fuel. The advantage lies with
the ability to distribute the fuel
properly even with lower air Hole angle
motion within the chamber. (c) Multiple hole

‰ The pintaux nozzle is a pintle

nozzle with an auxiliary hole drilled
into the nozzle body. At low
speeds, the needle valve does not
lift fully and most of the fuel is
Auxiliary hole injected through this auxiliary hole.
(d) Pintaux nozzle
30
Vf = the fuel jet velocity at the orifice exit

⎛ pinj − pcyl ⎞
∴ V f = Cd 2 ⎜ ⎟
⎜ ρf ⎟
⎝ ⎠

where pinj = injection pressure

pcyl = cylinder pressure

ρ f = density of fuel
Cd = coefficient of disch arg e for orifice

31
 Volume of flow injected per second, Q

π 2 θ 60 Ni
∴Q = d n Vf
4 360 N 60
No. of injection per
sec for one orifice
Area of all orifices Time of one injection

d = diameter of orifice
n = no. of orifices
θ = duration of injection in crank angle degrees
N = rpm/2 for four stroke
= rpm for two stroke
Ni = no. of injection per minute

32
 Diesel Engines - Facts

‰ Diesel engines are rather unpopular in the

United States, often being thought of as loud
and dirty. Worldwide, however, diesel engines
are very well established in a wide variety of
applications, as they are much more efficient
than gasoline engines and generally longer
lasting.

33
Petrol & Diesel Engines

34
 Diesel Fuel Injection System
With diesel engines fuel is
sprayed directly into the
cylinders power is varied by
metering the amount of fuel
added (no throttle). Diesel fuel
injection systems operate at
high-pressure, e.g., 100 Mpa.
In this system, fuel pressure
must be greater than the
compression pressure, and the
system needs high fuel jet
speed to atomize droplets
small enough for rapid
evaporation.

™ Traditional Diesels high pressure produced locally within the injector

™ Latest Diesels use high pressure common rail with solenoid actuated
injectors 35
 Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) Engine
‰ Fuel is injected directly into the cylinder
during the intake stroke or the compression
stroke
‰ High pressure injector required, 5-10 MPa
‰ Need bowl in piston design to direct the fuel
spray towards the spark plug

36
 Benefits of GDI Engine

Engine that combines the best features of SI

and CI engines:
• Operate at optimum compression ratio (12-
15) for efficiency by injecting fuel directly into
engine during compression (avoiding knock
associated with SI engines with premixed
charge)
• Ignite the fuel as it mixes (avoid fuel-quality
requirement of diesel fuel)
• Control engine power by fuel added (no
throttling Æ no pumping work)
• During intake stroke fuel cools the cylinder
wall allowing more air into the cylinder due to
higher density
37
 Direct-Injection Stratified-Charge Engines
• Create easily ignitable fuel-air mixture at the
spark plug and a leaner fuel-air mixture in the
rest of the cylinder.
• Lean burn results in lower emissions and higher
energy efficiency

Example:

Mitsubishi GDI engine achieves complete

combustion with an air-fuel ratio of 40:1
compared to 15:1 for conventional engines
This results in a 20% improvement in overall fuel
efficiency and CO2 production, and reduces
NOx emissions by 95% with special catalyst
38
 ENGINE SPEED CONTROL
Peter Wellstead and Mark Readman, control systems principles.co.uk

ABSTRACT: This is one of a series of white papers on systems modelling, analysis and
control, prepared by Control Systems Principles.co.uk to give insights into important
principles and processes in control. In control systems there are a number of generic
systems and methods which are encountered in all areas of industry and technology. These
white papers aim to explain these important systems and methods in straightforward terms.
The white papers describe what makes a particular type of system/method important, how
it works and then demonstrates how to control it. The control demonstrations are performed
using models of real systems that Control Systems Principles partners designed to teach
control ideas and that are now manufactured by TQ Education and Training Ltd in their CE
range of equipment. This white paper is about one of the most historically important control
problems - engine speed control and regulation.

1. Why is Engine Speed Control Important?

1.1. Some History

The speed control of engines is intimately associated with the origins of control theory. There are many
examples in the ancient times [1] of devices that could be said to incorporate feedback or regulation, and
most basic control textbooks [e.g.2] will have some discussion of the ancient origins of feedback
mechanisms. However, for the true beginnings of modern feedback control analysis we must look to the
practical problem of regulating the speed of engines and the centifugal governor (Figure 1).

Figure 1. A Simple Centrifugal Speed Governor.

In the beginning of mechanisation, the engine power was supplied by water wheels and wind mills – but
the really big change occurred when the steam engine arrived in the early 18th century. The development
of the steam engine in a useful form was crucial to the success of the Industrial Revolution. Equally
important for the success of the steam engine was the development of the fly-ball or centrifugal speed
governor in the last quarter of the 18th century. James Watt is normally associated with this invention, but
as so often happens, Watt’s innovation was built upon the work of many other engineers and
inventors,[3]. In fact there had been many forms of speed governer before Watt, but the simplicity and
effectiveness of his design, combined with new steam engine developments, gave a centrifugal device
that could regulate speed reliably. It did this via a steam valve connected to a pair of rotating weights. As
the engine speed increased, the centrifugal force on the weights increased, and lifted a collar on the
regulator shaft. The collar was connected to a valve in a way that reduced steam flow into the cylinders of
a steam engine when the speed increased, and increased the steam flow as the engine speed decreased.
Figure 1 shows a picture of a very simple centrifugal governor from our development workshop. The
centrifugal governor and the linkage to the steam valve gave a negative feedback loop with which to
control the engine speed.

Watt’s centrifugal speed governer gave factory and mill owners a reliable and practical way in which to
regulate the speed of all forms of rotating machines, ranging from water wheels to steam engines and in
all forms of industry that required a constancy of operating conditions. The development of the
centrifugal governor was in fact a sideshow to the Industrial Revolution, Nevertheless, its invention –
followed by its mathematical analysis - is at the heart of much of today’s control engineering theory and
practice. This was enabled by the Industrial Revolution, when a group of highly intelligent men who
mixed scientific curiosity with commercial energy came into being and formed a conduit between new
practical engineering problems and mathematical tools of analysis [4]. During the 18th century many
scientists and engineers contributed to the improvement of the centrifugal governer with excellent results
and amazing analysis. However these people were outside the British educational establishment
represented by Oxford, London and Cambridge, and so it waited until a centrifugal governor found its
way to Cambridge in the late 19th century before its dynamical analysis gained scientific respectability
and wide publicity in Britain through Maxwell’s paper ‘On Governors’ for the Royal Society of London.

The 18th century developments in the industrial midlands of England attracted wide attention from other
countries. Vistors from continental Europe - including many important scientists from France and
Germany - would by-pass the stagnant South East of England and travel direct to centres of industry such
as Birmingham and Manchester where they were welcomed by the Dissenter scientists and engineers.
Through this route knowledge of the centrifugal governor and its practical development spread. Its
analysis was widely taken up, with the most well known work being from the Russian, Wischnegradski,
but with other important and excellent technical developments from Germany and France. However, if
we lay aside questions of ‘who did what, where and first’, the important fact is that the centrifugal speed
governor for engines led to the important theoretical step that showed that the dynamic behaviour of a
system is associated with the roots of a polynomial equation. We now call this the characteristic equation
of a system, the roots of the equation are called the poles of the system transfer function or the
eigenvalues of the system. These concepts lie at the heart of all linear control systems analysis and
design.

1.2. The Relevance of Engine Speed Control Today

To see why engine speed control remains an important issue, we fast forward from the regulation of
steam engine speed to the control of the automobile engine. The petrol (gasoline if you are from the
USA) and diesel motor for cars and lorries are the most important engines of our age. For the control
engineer they are intensely interesting to work with and challenging to control. In addition to speed, the
petrol engine has a number of other control aspects, starting from ignition timing control, through fuel-air
ratio control to the growing number of emissions and efficiency requirements that all require yet more
complex control strategies. The modern car is in fact controlled by electronic control units (ECU’s),
Figure 2, which contains more computing power than was used to take man to the Moon and back.
Figure 2. An Engine Control Unit (ECU) – photograph by permission of Lucas Industries.

The control of diesel engines has followed a similar trend – with the historical connection that until quite
recently centrifugal governers were used to limit the maximum and control the minimum speeds of diesel
engines. The modern automotive diesel engine has an ECU of similar complexity to the petrol engine
device. And all this complexity to control engines. This is why engine speed control remains relevant
today – it is the application that gave rise to the theoretical analysis and design of control systems.
Moreover, engine speed control still lies at the heart of some of the most sophisticated control systems in
the world. Now read on.

2. A Standard Engine Speed Control System

The basic elements of an engine control system of the kind that led to the development of regulators are:
• A valve with which to change the supply rate of the fuel source
• A reciprocating engine
• An output shaft with flywheel and the engine load.
In a standard system, especially one which students might use, a safe fuel source is compressed air. This
gives similar results to steam but without the extremes of temperature or energy. A standard engine speed
control system using compressed air is shown in Figure 3.

The inlet valve is a very important part of this system – the valve is non-linear with a dead-zone in its
input characteristics. This is important because the input valve dead-zone, usually caused by static
friction, was a significant feature in the design of centrifugal speed governers. Actuator dead-zone
remains a problematic feature of engine control and to emphasize this problem, a large amount of dead-
zone is designed into the standard system. The input valve in the standard system is also motorized so
that a constant control input to the valve motor causes a constant rate of change of the valve position. The
airflow rate/ valve position characteristic is also non-linear so that the control of the air flow into the
engine is itself a problem.

The design and layout of the engine is typical of a four cylinder steam engine with an inertial load in the
form of a flywheel, and variable load in the form of an electrical generator. To vary the electrical load a
load control voltage is used. The appendix shows a more detailed schematic layout for a standard engine
speed control system.
 Figure 3. A Standard Engine Speed Control System

3. Modeling.
The components of the standard engine control system are the air control valve, the engine and the load.
The air control valve in turn has two parts, the drive motor and the valve. The drive motor gives a rate of
change of valve position y& (t ) proportional to the motor input signal u (t ) , so it can be modelled as an
integrator with gain g m . The valve output pressure P (t ) is proportional to the valve position y (t ) – so it
can be modelled as a gain g v .

dy (t )
= g m u (t ), P(t ) = g v y (t ) (1)
dt

The engine torque τ e (t ) is proportional to the air pressure.

τ e (t ) = g e P(t ) (2)

The engine torque is used to supply the engine load, frictional losses and to accelerate the engine
flywheel inertia I . If the engine speed is ω then we can write;

⎛ Rate of change of ⎞ ⎛ Engine ⎞ ⎛ Frictional ⎞ ⎛ Load ⎞

⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ = ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ − ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ − ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎝ Flywheel Momentum ⎠ ⎝ Torque ⎠ ⎝ Torque ⎠ ⎝ Torque ⎠

dω (t )
I = τe −τ f −τl (3)
dt

The torque required to overcome friction is τ f = bω (t ) , where b is the friction coefficient. The load
torque τ l is proportional to the load demand voltage d l (t ) such that; τ l = g l d l (t ) .Combining these
equations gives:

dω (t )
I + bω (t ) = g e g v y (t ) − g l d l (t ) (4)
dt
Equations (1) and (4) are the differential equation model of the standard engine speed control system. In
transfer function form these are:

g m u(s)
y ( s) =
s
(5)
g g y(s) g l d (s)
ω ( s) = e v −
b + Is b + Is

Because the input valve has a dead-zone, the gain g m is non-linear with a characteristic as shown in
Figure 4. The air flow gain g v is also non-linear but with a smooth characteristic, usually power law. In
normal operation the valve characteristic is locally linearised about the normal operating speed of the
engine, and the dead-zone is compensated for as described in section 4.1. below.

dy (t )
dt

gm
−D
D u (t )

Figure 4. Dead-zone Characteristic.

4. Control Problems for a Standard Engine Speed System.

The standard engine control problem as shown in Figure 3 has two main components that are found in
many engine control situations. They are:
• The requirement to control a non-linear input actuator (the air flow control valve)
• The requirement to regulate the speed of the engine when the load on its output shaft changes
The solution to these control problems requires some standard and important control techniques:
• Compensation for dead-zone in the actuator. A local feedback loop is used, together with some non-
linear compensating mechanism to reduce the actuator dead-zone and to give direct control over the
valve position.
• The use of cascade control. An inner feedback loop gives control over the position of the air flow
valve and an outer feedback loop does the speed regulation.
• The use of feed forward of the load demand. When a signal is available which is proportional to the
load, then the signal (the load generator demand voltage in this case) can be fed forward to the input
of the control system to anticipate changes in load.
4.1. Dead-zone Compensation
A typical actuator dead-zone characteristic is shown in Figure 4. For input signals smaller than the dead-
zone width, D, the actuator output response is zero and no actuation signal is sent to the system. This can
be compensated for in several ways. If the actuator position is measured (as in the standard engine speed
control system) then high gain feedback around the actuator can reduce the effective dead-zone by a
factor equal to the feedback gain. A further common procedure is to use a technique called dither. In this
a periodic signal is added to the actuator input signal. The frequency of the dither signal should be higher
than the bandwith of the system dynamics, and the amplitude should be approximately D. The effect of
this is to give an effective gain characteristic as shown in Figure 5.

dy (t )
g
dt m

− 2D

2D u (t )

g
slope m
2

Figure 5. Dither Compensated Dead-zone Characteristic.

The problem caused by dead-zone is that when the control signal falls within the dead-zone band, then no
control signal is fed to the system. This causes a servo tracking error proportional to the size of the dead-
zone. The advantage of dither is that the valve dead-zone as shown in Figure 4 is replaced by the non-
g
zero gain of m . In this case there is always a corrective control signal being fed to the system and the
2
servo tracking error can be control by normal means. There are other dead-zone compensation methods,
(see the Servo Systems white paper for details of this).

4.2. Cascade Control

The engine speed control system is an example of a process in which we must first control the actuator
(the air valve) before the main system (the engine) can be controlled. This is a common ocurence in
industry and leads to what is known as cascade control. Figure 6 illustrates a cascade control system for
the engine speed control system. The cascade control system consists of an inner loop (or slave
controller) which controls the valve position y (t ) to a reference valve position y r (t ) . The outer loop (or
master controller) controls the engine speed ω (t ) The outer loop is termed the master control loop
because it supplies the reference valve position which the inner (slave) loop must follow.

Cascade control systems are widely used in industrial systems, where it is important to proceed step by
step through a complex system. The aim is to start with the inner most blocks of a system, place them
under control and then work outwards to the next level of control. In the engine speed control system the
procedure is to close the valve position control loop using non-linear compensation, (e.g. dither), and
obtain good accurate valve position control. The valve reference position then becomes the system input
for the master controller design. The master controller design would use three-term control as described
in Elke’s white paper (see the down load page at www.control-systems-principles.co.uk).

∑ K2 ∑ K1

Figure 6. Cascade Control Structure for the Standard Engine Speed Control System.

4.3. Feed Forward Control

An external load will influence the quality of control when it changes. A good feedback controller with
integral action can compensate for this external disturbance. However, if the disturbance can be
measured, then better control can be achieved by using the measured disturbance in the control system.
This is called Feedforward Control. In the standard engine speed control system the disturbance signal,
d l (t ) , can be measured. This measurement is used to assist the feedback controller action. The signal
d l (t ) is fed through a feedforward controller F (s ) and added (or subtracted as appropriate) from the
output of the feedback controller. By correct choice of F (s ) the feedforward signal will exactly
compensate for the influence of the disturbance.

5. An Engine Speed Control System

Figure 7 shows a commercial version of the standard engine control problem produced by TQ Education
and Training Ltd. It uses compressed air to drive the system and the engine is a scale model of a steam
engine. All other aspects of the system follow the ‘standard’ model that was described in Section 2 of this
white paper. We will use a model of this hardware to illustrate the control experiments – in a later white
paper we will use the real system and compare results.
 Figure 7. The TQ CE107 Engine Speed Control System.

6. Control Examples for the Standard Engine Speed Control System

In this section we use simulation to demonstrate dead-zone compensation using dither and cascade
compensation. Feedforward compensation is used to demonstrate load disturbance rejection. The
simulation model is shown below where the motor dynamics are represented by a simple 1st order lag.
The actuator includes an integrator as described above. The inputs are the reference, dither and
disturbance signals.

1 Control
1
DIther Gain1
SIgnal Disturbance Gain4

1 1
0 PID 1
s s+1
Speed Gain Speed Gain2 Dead Zone Integrator
Motor
Reference Controller

Cascad feedback gain

Speed

Steam engine speed control

Figure 8. Simulation of Engine Speed Control System.

6.1. Dead-zone Compensation

In this section we compare speed control of the steam engine with and without dither compensation of the
actuator. The dither signal is inserted into the feedback loop just before the input to the actuator. The
amplitude of the dither signal should exceed the dead-zone and the frequency of the dither should be
higher than the closed loop bandwidth of the system. Because the actuator already contains an integrator,
only proportional control is required to track a step change in speed. The simulation results shown below
compares control of the shaft speed with and without dither. The only difference between these signals is
the presence of dither on the lower trace. The dither signal has an amplitude of 1volt and a frequency of
10Hz. This is well above the closed loop bandwidth of the system. Notice the improvement in steady
steady state error and dynamic response when the dither signal is added. Also note that the dither signal
has no visible effect on the control signal. This is important. The dither signal should linearize the system
but have as little effect a possible on the controlled variables. An accessible control orientated dicussion
on the use of dither can be found in reference [9].

1
Speed

-1

-2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

1
Speed

-1

-2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (Sec)

Figure 9. Dead-zone Compensation Using A Dither Signal.

6.2. Cascade Control

In this section the dead-zone is compensated for by using feedback. Feedback can have a strong
linearizing effect. To demonstrate this in the simulation the dither signal is turned off by reducing the
gain in the dither channel to zero. Feedback is now introduced around the actuator. This has the efffect of
linearizing the actuator dynamics but also results in a type ‘0’ system1. Therefore the PID controller for
the shaft speed now has to include integral action to compensate for the steady state error.

1
The type of a system tells us how many integrators there are in the closed loop. A type ‘0’ system has none, a type
‘1’ system has one, and so on. The type of a servo system is important because it tells the designer with what input
signal he/she can hope to have zero steady state errors.
 2

Speed
0

-1

-2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

1
Speed

-1

-2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (Sec)

Figure 10. Dead-zone Compensation Using Cascade Control.

6.3. Load Feed Forward

A solution to disturbance rejection is to use feedforward control. With feedforward control it is assumed
that a signal related to (idealy proportional to) the disturbance is available. For example with a steam
engine a generator connected to the output might supply electrical power to a load. Measuring the load
current as the load varies gives a measure of the disturbance signal. This signal can the be used to
generate a control signal that will cancel or reduce the effect of the disturbance. In the simulation below a
triangular load disturbance is injected into the feedback loop. The effect of feedforward is clearly seen in
Figure 12. Without compensation this load disturbance causes a large steady-state error (blue plot). With
feedforward compensation this error is clearly reduced (red plot).

1
0.5
s
Disturbance Integrator1 Dgain

Control1

s
2
0.05s+1
Gain1 Feed Forward

1 1
0 PID
s s+1
Constant Speed Dead Zone Integrator Speed
Motor
Controller

Control

Steam engine speed control: Feed Forward Disturbance Rejection

Figure 11. Feed Forward Simulation

 1

0.8

0.6

0.4

Speed 0.2

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (Seconds)

Figure 12. Feed Forward Disturbance Rejection.

7. A Final Word
We are sorry to say that it is not possible to answer general questions about the contents of our white
papers, unless we have a contract with your organisation. For more information about speed control of
engines and the CE107 Engine Speed Control System go to the TQ Education and Training web site
using the links on our web site www.control-systems-principles.co.uk or use the email [email protected].

The history of control systems is a rich one in the area of engine speed control. For example, look at
references [1, 3] for the details of how speed controllers were developed in the industrial revolution.
Control Systems Principles have especially enjoyed Jenny Uglow’s book [4] because it paints a picture of
the complex social and scientific changes that were occuring at the time and gives a wider understanding
of the atmosphere in which engine control was born. For IEEE members the special issue of the IEEE
Control Systems Magazine [5] is a good read. We also recommends the web sites [6,7] and industrial
museum web sites in general . The Manchester Museum of Science and Industry [8] is especially good.

References
1.Mayr, O. The Origins of Feedback Control, MIT Press, 1970.
2. Dorf, R C and Bishop, R H, Modern Control Systems, (9th Ed) Prentice Hall 2000.
3. Bennett, S. A History of Control Engineering, Peregrinus, 1979.
4. Uglow, J, The Lunar Men: The Friends that Made the Future, Faber and Faber, 2002.
5. IEEE Control Systems Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 2, April 2002.
6. A mathematical analysis of the centrifugal governor – http://www.nsm.buffalo.edu/~hassard/
7. A excellent site for old engines – http://oldenginehouse.users.btopenworld.com/oeh.htm
8. The Manchester Museum of Industry and Science – http://www.msim.org.uk/
9. Cook, P. Non-linear Dynamical Systems', (2nd ed.) Prentice-Hall International, 1994
Appendix – Schematic of the Standard Speed Control System