A swirl flap is a small butterfly valve fitted to four-stroke internal combustion engines with at least two intake valves. It is installed inside or just before one of a cylinder's two intake ports, allowing to throttle its intake port's air flow, causing a swirl in the other intake port not fitted with a swirl flap. The swirl improves the air-fuel mixing process in direct injected engines, typically diesel engines, under low load conditions. [1]
Swirl flap position is adjusted by an electrical or vacuum-actuated servo mechanism which is under the control of the engine management system. In a typical implementation the flaps will be closed at idle speed, creating additional turbulence in the intake. As engine speed increases, the flaps are gradually opened until, at around 2,000/min, they are parallel to the airflow and present virtually no resistance. Their purpose is to ensure that the air entering the cylinder is sufficiently turbulent for good fuel-air mixing even at low engine speeds. This aids in reducing emissions and may also improve low-end torque.
The disadvantages of swirl flaps are mainly associated with fouling by exhaust gas recirculation, which leaves tarry deposits on the flaps and the inside of the intake manifold. Over time the flaps can begin to stick in one position and the engine management system may report an error code if the correct flap position cannot be achieved within a few percent of the design specification.
A two-strokeengine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of the crankshaft. A four-stroke engine requires four strokes of the piston to complete a power cycle during two crankshaft revolutions. In a two-stroke engine, the end of the combustion stroke and the beginning of the compression stroke happen simultaneously, with the intake and exhaust functions occurring at the same time.
In internal combustion engines, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a nitrogen oxide (NO
x) emissions reduction technique used in petrol/gasoline, diesel engines and some hydrogen engines. EGR works by recirculating a portion of an engine's exhaust gas back to the engine cylinders. This dilutes the O2 in the incoming air stream and provides gases inert to combustion to act as absorbents of combustion heat to reduce peak in-cylinder temperatures. NO
x is produced in high temperature mixtures of atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen that occur in the combustion cylinder, and this usually occurs at cylinder peak pressure. Another primary benefit of external EGR valves on a spark ignition engine is an increase in efficiency, as charge dilution allows a larger throttle position and reduces associated pumping losses. Mazda's turbocharged SkyActiv engine uses recirculated and cooled exhaust gases to reduce combustion chamber temperatures, thereby permitting the engine to run at higher boost levels before the air-fuel mixture must be enriched to prevent engine knocking.
Engine tuning is the adjustment or modification of the internal combustion engine or Engine Control Unit (ECU) to yield optimal performance and increase the engine's power output, economy, or durability. These goals may be mutually exclusive; an engine may be de-tuned with respect to output power in exchange for better economy or longer engine life due to lessened stress on engine components.
A combustion chamber is part of an internal combustion engine in which the fuel/air mix is burned. For steam engines, the term has also been used for an extension of the firebox which is used to allow a more complete combustion process.
VTEC is a system developed by Honda to improve the volumetric efficiency of a four-stroke internal combustion engine, resulting in higher performance at high RPM, and lower fuel consumption at low RPM. The VTEC system uses two camshaft profiles and hydraulically selects between profiles. It was invented by Honda engineer Ikuo Kajitani. It is distinctly different from standard VVT systems which change only the valve timings and do not change the camshaft profile or valve lift in any way.
In internal combustion engines, a variable-length intake manifold (VLIM),variable intake manifold (VIM), or variable intake system (VIS) is an automobile internal combustion engine manifold technology. As the name implies, VLIM/VIM/VIS can vary the length of the intake tract - in order to optimise power and torque across the range of engine speed operation, as well as help provide better fuel efficiency. This effect is often achieved by having two separate intake ports, each controlled by a valve, that open two different manifolds - one with a short path that operates at full engine load, and another with a significantly longer path that operates at lower load. The first patent issued for a variable length intake manifold was published in 1958, US Patent US2835235 by Daimler Benz AG.
Toyota Variable Induction System, or T-VIS, is a variable intake system designed by Toyota to improve the low-end performance of multi-valve engines.
Indirect injection in an internal combustion engine is fuel injection where fuel is not directly injected into the combustion chamber. In the last decade, gasoline engines equipped with indirect injection systems, wherein a fuel injector delivers the fuel at some point before the intake valve, have mostly fallen out of favor to direct injection. However, certain manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Toyota and Ford have developed a 'dual injection' system, combining direct injectors with port (indirect) injectors, combining the benefits of both types of fuel injection. Direct injection allows the fuel to be precisely metered into the combustion chamber under high pressure which can lead to greater power, fuel efficiency. The issue with direct injection is that it typically leads to greater amounts of particulate matter and with the fuel no longer contacting the intake valves, carbon can accumulate on the intake valves over time. Adding indirect injection keeps fuel spraying on the intake valves, reducing or eliminating the carbon accumulation on intake valves and in low load conditions, indirect injection allows for better fuel-air mixing. This system is mainly used in higher cost models due to the added expense and complexity.
In automotive engineering, an inlet manifold or intake manifold is the part of an engine that supplies the fuel/air mixture to the cylinders. The word manifold comes from the Old English word manigfeald and refers to the multiplying of one (pipe) into many.
Reed valves are a type of check valve which restrict the flow of fluids to a single direction, opening and closing under changing pressure on each face. Modern versions often consist of flexible metal or composite materials.
A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine or valve-in-block engine is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as in an overhead valve engine.
Lean-burn refers to the burning of fuel with an excess of air in an internal combustion engine. In lean-burn engines the air:fuel ratio may be as lean as 65:1. The air / fuel ratio needed to stoichiometrically combust gasoline, by contrast, is 14.64:1. The excess of air in a lean-burn engine emits far less hydrocarbons. High air–fuel ratios can also be used to reduce losses caused by other engine power management systems such as throttling losses.
Gasoline direct injection (GDI), also known as petrol direct injection (PDI), is a mixture formation system for internal combustion engines that run on gasoline (petrol), where fuel is injected into the combustion chamber. This is distinct from manifold fuel injection systems, which inject fuel into the intake manifold.
Alfa Romeo Twin Spark (TS) technology was used for the first time in the Alfa Romeo Grand Prix car in 1914. In the early 1960s it was used in their race cars to enable it to achieve a higher power output from its engines. And in the early and middle 1980s, Alfa Romeo incorporated this technology into their road cars to enhance their performance and to comply with stricter emission controls.
Manifold vacuum, or engine vacuum in an internal combustion engine is the difference in air pressure between the engine's intake manifold and Earth's atmosphere.
The Mitsubishi 6B3 engine is a range of all-alloy piston V6 engines developed by Mitsubishi Motors. Currently, only one engine has been developed, a 3.0 L (2,998 cc) V6 first introduced in the North American version of the second generation Mitsubishi Outlander which debuted in October 2006.
A glowplug is a heating device used to aid in starting diesel engines. In cold weather, high-speed diesel engines can be difficult to start because the mass of the cylinder block and cylinder head absorb the heat of compression, preventing ignition. Pre-chambered engines use small glowplugs inside the pre-chambers. Direct-injected engines have these glowplugs in the combustion chamber.
An internal combustion engine (ICE) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high-pressure gases produced by combustion applies direct force to some component of the engine. The force is applied typically to pistons, turbine blades, a rotor, or a nozzle. This force moves the component over a distance, transforming chemical energy into useful work. This replaced the external combustion engine for applications where weight or size of the engine is important.
A tumble flap is a flap housed in the intake area of many modern automotive gasoline engines to produce a swirl at right-angles to the cylinder axis. This swirling motion improves the air-fuel mixture and enhances power and torque, while at the same time lowering fuel consumption and decreasing emissions. The flaps can be actuated with pneumatic or electric power. Furthermore, the position of the flap can be controlled continuously with a feedback controller or just kept either fully closed or open. Use of a tumble flap improves the lean burn ability of a spark-ignition engine.
Manifold injection is a mixture formation system for internal combustion engines with external mixture formation. It is commonly used in engines with spark ignition that use petrol as fuel, such as the Otto engine, and the Wankel engine. In a manifold-injected engine, the fuel is injected into the intake manifold, where it begins forming a combustible air-fuel mixture with the air. As soon as the intake valve opens, the piston starts sucking in the still forming mixture. Usually, this mixture is relatively homogeneous, and, at least in production engines for passenger cars, approximately stoichiometric; this means that there is an even distribution of fuel and air across the combustion chamber, and enough, but not more air present than what is required for the fuel's complete combustion. The injection timing and measuring of the fuel amount can be controlled either mechanically, or electronically. Since the 1970s and 1980s, manifold injection has been replacing carburettors in passenger cars. However, since the late 1990s, car manufacturers have started using petrol direct injection, which caused a decline in manifold injection installation in newly produced cars.