Development of a Fuel Quantity based Engine Control Unit Software Architecture

Abstract

Conventionally diesel engines are controlled in open loop with maps based on engine speed and throttle position wherein fuel quantity is indirectly fixed using the rail pressure and injection duration maps with engine speed and throttle position as the independent variables which are measured by the respective sensors. In this work an engine control unit (ECU) software architecture where fuel quantity is directly specified in relation to the driver demand was implemented by modifying the control logic of a throttle position based framework. A desired fuel quantity for a given engine speed and throttle position was mapped from base line experiments on the reference engine. Injection durations and rail pressure required for this quantity was mapped on a fuel injector calibration test bench. The final calculation of injection duration in the new architecture is calculated using the fuel injector model. This enables determination of fuel quantity injected at any moment which directly indicates the torque produced by the engine at a given speed enabling smoke limited fuelling calculations and easing the implementation of control functions like all-speed governing.