Fuel 162 (2015) 128137

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Fuel
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuel

A novel twin injector strategy for direct cylinder barrel injection of LPG
in a 2S-SI engine
V. Pradeep, A. Ramesh
Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India

h i g h l i g h t s
 Energy saving, low pressure, direct gaseous LPG injection in engine.
 Significant reduction in HC emissions at all operating conditions.
 More suitable for improved injector durability.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 9 June 2015
Received in revised form 26 August 2015
Accepted 27 August 2015
Available online 5 September 2015
Keywords:
Two stroke engines
LPG
HC emissions
Short-circuiting

a b s t r a c t
A novel strategy of using twin injectors mounted on the cylinder barrel of a two-stroke spark ignition (2SSI) engine for direct injection of Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is developed and compared with manifold
injection. Gaseous LPG at a low pressure of about 44.5 bar was used and the injectors were located
opposite each other and above the transfer ports. Experiments were conducted at the best injection
and spark timings at 3000 rpm. Results at 25% and 100% throttle positions over different overall equivalence ratios are presented. The twin direct injection system led to significant reductions in hydrocarbon
(HC) emissions of about 80% at both the throttle positions as compared to the manifold injection method
due to reduction in short-circuiting losses. The best brake thermal efficiency was also improved from
19.7% to 25.2% at full throttle. Oxides of Nitrogen (NO) emissions were lower and carbon monoxide
(CO) levels were higher due to charge non homogeneity. Experiments were also done with a single injector mounted on the cylinder barrel. The twin direct injection system resulted in significantly lower HC
emissions and allowed operation under wider range of equivalence ratios with later injection timings
as compared to the single injector strategy indicating its superior mixture preparation characteristics.
2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
Conventional two-stroke spark-ignition (2S-SI) engines are preferred for several applications where demand for high specific

Abbreviations: LPG, liquefied petroleum gas; MI, manifold injection; 2S-SI, twostroke spark-ignition engine; MBT, minimum advance for best torque; DI, direct
injection; SOI, start of injection; LPG_TDI, direct in-cylinder LPG injection through
cylinder barrel with two injectors; LPG_SDI, direct in-cylinder LPG injection
through cylinder barrel with single injector; TP, transfer port opening; EOI, end of
injection; EPO, exhaust port opening; BPO, boost port opening; TPO, transfer port
opening; BPC, boost port closing; TPC, transfer port closing; EPC, exhaust port
closing; HC, hydrocarbon; NO, nitric oxide; CO, carbon monoxide; CA, degree crank
angle; BTE, brake thermal efficiency; U, equivalence ratio.
Corresponding author at: Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory, Department
of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036,
India. Tel.: +91 9444462154.
E-mail address: aramesh@iitm.ac.in (A. Ramesh).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2015.08.070
0016-2361/ 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

power is the priority. However, these engines emit high levels of

hydrocarbons (HC) and their specific fuel consumption is also very
high. Short-circuiting of the fuelair mixture during scavenging is
the reason for the high HC emissions and high fuel consumption
in these types of engines. Development of simple and cost effective
methods to improve these systems is on for a long time. In several
parts of the world 2S-SI engines are still being used for compact
applications and in small vehicles. Recent literature [1] also show
the relevance of developing low-pressure direct injection methods
as an alternative to high pressure Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI)
systems. Electronic fuel injection through the intake manifold
can deliver emission benefits in four-stroke SI (4S-SI) engines since
they provide better control of airfuel ratio (A/F). However, manifold injection of fuel cannot prevent short-circuiting of the mixture
in a conventional two-stroke SI engine since airfuel mixture is
prepared primarily in the crankcase. Injecting the fuel directly into
the combustion chamber, very late during the compression stroke,

V. Pradeep, A. Ramesh / Fuel 162 (2015) 128137

can reduce short circuiting losses. However, this can result in inadequate time for preparation of a homogenous, combustible airfuel
mixture. This can also lead to excessive stratification adversely
effecting combustion and emissions. The high pressure Gasoline
Direct Injection (GDI) system is a solution but is relatively expensive. Air assisted direct injection of gasoline at moderate pressures
has already been tried in vehicles for transportation. These systems
use compressed air to atomise the fuel. A rich mixture of air and
fuel is thus injected and subsequent mixture preparation in the
cylinder becomes easy. This system is complex since it requires
an air compressor and a combinational injector.
Being attractive in terms of cost and supply network, LPG is
widely used in three-wheelers for transportation in several Asian
countries. Majority of these vehicles run on carburetted, 4S-SI
engines. Properties of LPG are listed in Table 1. A comparison of
properties of gasoline and LPG shows that LPG has higher octane
number and flame speed which makes the engine more knockresistant and fit for leaner operation. These features make LPG a
good substitute for gasoline in SI engines [2,3]. Additionally, LPG
offers the advantages of easy storage at moderate pressures of 7
8 bars. This facilitates elimination of fuel pump if gaseous LPG is
injected at low pressures. However, LPG in manifold injection will
result in power loss since the gas replaces some amount of intake
air [47]. Recent work shows that careful control of LPG temperature is necessary in manifold injection to control loss in power and
NO emissions [8].
Direct in-cylinder injection of gaseous LPG from the cylinder
head or through the cylinder barrel offers scope for reducing
short-circuiting losses in 2S-SI engines. Advancements made in electronic controls facilitate timing the start of injection (SOI) appropriately. Earlier studies have reported that injectors mounted within
the combustion chamber are subjected to severe thermal loading
[9]. Recent studies also suggested designs for protecting injectors
used for in-cylinder fuel injection [1,10]. As compared to conventional direct injection through the cylinder head, direct injection
through the cylinder barrel offers an additional advantage of
improved injector durability since the injector tip is not exposed
to very high temperatures and pressures [11]. Here a hole is drilled
on the cylinder barrel to accommodate the injector. This hole is
exposed by the piston in a small crank angle window around BDC.
Lower pressures can be used as the timing of injection has to be only
during the early part of the movement of the piston from BDC to TDC.
More over the cylinder head design also becomes simpler. However,
in this case injection duration should be such that the end of injection (EOI) occurs before the piston starts closing the injection port.
Comprehensive experimental investigations are not reported in literature to clearly bring out the benefits of direct injection of gaseous
LPG and in particular direct injection through cylinder barrel in
small 2S-SI engines. Thus this work is in this direction.
1.1. Background

Table 1
Fuel properties [23,26].
Property

Unit

Gasoline

LPG

Lower heating value

Stoichiometric A/F
Motor octane number
Flame speed
Density
Auto-ignition temperature

MJ/kg
Mass basis

44
14.7
8090
37.5
735
371

45.7a
15.5
9097
38.2
2.26 (gas)
405450

At 1 atm. and 15 C.

is because of the serious penalty short-circuiting imposes on emissions and performance of these simple systems. Gasoline injection
by mechanical means through the cylinder head [12] and electronically controlled injection through the cylinder barrel [13] and
injection through a swirl chamber on the cylinder barrel [14] have
shown positive results in terms of reduction in HC emissions and
fuel consumption.
Even though majority of investigations in 2S-SI and 4S-SI engines have been on gasoline fuelled systems, use of LPG in these
engines also has been an attractive option. Majority of investigations on LPG have been on simple manifold injection systems.
Many of such investigations on premixed, LPG fuelled 2S-SI engines have reported higher levels of HC emissions compared to gasoline fuelled manifold injection systems [6,15,16]. Such premixed
systems on LPG have also reported reduction in power compared
to similar systems on gasoline [4,6].
Air assisted injection of gasoline [1719] and fully atomised
stratified combustion process [20] have shown significant reduction, of about 80%, compared to a premixed charge system. A
recent work on air assisted cylinder barrel injection of gasoline
in a 2S-SI engine has reported about 38% reduction in HC emissions
and improvement in brake thermal efficiency [11]. A direct mixture injection system on gasoline, developed at IIT Madras, for a
2S-SI engine has also shown a 66% reduction in HC emissions with
improved performance [21].
Semi direct injection strategies like boost port injection of LPG
[16] and timed air injection into transfer duct in conjunction with
manifold induction of LPG [22] were also successful in reducing HC
emissions in a 2S-SI engine. In the case of boost port injection
reduction in HC was up to 19% whereas for the air injection system
reduction of about 40% was realised [22]. However, lower brake
thermal efficiency and heat release rates, as a result of charge stratification, were also reported at higher throttles with fuel lean mixtures in the case of boost port injection [16]. Reduction in HC and
CO over a manifold injection system was observed, at idling conditions, when LPG was injected from the cylinder head of a 2S-SI
engine [23]. Up to 17% improvement in fuel economy and reduction in HC emissions were also reported when a two-stroke, direct
injection system on propane was run on selected conditions of rich
and lean mixtures [24]. In another work on direct injection of LPG,
performed at part throttle, a low HC emission of 400 ppm was
observed [25].
On the whole it can be seen that research on direct injection of
LPG in a 2S-SI engine, in particular injection through cylinder barrel is scarce. Considering the additional benefits offered by cylinder
barrel injection, use of LPG in a 2S-SI engine employing this strategy needs to be explored further before it is commercially adopted.
In addition, the problem of injecting the fuel and preparing the
mixture in the short crank angle windows available in the case of
cylinder barrel based injection systems needs attention.
1.2. Present work

Research focus on 2S-SI engines has been more or less centred

on developing methods to reduce short-circuiting of the fuel. This

129

cm/s
kg/m3
C

Direct injection through the cylinder barrel offers benefits of

improved injector durability and needs only low supply pressures
for operation. However, the time available for injection will be limited. This poses a restriction on the minimum injection pressure or
the maximum injection duration. Therefore, the start of injection
cannot be made late so as to effectively reduce short-circuiting
losses. More over cylinder barrel injection using a single injector
can create excessive stratification adversely effecting combustion
and emissions. Thus in the present work a novel method (a patent
has been filed) of using twin injectors was employed to create a
relatively homogenous mixture as well as to have short injection
durations. LPG was injected using two suitably oriented injectors
mounted on the cylinder barrel in a small two-stroke SI engine.

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V. Pradeep, A. Ramesh / Fuel 162 (2015) 128137

Detailed experimental investigations have been performed to

determine the influence of start of injection (SOI) at 25% and
100% of full throttle conditions, at 3000 rpm, to arrive at the most
suitable value. The performance, emissions and combustion
parameters of the engine (LPG_TDI) were analysed and compared
with a base line system which used manifold injection of LPG
(LPG_MI) under similar conditions of throttle openings. Subsequently the results were compared with that obtained using cylinder barrel injection of LPG employing a single injector (LPG_SDI).

2. Experimental setup
Specifications of the engine used for experimental investigations are detailed in Table 2. The intake manifold of this small, carburetted 2S-SI engine was modified so as to perform baseline
experiments with manifold injection (MI) of gaseous LPG. The
engine has two boost ports, four transfer ports and an exhaust port.
The port timing diagram of the engine is as shown in Fig. 1. The
cylinder barrel of the engine was subsequently modified to house
two gas injectors above the transfer ports opposite each other as
shown in Fig. 2. Injectors were positioned and oriented (Fig. 2) such
that the gas jets reached the centrally located spark plug. In this
case, the fuel jets are in the gaseous form and hence impingement
of the jets on the wall of the cylinder head, though it may happen,
will not create problems normally experienced with liquid jets.
Positioning the injectors on the barrel far away from TDC will
not allow late injection of LPG since the piston will cover the injector port early on its upward stroke from BDC. On the other hand
injector positions very close to TDC can damage the injectors since
they will be exposed to high temperatures and pressures. Moreover viable injection pressures of LPG being 45 bar (abs), too late
injection is not possible with injector positions close to TDC due to
the high in-cylinder pressure (downstream pressure of injectors).
The adaptors used for injectors were water cooled so as to prevent
overheating if any.
The LPG circuit and instrumentation of the experimental setup
are shown in Fig. 3. An NI, USA make field programmable gate
array (FPGA) was used to develop the engine controller which
was employed for real time control of fuel injection duration (in
ls), start of injection (SOI) and occurrence of spark on the crank
angle basis. Metered quantities of lubricating oil were supplied
to the intake manifold through a solenoid operated pump. Its frequency of operation was also controlled through the engine controller. Input signals for the engine controller were provided at
top dead centre (TDC) and at each one degree rotation of the crank
shaft. These were realised through a crank angle encoder. A commercially available smart coil was used for generating the spark.
Input signals to the injector and the spark coil were filtered for
noise interference using suitable electronic circuitry.
A Coriolis mass flow meter (Emerson, USA, CMF010M) was used
for measuring LPG consumption whereas a turbine flow meter was

Table 2
Engine specifications.
Type of engine
Bore  stroke
Compression ratio (geometric)
Displacement volume
Peak torque and power
Mixture induction
Scavenging system
Transfer and boost ports
opening
Transfer and boost ports closing
Exhaust port opening
Exhaust port closing

Air cooled, single cylinder, 2S-SI engine

61 mm  68.2 mm
7.7:1
199.3 cc
16.5 N-m @ 3000 rpm, 6.2 kW @ 4500 rpm
Reed valve
Loop scavenging
48 Degrees before bottom dead centre
(BDC)
48 Degrees after BDC
69 Degrees before BDC
69 Degrees after BDC

Fig. 1. Port timing diagram showing start and end of fuel injection with two
injectors at 100% throttle and best efficiency point.

used to measure air in flow to the engine. The LPG cylinder was
kept in a constant temperature hot water bath so as to ensure sufficient quantity of gas at a pressure of 78 bar (abs) during the
experiments. A small water pump, water heater, temperature sensor and temperature controller were used to regulate the temperature of hot water bath. A small LPG surge tank was provided just
ahead of gas injector to reduce fluctuations in the injection pressure. So as to avoid condensation of LPG in the flow line, the surge
tank and LPG flow line, before and after the Coriolis meter were
heated using tape heaters. The pressure of LPG was further regulated to the required value for injection. A Swagelok micro-filter
also was used just ahead of Coriolis meter so as to remove impurities, if any, present in the gas line.
Dry exhaust gas emission measurements were done using a
NDIR analyser (Horiba, Japan, MEXA 554JA), for CO and HC. Nitric
oxide (NO) emissions were measured using a chemiluminescence
analyser of Rosemount USA, make. Cylinder pressure measurement
was done through a flush mounted, piezo-electric pressure transducer along with a charge amplifier (Kistler, Switzerland) and inhouse developed data acquisition program. The cylinder pressure
was acquired using signals from a crank shaft encoder on the angle
basis. The average cylinder pressure based on 100 cycles of data
was used for the evaluation of combustion parameters.
3. Experimental conditions
All experiments were conducted at throttle positions of 25% and
100% at a constant engine speed of 3000 rpm. As mentioned earlier,
base line experiments were conducted using manifold injection of
LPG (LPG_MI) at these conditions. In this case, the fuel injection
pressure at 25% throttle and 100% throttle was regulated at 2 bar
(abs) and 2.8 bar (abs) respectively. In the case of LPG_MI, injection
pressure is not of much significance since the mixture preparation
primarily occurs in the crankcase. However, the injection pressure
should be selected such that fuel pulse widths used are sufficiently
larger than the dead time of solenoid injectors. Since the influence
of start of injection (SOI) was not significant it was kept at top dead
centre (TDC) for all the manifold injection experiments.
In the case of direct cylinder barrel injection using two injectors
(LPG_TDI), preliminary experiments were conducted at 25% and
100% throttle positions to evolve a suitable range of start of injec-

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V. Pradeep, A. Ramesh / Fuel 162 (2015) 128137

Fig. 2. Cylinder barrel with injectors.

12

13

11

10

10

14

water in

6
33

water out

15

8
16
18

17

19
20

21

(QJLQH

1. Eddy current dynamometer 2. Crank angle encoder 3. Pressure sensor

4. Engine controller 5. Data acquisition system 6. LPG cylinder in constant
temp. hot water bath 7. Temp. sensor and controller 8. water pump 9. water
heater 10. On-off valve 11.Pressure regulator 12. Filter 13. Coriolis mass flow
meter 14. Non return valve 15. Flame arrestor 16. LPG surge tank 17. Gas
injectors 18. Turbine flow meter 19. Air surge tank 20. Flame arrestor
21.Throttle position sensor
Fig. 3. Schematic of experimental setup.

tions (SOIs) with which the engine could perform well with low HC
emissions. This was found to be in the range of 030bBDC at
3000 rpm. Subsequently experiments at 25% throttle position were
done at 0, 10 and 20bBDC. In the case of 100% throttle, experi-

ments were performed at a SOIs of 10, 20, and 30 bBDC. Higher

injection pressures can reduce the injection duration, which will
facilitate late injection. However, use of higher injection pressures
is limited by two factors. The LPG supply pressure itself is limited

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V. Pradeep, A. Ramesh / Fuel 162 (2015) 128137

Table 3
Uncertainty of parameters.
HC emission
NO emission
CO emission
Brake thermal efficiency
Peak pressure

2%
2.3%
4.5%
0.6%
1.3%

and secondly since two injectors are used the total flow rate will
get divided between two injectors. This will make pulse widths
of each injector too small and close to the dead time of injector.
In order to ensure proper injector operation moderate injection
pressures of 4 bar (abs) and 4.5 bar (abs) were used for 25% and
100% throttle experiments respectively. These pressures can be
easily obtained in LPG systems.
During the experiments, the equivalence ratio was varied and
spark timing was optimised for best torque (MBT) at each point
of operation. The MBT spark timing was obtained, at a given
speed and equivalence ratio, by advancing the spark timing to
obtain the maximum torque just before the onset of knock. The
best injection timing, for each throttle position, was then
obtained based on maximum brake thermal efficiency and minimum HC emissions. Instead of twin injection, cylinder barrel
injection of LPG was also attempted with a single injector
(LPG_SDI) at 100% throttle and 3000 rpm for the purpose of comparison. The uncertainty in the parameters was also estimated as
shown in Table 3.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Performance, emissions and combustion at 25% throttle

30

4.0

25
20
15
10
5

LPG_MI
LPG_TDI_BDC
LPG_TDI_10bBDC
LPG_TDI_20bBDC

0
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3

Equivalence rao

(a) Variation of BTE at 25% throttle

Brake power (kW)

Brake Thermal Eciency %

The engine was run at a constant speed of 3000 rpm for all the
experiments at this throttle position. Short-circuiting of the fresh
charge is not significant at this condition of throttle since the delivery ratio is not high. As mentioned earlier, based on the observations from the preliminary run, experiments were done at
injection timings (SOI) of 0, 10 and 20bBDC. Late injection was
found to increase the HC emissions along with misfiring of engine.
This is because with late injection the time available for the
injected LPG (gas) to penetrate and form a combustible mixture
is less.
The performance of the engine is compared with that of manifold injection in Fig. 4. Brake thermal efficiency (BTE) in the case of
LPG_TDI was higher (Fig. 4a) than that of LPG_MI at all injection
timings when the overall mixture (based on the net air and fuel)
was lean (equivalence ratio of about 0.60.7). It may be noted that
the overall equivalence ratio shown in the figures is based on the

measurement of injected fuel and inducted air. However, the

trapped fuelair mixture will be richer than these values of equivalence ratio with LPG_TDI due to reduced short-circuiting of the
fuel as compared to LPG_MI. The peak BTE of 26.1% was obtained
with the LPG_TDI system when the SOI was 10bBDC. Brake thermal efficiencies obtained with the other two injection timings
were also comparable with this value. However, minimum HC
emissions were observed when SOI (i.e. injection timing) was at
10bBDC. Maximum BTE obtained for the LPG_MI system was only
24.2% at a relatively high equivalence ratio than that of LPG_TDI.
The improvement in BTE with LPG_TDI is because of the reduction
in short-circuiting of the fuel. This is why the peak of BTE occurs at
very low overall equivalence ratios in the range of 0.60.65 i.e. the
trapped equivalence ratio is higher. HC emissions were significantly lower with the LPG_TDI system which will be explained
later. This trend of improvement in BTE is reversed at relatively
high equivalence ratios (0.8 and above) where LPG_MI is better
than LPG_TDI (Fig. 4a). Brake power (Fig. 4b) also shows similar
trends at these conditions. The brake thermal efficiency being
lower at higher equivalence ratios can be attributed to undesirable
charge stratification and rich pockets leading to poor brake power.
It may be noted that at these conditions the trapped mixture will
be quite rich. Measurements indicated that at any overall equivalence ratio the mass flow rate of air was higher in the case of the
LPG_TDI system (i.e. delivery ratios were higher). In spite of that,
the power output with LPG_TDI was lower at equivalence ratios
higher than about 0.8 because of reduced thermal efficiency. It
can also be observed from Fig. 4 that LPG_TDI system was able to
operate in a larger range of equivalence ratios when the SOI was
advanced due to the greater time that is available for mixture
preparation.
Fig. 5 shows the exhaust emission levels. The major benefit of
direct cylinder barrel injection is the extremely low levels of HC
emissions as shown in Fig. 5a. This is due to reduced shortcircuiting of the fuel. Minimum HC level obtained was 311 ppm
at a SOI of 10bBDC. This was realised at an overall equivalence
ratio of about 0.7. It may be noted that HC emission of LPG_MI system at this condition ratio was about 2220 ppm. These levels of
reduction (about 86%) in HC emissions are higher than that realised in the case of air assisted direct cylinder barrel injection system using gasoline [11].
Fig. 5b shows the variation of CO emissions. Higher levels of CO
in the case of LPG_TDI are due to the presence of richer trapped
mixtures as well as rich pockets as a result of charge stratification.
Higher NO emissions of LPG_TDI, at lean fuelair mixtures are
indicative (Fig. 5c) of higher temperatures compared to the LPG_MI
system. However, lower NO emissions at higher fuelling rates that
are seen are indicative of overall rich mixtures and inefficient combustion due to undesirable charge stratification.

3.5

LPG_MI
LPG_TDI_BDC
LPG_TDI_10bBDC
LPG_TDI_20bBDC

3.0
2.5
2.0
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3

Equivalence rao

(b) Variation of brake power

at 25% throttle

Fig. 4. Comparison of performance at 25% throttle.

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V. Pradeep, A. Ramesh / Fuel 162 (2015) 128137

LPG_TDI_BDC
LPG_TDI_20bBDC

LPG_MI

LPG_TDI_BDC

LPG_TDI_10bBDC

LPG_TDI_20bBDC

10

3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3

CO (%v)

HC ( ppm)

LPG_MI
LPG_TDI_10bBDC

6
4
2
0
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3

Equivalence ratio

Equivalence ratio

(a) Variation of HC at 25% throttle

NO (ppm)

LPG_MI
LPG_TDI_10bBDC

(b) Variation of CO at 25% throttle

LPG_TDI_BDC
LPG_TDI_20bBDC

1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3

Equivalence ratio

(c) Variation of NO at 25% throttle

Fig. 5. Comparison of emissions at 25% throttle.

14

25%throle
0.7

20

Rate of heat release, J/rrCA

Cylinder pressure, bar

25

15
10
LPG_MI

TWIN_DI_10bBDC

0
170

180

190

200

210

220

230

LPG_MI

12

TWIN_DI_10BBDC

10
25%throle
0.7

8
6
4
2
0
170

180

190

200

210

220

230

CA

CA

(a) Variation of cylinder pressure

(b) Variation of heat release rates

(25% throttle, 0.7)

(25% throttle, 0.7)

Fig. 6. Variation of cylinder pressure and heat release at 25% throttle (/  0.7).

Higher in-cylinder pressures and heat release rates were also

observed for LPG_TDI compared to LPG_MI at overall lean mixtures
(  0.7) as shown in Fig. 6. Peak cylinder pressure (Fig. 6a) and heat
release rate (Fig. 6b) also occurred more closer to TDC for LPG_TDI
as compared to LPG_MI system. Fig. 7 shows the variation of cylinder pressure (Fig. 7a) and heat release rate (Fig. 7b) at an equivalence ratio of 0.9. Here, unlike that observed at an equivalence
ratio of 0.7, peak pressure and heat release rate were found to be
lower for LPG_TDI system due to the reasons explained earlier.
4.2. Performance, emissions and combustion at 100% throttle
At 100% throttle short circuiting losses dominate since the
delivery ratio is high. Performance of LPG_TDI system at 100%
throttle is compared with LPG_MI in Fig. 8. In general unlike 25%
throttle, BTE was found to be significantly higher for LPG_TDI
(Fig. 8a) compared to LPG_MI. Out of the three injection timings
10, 20 and 30bBDC that were tried, 20bBDC indicated slightly

better brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and lowest HC emissions. In

general, the LPG_TDI system operated well at equivalence ratios
lower than stoichiometric. The BTE was significantly higher than
the LPG_MI system. Peak BTE was 25.2% for LPG_TDI compared
to a peak BTE of 19.7% obtained for LPG_MI system. This improvement in BTE is a result of reduced short-circuiting. The SOI and EOI
at 100% throttle, corresponding to the maximum BTE point, while
using two injectors are also shown in Fig. 1. Looking at the brake
power (Fig. 8b) it was observed that peak brake power for LPG_TDI
is lower (about 7%) than LPG_MI. This is because of the charge
stratification with LPG_TDI. Early injection will improve mixture
homogeneity but will also increase short-circuiting losses.
Fig. 9ac shows the exhaust emission levels at 100% throttle
operation. Fig. 9a indicates very low levels of HC with LPG_TDI as
against LPG_MI. This is the major benefit of the twin injector strategy. Reduction in HC was about 80% indicating that short-circuiting
of fuel was successfully curtailed by this strategy. Higher levels of
CO were observed (Fig. 9b) in the case of LPG_TDI which is due to

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V. Pradeep, A. Ramesh / Fuel 162 (2015) 128137

20
18
25%throle
0.9

25

Rate of heat release J/rCA

Cylinder pressure, bar

30

20
15
10
LPG-MI

TWIN_DI_10BBDC

0
170

180

190

200

210

220

16

25%throle
0.9

LPG_MI

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
170

230

TWIN_DI_10BBDC

180

190

200

210

220

230

CA

CA

(a) Variation of cylinder pressure

(b) Variation of heat release rates

(25% throttle, 0.9)

(25% throttle, 0.9)

30
25

Brake power (kW)

Brake Thermal Eciency %

Fig. 7. Variation of cylinder pressure and heat release at 25% throttle (/  0.9).

20
15
10

LPG_MI
LPG_TDI_10bBDC
LPG_TDI_20bBDC
LPG_TDI_30bBDC

5
0

5
4
3
2

0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3

LPG_MI
LPG_TDI_10bBDC
LPG_TDI_20bBDC
LPG_TDI_30bBDC

0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3

Equivalence rao

Equivalence rao

(b) Variation of brake power

at 100%

(a) Variation of BTE at 100% throttle

LPG_MI

LPG_TDI_10bBDC

LPG_TDI_20bBDC

LPG_TDI_30bBDC

4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3

NO (ppm)

(a) Variation of HC at 100% throttle

LPG_TDI_10bBDC

LPG_TDI_20bBDC

LPG_TDI_30bBDC

LPG_TDI_10bBDC

LPG_TDI_20bBDC

LPG_TDI_30bBDC

Equivalence rao

LPG_MI

LPG_MI

10

CO (%v)

HC (ppm)

Fig. 8. Comparison of performance at 100% throttle.

6
4
2
0
0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3

Equivalence rao

(b) Variation of CO at 100% throttle

1800
1500
1200
900
600
300
0
0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3

Equivalence rao

(c) Variation of NO at 100% throttle

Fig. 9. Comparison of emissions at 100% throttle.

135

V. Pradeep, A. Ramesh / Fuel 162 (2015) 128137

carbon dioxide to CO can occur at high temperatures, at the temperature levels attained here (Fig. 10) this effect does not seem to be
significant. In the operating range of equivalence ratios of best efficiencies, NO emissions were higher for LPG_TDI compared to
LPG_MI as indicated in Fig. 9c. This is indicative of good combustion
in this operating zone. Combustion parameters at this condition are
detailed in Fig. 11. Cylinder pressure (Fig. 11a) and heat release rates
(Fig. 11b) were also better for LPG_TDI compared to LPG_MI as
shown in Fig. 11 indicating faster combustion. The peak heat release
rates are higher and the combustion duration is also lower.
4.3. Direct cylinder barrel injection using a single injector
comparison at 100% throttle
Experiments were also done with one of the twin injectors alone
being activated. This was to determine the specific advantages of
using twin injectors. These experiments with a single injector
(LPG_SDI) were done only at 100% throttle and 3000 rpm. Figs. 12
and 13 provide a comparison between the two strategies. The best
SOI for LPG_SDI was found (Fig. 12) to be 30bBDC. This was chosen
based on HC emissions (Fig. 12a) and Brake thermal efficiency
(Fig. 12b). It may be recalled that corresponding SOI was 20bBDC
for twin injection. Therefore, the SOI could be retarded by 10CA
for LPG_TDI in comparison to LPG_SDI. This is because of better mixture preparation with the LPG_TDI system. Performance and HC
emissions of LPG_TDI and LPG_SDI are compared in Fig. 13. The
BTE (Fig. 13a) and brake power (Fig. 13b) were found to be comparable. However the HC levels were reduced considerably with

Fig. 10. Variation of in-cylinder temperature for LPG_TDI (100% throttle,  0.7).

the presence of rich trapped, stratified, in-cylinder mixture and its

incomplete combustion. The high peak in-cylinder temperature of
LPG_TDI (Fig. 10) at this condition of throttle and at an equivalence
ratio of about 0.7 also indicates good combustion. The short time
available for mixture preparation in the case of injection into the
cylinder leads to stratification and hence some rich zones that can
contribute to higher CO emission levels. Though dissociation of

16

100%throle
0.7
25

Rate of heat release J/rrCA

Cylinder pressure, bar

30

20
15
10
LPG_MI

5
0
170

TWIN_DI_20BBDC

180

190

200

210

220

230

LPG_MI

14

TWIN_DI_20BBDC

12

100%throle
0.7

10
8
6
4
2
0
170

180

190

200

210

220

230

CA

CA

(a) Variation of cylinder pressure

(100% throttle, 0.7)

(b) Variation of heat release rates

(100% throttle, 0.7)

Fig. 11. Variation of cylinder pressure and heat release at 100% throttle.

0.54

1200

HC, ppm

1000
800

LPG_SDI_20bBDC
LPG_SDI_30bBDC
LPG_SDI_40bBDC

600
400
200
0

Brake thermal eciency, %

30

1400

25

0.54
LPG_SDI_20bBDC

20

LPG_SDI_30bBDC

15

LPG_SDI_40bBDC

10
5
0

(a) Variation of HC with SOI

(b) Variation of BTE with SOI

Fig. 12. Optimization of injection timing for single injection at 100% throttle.

V. Pradeep, A. Ramesh / Fuel 162 (2015) 128137

30

25

Brake power (kW)

Brake Thermal Efficiency %

136

20
15
10

LPG_TDI_20bBDC

LPG_SDI_30bBDC

0
0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

5
4
3
2

LPG_TDI_20bBDC

1
0

LPG_SDI_30bBDC
0.4

HC ( ppm)

(a) Variation of brake thermal efficiency

4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Equivalence rao

Equivalence rao

(b) Variation of brake power

LPG_TDI_20bBDC
LPG_SDI_30bBDC

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Equivalence rao

(c) Variation of HC emissions

Fig. 13. Comparison of performance and emissions for single and twin injection at 100% throttle at the best SOI.

LPG_TDI (Fig. 13c) as compared to LPG_SDI at similar equivalence

ratios. The possibility of injecting the fuel later in the cycle in the
case of LPG_TDI reduces short-circuiting of the fuel more effectively
as compared to LPG_SDI and lowers HC levels. Single injection system could not be operated with sufficiently rich mixtures so as to
obtain brake power comparable to the twin injection system. This
is because high fuel injection durations that were needed could
not be employed in the case of single injection due to the increased
back pressures during compression.
Comparison of results shows that HC emissions were about 52%
lesser (Fig. 13c) when two injectors were used for direct cylinder
injection instead of a single injector. Optimised injection timing of
two injector strategy was also late compared to that of single injector. This was due to adequate fuel being injected in shorter time.
This reduced short-circuiting losses considerably compared to single injector strategy. It can also be inferred from the higher brake
thermal efficiency that even with later fuel injection timings, two
injector strategy indicates better mixture preparation capabilities.

improvements in airfuel mixing at these conditions could help

in improving the power.
 In general, CO emissions were higher and peak NO emissions
were lower with the twin direct injection system because of
non-uniform distribution of airfuel mixture compared to manifold injection.
 The twin injector direct injection system resulted in significantly lower HC emissions and allowed operation under wider
range of equivalence ratios with later injection timings as compared to the single injector strategy indicating its superior mixture preparation characteristics.

Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Department of Science and Technology,
Govt. of India for the financial support for this work and TVS Motor
Company, India for providing the test engine and spares.

5. Conclusions
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Based on the experiments conducted using a novel low pressure
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 The best operating conditions with the twin direct injection system were always much leaner (overall mixture) than with the
manifold injection system indicating that short circuiting losses
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 The maximum brake power of the engine was reduced from 4.2
to 3.7 at full throttle at the best operating condition. Further

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