Fuel injection

Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector.

All diesel engines use fuel injection by design. Petrol engines can use gasoline direct injection, where the fuel is directly delivered into the combustion chamber, or indirect injection where the fuel is mixed with air before the intake stroke.

On petrol engines, fuel injection replaced carburetors from the 1980s onward. The primary difference between carburetors and fuel injection is that fuel injection atomizes the fuel through a small nozzle under high pressure, while a carburetor relies on suction created by intake air accelerated through a Venturi tube to draw the fuel into the airstream.

The functional objectives for fuel injection systems can vary. All share the central task of supplying fuel to the combustion process, but it is a design decision how a particular system is optimized. There are several competing objectives such as:

Modern digital electronic fuel injection systems optimize these competing objectives more effectively and consistently than earlier fuel delivery systems (such as carburetors). Carburetors have the potential to atomize fuel better (see Pogue and Allen Caggiano patents).

Benefits of fuel injection include smoother and more consistent transient throttle response, such as during quick throttle transitions, easier cold starting, more accurate adjustment to account for extremes of ambient temperatures and changes in air pressure, more stable idling, decreased maintenance needs, and better fuel efficiency.

Fuel injection also dispenses with the need for a separate mechanical choke, which on carburetor-equipped vehicles must be adjusted as the engine warms up to normal temperature. Furthermore, on spark ignition engines, (direct) fuel injection has the advantage of being able to facilitate stratified combustion which have not been possible with carburetors.

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