CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
With alternatives to the petrol engine being announced ever so often you could be
forgiven for thinking that the old favorite the petrol engine is on its last legs but nothing
could be further from the truth and possibilities for developing the petrol engines are
endless. One of the most crucial jobs on the agenda is to find ways of reducing fuel
consumption, cutting emissions of the green house gas CO2 and also the toxic emissions
which threaten air quality. One such fast emerging technology is cylinder deactivation
where a number of cylinders are shut down when less is needed to save fuel.
Cylinder deactivation is achieved by keeping the intake and exhaust valves closed
for a particular cylinder. By keeping the intake and exhaust valves closed, it creates an ‘air
spring’ in the combustion chamber – the trapped exhaust gases (kept from the previous
charge burn) are compressed during the piston’s upstroke and push down on the piston
during its down stroke. The compression and decompression of the trapped exhaust gases
have an equalizing effect – overall, there is virtually no extra load on the engine. In the
latest breed of cylinder deactivation systems, the engine management system is also usedto
cut fuel delivery to the disabled cylinders. The transition between normal engine operation
and cylinder deactivation is also smoothed using changes in ignition timing, cam
Timing and throttle position. In most instances, cylinder deactivation is applied to
relatively large displacement engines that are particularly inefficient at light load. In the
case of a V12, up to 6 cylinders can be disabled.
The simple fact is that when you only need small amounts of power such as
crawling around town what you really need is a smaller engine. To put it another way an
engine performs most efficiently when its working harder so ask it to do the work of an
engine half its size and efficiency suffers. Pumping or throttling losses are mostly to
blame. Cylinder deactivation is one of the technologies that improve fuel economy, the
objective of which is to reduce engine pumping losses under certain vehicle operating
conditions. When a petrol engine is working with the throttle wide open pumping losses
are minimal. But at part throttle the engine wastes energy trying to breathe through a
restricted airway and the bigger engine, the bigger the problem. Deactivating half the
cylinders at part load is much like temporarily fitting a smaller engine.
During World War II, enterprising car owners disconnected a spark plug wire or two
in hopes of stretching their precious gasoline ration. Unfortunately, it didn’t improve gas
mileage. Nevertheless, Cadillac resurrected the concept out of desperation during the
second energy crisis. The “modulated displacement 6.0L V-8- 6-4” introduced in 1981
disabled two, then four cylinders during part-throttle operation to improve the gas mileage
of every model in Cadillac’s lineup. A digital dash display reported not only range,
average mpg, and instantaneous mpg, but also how many cylinders were operating.
Customers enjoyed the mileage boost but not the side effects. Many of them ordered
dealers to cure their Cadillacs of the shakes and stumbles even if that meant disconnecting
the modulated-displacement system.
Like wide ties, short skirts and 2-per-gallon gas, snoozing cylinders are back.
General Motors, the first to show renewed interest in the idea, calls it Displacement on
Demand (DoD). DaimlerChrysler, the first manufacturer to hit the U.S. market with a
modern cylinder shut-down system calls its approach Multi- Displacement System (MDS).
And Honda, who beat everyone to the punch by equipping Japanese-market Inspire
models with cylinder deactivation last year, calls the approach Variable Cylinder
Management (VCM)The motivation is the same as before improved gas mileage.
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Large amount of research work has been conducted for proper analysis of
alternative automotive fuel in different parts of the world. A few studies are available on
the performance and emission characteristics of engines with CNG and LPG as fuels. The
theoretical background and the literature related to the present study have been reviewed
in this chapter.
Ravi Kumar Reddy et.al. explained how a CNG is a viable alternative. The key
energy challenge facing India today is preventing bottlenecks in energy supply from
constraining economic growth. The transport sector in India is a major energy-consuming
sector, particularly of oil. The dependence on liquid fuels in road transport sector is so
deep-routed and is increasing exponentially as the number of vehicles on road is shooting
up. This dependence on oil, in the coming years would be still more to satisfy the needs of
transportation. Besides dependence on oil, another problem is environmental pollution that
our modern society is facing today. The exhaust from liquid fuels is diminishing the air
quality day by day. The increasing respiratory diseases, increasing hospitalization,
decreasing visibility during peak hours in Indian metros and other cities, makes sense to
find alternatives to improve the urban quality of life. Hence it is the time to reduce
dependence on liquid fuels by switching over to alternative fueled vehicles. The paper
briefly describes the need for switching over to CNG operated vehicles, the safety aspects,
techno-feasibility of CNG conversion, performance of CNG vehicles and economics of
CNG vehicles. It also explains different kinds of refilling systems and installation of kits.
It is also shown that how good the CNG is and how promising it is as a vehicular fuel.
Engine maintenance cost can be reduced by extending time between oil changes because
the particulate materials that are produced during the combustion cycle of Gasoline
engines and cause the engine oil to get dirty are not present in the CNG engine. The
reduction of hazardous pollutants from CNG vehicles is substantial. There are no
particulates, either Sulphur or lead and no visible smoke, as CNG burns very cleanly. The
success of CNG operation depends on various factors like infrastructure, subsidies on
CNG and availability of gas etc. However factors like filling time, isolated filling stations,
low range of CNG operated vehicles and power loss may impede the progress of switching
to CNG operation. There is an urgent need to provide interest free loans to the users for
getting their vehicles converted to operate on CNG. Although CNG is a safer fuel, it
requires special attention to avoid gas leaks. Careful maintenance and driving practices
are, therefore a pre-requisite for the success of the CNG vehicle.
16% less brake mean effective pressure (bmep) and consumes 17-18% less bsfc or
consumes an average of 1.65 MJ less energy per KWh at wide open throttle (WOT)
condition with CNG compared to Gasoline. The engine shows an average of 2.90% higher
FCE nearly at stoichiometric air-fuel ratio (λ=1) with CNG at WOT condition and this
higher value decreases with the decrease of λ value. On average retrofitted engine reduced
CO by around 80%, CO2 by 20% and HC by 50% andincreases NOx emissions by around
33% with CNG compared to Gasoline. For reducing CNG vehicles efficiency penalty due
to heavier CNG storage tank and for providing easy refueling it is required to develop
lighter CNG storage tank and extensive networks of CNG supply stations at convenient
locations through out the country. Retrofitted CNG fuelled engines can be used for the
moment of economic, environment and energy security reasons. [2]
Rosli Abu Bakar et.al. carried out experiments to evaluate engine performance
and heat transfer characteristics of CNG and Gasoline fueled electronic fuel injection
(EFI) engine. Pressure transducer was installed with the crank encoder to measure the
pressure inside the combustion chamber. A series of temperature measurements were
obtained to deduce the engine’s heat transfer profile. To vary the coolant temperature, an
independent cooling system was connected to 1.6 L EFI engine replacing the radiator. All
the data were recorded using data acquisition system for internal combustion engine. It
was found that CNG fuelled engine produced lower torque and brake power compared to
Gasoline for all engine speed. The power loss is partly explained by the low density of
natural gas (NG) whereby gaseous fuel occupies a larger volume per unit energy than
liquid fuel. NG in mixture drawn into the cylinder displaces approximately 10% of oxygen
available for combustion. The maximum potential power therefore will reduce by up to
10% compared to Gasoline engine under similar condition. The other main factor that
reduces the power output is the low flame speed of NG, which requires a more advance
spark timing to achieve complete combustion within the correct portion of the engine
cycle. The experimental results also showed that CNG produce lower cylinder pressure
compared to Gasoline. The analysis of all results shows that CNG fueled engine produced
less torque, power, work and cylinder pressure compared to Gasoline engine. The power
reduction occurred due to initial condition of the operating engine was not optimized for
CNG fuel running. CNG heat rejection is higher compared to Gasoline. In the overall, the
CNG fueled engines have a great possibility to be comparable to that of Gasoline.[3]
CHAPTER 3
CYLINDER DEACTIVATION MECHANISM
Shutting down half the cylinders demands a wider throttle setting to ingest the
same amount of air drawn in when all the cylinders are working. The wider throttle
position yields lower pumping losses and better mileage. Operating half the valves also
diminishes the energy spent turning the camshaft. Minimizing the load carried by half the
pistons and connecting rods trims friction and reduces energy losses to the cooling system.
requires only 40 or so milliseconds and is timed to occur immediately after the power
stroke so the disabled cylinder remains filled with exhaust gas. That creates what amounts
to a gas spring.
As the piston rises and falls, nearly all of the energy required to compress the gas
spring on the up stroke is returned to the crankshaft on the down stroke. From this
common ground, the three makers implementing cylinder deactivation go their separate
ways. In the valley between cylinder banks, a Lifter Oil Manifold Assembly (LOMA)
routes oil pressure to four solenoid control valves. When commanded by the power train
control computer, the solenoids direct oil to valve lifters equipped with the switching
mechanism. (One solenoid operates both of the lifters for each disabled cylinder.) To
maintain even firing intervals, the end cylinders on the left bank and the center cylinders
on the right bank are disabled.
CHAPTER4
DISPLACEMENT ON DEMAND USING LIFTER PIN
CONTROL MECHANISM
4.1 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION:
There are four subsystems in this deactivation hardware system
• Electronic control module (ECM)
• solenoid valves
• hydraulic subsystem
• lifter locking pin mechanism
When the solenoid valve in the system is energized, the engine oil pressure increases
in the control port. At the same time, the lifters are in continuous contact with the
camshaft. When a lifter is on the cam base circle, the locking pins inside that lifter are free
to move. If the control port is pressurized while in this state, then the pressure force acts
on the pins, de-coupling the camshaft from the valves. The cylinder deactivation hardware
is based on control algorithm which has been developed to characterize the dynamic
response of the deactivation system
Fig: 4.1 Displacement on demand using lifter pin control mechanism block diagram
4.4 LOCKINGPINMECHANISM.
Lost motion between the camshaft and the engine valve occurs when engine oil
pressure is applied to the spring-biased locking pins inside the lifter, de-coupling the
camshaft from the engine valve. The locking pins inside the deactivation lifter are
designed to change states only on the base circle of the camshaft upon pressurization.
The common port of the control valve is connected via an oil gallery to a pair of
spring-biased locking pins inside the valve lifter (a simplified sketch is shown in Figure 4
later). The common port is then switched to engine oil pressure for deactivation (valve
energized) or to engine sump for activation (valve de-energized).
Inside the lifter, de-coupling the camshaft from the engine valve. It is desirable to control
the switching sequence of the valves cylinder-by-cylinder and to complete the transition
between V8 and V4 modes within one engine cycle. These requirements define the
switching window of the base circle, the size of which is dependent on the number of
cylinders switched at the same time, the cam profile and the firing order of the engine. As
the exhaust valve must deactivate/reactivate first, the switching must occur after the intake
event begins but before the exhaust event commences. The time it takes for the pins to
move to the full travel point from the time when the control pressure rises to the critical
pressure level, is called the locking pin response timewhich can be characterized by Valve
stroke deactivation.
As already mentioned, it is not practical to also disengage the moving parts of the
crank drive during cylinder deactivation. Deactivating the valve stroke sequence, on the
other hand, can be realized with comparably moderate outlay. The following options are
available for this purpose: Switchable bucket tappets Switchable finger followers
Switchable pivot elements Cam shifting systems Fully variable mechanical valve train
systems based on detent cam gears – Fully variable electrohydraulic valve train systems
such as the UniAir system from Schaeffer.
Most of the switchable elements are actuated using oil pressure, which is
controlled and regulated by an upstream switching valve. The concept requires an
additional switching or shifting oil circuit to be implemented, whereby special attention
must be paid to ensuring the correct positional arrangement and geometry of the oil
channels in order to create a hydraulically robust system and avoid air pockets as well as
throttling or restrictionpoints. Shows a basic sketch of a system that has one switching
valve per cylinder.
Design configuration of the shifting oil circuit several solutions are conceivable for
controlling hydraulically actuated, two-stage valve train components and arranging the
switching valves in the cylinder head. The positional arrangement of the switching valves
and the design configuration of the oil channels produce different switch time intervals
and system-related constraints. The following depicts two different options for
deactivating cylinders 2 and 3 in a fourcylinder engine with an ignition timing sequence of
1-3-4-2 and describes the inherent benefits and drawbacks in detail. Figure shows the
variant with one switching valve per cylinder, which means that one switching valve at
each cylinder controls the respective intake and exhaust valves.
The benefit of this design lies in the short oil channels and small oil volume. Any
oil foaming that could occur would therefore be minimal, which is why the system is
highly insusceptible to fluctuations in the shifting or switching times. This concept enables
a switching time interval of approximately 250 camshaft degrees, which equates to a
theoretical switching time of 28 ms at 3,000 rpm. On engines with camshaft phasing units,
the influence of the adjustment range must also be factored into determining the interval.
By design, this variant can be enhanced or extended in such a way that all
cylinders can be actively switch-controlled, which in turn means that in a four-cylinder
engine application, the engine management system can deactivate one, two, or three of the
four cylinders. One drawback, however, is the comparably expensive design configuration
associated with the oil channel between the intake and exhaust sides. An alternative
arrangement is also possible by controlling the oil circuit using one switching valve on the
intake and exhaust sides.
CHAPTER 5
DEACTIVATION USING VARIABLE PROFILE CAM
SHAFT
This technique was developed by lotus automotive systems that allow the engine to
effectively have multiple camshafts. As the engine moves into different rpm ranges, the
engine's computer can activate alternate lobes on the camshaft and change the Cams
timing. This technique uses a Cam Profile Switching tappet (CPS) to switch between two
different Cam profiles. Cylinder deactivation can be attained by switching between a
normal Cam lobe and a plane circular lobe, which does not produce any lift at all. In this
way, the engine gets the best features of low-speed and high-speed camshafts in the same
engine.
The Lotus AVT system is used on single cylinder engines in the research
department of vehicle manufacturers and universities around the world who benefit from
the ability to independently control each valve with cycle to cycle variation and operating
speeds up to 8,000 RPM. The system can be adapted to fit on a variety of single cylinder
research engines, including Lotus own single cylinder research engines.In addition to
supplying AVT, we offer support and training as well as in-house research for clients
using our own system.
CHAPTER 6
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES& APPLICATIONS
6.1 ADVANTAGES OF CYLINDER DEACTIVATED ENGINES
Increased fuel efficiency (10-20%)
Decreased emissions from deactivated cylinders
Better breathing capability of the engine, thereby reducing power consumed in
suction stroke.
6.2 DISADVANTAGES OF CYLINDER DEACTIVATION
Engine balancing Deactivating cylinders can cause change in engine balancing
which can lead to very violent vibration and increased noise levels.
Increased cost of manufacturing.
Overall increase in weight.
Complexity of system makes maintenance difficult.
Since these methods are still under experimental stage, the reliability of the engine
is not predicted yet.
6.3 APPLICATIONS
GENERAL MOTORS: uses displacement on demand system which is said to
save fuel by 20%
HONDA: Is conducting research to incorporate cylinder deactivation with its
patented VTECH engine
PORSHE and SUBARU: Uses lotus designed various cam plus which works
almost similar to V-tech engine
Mercedes-Benz: optional on certain European market V-8s since 1998; U.S.
market V-12 mileage improved by a claimed 20 percent in 2001 and 2002 model
years. Technology retired (in U.S.) with 2003 arrival of turbocharged V-12
engines.
INA: German bearing and valve train specialist supplies switching lifters for DC’s
5.7L Hemi V-8 and GM’s 3.9L V-6.
Eaton Automotive: supplies a portion of the LOMAs and switching lifters for
GM’s 5.3L V-8. Also developing valve deactivation systems for light- and heavy-
duty European diesel engines.
CONCLUSION
The yell for a pollution free environment can be seen even now with developed countries
the number of norms like EUROIII is there in the present world itself and the number of
vehicles is increasing even under developed countries are planning to impose such norms
.Future world demands automobile which burn less fuel .Cylinder deactivation seems to be
a good answer to this problem. With the increase in price of petroleum products, (petrol
&diesel) vehicle owners are also looking for smart engines that determine and burns right
amount of fuel according to the power requirement so we can see a better future for this
revolutionary technique. So cylinder deactivation solve these problems to a great extend
without compromising engine on performance thus satisfying both manufacturer and the
customer.
REFERENCES
1. Middendorf, H.; Theobald, J.; Lang, L.; Hartel, K.: Der 1,4-l-TSI-Ottomotor
mitZylinderabschaltung. MTZ, 3/2012, pp. 186-193
2. Kirsten, K.; Brands, C.; Kratzsch, M.; Günther, M.: SelektiveUmschaltung des
VentilhubsbeimOttomotor. MTZ, 11/2012, pp. 834-839
3. Faust, H.: Powertrain Systems of the Future: Engine, transmission and damper
systems for down speeding, downsizing, and cylinder deactivation. 10th Schaeffler
Symposium, 2014
4. Haas, M.; Piecyk, T.: Get ready for the combustion Strategies of tomorrow. 10th
Schaeffler Symposium
5. "Cylinder Deactivation Reborn - Part 1, Auto speed, Issue 342, Michael Knowling".
Archived from the original on 2005-11-09