Fuel Metering Systems

Prepared by: Lindsay V. Oczak Fall 2000

Fuel Metering Systems

Float

carburetors
carburetors

Pressure

Fuel

injection systems

RSA (Precision Airmotive, formally Bendix)

TCM (Teledyne-Continental)

References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Float-type Carburetor
A

fuel metering device that uses a

float-actuated needle valve to

maintain fuel level slightly below

the edge of the discharge nozzle.

References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Float-type Carburetor

Measures the amount of air entering the engine. Meter into this air the correct amount of atomized liquid gasoline. Convert the liquid fuel into fuel vapors and distributes uniformly to the cylinders. Provides constant fuel-air mixture regardless of air density and volume. Varies mixture based on engine needs.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Float-type Carburetors
Five

Systems
metering system system

Main Idling

Acceleration
Mixture

system

control system or Economizer systems

Enrichment

References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Main Metering System

Measures

the amount of air entering the engine and controls the amount of fuel atomized into the air stream. The venturi is the center of this system.
The

venturi is a specially shaped restrictor used to speed up fluid flow. According to Bernoullis principle as velocity increases, pressure decreases.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Main Metering System

The discharge nozzle is located in the throat of the venturi at the point where air pressure is the lowest.

The float bowl is is vented to the inlet ram air which creates a difference in pressure at the discharge nozzle. The fuel is pulled from the float bowl

The pressure difference meters fuel flow proportional to the volume of air flowing into the engine.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Idling System

When the throttle is closed there is not enough air flowing to produce a pressure low enough to pull the fuel from the float bowl through the main metering jet, so a separate system is used. When the engine is idling all air must pass around the edge of a butterfly valve.

Airflow is restricted, causing travel at high velocities resulting in lower pressures.

The idle mixture adjustment knob controls the amount of fuel flow and allows a smooth idle to be set at any given speed.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Acceleration System

Between the main metering system and the idling system there is a short time during acceleration when both systems would be inoperative. The fix for this is to have an enlarged annulus around the the main discharge nozzle.

When operating in the idle mode the fuel wells will be full so that when the throttle is opened the fuel will be pulled from the wells causing an initially rich mixture to cause acceleration. As the engine speed increases the main metering system picks up again.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Mixture Control System

Allows the pilot to alter the amount of fuel reaching the engine. This is important due to changes in altitude and pressure. To shut the engine down, the mixture control knob is placed in the cutoff position, which ends all fuel flow to the engine, and it stops.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Enrichment or Economizer Systems

Systems that provide additional fuel are enrichment systems. Systems that allow lean mixtures when then engines are not developing full power are economizer systems. Two types of systems used

Needle type
Air bleed type
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Pressure Carburetors

A carburetor installed on some aircraft reciprocating engines that uses the pressure difference between air inside the venturi and ram air entering the carburetor to produce a fuel-metering force. Pressure carburetors have generally been replaced with continuous flow fuel injection systems.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Pressure Carburetors

Fuel is not discharged into the venturi. (removes possibility of carburetor icing) Meters the fuel by measuring the amount of air flowing into the engine and spraying a appropriate amount of fuel under pressure into this air. Equipped with automatic mixture controls that hold the mixture ratio constant as altitude changes.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Pressure Carburetors
Five

systems
metering system system system

Main Idling

Acceleration Mixture

control system

Power

enrichment system
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Main Metering System

(Bendix PS)

Low pressure from the venturi and high pressure from the impact orifice create an air metering force on the the air diaphragm that

moves the diaphragm to the right to open the

poppet valve.

Regulated fuel that has passed through the poppet valve, acts on the diaphragm to close the valve.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Idling System

The idling fuel pressure is is produced by a coil type idle spring that holds the poppet valve slightly open. The idle valve s a needle valve set in the fuel lines and is actuated by the the throttle control. When the throttle is closed the needle is almost seated.

The amount it remains off is adjustable outside of the carburetor to control the idling mixture.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Acceleration System

Low manifold pressure from the engine side of the throttle butterfly valve pulls against the diaphragm in the accelerator pump and compresses the spring. Fuel from the metering jet flows into the chamber on the fuel side of the diaphragm. When the throttle is opened, manifold pressure rises, the spring moves the diaphragm over, forcing the fuel out of the chamber and into the line to the discharge References: AMT Series: nozzle.
Powerplant pg: 136-173

Mixture Control System

Has

both a manual and automatic controls

The

manual control is a needle valve assembly similar to the float-type carburetor. automatic control contains a bellow that moves a reverse taper needle valve in a passage that is located parallel to the manual control.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

The

Power Enrichment System

The

valve is parallel to main metering

jet.
The

valve is held in place with a spring and diaphragm assembly. the throttle is wide open the pressure is high enough to open the enrichment valve and allow additional fuel flow.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

When

Fuel Injection Systems

(Precision Airmotive, RSA)

Continuous flow system that delivers a lowpressure continuous flow of fuel to nozzles installed in the intake valve chambers of the cylinders, just outside of the valve. Fuel collects inside the nozzle when the intake valve is closed, when it opens, this fuel, along with air from the bleed holes in the nozzle, is pulled into the cylinder.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Fuel Injection Systems (RSA)

The

fuel vaporizes and is mixed with air

from the induction system to provide a uniform fuel-air mixture to each cylinder.
Vaporization

takes place in the hot

intake valve chamber where there is no

possibility of ice forming.

References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Fuel Injection Systems (RSA)

Four

subsystems:
servo regulator fuel control (same as carburetor) flow divider nozzles

The The The The

References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

The Servo Regulator (RSA)

The amount of fuel delivered to the flow divider is determined by the pressure drop across the main metering jet and the mixture control orifice, which are in series.

The pressure drop is determined by the amount of air flowing into the engine.

The regulator consists of an air diaphragm and a fuel diaphragm on a shaft with a balltype servo valve in the metered fuel passage to the flow divider. References: AMT Series:
Powerplant pg: 136-173

The Servo Regulator (RSA)

The

operation of this system depends greatly on balancing forces.

Venturi

air pressure and impact air pressure are assisted by metered fuel pressure trying to open the servo valve. fuel pressure trying to close the servo valve.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Un-metered

The Flow Divider (RSA)

Metered fuel flows from the regulator to the flow divider and then to the injector nozzles, open in each cylinder head.

Three functions:

Aids in consistent idling Distributes fuel evenly to all cylinders Shuts off fuel when engine is shut down
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

The Flow Divider (RSA)

Mounted on the top center of the crankcase and is connected to the servo regulator. Pressure from the servo regulator acts upon the diaphragm and forces the valve up, opening the passage to the nozzles. When the mixture control is put the cutoff position, pressure drops and the valve immediately shuts off all flow to the nozzles and traps fuel in the lines to the regulator.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

The Nozzles (RSA)

Air bleed type Fuel flows from the regulator continuously into the nozzle through a calibrated orifice. Fuel collects in the chamber at the center of the nozzle when the intake valve is closed, and when open low pressure pulls the fuel and air along in the form of an air-fuel emulsion into the cylinder. Heat in the cylinder head immediately vaporizes the fuel.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Fuel Injection System

(Teledyne-Continental TCM)
Continuous-flow

system that measures the volume of the air flowing into the engine to determine the amount of fuel to mix with it. the engine RPM to determine the amount of fuel to send to the injector nozzles.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Uses

Fuel Injection System (TCM)

Four

basic components:
injector pump control unit

Engine-driven Fuel-air Fuel

manifold valve Nozzles

Injector

References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Engine-Driven Injector Pump (TCM)

Provides fuel flow that self adjusts with engine speed. Removes vapors from the fuel and sends them to one of the fuel tanks. Incorporates a bypass valve that allows fuel from the auxiliary pump to flow to the engine for operation in the event of engine pump failure. Provides regulated pressure to the engine at various speeds.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Fuel-Air Control Unit (TCM)

Fuel

flows from the injector pump into the fuel portion of the fuel-air control unit and the manifold valve. Air flows from the inlet air filter through the air portion of the fuel-air control and into the intake manifold. No venturi is used, a butterfly valve controls the amount of air flow.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Fuel Manifold Valve (TCM)

Same function as the flow divider on the RSA system. Metered fuel flows from the fuel control unit to the fuel manifold valve where it passes through a filter screen and applies an upward force to the diaphragm. The diaphragm raises the cutoff valve off its seat, but the spring loaded poppet remains seated preventing fuel flow to the nozzles until the cutoff valve is fully open.
References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173

Injector Nozzles
Similar Nozzle

to RSA nozzles contains a calibrated orifice and has a filter screen around it and

air bleed holes

Nozzle

is enclosed in a steel shroud

References: AMT Series: Powerplant pg: 136-173