Modeling and Simulation of the Common Rail Fuel Injection

System of the Diesel Engine

Mohamed H. Siliman
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering,
Assuit University, Egypt.
madysolyman@gmail.com
Ahmed S.Ali
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering,
Assuit University, Egypt.
a_saad01@aun.edu.eg
Saleh abo-Elfadl
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering,
Assuit University, Egypt.
sa-fadl@aun.edu.eg

Abstract— This study represents a simulation v solenoid valve

modelling of the high-pressure common rail fuel injection
system (HPCRIS) in s diesel engine. Moreover, the effect
of applying simple proportional integral derivative PID
controller on the pressure of common rail and the injection
process is demonstrated. The developed model includes
four sub-systems; they are the high-pressure pump sub-
system, the common rail sub-system, the pressure control
valve (PCV) subsystem and the injector sub-system. The
injector sub-system contains three sub-models, they are the
solenoid model, the working chamber model, and the needle
model. All these sub-models including mechanical,
hydraulic and electrical subsystems are based on
Kirchhoff's law, conservation equations, and Newton's
motion low. For this complicated nonlinear system,
MATLAB/Simulink software environment is used as it
achieves a high degree of flexibility and allows simulation
for nonlinear systems. The results of the simulation are
investigated for checking validation of the developed
HPCRIS model. The results show that the simulation model
can meet the control demand of the HPCRIS.
Keywords— Common Rail, pressure control system, high-
pressure diesel fuel injection system
Nomenclature
Symbols
a cross section area (m2)
cd the discharge coefficient
e electromotive force (emf) (v)
e bulk modulus
p pressure (kpa)
q volume flow rate (m3/s)
t time (s)
v volume (m3)
Greek Symbols
camshaft angle (degree)
density (kg/m3)
camshaft angular velocity (rad/s)
Subscripts
cr common rail
in inlet
out outlet
w working chamber
Abbreviations
CRI common rail injector
ECU the electronic control unit
HPP high-pressure pump
IMV inlet-metering valve
PCV pressure control valve
PID proportional integral derivative
controller
1-Introduction
In Diesel engines; the fuel injection process is one of the
main key factors which control the engine output power
and emissions. The injection process effects on the engine
performance through many parameters such as injection
timing, injection quantity, injection rat, mixing diesel fuel
effectively with air, and injection pressure [1]. For better
diesel burning, improving atomization of the diesel fuel
inside the cylinder is required. This target can be achieved
by providing a higher value of injection pressures than
those commonly used in the conventional engines [2].
In the conventional diesel engines, injection systems are
fully mechanical as the produced injection pressure is
achieved by the mechanically driven fuel pump. The fuel
pump has plungers driven by the camshaft and the plungers
supply the injectors directly, so the injection amount,
injection duration and thus injection pressure are
dependent on the crank angle and the engine speed. Hence,
at low engine speeds, low injection pressure, poor
fuel atomization and thus poor combustion process and
increasing of engine emissions are experienced. In
addition, injection rate and timing are fixed depending on
camshaft geometry [1, 3].
By development of the HPCRIS, the quantity, timing, and
pressure of the injection pressure are controllable
separately. The main advantage of this system over
the traditional fuel injection systems is that the fuel
injection pressure is independent of the engine speed, as
the injector is separated from the high-pressure pump by
the common rail which is a high-pressure fuel
accumulator. So, the injector is provided with fuel at high
pressure permanently through the common rail, which
allows the injection pressure and injection timing to be
controlled accurately by the mean of an Electronic Control
Unit (ECU). This unit calculates and sends a signal to the

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injector, which opens and shuts a control solenoid to obtain
the required amount of the injected fuel at the desired time
[2]. By applying of the ECU for controlling the HPCRIS,
the fuel injection process is independent of the position of
crankshaft directly. This feature allows fuel injection as
required, which means that a more precise amount of the
injected fuel can be measured giving higher diesel
efficiency. Further the controlled HPCRIS provide the
ability of fuel injection in successive well-defined
pulses within one cycle which in turn allows combustion
to be tailored to meet stringent requirements and improves
emission performances [4,5].
However, in this system, the injected fuel quantity depends
on the pressure of the common rail during injection. The
pressure of the common rail suffers from pulsations and
oscillations during the engine operation because of the
actuation (opening/closing) of the injectors. The pressure
drop in rail because of the pilot injection has a considerable
effect on the main injection process [4]. Therefore,
pressure pulsation is a significant factor which must be
taken into consideration in the injection process.
For minimizing the rail pressure pulsations, the pressure is
controlled using a closed loop. This is achieved through a
fuel Inlet-Metering Valve (IMV) combined into the
entrance of the high-pressure pump or Pressure Control
Valve (PCV) on the common rail. For achieving
development of these controllers, a simple and simulation
model is required [4,5].
Many simulation models were proposed, using simulation
packages like Matlab/Simulink, AMESim, Hydsim
etc. Gullaksen et al. presented a simulation model using
MATLAB program for solving the governing equations of
the needle and the plunger dynamics and the transient flow
in the high-pressure pipeline [6,7].
Many researchers provide simulation models for
describing and controlling the HPCRIS for better
understanding and evaluating the HPCRIS behavior under
diesel engine operating conditions. Shamdani et al [2]
presented a simulation model for the common rail injector
(CRI) using MATLAB/Simulink environment program.
The model included three sub-models, they are the needle
model, the working chamber model, and solenoid model.
Ballushi et al. [8] suggested a simulation model for the
HPCRIS using mean-value model. They applied the model
to a four cylinders engine using the Magneti Marelli
Powertrain HPCRIS. Lino et al. [9] presented a simulation
model for the HPCRIS considering the model components
as control volumes, and they applied the mechanic's lows
and fluid dynamics to it. The model is validated against
experimental work where a reasonable agreement was
achieved. Liu and Wang [10] presented a simulation model
by mixing the hydraulic pressure model with the flux
boundary using AMESsim. They concluded that the model
could meet the control demand of the HPCRIS. Marcic et
al. [11] carried out a simulation and experimental study on
the HPCRIS. The injection timing, the needle lift, the
injection rate and the total injection were calculated. They
compared between the predicted and the measured
parameters where a good agreement was achieved. Wang
and Zheng [12] presented a model for the HPCRIS. The
model consists of sub-models representing the different
components of the system. Ferrari and Pizzo [13]
presented a detailed simulation model for the HPCRIS
including the system components and the piping lines.
They validated each component separately and
investigated the dynamic response of the control system on
the pressure history inside the rail. Slavinskas et al. [14]
presented a numerical model for the HPCRIS using AVL
BOOST Hydsim program. They compared the output of
the injection timing, the injection rate and the amount of
injection with the experimental results where reasonable
agreements were noticed.
Despite a large number of simulation models, still work
can be done in this field. In this paper, a simple simulation
model based on physics-based sub-systems of the injection
system components is introduced. The sub-systems are
HPP sub-system, common rail sub-system, the PCV sub-
system, and the CRI sub-system.
2-Description and Modeling of the high-pressure
common rail injection system
The suggested simulation model of HPCRIS is based on
Kirchhoff's law, the conservation equations, and Newton's
motion low the model. The model consists of three sub-
systems; they are HHP sub-system, common rail sub-
system, and CRI sub-system. Figure 1 illustrates a
schematic diagram showing the HPCRIS components [6,
8, 10, 13, 15, 16].
Fig. 1. Block scheme of HPCRIS for Diesel engines.
3- Modeling of the HPCRIS
The fuel compressibility is modelled by the bulk modulus
as:
=− = (1)
/ /
Therefore, dp⁄dt can be written as:
=− . (2)
Where V is the chamber volume, ⁄ is the volume
variation duo to the mechanical parts motion. The
pressure derivative due to the volume changes, the intake
and the outtake flows can be written as:
= −( − ∑ +∑ ) (3)
The intake flow and the outtake can be written
according to the energy conservation law as:
|∆ |
= (4)
The Simulink simulation program of the whole HPCRIS is
illustrated in Fig. 2.
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 Fig. 2 The Simulink model of the complete system

3-1 The HPP sub-system:

The duty of the HPP is to provide the common rail with the fuel
at high-pressure level. The HPP is connected to the crankshaft
through a gear arrangement. The new pumps contain IMV to
reduce the pumped fuel amount, especially at high engine
speeds to decrease the consumed energy by the pump. The HHP
model calculates the maximum fuel flow rate to the rail as a
function of pump speed, and the pump swept volume. This
maximum flow is decreased according to the pump efficiency
map which depends on the pump speed and the rail pressure.
Table 1 and Fig. 3 illustrate the HPP specifications and
components, which used in the model, respectively.
The PCV is modelled as a map according to the control signal
and the pump speed.
Fig. 3. Schematic Diagram of the HPP CP1 type 1) Driving
Table 1. Specifications of the HPP which used in the simulation shaft, 2) eccentric cam, 3) pressuring chamber, 4) the inlet
model. valve, 5) the outlet valve, 6) the fuel inlet.
Pump model DFP3.1 According to equation (3), the pressure derivative of the HPP
Max flue(l/h) 130 l/h can be expressed as:
Max pressure(bar) 1600 to 2000 =− .( − + + ) (5)
Drives Belt/chain
Where: is the outlet fuel flow to the common rail, is
Speed ration to engine 1/2 or 4/3
the flow of fuel from the plunger chamber to the low-pressure
Max speed (rpm) 5000
fuel line and is the pressure of fuel inside the HPP. The
volume of the High-pressure pump is the sum of three spaces
which generated by the plungers reciprocation duo to the
camshaft rotation. The three plunges of the pump supply the fuel
with a phase angle of 120 degrees for cam revolution as shown
in Fig. 3. The HPP volume derivative can be expressed by the
following equations [10]:

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 = ∑( + + ) (6) Where; is the inductance of solenoid coil is the solenoid
coil resistance and is the back emf voltage which is given
= (1 − sin( )) by:
3
= (1 − sin( ) + 120) (7) = (16)
Where: is the back emf coefficient of the solenoid and is
= (1 − sin( ) − 120) (8) the solenoid plate displacement.
= = (9) The solenoid circuit current is determined by the following
equation:
Where: is the plunger sectional area, ℎ is the plunger lift,
is the angular velocity of the camshaft, and is the camshaft = − + (17)
angle. Where is the force constant of solenoid
The volume flow rate of the fuel from the HPP to the common The solenoid plate movement can be modelled by:
rail is given by: + −
= (18)
= (10) − ( + )−
Where: is the solenoid valve spring constant and is the friction
The discharge coefficient is taken as a constant value. is
coefficient of the interior surfaces of the solenoid valve.
the outlet port area of the HPP and is the common rail fuel 3-4 The Injector
pressure. The injector is the most critical and complex component of the
The volume flow rate from the plunger chamber to the low- HPCRIS. The injected fuel mass is calculated according to the
pressure fuel line is given by: injection time and the rail pressure. The supplied fuel to the
= (11) injector is divided into two bathes, the first bath is to the needle
seat area and the second bath is to a small chamber locates upper
Where: is the pressure of the low-pressure line. the injector piston through the inlet port. This chamber is called
3-2 High-pressure accumulator (common rail) the working chamber.As the solenoid is actuated, the injector
The rail pressure dynamics are obtained by considering the valve opens and passes the fuel to the return line generating a
balance between the HPP inlet flow and injectors outlet flows. pressure difference between the injector working chamber and
The common rail pipe distributes the fuel to the injectors. The the needle seat zone. Therefore, the needle is lifted allowing the
rail pressure is kept constant through the using of the ECU. The fuel to be injected into the engine cylinder chamber. Table 2 and
common rail can be described as [6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 16]: Fig. 4 illustrate the injector specifications and a detailed cross
= ( − − ) (12) section of the injector.
Where: is the rail pipe volume, is the flow rate from the Table 2. Specifications of the injector which used in
rail to the injectors. is the outlet flow through the control simulation model:
valve which is controlled by the ECU signal. The volume flow Injector model Bosch injector (DSLA
rate from the rail to the injector is given by: 143P970)
= ( − ) (13) weight 50 gm
Nozzle hole size 0.16 mm
Nozzle hole angle 143 degrees
Where: is the injector inlet port area. Pw is pressure in the No of nozzle 8
injector working chamber. The flow from the rail to the PCV is
given by:
= ( − ) (14)
Where: is the controlled pressure (relieve pressure) by the
PCV.
3-3 Pressure control valve
The PCV is a solenoid valve where it receives an electric signal
from the ECU for controlling the rail pressure. Some
assumptions are suggested for modelling of the solenoid, they
are: (i) the coil inductance is constant. (ii) the force of the
pressurized fuel is inversely proportional to the force of the
solenoid to control the plunger movement. The PCV model can
be expressed as [2, 15, 16]:
= + + (15)
Fig. 4. Cross section of the injector

137
The injector model consists of four main components; they are
the solenoid, the needle, the working chamber, force
equilibrium [2]. The force of the solenoid can be expressed
same as the PCV. The e.m.f can be expressed as:
= + + (19)
The Back e.m.f voltage is given by
= (20)
Where: the subscript s, denotes the injector solenoid. The
solenoid circuit current is expressed as:
= − + (21)
The equation of the solenoid movement can be written as:
+ −
= (22) Fig. 5 Common rail pressure (bar).
− ( + )−
The needle motion can be described according to Newton- For investigating the accuracy, response and the injected
seconds law: amount of fuel by the simulation model of the injector, an input
−
= (23) voltage signal from the ECU is applied to the injector solenoid.
− ( + )− − Figure 6 represents the control input signal. The signal is a step
Where m2 is the mass of the piston, is the movement of the function with the time period of 0.005 s. Figure 7 represents the
piston, is the pre-compression distance of the needle spring, simulated movement of the injector solenoid plunger. The
is the effective area of the needle, is the spring constant movement shape is trapezoidal concerning time where the lift
and is the friction coefficient between the piston and the and the return movements (strokes) has a period which
contact surface. The hydraulic model of working chamber and represents the actual motion. Figure 8 shows the variations of
its inlet and outlet ports can be expressed as follows: working chamber pressure. When the needle is closed, the fuel
( ) pressure in this chamber is about 550 bars. As the needle starts
to open, pressure decreases to the amount of 270 bars at the
− = (24) point where the needle is fully opened. The signal shape is
(
− trapezoidal following the movement signal. Figure 9 shows the
Where is the working chamber volume, is the low movement shape of the injector needle. The maximum lift is 0.2
pressure line (return line), is the inlet orifice area, is the mm, and the needle movement is similar in shape to the solenoid
movement. Figure 10 shows the injection rate diagram
piston surface area, the maximum displacement of the
according to the needle lift diagram. The time interval of the
piston. The injection flow rate is calculated as [8]:
injection is 0.005 s in the figure. Through the controlling of the
( )
= (25) injector solenoid movement by the ECU, the time interval can
be changed and hence the total amount of the injected fuel.
The injection quantity is the integral of the injection flow rate Figure 11 represents the injection rate diagram using a time
through the injection duration. It is given by: interval of 0.01 s. The injection duration is changed according
= (26) to the required amount of fuel by the engine. In modern engines,
3-5 PID controller its required to inject the fuel in two or three pulses each injection
The PID is a control loop feed-back system has an input fixed shot. The first pulse is called the pilot injection, the second pulse
reference value of the common rail pressure. The second input is called the main injection, and the third pulse is called the past
signal is the rail sensor which measures the fuel pressure in the injection. The suggested simulation model can produce these
rail. It makes a comparison between these two inputs and pulses and moves the injector needle according to it. Figure 12
produces an output signal to the PCV to regulate the rail illustrates two pulse injections in one shot. The pilot pulse
pressure. In the suggested model, the proportional coefficient is interval is 0.001 s and the main pulse interval 0.005 s. The time
0.34, the integral coefficient is 0.003, and the differential between the pilot and the main pulses is approximately 0.0035
coefficient is 0.1 [7, 10] s. The reason for this interval is the activation and deactivation
4- Model validation and the simulation results time of the injector solenoid.
The previous equations which describe the HPCRIS behavior
are executed in MATLAB/Simulink program. The controller is
tested by using step input of 450 bar. The result of the control
system is shown in Fig. 5. The figure illustrates that the output
pressure follows the same trend and value of the input signal
from 550 bar to 1000 bar

138
 20

rate of injection (g/s)

15
15
voltage (v)

10
10
5
5
0
3 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04
0
3 3.005 3.01 3.015 3.02 3.025 3.03 time (s)
time (s) Fig. 10 Rate of injection with interval of 0.005 s
Fig. 6 Control input signal.
20
solenoid m ovm ent (m m )

injection rate (g/s)

15

0.4 10

5
0.2
0
3 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04

0 time (s)
3 3.005 3.01 3.015 3.02 3.025 3.03
Fig. 11 Rate of injection with time interval of 0.001 s
time (s) 20
Fig. 7 The movement of injector solenoid.
injection rate (g/s)

15
working chamber pressure

600
10
(bar)

400
5

200 0
3.005 3.01 3.015 3.02

0 time (s)
3 3.01 3.02 3.03
Fig. 12 Two pulse injection (Pilot and main injections).
time (s)
Fig. 8 Working chamber pressure. 5- Conclusion
needle movement (mm)

A mathematical model for the HPCRIS is intruded in this work.

0.2 The proposed model contains four sub-systems, they are the
0.15 HPP sub-system, the common rail sub-system, the PCV sub-
system, and the injector sub-system. The simulation model is
0.1 constructed in MATLAB/Simulink environment. Based on
0.05 electrical, magnetic and fluid hydraulic equations, the model
represents the complete dynamic behavior of diesel injection
0 system. The developed model provides better understanding of
3 3.005 3.01 3.015 3.02 3.025 3.03
the electrical, magnetic and fluid hydraulic equations which
time (s) describe it. The model can produce injection shot with one, two
Fig. 9 Injector needle movement. or three pulses according to the ECU signals.

139
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