Common Rail System for Passenger Cars

Common Rail System: Design and construction The high-pressure pump forces the fuel into the high-pressure accumulator (rail). Here, the fuel is stored ready for injection at the appropriate pressure for the particular engine operating conditions.

The driver's requirements are inputted through the accelerator pedal and registered by the ECU together with the operating status. The ECU then uses maps to calculate the required injection pressure and the duration of injection (in other words, the fuel mass), and the instant of injection. Each of the engine's cylinders is allocated an injector with integral solenoid valve whose opening and closing points define the start and end of the injection process. The Common Rail System is an accumulator injection system. The decisive difference to all other forms of injection system lies in the fact that the pressurization and injection processes are completely independent of each other. The Common Rail System's strategy affords enhanced flexibility for adapting injection processes to reflect the demands of each specific application. It serves as the basis for developing extremely smooth and economical engines offering impressive levels of dynamic response.

The CRS consists of: Low-pressure system with presupply pump, filter Rail High-pressure pump Injectors ECU with sensors and diagnostic interface

Types

The first-generation of the Common Rail System for passenger cars has been designed for injection pressures of up to 1350 bar in passenger cars and 1400 bar in commercial vehicles. The second-generation system reaches injection pressure as high as 1 600 bar, the third

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generation with Piezo injectors even 1 800bar. It also features a fuel-quantity-controlled pump which, together with a metering unit, permits fuel delivery to be adjusted to actual requirements even at low pressures. Due to its improved efficiency, the new system helps to improve fuel consumption and reduce fuel temperature. New: the piezo injector

To control the injection valves, the new Common-Rail injectors use a rapid-action actuator made of piezo crystals to control the injection valve. The piezo crystals expand within an electrical field. The electronically controlled piezo actuator switches five times as fast as a solenoid. Bosch has built the actuator into the body of the injector. The movement of the piezo package is transmitted non-mechanically - and therefore entirely without friction - to the rapidly switching nozzle needle. This doubles the injector's switching speed, allowing a more precise measurement of the amount of fuel injected and thus leading to a reduction in harmful combustion products.

Common Rail System (CRS) for passenger cars

- Applications: Passenger cars, light-duty commercial vehicles - Power output: 30 kW/cylinder - No. of cylinders: 3...8 - Control: Electronic, electrical, solenoid valve, or piezo actors - Injection pressure: 1350 bar (1st gen.), 1600 bar (2nd gen.), 1800 bar (3rd generation with piezo injectors) - Injected fuel quantity: up to 90 mm3 per stroke

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Common Rail System for Passenger Cars

Injectors

The injectors are installed in the engine's cylinder head, and have the same function as nozzles and nozzle holders on the previous injection systems. The main injector components are: Hole-type nozzle, hydraulic servo-system, solenoid valve or actuator.

Injector functions

The forces required to open and close the nozzle needle cannot be generated by the solenoid valve on its own. The nozzle needle is therefore indirectly triggered via a hydraulic force-amplification system.

With the solenoid valve closed, the complete chamber volume and the rail are at the same pressure. The nozzle needle is forced against its seat by a spring.

When the solenoid valve opens, fuel flows from the valve control cavity and into the fuel return.The feed throttle prevents complete pressure equalization, and the pressure in the cavity

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drops. The excess pressure in the chamber volume overcomes the spring force and lifts the needle so that injection can start.

The solenoid valve is no longer energized and closes the opening to the fuel return. The force applied to the control plunger increases along with the increasing pressure in the valve control cavity. The needle closes and injection stops.

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