Development of Engine Management System for a Common-Rail Diesel Engine with Cylinder Pressure Measurement

Common-rail injection systems allow precise and flexible control of the fuel injection timings and injected fuel amount, resulting in improved fuel economy and reduced emissions. In this paper, an engine management system (EMS) is developed for a common-rail (CR) diesel engine. A common-rail test bench is used to facilitate the control development and calibration of the fuel injection system. The common-rail pressure (CRP) is controlled with a feedforward plus feedback control structure. Real-time calculation of the combustion heat release rate (HRR) is conducted based on the cylinder pressure measurement to examine the control performance with various rail pressures, injection timings and injection pulse widths (IPWs). Experimental results show that the heat release process can be precisely controlled by the injection timing. In the future, the developed EMS can be used for closed-loop combustion control with cylinder pressure feedback.