A comparison of different methods for fuel delivery unevenness detection in Diesel engines

Conventional misfire diagnosis techniques are based on the analysis of the instantaneous engine speed. Although they have proved their efficiency in some operating conditions and for the detection of total misfires, their performance could be insufficient in a near future. This paper presents a comparative study of different alternative detection principles for the detection of slight unevenness between cylinders in the injection process for a turbocharged Diesel engine. The selected techniques are the instantaneous exhaust manifold pressure, the instantaneous turbocharger speed and the mean temperature at the exhaust cylinder ports. All alternative techniques show improved performance and linearity compared to the conventional one, particularly at high engine speed and low load. All these techniques are compared with the conventional approach and main advantages and disadvantages are discussed.