Mailing List flyrotary@lancaironline.net Message #7827
From: Ed Anderson <eanderson@carolina.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] Re: surging / rough idle
Date: Wed, 5 May 2004 20:45:25 -0400
To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Message
Rusty,
 
I'll take a stab at why rpm is not a factor in calculating injector size. 
 
I presume their calculator bases the injector size required for a given HP on the specified flow rate of the injector and the number of injectors.  In other words, tell me the HP and how many injectors and I will tell you the flow rate required of the injector.  That is all the information you really require for determine the max HP that injector set will support.  The reason is this - the open time of the injectors (and therefore the amount of fuel released per injection ) IS NOT dependent on the RPM but the loading of the engine (manifold pressure or air flow rate is normally used to determine this).  All the rpm does is determine how many times the injectors fire per unit time (and over simplification but essentially correct).  The injectors will of course fire more often at higher rpms (but will not necessarily stay open longer-depends on manifold pressure)
 
All their calculations say is that with that number of those flow rate injectors you could get a maximum of X HP.  This assumes that the injectors are wide open (I think they use 85% of the rate flow of the injectors as a real number for the actual max flow to account for opening and closing times where no/little fuel flows).  So if you use their calculator you will determine the maximum HP the that injector set is capable of producing at maximum on time.  Now whether you actually get that HP is of course dependent on whether those injectors ever flow for their maximum on time.
 
For instance, you can produce 180 HP at 6000 rpm on a 13B NA engine (theoretically).  You can also produce 215 HP at 6000 rpm with 5 psi of boost.  Here the rpm is the same, but of course the fuel injected is not the same because the higher manifold pressure with the 5 psi boost will cause the injectors to say open for a longer period of time.  But, in both cases the injectors are triggered at the same rate!  In the boost case, the injectors simply stay open longer each time they are triggered, so more fuel is injected and more power produced.  So RPM is not a factor in determining the flow rate of injectors required for a specified HP.  To achieve the HP the injector set says they will give, depends on how long the injectors stay open (and their specified flow rate) not the engine rpm.  For a give set of injectors, That max on-time condition might occur at 2000 rpm with a large displacement engine or might occur at 6000 rpm with a smaller displacement engine.  In each case  it will happen with the same max HP produced (or nearly the same) by the injectors.
 
Now if you select a set of injectors that have too low a flow rate, then the injector system will reach a point where it attempts to keep them open continuously.   If the cycle time between injector firings decreases (due to higher rpm) to the point they are the same or less than the max on-time of the injectors then the system has topped out.  You have reach the maximum limit of HP that those injectors can provide. In this case, further RPM increase will not produce more fuel, even higher boost pressure will not (in this case) produce more fuel.
 
Hope this has not further confused the issue
 
Ed
 
Ed Anderson
RV-6A N494BW Rotary Powered
Matthews, NC
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 7:51 PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: surging / rough idle

1.  Do not use injectors that are to large.  Go to the RC Engineering web site (www.rceng.com) and calculate the size you need based on HP needed and an 80% duty cycle.  (225 HP requires 4 injectors of 38 lb each at 80% duty cycle, fuel pressure of 38 PSI, and a BSFC of 0.5)

I just spent some time looking at the RC engineering site, as well as the other fuel injector sites I could find.  In each case, these calculations are made without ever asking about rpm.  I just don't see how they can do that ???  How do they know if my 225 HP would be at 2000 or 10000 rpm?  The same amount of fuel will have to be delivered in either case, but you'll need a whole lot more flow rate to deliver the fuel at 10000 than you would at 2000.  
 
The injector flow rate will remain the same - its fixed by the design of the injectors  and does not change (excluding wear and some other operational factors).  The HP calculation is based on the max fuel they can provide at their wide-open max duration on time.  It does not care whether that conditon happens at 2000 rpm or 10,000 rpm.  If your engine can flow sufficient air to consume that max on time of fuel at 2000 rpm then the max HP will occur at 2000 rpm, if at 10,000 then the max HP will occur at 10,000 rpm.
 
If you select injectors with too low a flow rate, you will run into problems.  At  higher RPMs  you can run into a condition whereby the rate of injector triggering (caused by the  rpm) decreases to where it is on the same order as the injector max on-time.  In other word the injectors no longer respond to every rpm triggered injection cycle because it has not completed the last one before the new one arrives.  Then the EFI system simply has to use shorter on-times which means to get the same fuel flow rate you either need more injectors or higher flow rate injectors. 
 
Ed
 
Now, before anyone says it, I know that Tracy's using those wimpy injectors with his current system, making 200+ HP at 7000+ rpm, and isn't having any problems, so clearly they're big enough.   I really hate it when he does that :-)
 
Rusty (prop and bolts arriving tomorrow)
 
   


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