Considerable work was still required to improve the precision and capability of solenoid actuators.įurther development of diesel common rail systems began in earnest in the 1980s. in the early 1970s and was found to provide little benefit over existing P-L-N systems in use at the time. The SOPROMI technology was evaluated by CAV Ltd.
However, it would still take 2-3 decades before regulatory pressure would spur further development and the technology would mature to be commercially viable. Work on modern day common rail fuel injection systems was pioneered in the 1960s by the Societe des Procedes Modernes D’Injection (SOPROMI). The idea of using an electrically actuated injection valve on a diesel engine with a common rail fuel system was developed by Brooks Walker and Harry Kennedy in the late 1920s and applied to a diesel engine by Atlas-Imperial Diesel Engine Company of California in the early 1930s. The fuel was metered by controlling the length of time the valves were open. Around the same time, another patent was issued in the United States to Thomas Gaff for a fuel system for a direct cylinder injection spark ignition engine using electrically actuated solenoid valves. For example, in 1913, a patent for a common rail fuel injection system with mechanically actuated injectors was issued to Vickers Ltd. Early researchers, including Rudolf Diesel, worked with fuel systems that contained some of the essential features of modern common rail diesel fuel injection systems. The merits of the common rail fuel injection system architecture have been recognized since the development of the diesel engine. Common Rail Injection Systems for Large Engines.Advantages of the common rail system include flexibility in controlling both the injection timing and injection rate.
The pressure in the rail, as well as the start and end of the signal that activates the injector for each cylinder are electronically controlled. The rail is fed by a high pressure fuel pump. Abstract: In the common rail system, fuel is distributed to the injectors from a high pressure accumulator, called the rail.