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A review was conducted of the various fuel injector flow rate measurement methods that are commercially available. The scope of the review was primarily focused on the gasoline applications of Port Fuel Injection (PFI) and Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI), but Diesel applications were reviewed as well. These flow meters were compared at the Powertrain & Fuel Subsystems Laboratory (PFSL) of Ford Motor Company. The purpose of this paper is to review the capabilities of each flow meter that is commercially available for use in injector characterization benches and engine test beds.

With increasingly stringent emissions regulations and concurrent requirements for enhanced engine thermal efficiency, a comprehensive characterization of the automotive gasoline fuel spray has become essential. The acquisition of accurate and repeatable spray data is even more critical when a combustion strategy such as gasoline direct injection is to be utilized. Without industry-wide standardization of testing procedures, large variablilities have been experienced in attempts to verify the claimed spray performance values for the Sauter mean diameter, Dv90, tip penetration and cone angle of many types of fuel sprays. A new SAE Recommended Practice document, J2715, has been developed by the SAE Gasoline Fuel Injection Standards Committee (GFISC) and is now available for the measurement and characterization of the fuel sprays from both gasoline direct injection and port fuel injection injectors.

Flow rate characterization for the Duratec 35 EcoBoost engine was conducted at the Powertrain and Fuel Subsystems Laboratory of Ford Motor Company as a key element in the overall calibration for that program. For high-pressure gasoline fuel injection (used in the Direct Injection Spark Ignition [DISI] EcoBoost engine) in which fuel is directly injected in the cylinder, it is important to consider several variables that are not critical for low-pressure fuel injection. In this paper, the effects of fuel pressure, injector pulse width, battery voltage and injection frequency were assessed with respect to injector flow performance (dynamic flow, shot-to-shot variation in mass flow delivery, part-to-part variability in fuel flow, injector delay and split injection performance).