A TECHNICAL PAPER ON

INTELLIGENT CYLINDER DEACTIVATION

OF A 4-STROKE MULTI-CYLINDER SI ENGINE

ABSTRACT
With continuous extraction of fossil fuels from the earth, the figure of total availability of
these fuels has come down to a very small value. Hence, now every step, either smaller or
bigger, from a mankind will matter a lot for the better future ahead.
In the present scenario of automotive sector, the fuel efficiency of an I.C. is being
focussed to a great extent. Technology has moved towards electronic control of the
engine operation. With the usage of this advancement, the extra cylinders can be
deactivated under low load condition which will reduce the fuel consumption and hence
improve the mileage of a vehicle. So the fuel efficiency of a multi-cylinder petrol engine
can be improved to certain extent taking various factors into account.

1. INTRODUCTION
Today, with the rapid development in the technology, the automobile world has
touched the peaks in making engines with fabulous performance, stylish design and much
more. But among all, the major concern is the fuel efficiency especially in cars and heavy
duty vehicles.
The growing demand for fossil fuels has made the automobile manufacturers
around the world to look for technologies which can help them to give maximum
efficiency to the engines. One such requisite development in the field of an IC engine is
Cylinder Deactivation Method in a multi cylinder engine. The major component for in
a such a system is the Electronic Control Unit (ECU). The ECU takes into account all the
factors that affect the performance of an engine like fuel injection, spark by a spark plug,
load on the engine, etc.
According to the load on the engine, the activation and deactivation of the
cylinders take place. Here, the main function of ECU will be to control the supply of fuel
in the cylinder at various load conditions and hence improving the efficiency i.e. mileage
of a vehicle. The detailed explanation is discussed in the later part of the presentation.
2. SI ENGINE WORKING
A SIMPLE 4- STROKE SI ENGINE

In an SI engine, the air-fuel mixture enters from the inlet valve during suction
stroke. The very next stroke is compression stroke in which the mixture is compressed.
At the end of this stroke, the ignition stroke starts in which spark takes place by
the spark plug and hence burns the mixture. The energy thus release is supplied to push
back the piston. This stroke is known as Power stroke. After the power stroke the exhaust
gases moves out through the exhaust valve, the stroke is known as Exhaust stroke.
In the modern IC engines, the operation of fuel-injection system and spark plug
timing is controlled by electronics systems. The well known development in the fuel
injection is MPFI (Multipoint Fuel Injection), EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection), etc.
All such advancements have helped to achieve the better valve operation timing, proper
fuel supply to the cylinder, accurate spark timing etc.

3. EXPERIMENTAL CONCEPT

3.1 Assumptions

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The vehicle is moving on a plane road without steep slope.

At maximum Load, all cylinders are active.
The unbalancing occurred due to deactivation of cylinder is not considered.
Frictional resistance is not taken into consideration.
The considered values in calculations are theoretical and may not match with actual
values obtained when carried out practically.

3.2 Conceptual Explanation

An example is considered of a car with 4 cylinder petrol engine having electronically
controlled fuel supply.
The total weight of a car is the sum of gross weight of car and one driver.
When the car is running at maximum Load, all 4 cylinders are in working condition.
As the load starts decreasing, i.e. velocity reduce, the power requirement to run the
engine also reduces. Hence, the cylinders are deactivated in an order from D to A.
Load Condition 1cylinder A is active
Load Condition 2cylinder A and B is active.
Load Condition 3cylinder A, B and C is active.
Load Condition 4all cylinders are active.
The deactivation of cylinder is dependent on the load on the engine.
The Electronic Control Unit (ECU) is programmed to decide and cut off the
combustion of one or more number of cylinder(s), depending upon the load
condition.
ECU receives the load sensor signal through a comparator and a feed-back
arrangement so as to decode the requirement of firing cylinder(s).
The comparator compares the running value with optimum value.
The ECU sends this final signal to the actuator which in turn deactivates the notrequired no. of cylinders.
During the low-load condition, the more cylinders are deactivated which saves the
fuel and reduces the toxic emissions.

4. SAMPLE CALCULATIONS
(Analysis is done on theoretical specifications of MARUTI SUZUKI SWIFT VXi model)
Capacity: 1298cc
No of cylinders: 4

Power: 87 hp @6000 rpm

Gross vehicle weight: 1415 kg
Fuel injection system: MPI (or MPFI)
So here let the total weight be 1500kg.
For finding power required on the basis of weight and velocity, the relation is:

Therefore at a normal velocity of 40-42km/hr.

HP=1500 x [12/234]3 x 24.63
=4.99HP
Now the general equation for fuel flow rate is,
FUEL FLOW RATE= HP X 7.3
= 4.99 X 7.3
= 36.427 ml/min.
= 2.2 lit/hr.

------------- (1)

Now, as we know that specified mileage = 15.8 km/lit. ------- (3)

So for the same distance to cover, the fuel requirement will be
=40kmph/15.8kmpl
=2.53lit/hr.

-------------- (2)

We got two values almost similar... But, still let us consider the higher value

i.e. 2.53 lit/hr.

This is the total fuel consumption rate when all 4 cylinders are active.
Now, let us assume that at this particular velocity, we do not require all the cylinders to be
active
So, according to our above assumption, let one cylinder be de-activated by the ECU
automatically.
Then,
Fuel consumption for remaining 3 cylinders
= Total fuel supply Fuel supply in 1 cyl.
= 2.53 (2.53/4)
= 1.897 lit/hr.
So now with revised fuel consumption value of 3 cylinders will be
(40/new mileage)=1.897
New mileage=21.08km/lit. -------- (4)

5. Conclusion
Comparing eq. (3) and eq. (4), it has theoretically been found that by deactivating the
cylinders at the lower load, the mileage of this particular car is increased from 15.8kmpl to
nearly 21kmpl.

 The fuel efficiency will increase by adopting this technique in the engine.
The toxic emission will be reduced and hence pollution also will be reduced.
The engine performance is improved with the usage of ECU which helps in accurate
functioning of fuel injection system and spark timing.
Lakhs of vehicle run on petrol as a fuel. The total saving of fuel of all those vehicles
by this method will help to reduce the daily consumption of fuel world-wide.
6. REFERENCES

www.wikipedia.com
www.conceptengine.tripod.com
www.ajdesigner.com
www.google.com
www.marutiswift.com