c
 refers to the use of lean mixtures in an internal combustion engine.

The air-fuel ratios

can be as high as 65:1, so the mixture has considerably less fuel in comparison to the
stoichiometric combustion ratio (14.7:1 for petrol for example).

 

[hide]

! 1 Principle
! ¦ Chrysler Lean Burn computer
! Ô Heavy-duty gas engines
! 4 Honda lean burn systems
› 4.1 Applications
! 5 Toyota lean burn engines
› 5.1 Applications
! 6 Nissan lean burn engines
› 6.1 Applications
! 7 Mitsubishi Vertical Vortex (MVV)
! ΠDiesel engines
! º See also
! 10 Footnotes
› 10.1 Citations
› 10.¦ References

   
A lean burn mode is a way to reduce throttling losses. An engine in a typical vehicle is sized for
providing the power desired for acceleration, but must operate well below that point in normal
steady-speed operation. Ordinarily, the power is cut by partially closing a throttle. However, the
extra work done in pumping air through the throttle reduces efficiency. If the fuel/air ratio is
reduced, then lower power can be achieved with the throttle closer to fully open, and the
efficiency during normal driving (below the maximum torque capability of the engine) can be
higher.

The engines designed for lean burning can employ higher compression ratios and thus provide
better performance, efficient fuel use and low exhaust hydrocarbon emissions than those found in
conventional petrol engines. Ultra lean mixtures with very high air-fuel ratios can only be
achieved by direct injection engines.

The main drawback of lean burning is that a complex catalytic converter system is required to
reduce NOx emissions. Lean burn engines do not work well with modern Ô-way catalytic
converter²which require a pollutant balance at the exhaust port so they can carry out oxidation
and reduction reactions²so most modern engines run at or near the stoichiometric point.
Alternatively, ultra-lean ratios can reduce NOx emissions[citation needed].
  
 c
 
From 1º76 through 1ºŒº, Chrysler equipped many vehicles with their   c

c system, which consisted of a spark control computer and various sensors and transducers.
The computer adjusted spark timing based on manifold vacuum, engine speed, engine
temperature, throttle position over time, and incoming air temperature. Engines equipped with
ELB used fixed-timing distributors without the traditional vacuum and centrifugal timing
advance mechanisms. The ELB computer also directly drove the ignition coil, eliminating the
need for a separate ignition module.

ELB was produced in both open-loop and closed-loop variants; the open-loop systems produced
exhaust clean enough for many vehicle variants so equipped to pass 1º76 and 1º77 US Federal
emissions regulations, and Canadian emissions regulations through 1ºŒ0, without a catalytic
converter. The closed-loop version of ELB used an Oxygen sensor and a feedback carburetor,
and was phased into production as emissions regulations grew more stringent starting in 1ºŒ1,
but open-loop ELB was used as late as 1ºº0 in markets with lax emissions regulations, on
vehicles such as the Mexican Chrysler Spirit. The spark control and engine parameter sensing
and transduction strategies introduced with ELB remained in use through 1ºº5 on Chrysler
vehicles equipped with throttle-body fuel injection[citation needed].

Although Chrysler published extensive training and procedural manuals on ELB, it ² like most
early emission control systems ² was complicated to troubleshoot without these manuals. Many
Lean Burn computers have been replaced with a standalone electronic ignition module and
centrifugal/vacuum advance distributor,[1] a retrofit to maintain fuel economy and driveability.

  
 

 

Lean burn concepts are often used for the design of heavy-duty natural gas, biogas, and liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) fuelled engines. These engines can either be full-time lean burn, where the
engine runs with a weak air-fuel mixture regardless of load and engine speed, or part-time lean
burn (also known as "lean mix" or "mixed lean"), where the engine runs lean only during low
load and at high engine speeds, reverting to a stoichiometric air-fuel mixture in other cases.

Heavy-duty lean burn gas engines admit as much as 75% more air than theoretically needed for
complete combustion into the combustion chambers. The extremely weak air-fuel mixtures lead
to lower combustion temperatures and therefore lower NOx formation. While lean-burn gas
engines offer higher theoretical thermal efficiencies, transient response and performance may be
compromised in certain situations. Lean burn gas engines are almost always turbocharged,
resulting high power and torque figures not achieveable with stoichiometric engines due to high
combustion temperatures.

Heavy duty gas engines may employ precombustion chambers in the cylinder head. A lean gas
and air mixture is first highly compressed in the main chamber by the piston. A much richer,
though much lesser volume gas/air mixture is introduced to the precombustion chamber and
ignited by spark plug. The flame front spreads to the lean gas air mixture in the cylinder.
This two stage lean burn combustion produces low NOx and no particulate emissions. Thermal
efficiency is better as higher compression ratios are achieved.

Manufacturers of heavy-duty lean burn gas engines include GE Jenbacher, MAN Diesel &
Turbo, Wärtsilä, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Rolls-Royce plc.

  






One of the newest lean-burn technologies available in automobiles currently in production uses
very precise control of fuel injection, a strong air-fuel swirl created in the combustion chamber, a
new linear air-fuel sensor (LAF type O¦ sensor) and a lean-burn NOx catalyst to further reduce
the resulting NOx emissions that increase under "lean-burn" conditions and meet NOx emissions
requirements.

This stratified-charge approach to lean-burn combustion means that the air-fuel ratio isn't equal
throughout the cylinder. Instead, precise control over fuel injection and intake flow dynamics
allows a greater concentration of fuel closer to the spark plug tip (richer), which is required for
successful ignition and flame spread for complete combustion. The remainder of the cylinders'
intake charge is progressively leaner with an overall average air:fuel ratio falling into the lean-
burn category of up to ¦¦:1.

The older Honda engines that used lean burn (not all did) accomplished this by having a parallel
fuel and intake system that fed a pre-chamber the "ideal" ratio for initial combustion. This
burning mixture was then opened to the main chamber where a much larger and leaner mix then
ignited to provide sufficient power. During the time this design was in production this system
(CVCC, Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) primarily allowed lower emissions without
the need for a catalytic converter. These were carbureted engines and the relative "imprecise"
nature of such limited the MPG abilities of the concept that now under MPI (Multi-Port fuel
Injection) allows for higher MPG too.

The newer Honda stratified charge (lean burn engines) operate on air-fuel ratios as high as ¦¦:1.
The amount of fuel drawn into the engine is much lower than a typical gasoline engine, which
operates at 14.7:1²the chemical stoichiometric ideal for complete combustion when averaging
gasoline to the petrochemical industries' accepted standard of C6HŒ.

This lean-burn ability by the necessity of the limits of physics, and the chemistry of combustion
as it applies to a current gasoline engine must be limited to light load and lower RPM conditions.
A "top" speed cut-off point is required since leaner gasoline fuel mixtures burn slower and for
power to be produced combustion must be "complete" by the time the exhaust valve opens.

  



! 1ºº¦ º5 Civic VX
! 1ºº6 ¦000 Civic Hx
! ¦001-05 Civic Hx
! ¦00¦ 05 Civic Hybrid
 ! ¦000 06 Insight Manual transmission only
! ¦000 00 Insight CVT for homemade model in Japan ONLY !



  





   
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  .

 


The lean burn versions of the 15Œ7cc 4A-FE and 176¦cc 7A-FE 4 cylinder engines have ¦ inlet
and ¦ exhaust valves per cylinder. Toyota uses a set of butterflies to restrict flow in every second
inlet runner during lean burn operation. This creates a large amount of swirl in the combustion
chamber. Injectors are mounted in the head, rather than conventionally in the intake manifold.
Compression ratio º.5:1.[5] The 1ººŒcc ÔS-FSE engine is a direct injection petrol lean burn
engine. Compression ratio 10:1.[6]

  



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SG-i 7A-FE 1040 ¦¦º¦ 5.6 17.6 50 41 60 1Ô.¦ 15.º 1056 656
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1ºº6 Carina 5spd
7A-FE 11¦0 ¦46Œ 5.5 1Œ.0 51 4¦ 60 1Ô.¦ 15.º 10Œ0 671
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1ºº7 Caldina 5spd
7A-FE 1¦00 ¦645 5.6 17.6 50 41 60 1Ô.¦ 15.º 1056 656
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Nissan QG engines are a lean-burn aluminum DOHC 4-valve design with variable valve timing
and optional G
Di direct injection. The 14º7cc QG15DE has a Compression ratio of º.º:1[1Ô]
and 176ºcc QG1ŒDE º.5:1.[14]

  




  





   
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1ººŒ Bluebir QG1ŒD 11Œ ¦60 6 1Ô. 15. 10Ô manual,
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6.7 14.º 4¦ Ô5 Œº6 556 5dr
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In 1ºº1, Mitsubishi developed and began producing the ^ (^itsubishi ertical ortex) lean
burn system first used in Mitsubishi's 1.5 L 4G15 straight-4 single-overhead-cam 1,46Œ-cc
engine. The vertical vortex engine has an idle speed of 600 rpm and a compression ratio of º.4:1
compared with respective figures of 700 rpm and º.¦:1 for the conventional version. The lean-
burn MVV engine can achieve complete combustion with an air-fuel ratio as high as ¦5:1, this
boasts a 10-¦0% gain in fuel economy (on the Japanese 10-mode urban cycle) in bench tests
compared with its conventional MPI powerplant of the same displacement, which means lower
CO¦ emissions.[17][1Œ]

The heart of the Mitsubishi's MVV system is the linear air-fuel ratio exhaust gas oxygen sensor.
Compared with standard oxygen sensors, which essentially are on-off switches set to a single
air/fuel ratio, the lean oxygen sensor is more of a measurement device covering the air/fuel ratio
range from about 15:1 to ¦6:1.[1Œ]

To speed up the otherwise slow combustion of lean mixtures, the MVV engine uses two intake
valves and one exhaust valve per cylinder. The separate specially shaped (twin intake port
design) intake ports are the same size, but only one port receives fuel from an injector. This
creates two vertical vortices of identical size, strength and rotational speed within the combustion
chamber during the intake stroke: one vortex of air, the other of an air/fuel mixture. The two
vortices also remain independent layers throughout most of the compression stroke.[17][1Œ]

Near the end of the compression stroke, the layers collapse into uniform minute turbulences,
which effectively promote lean-burn characteristics. More importantly, ignition occurs in the
initial stages of breakdown of the separate layers while substantial amounts of each layer still
exist. Because the spark plug is located closer to the vortex consisting of air/fuel mixture,
ignition arises in an area of the pentroof-design combustion chamber where fuel density is
higher. The flame then spreads through the combustion chamber via the small turbulences. This
provides stable combustion even at normal ignition-energy levels, thereby realizing lean
burn.[17][1Œ]

The engine computer stores optimum air fuel ratios for all engine-operating conditions - from
lean (for normal operation) to richest (for heavy acceleration) and all points in between. Full-
range oxygen sensors (used for the first time) provide essential information that allows the
computers to properly regulate fuel delivery.[1Œ]

  1
 

All diesel engines can be considered to be lean burning with respect to the total volume, however
the fuel and air is not well mixed before the combustion. Most of the combustion occurs in rich
zones around small droplets of fuel. Locally rich combustion like this is a source of NOx and
particles.