An electric conductive-probe technique for measuring the liquid fuel layer in the intake manifold

In order to investigate liquid fuel filming over the intake manifold wall, an electrode-type probe has been developed by lines of authors and this probe was employed in a single cylinder two and four-stroke cycle engine and in a four cylinder four-stroke engine operated by neat methanol fuel. The performance of the probe was dependent upon several parameters including the liquid fuel layer thickness, temperature, additive in the fuel, and electric power source (i.e., AC and voltage level) and was independent of other variables such as direction of liquid flow with respect to the probe arrangement. Several new findings from this study may be in order. The flow velocity of the fuel layer in the intake manifold of engine was about (if the air velocity in the steady state operation, the layer thickness of liquid fuel varied in both the circumferential and longitydinal directions. In the transient operation of the engine, the temporal variation of fuel thickness was determined, which clearly suggests that there was difference between fuel/air ratio in the intake manifold and that in the cylinder. The variation was greatly affected by the engine speed, fuel/air ratio and throttle opening. And the variation was also very significant from cylinder to cylinder and it was particularly strong different engine speeds and throttle opening.