Get to Know Common Rail Injection (CRI) Engines
When it comes to tectonic shifts in vehicular technology, changes in engine technology feature right at the top of the board. In the automotive world this holds true across vehicle categories including in construction equipment machines. The result of such engine technology change is an entire new generation of more advanced engines, powering vehicles that are able to deliver vastly improved performance.
One such major engine technology shift took place when Common Rail Direct Injection technology was introduced and adopted in diesel engines worldwide.
About Common Rail Injection (CRI)
Common Rail Injection or CRI basically refers to the system of fuel injection in the engine. CRI is a more refined fuel injection technology which uses high pressure direct fuel injection. The end benefit is superior engine performance in terms of;
- • Greater power output
- • Efficient fuel consumption
- • Better emission control
- • Reduced NVH levels
Interestingly common rail injection was first used in submarine engines. Today common railignition system is synonymous with automotive diesel engines whether fitted in cars, buses, trucks or heavy engineering and construction machines. They are all designed, built and run on the common rail ignition system.
CRI engine technology itself has undergone many waves of advancement and up-gradation following intensive R&D efforts globally. All of this has made CRI diesel engines more sophisticated in their functioning. For instance modified common rail uses a hydraulically operated common rail engine. In modern common rail injection systems the fuel injection is controlled electrically by an ECU or Engine Control Unit.
You will find that different automotive manufacturers have given their own brand name to common rail engines, but the underlying principle of functioning is the same.
How CRI Technology Functions
For a better understanding and to get the best performance out of your construction equipment machine over a long-term usage and maintenance cycle, it is definitely useful to know the actual working of the CRI engine technology that goes into it.
So here is what happens in a common rail ignition system.
Fuel is stored at high pressure in a long metal cylinder also known as the ‘rail’ which is the common connector to the engine’s fuel injectors via individual pipes – hence ‘common rail’. The magic happens when the high-pressure pump that controls fuel supplied to the rail, works in perfect synchronisation with the fuel injectors which precisely control the timing and quantity of fuel injected directly into the engine’s combustion chamber. That is how Common Rail Direct Injection (CRDI) technology fundamentally functions and also how it gets its name.
How Mahindra uses CRI Technology to achieve BS4 Norms
Mahindra Construction Equipment has recently launched its all new BS4 range of heavy earth moving machinery across all models of its flagship machines; the Mahindra EarthMaster backhoe loader and Mahindra RoadMaster grader.
And it is CRI engine technology that has been instrumental in helping Mahindra Construction Equipment make the shift in upgrading their machines from the earlier BS3 to the new BS4 emission standards. After all to meet BS4 norms, the vehicle needs to run on a BS4 compliant engine. And BS4 diesel engines use the more advanced common rail ignition technology.
Mahindra EarthMaster and Mahindra RoadMaster machines have BS4-ready diesel engines that are equipped with a more powerful catalytic converter called DOC, an Exhaust Gas Regulator or EGR and a Urea injector called Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). All combined they makes the fuel combustion process more efficient and reduce emission of harmful hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, resulting in a cleaner and more efficient engine that is uncompromising on power and performance.
