Nissan unveils New Dual Injector System

Nissan has announced the development of a new Dual Injector system, which will help improve the fuel efficiency of its small-displacement, gasoline/petrol engines.

While most current petrol engines utilize one injector per cylinder (sending fuel to two intake ports), the new Nissan Dual Injector system doubles the number of injectors per cylinder. This improvs vaporization and reduces the diameter of the fuel droplets by about 60 percent, making combustion more efficient.

Nissan claims it will adopt this system for small-displacement engines instead of a direct-injection system. While similar in theory to direct-injection systems, which also inject fuel directly into cylinders, such direct injection systems are difficult to use on small-displacement engines because they require a high-pressure pump that complicates system design, making component layout less cost-efficient. In contrast, the Nissan Dual Injector system is lighter and structurally simpler and takes up less space because it sends fuel at normal pressures. The system also requires half the amount of rare metals in the catalytic converter compared with a standard engine, helping to further reduce costs.

The Duel Injector system also features continuous valve timing control on the exhaust to reduce pump losses, improve heat efficiency, and raise fuel efficiency by up to 4 percent in sync with the dual injectors.

Nissan will be introducing the new system on some of its models early in 2010, but so far no actual models have been confirmed.