Fuelsaver Tests Product on Aquaforce and Proves an Outstanding Success

Last year, the BBC followed a trial carried out on Aquaforce Plumbing Solutions in Barnsley. While Craig Wood of Aquaforce was dubious of the technology, and not entirely convinced it would work, he was prepared to trial the technology on one vehicle within his fleet. Craig wood commented:

“Within two or three days, great results. We were gettingan extra one hundred miles out of a tank of fuel. We were delighted with that.”

An employee at Aquaforce reported that he could not visibly see any modifications to the vehicle, nor could he feel any difference whilst driving the vehicle. Fuelsaver explained how the discreet box fits tidily out of sight under the dashboard. Fuelsaver commented:

“We improve the program that’s in there. What it does is it looks at how the vehicle is being driven in terms of speed. Is it doing motorway speeds, town speeds, and it maps itself, reprograms itself to always give the optimum based on what’s happening to that vehicle at that time.”

The success of the trial led Aquaforce to implement the technology throughout the whole fleet. The result? Lower fuel bills and a reduced carbon footprint.

How Fuelsaver Works

So how exactly does this technology work? All modern vehicles use sophisticated electronic control units, or ECU’s that manage every aspect of the operation of the vehicle. The ECU that is controlling the engine determines the conditions the vehicle is under at the time, and then attempts to control the various aspects of the internal combustion process.

One of the conditions that is taken into account is the weather. Is the outside temperature warm or cold? Other factors that are taken into account are the current load of the vehicle, the driver style, the vehicles altitude, and the quality of fuel being used. In taking into consideration these variables, the ECU is trying to optimize the engine’s efficiency based on a set of calculations.

This optimization is however often a compromise; where the manufacturer is balancing the needs of the world market they are supplying, against the varying factors the vehicle may encounter.

Our programming of the ECU can provide a better optimization of the engine and fuel usage for the UK. In addition, the reprogramming can include specific characteristics to ensure a lowering of the CO2 produced by the vehicle.

Having the vehicles ECU re-programmed can change all the parameters from compromise to optimize, ultimately giving better fuel consumption, more useable torque, lower CO2 levels and very importantly, lower fuel bills.

Why Does the MPG Go Down
in Winter?

There are two main reasons why the cold has a negative affect on the MPG returned by our vehicle, the first is simply, like us, our vehicles do not like the cold! The second is down to how modern direct injection engines function and how they are controlled to produce the best combustion model to suit both the requirements to perform the job for which they were built, along with modern environmental emission requirements.

In winter, our vehicles take a much longer period of time to reach full operating temperature, and take this extra time each and every time they are start, even if they have not fully cooled down, “this is known as the warm-up cycle.”

Not surprisingly, during the warm-up cycle in winter, the engine can use significantly more fuel than during the warm-up cycle in summer. In addition, all the other fluids, gearbox oil, power steering fluid etc are cold also and are therefore less efficient, causing a greater load on the engine. A greater load naturally requires more fuel. Modern direct injection engine-management systems are very efficient at optimizing the fuel/air ratio entering the engine. The oxygen sensor monitors the percentage of oxygen in the exhaust, compares this with the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere, and generates a lowvoltage signal that communicates this ratio to the ECU, which then adjusts the pulse-width of the fuel injectors, the precise period of time each injector is open on each injection cycle, to fine-tune the amount of fuel reaching each cylinder to ensure that all the oxygen is burnt.

The system makes this very fine adjustment dozens of times each second, working very hard to reach the optimum air/fuel ratio for any given situation, and at a constant speed, seeks to approach the perfect ratio of 14.7 to 1, (petrol,) 15-16 to 1, (diesel,) called the stoichiometric ratio.

The engine is said to be running in a “closed loop” state when using this system, relying upon the oxygen-sensor signal to fine-tune engine operation.

But the engine-management system can seek this optimum air/fuel ratio only when the engine is up to full temperature, NOT during the warm-up cycle. In fact, the computer does not look for a signal from the oxygen sensor until it approaches full temperature. During the warm-up cycle, the ECU operates on a program combining data including coolant temperature , mass airflow or MAP sensor input of air volume and temperature, throttle position and engine RPM.

This state is known as “open loop” operation, meaning the ECU is not operating off the feedback from the oxygen sensor.

In open-loop operation during the warm-up period, the engine requires, and is provided with, a richer air/fuel ratio to ensure good combustion, using more fuel.

This extra fuel is also required during the warm-up cycle because a percentage of the vaporized fuel delivered into the engine condenses back into liquid fuel on contact with cold internal engine components such as the intake manifold, intake valves, pistons and cylinder; and or course, it’s fuel vapor, not liquid, that burns.

The main factor however, in lowered winter MPG figures is air density, defined as the number of air molecules per cubic foot of air entering the engine. The optimum, 14.7-1, 15-16 -1 air/fuel ratio mentioned earlier, means 14.7 parts of air are mixed with one part of fuel for the perfect air/fuel ratio.

However, colder air means denser air, more molecules per cubic foot, so, regardless of how the vehicle is driven, the same number of cubic feet of air, but containing more air molecules, (therefore more oxygen,) will enter the engine. So to compensate, the ECU has to provide more fuel to create and maintain the target air/fuel ratio for the whole time the engine is running.

Matrix Telematics
Matrix House
Atlantic Street, Merlin Court
Altrincham
Cheshire WA14 5NL

T: 0161 495 9197
F: 0161 495 9201
E:sales@matrixonline.co.uk

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