Flexfuel

The ECU represents the brain of the Flexfuel system, and incorporates 32-bit microprocessors with state-of-the-art data processing and storage capacity. It is equipped with a modular hardware structure that adapts to all the various vehicle architectures, and with innovative management software that identifies the gasoline/ethanol blend used with accuracy of more than 99%. This software, identified by the acronym SFS (Software Flexfuel Sensor), was developed entirely by Magneti Marelli and translates a complex calculation algorithm, exclusive and protected by many international patents.

The SFS uses information normally available in a traditional injection system, processes it constantly at a frequency of up to one cycle per millisecond and, without requiring the use of a fuel sensor, identifies the blend of alcohol or gasoline being used by the engine at that precise moment with extreme accuracy.

The user is not required to do anything, except to fill up the tank with any fuel and any blend with no limits, thus being able to choose the least expensive fuel. After identifying the fuel, the SFS updates in real time all engine and vehicle operating parameters in order to obtain the best performances with that specific gasoline/alcohol blend, so that the engine is guaranteed to deliver the highest power possible, at the same time limiting consumptions and reducing polluting emissions.

Non è richiesto intervento da parte dell’utente, che può rifornire la vettura con qualunque combustibile e in qualsiasi miscela senza alcuna limitazione, potendo scegliere quindi il carburante più conveniente. Una volta identificato il combustibile, il software SFS aggiorna in tempo reale tutti i parametri di funzionamento del motore e della vettura per ottenere le migliori performance con quella specifica miscela benzina/alcool, garantendo al motore di erogare la maggior potenza possibile e al contempo limitando consumi ed emissioni inquinanti.

The SFS can be configured for all markets where service stations offer a blend of alcohol and gasoline, starting in Brazil where the system was developed and where today it is used and appreciated by millions of users who can fill up their vehicles with E100 pure alcohol, E0 pure gasoline or any blend of the two. The system can also be used on American and European markets where the E85 fuel is available at service stations or on other markets where blends with lower alcohol percentages are available.

The fuel rail distributes fuel to the injectors. The Flexfuel system employs a single fuel rail that distributes the gasoline and the ethanol as well as the different blends.

The fuel rail can be made in different materials (high-resistance plastic materials, stainless steel) depending on the construction characteristics of the vehicle, and stays intact even with the use of highly corrosive pure alcohol, especially when water is added to it.

All the fuel rail functions stay the same under different operating conditions (temperatures, vibrations, etc).

The injectors ensure fuel delivery to the engine. The Flexfuel system uses a single set of injectors capable of delivering gasoline, alcohol and the different blends.

Magneti Marelli produces the PICO and the new PICO ECO injectors, both designed to withstand the high corrosive power of ethanol.

Magneti Marelli has developed injectors equipped with special nozzles that guarantee perfect fuel delivery under all environmental conditions and with any fuel.

All this, combined with the control accuracy of the SFS (Software Flexfuel Sensor), allows the Flexfuel system to guarantee the highest engine and vehicle performances in terms of power and torque, fuel consumption, polluting emissions, and driving pleasure. Just like all the other components of the Magneti Marelli Flexfuel system, all the characteristics of the injectors stay the same under different operating conditions (temperatures, vibrations, etc.).

All the other components that make it possible to obtain the proper air/fuel mix needed by the engine are assembled on the intake manifold. Among these, the fuel rail together with the injectors, the throttle body, various sensors and actuators and the cold start system.

It is the load-bearing structure of the Flexfuel system. In addition to ensuring constant and even air flow to the engine, it houses all the components that inject the liquid fuel with the different gasoline/ethanol blends. It can be made in plastic or aluminium, depending on the construction needs of the vehicle, and all its functions stay the same under different operating conditions (temperatures, vibrations, etc.).

Its design combines excellent structural resistance, high permeability to air and even air flow inside its various branches, ensuring balanced and efficient air supply to the engine. Its structural characteristics make it extremely effective in reducing engine intake and combustion noise.

This an innovative cold start system that, thanks to the fuel being heated inside the fuel rail, allows vehicles equipped with Flexfuel to run properly even at low temperatures, when the engine runs on ethanol.

In the first-generation Flexfuel systems, the combustion difficulties of pure alcohol at low temperatures were dealt with by fitting an additional fuel delivery system that, when conditions required it, injected in the engine - at the same time as the pure alcohol - a certain quantity of gasoline contained in a small additional tank. This solution turned out to be expensive and quite ineffective in complying with the stricter and stricter emission limits set by the different international regulations.

This is why Magneti Marelli, confirming its leadership in Flexfuel technology, developed an innovative system called ECS (Ethanol Cold System) that, through controlled heating of the fuel in the fuel rail, completely eliminated the additional delivery system found in the first-generation Flexfuel.

The ECS (Ethanol Cold System), protected by many international patents, heats up the ethanol by means of two resistances positioned inside the fuel rail, which features a special internal geometry.

The pure alcohol heated up in this manner ensures optimized combustion in the engine; consequently, engine performances are adequate even at low temperatures, in terms of power and torque as well as in terms of fuel consumption and polluting emissions.

L’ alcool puro, riscaldato in questo modo, garantisce una combustione ottimizzata all’interno del motore; di conseguenza le performance del motore, anche a basse temperature, risultano adeguate, tanto in termini di potenza e coppia, quanto in termini di consumo di combustibile ed emissioni inquinanti.