Lambda and AFR are two paths to the same purpose, a well-tuned engine with a unique combustion. An engine doesn’t know the difference between AFR and Lambda.
They are both indicators of an engine's combustion mixture. However, AFR is dependent on the type of fuel being used, while lambda is not.
AIR FUEL RATIO (AFR)
Air-fuel ratio is the ratio between the mass of air and mass fuel used by the engine when running. Thermal engines use fuel and oxygen (from air) to produce energy through combustion. To guarantee the combustion process, certain quantities of fuel and air need to be supplied in the combustion chamber. A complete combustion takes place when all the fuel is burned, in the exhaust gas there will be no quantities of unburned fuel. The ideal AFR, for a complete combustion, is called stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or ''stoich''.
When you are tuning the engine according to AFR you should know the ''stoich'' value of the fuel your engine uses and aim for that value for the ideal results. When the air-fuel ratio is higher than the stoichiometric ratio, the air-fuel mixture is declared lean. When the air-fuel ratio is lower than the stoichiometric ratio, the air-fuel mixture is called rich. Below we can see the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio for several fossil fuels.
| AFR Analogies | ||
|---|---|---|
| FUEL | Chemical Formula | AFR |
| Methanol | CH3OH | 6.47:1 |
| Ethanol | C2H5OH | 9:1 |
| Butanol | C4H9OH | 11.2:1 |
| Diesel | C12H23 | 14.5:1 |
| Gasoline | C8H18 | 14.7:1 |
| Propane | C3H8 | 15.67:1 |
| Methane | CH4 | 17.19:1 |
| Hydrogen | H2 | 34.3:1 |
For example, in order to burn completely 1 kg of Gasoline, we need 14.7 kg of air and to burn 1 kg of diesel fuel, we need 14.5 kg of air.
LAMDA
Lambda, which is a Greek letter demonstrated by the symbol λ, represents all fuels' stoichiometric value as 1.00.
In reality, internal combustion engines do not work exactly with ideal AFR, but with values close to it. Therefore we’ll have an ideal and an actual air-fuel AFR. The ratio between the actual air-fuel ratio and the ideal/stoichiometric air-fuel ratio is called lambda (λ).
λ=AFRactual/AFRideal
For example, the ideal air-fuel ratio for a gasoline engine is 14.7:1. If the actual/real AFR is 13.5, the equivalence factor lambda will be:
λ=13.514.7=0.92
Depending on the value of lambda , the engine is working under lean, stoichiometric or rich air-fuel mixture.
| λ Value | Air-Fuel mixture type | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| λ<1.00 | Rich | There is not enough air to burn completely the amount of fuel; after combustion there is unburnt fuel in the exhaust gasses | ||
| λ =1.00 | Stoichiometric (ideal) | The mass of air is exact for a complete combustion of the fuel; after combustion there is no excess oxygen in the exhaust and no unburnt fuel | ||
| λ>1.00 | Lean | There is more oxygen than required to burn completely the amount of fuel; after combustion there is excess oxygen in the exhaust gasses | ||
Lamda is calculated by a wideband sensor which compares the oxygen left in the exhaust to the sensor’s reference pump cell which is referencing stoich. This is why free air calibration is paramount to correct sensor operation.
Because the sensor reads oxygen content, it is impartial to the fuel type being used. If the engine is burning fuel at its specific stoichiometric ratio, all of the oxygen is consumed during combustion. When the sensor detects this stoichiometric condition (no oxygen in the exhaust flow), the lambda gauge will display 1.
With PLX Wideband products you get a few choices on how you want to use and see afr mixture measurements. With the DM-6 touch screen , you have an elegant product where you can adjust settings and see your measurements in digital form displayed in values or graph while also checking the health of your sensor. If you do not want to have a gauge and you are a smart device fan you can always use your smartphone android or iOS and with a multigauge link connect via bluetooth to your AFR module. Download the PLX Multigauge app and have your display on your smart device. Of course if you just want to connect to your ecu directly you can. PLX afr module has two analog outputs for third party application connection.
