Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
  • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
  • F02D41/00—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents
  • F02D41/0025—Controlling engines characterised by use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
  • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
  • F02D19/00—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures
  • F02D19/06—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures peculiar to engines working with pluralities of fuels, e.g. alternatively with light and heavy fuel oil, other than engines indifferent to the fuel consumed
  • F02D19/0602—Control of components of the fuel supply system
  • F02D19/0607—Control of components of the fuel supply system to adjust the fuel mass or volume flow
  • F02D19/061—Control of components of the fuel supply system to adjust the fuel mass or volume flow by controlling fuel injectors
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
  • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
  • F02D19/00—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures
  • F02D19/06—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures peculiar to engines working with pluralities of fuels, e.g. alternatively with light and heavy fuel oil, other than engines indifferent to the fuel consumed
  • F02D19/0623—Failure diagnosis or prevention; Safety measures; Testing
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
  • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
  • F02D19/00—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures
  • F02D19/06—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures peculiar to engines working with pluralities of fuels, e.g. alternatively with light and heavy fuel oil, other than engines indifferent to the fuel consumed
  • F02D19/0626—Measuring or estimating parameters related to the fuel supply system
  • F02D19/0628—Determining the fuel pressure, temperature or flow, the fuel tank fill level or a valve position
  • F02D19/0631—Determining the fuel pressure, temperature or flow, the fuel tank fill level or a valve position by estimation, i.e. without using direct measurements of a corresponding sensor
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
  • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
  • F02D19/00—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures
  • F02D19/06—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures peculiar to engines working with pluralities of fuels, e.g. alternatively with light and heavy fuel oil, other than engines indifferent to the fuel consumed
  • F02D19/08—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures peculiar to engines working with pluralities of fuels, e.g. alternatively with light and heavy fuel oil, other than engines indifferent to the fuel consumed simultaneously using pluralities of fuels
  • F02D19/10—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures peculiar to engines working with pluralities of fuels, e.g. alternatively with light and heavy fuel oil, other than engines indifferent to the fuel consumed simultaneously using pluralities of fuels peculiar to compression-ignition engines in which the main fuel is gaseous
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
  • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
  • F02D19/00—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures
  • F02D19/06—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures peculiar to engines working with pluralities of fuels, e.g. alternatively with light and heavy fuel oil, other than engines indifferent to the fuel consumed
  • F02D19/0639—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures peculiar to engines working with pluralities of fuels, e.g. alternatively with light and heavy fuel oil, other than engines indifferent to the fuel consumed characterised by the type of fuels
  • F02D19/0642—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures peculiar to engines working with pluralities of fuels, e.g. alternatively with light and heavy fuel oil, other than engines indifferent to the fuel consumed characterised by the type of fuels at least one fuel being gaseous, the other fuels being gaseous or liquid at standard conditions
  • F02D19/0647—Controlling engines characterised by their use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures peculiar to engines working with pluralities of fuels, e.g. alternatively with light and heavy fuel oil, other than engines indifferent to the fuel consumed characterised by the type of fuels at least one fuel being gaseous, the other fuels being gaseous or liquid at standard conditions the gaseous fuel being liquefied petroleum gas [LPG], liquefied natural gas [LNG], compressed natural gas [CNG] or dimethyl ether [DME]
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
  • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
  • F02D2200/00—Input parameters for engine control
  • F02D2200/02—Input parameters for engine control the parameters being related to the engine
  • F02D2200/06—Fuel or fuel supply system parameters
  • F02D2200/0614—Actual fuel mass or fuel injection amount
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
  • F02D—CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES
  • F02D41/00—Electrical control of supply of combustible mixture or its constituents
  • F02D41/0025—Controlling engines characterised by use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures
  • F02D41/0027—Controlling engines characterised by use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures the fuel being gaseous
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
  • Y02T10/00—Road transport of goods or passengers
  • Y02T10/10—Internal combustion engine [ICE] based vehicles
  • Y02T10/30—Use of alternative fuels, e.g. biofuels

Definitions

• This invention relates to a fuel delivery system for measuring fuel usage in an electronically controlled engine .
• PCT/AU2003/000971 disclose fuel delivery systems for the concurrent delivery of a liquid gas fuel and diesel fuel to an engine .
• the primary purpose of adding concurrently liquid gas fuel is to reduce the amount of more expensive diesel fuel which is used without compromising performance .
• the invention provides a fuel delivery system for measuring first fuel usage in an electronically controlled engine, comprising: a fuel delivery device for delivering the first fuel, the device including an injector and a lead for supplying power to the injector to cause the injector to open and close to supply the first fuel to the engine ; a second fuel delivery device for delivering a second fuel to the engine; a non-invasive measurement device for monitoring the injector open time; and a processor for calculating the amount of primary fuel supplied to the engine from the open time of the injector .
• the amount of primary fuel delivered to the engine can be calculated and therefore, a calculation can be made as to the proper amount of secondary fuel which is required. Furthermore, because the measurement device is non-invasive, the monitoring is performed without disturbing the electrical system of the engine which may otherwise cause an electronic control unit of the engine to show an electronic fault.
• the measurement device comprises an inductive loop wrapped around the lead.
• the device may comprise a Hall effect sensor.
• the processor comprises a signal processing board which receives a measurement signal from the inductive loop when current pulses are supplied by an electronic control unit to the lead and to the injector to open the injector.
• the measurement of the injector open time is performed by monitoring the signature of an inductive in rush current at the start of injection by the injector and then timing until the end of the pulsing that occurs during the injector opening time, the end of pulsing being determined when no further pulses are detected for a predetermined time period after identification of the inductive in rush current .
• the signal processing board supplies an output to a liquid gas control unit for determining the instantaneous first fuel usage and so the control unit can therefore determine the required amount of liquid gas and control the second fuel delivery device to deliver that amount of liquid gas fuel .
• the output may be an analogue voltage, a digital code, a serial communication or an automotive CAN bus signal .
• the invention may also be said to reside in a monitoring device for monitoring fuel usage in an electronic controlled engine having an injector for delivering the fuel to the engine, and a lead for supplying power to open and close the injector to allow the fuel to be supplied to the engine, comprising: a device for determining injector open time; and a processor for receiving a signal from the device so that the amount of fuel usage can be determined from the opening time of the injector.
• Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating one embodiment of the invention
• Figure 2 and Figure 3 are graphs showing signal pulses for opening an injector in Figure 1.
• a fuel delivery system for a diesel engine is shown.
• the diesel engine has an air inlet 1, a combustion chamber 3, an exhaust outlet 4, a crank shaft 5, and a piston 2.
• An inlet valve 7 is provided for supply of air to the engine, and an outlet valve 9 is provided for exhaust of gas from the engine.
• a diesel fuel injector 6 is provided for supplying diesel fuel to the combustion chamber 3.
• the injector 6 is connected to a diesel electronic control unit 9 by a lead 11.
• a lead 11 is supplied with an inductive coil 10 which is wound around the lead 11 but otherwise does not interact with the electronic control system of the engine and therefore does not in any way disturb the electronic control system from its usual mode of operation.
• the coil 10 is non-intrusive to the electronic circuitry which controls and opens the injector 6.
• the inductive loop 10 is connected to a signal processing board 12 by a lead 13.
• the electronic control unit 9 supplies pulses on lead 11 for opening and closing the injector 6 so that when the injector 6 is open, fuel is supplied through the injector to the combustion chamber 3.
• the timing of the pulses and duration of the pulses is set by the electronic control unit 9 depending on the operating conditions of the engine and pre-set parameters in the electronic control unit 9.
• the signal processing board 12 measures the open time duration of the solenoid 6 so that a calculation can be made as to the amount of diesel fuel usage in real time as the engine is operating. The measurement is done by defining an injector solenoid open time by reading the signature of the inductive in rush current at the start of injection, and then timing until the end of the pulsing that occurs during the injector open time. The end of the injection pulses identified by waiting after each pulse, so that when no pulse occurs for a predetermined period of time, the signal processing board identifies that no further pulses are going to occur and at this point, the total length of the injection event is known.
• the signal processing board 12 then supplies an output which is typically an analogue voltage between 0 and 5 volts as a measure of the open time of the injector 6.
• Figures 2 and 3 are graphs showing the output signal taken from the inductive coil 10 at engine idle and during revving.
• the initial long pulse is easily identified in Figures 2 and 3 and represents the in rush current referred to above .
• the subsequent shorter pulses can also be seen.
• the signal picked up by the inductor 10 does not include any back EMF pulses and therefore the initial long pulse and subsequent shorter pulses are easy to identify so that the commencement of opening time can be determined from the start of the in rush current and the end of the opening time after the final pulse is received and no additional pulse is received from a predetermined time period.
• the fuel consumption by the engine from the opening and closing times of the injector 6 is calculated from the width of the injector pulses times the number of pulses in a unit time.
• the fuel delivery system is also provided with a secondary fuel injector schematically shown at 20.
• the secondary fuel delivery system is more fully disclosed in our above- mentioned International applications , and the content of those applications is incorporated into this specification by this reference.
• the secondary fuel delivery system is a liquid gas injector for injecting liquid gas into the air inlet of the engine.
• the injector is controlled by an electronic control unit 21 which may be the same as or different to the unit 9.
• the control unit 21 receives data from the processing board 12 indicative of the amount of diesel fuel which is being used and controls the injector 20 in accordance with that data to supply the required amount of liquid gas fuel to the engine concurrently with the diesel fuel .
• the processing board 12 thereby provides an output to a main processor 30 which indicates the instantaneous diesel fuel usage and the processor 30 therefore determines the amount of liquid petroleum gas fuel which is required to control the injector 20 to deliver that amount of fuel.
• the control unit 9, the processing board 12, the control unit 21 and processor 30 could be combined into a single control unit which controls the diesel injector 6 and liquid gas injector 20.
• control unit 21 receives separate signals indicative of engine revolutions per minute, manifold pressure, manifold air temperature and fuel temperature and forwards that data to the main processor 30.
• the main processor 30 initially compares the RPM data and diesel fuel usage data with a stored table (LFG map) to provide a base liquid petroleum gas injection quantity which is required having regard to these operating parameters.
• the base liquid petroleum gas injection quantity is then trimmed by the other inputs, namely the manifold pressure, manifold air temperature and fuel temperature having regard to respective calibration tables relating to those values to give an actual LPG injection quantity. In practice, the amount of trimming will be very minor in comparison to the base liquid petroleum gas figure determined from engine RPM and diesel fuel usage .
• the information is then sent to the liquid petroleum gas control unit 21 to cause that unit to control the firing of the injector 20 to deliver the required amount of liquid petroleum gas .
• the leads 11 there is one lead 11 for each injector and each cylinder of the invention.
• only one of the leads 11 need be provided with the inductive coil 10 as each lead 11 will be supplied with generally the same signal and therefore the amount of diesel usage for each cylinder can be calculated from only one of the leads 11.
• a Hall effect sensor could be used which monitors the magnetic field of the injector coil 6 directly. This will provide a similar signal indicative of the opening time of the injector 6.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Electrical Control Of Air Or Fuel Supplied To Internal-Combustion Engine (AREA)
• Combined Controls Of Internal Combustion Engines (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Family Cites Families (4)

• 2008
  • 2008-02-04 WO PCT/AU2008/000131 patent/WO2008113099A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2008-02-04 AU AU2008229616A patent/AU2008229616A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2008-02-04 EP EP08700426A patent/EP2126310A1/de not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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