JP2007154699A - Control device of internal combustion engine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control device of an internal combustion engine used to estimate the cetane number of the fuel in use by a rather simple method without using a special sensor. <P>SOLUTION: A pre-mixed combustion is performed while the engine is in an idle state, and the fuel injection timing is gradually retarded from the normal injection timing (S12, S13). When the fuel injection timing is retarded, the combustion state become unstable and misfire occurs eventually. The cetane number of the fuel in use is estimated according to the total retard amount CARTD at the time when the misfire occurs (S14, S15). The larger the total retard amount CARTD is, the more the misfire is hard to occur, namely, the higher the cetane number is. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device for an internal combustion engine that performs compression ignition combustion, and more particularly to an apparatus having a function of estimating a cetane number of fuel used in an internal combustion engine.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for estimating the cetane number of a fuel used in an internal combustion engine that performs compression ignition combustion using a relatively inexpensive sensor. More specifically, 1) a method using an excitation force sensor that detects the excitation force of the engine, 2) a method that uses a torque sensor that detects the output torque of the engine, and 3) a CO that detects the CO concentration in the exhaust gas. There have been proposed a method using a sensor and 4) a determination method based on an angular acceleration calculated from a change in engine rotational speed.

JP 2004-340026 A

  Among the methods described in Patent Document 1, 1) to 3) need to use special sensors that are not used in normal engine control. In the method 4), the determination is made based on the output of the engine speed sensor. However, the speed must be detected with a very short sampling period (crank angle of about 2 or 3 degrees).

  The present invention has been made in consideration of this point, and provides a control device for an internal combustion engine that can estimate the cetane number of a fuel in use by a relatively simple method without using a special sensor. The purpose is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a control device for an internal combustion engine comprising fuel injection means (6) for injecting fuel into a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine that performs compression ignition combustion. 6) Fuel injection control means for controlling, combustion state detection means for detecting the combustion state (MF) of the engine, and fuel injection timing (CAINJ) is changed by the fuel injection control means, and fuel injection at the time of the change Cetane number estimation means for estimating the cetane number (CET) of the fuel based on control information (ΔCA, NRTD) related to the timing (CAINJ) and the combustion state (MF) detected by the combustion state detection means; It is characterized by providing.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the control device for an internal combustion engine according to the first aspect, the cetane number estimating means is a premixed combustion region that is predetermined according to an operating state (NE, TRQ) of the engine. Then, the fuel injection timing (CAINJ) is changed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the control device for an internal combustion engine according to the second aspect, the cetane number estimating means estimates the cetane number for at least one cylinder of the engine.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the fuel injection timing is changed, and the cetane number of the fuel in use is estimated based on the control information relating to the fuel injection timing at the time of the change and the detected engine combustion state. Is done. When the fuel injection timing is changed, the combustion state of the engine changes, and the change mode varies depending on the cetane number of the fuel. For example, the cetane number of the fuel can be estimated by gradually retarding the fuel injection timing from the normal injection timing and determining the injection timing at which the combustion roughness exceeds the determination threshold. Since the engine combustion state can be detected by the output signal of a normal engine speed sensor, the cetane number of the fuel in use can be estimated by a relatively simple method without using a special sensor. .

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the fuel injection timing is changed in a premixed combustion region that is predetermined according to the operating state of the engine. In the premixed combustion region, since the period from the fuel injection timing to the ignition timing is relatively long, the difference in cetane number is easily reflected in the combustion state. Therefore, estimation accuracy can be improved by performing cetane number estimation in the premixed combustion region.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the fuel injection timing is changed for estimating the cetane number for at least one cylinder of the engine, and the other cylinders are normally controlled. The influence of can be reduced.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an internal combustion engine and a control device thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention. An internal combustion engine (hereinafter simply referred to as “engine”) 1 having four cylinders is a diesel engine that directly injects fuel into a combustion chamber and performs compression ignition combustion, and a fuel injection valve 6 is provided in the combustion chamber of each cylinder. Yes. The fuel injection valve 6 is electrically connected to an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as “ECU”) 4, and the valve opening time and valve opening timing of the fuel injection valve 6, that is, the fuel injection time and fuel injection timing are determined by the ECU 4. Controlled by

  The engine 1 includes an intake pipe 7 and an exhaust pipe 8. An exhaust gas recirculation passage 9 is provided between the exhaust pipe 8 and the intake pipe 7 to recirculate part of the exhaust gas to the intake pipe 7. The exhaust gas recirculation passage 9 is provided with an exhaust gas recirculation control valve (hereinafter referred to as “EGR valve”) 10 for controlling the exhaust gas recirculation amount. The EGR valve 10 is an electromagnetic valve having a solenoid, and the valve opening degree is controlled by the ECU 4. The exhaust gas recirculation passage 9 and the EGR valve 10 constitute an exhaust gas recirculation mechanism.

  The engine 1 is provided with a crank angle position sensor 11 that detects a rotation angle of a crankshaft (not shown). The crank angle position sensor 11 is a cylinder discrimination sensor that outputs a pulse (hereinafter referred to as “CYL pulse”) at a predetermined crank angle position of a specific cylinder of the engine 1, and relates to a top dead center (TDC) at the start of the intake stroke of each cylinder. A TDC sensor that outputs a TDC pulse at a crank angle position before a predetermined crank angle (every 180 degrees of crank angle in a four-cylinder engine) and one pulse (hereinafter referred to as “CRK”) with a constant crank angle cycle shorter than the TDC pulse (for example, a cycle of 6 °). The CYL pulse, the TDC pulse, and the CRK pulse are supplied to the ECU 4. These pulses are used for various timing controls such as fuel injection timing and ignition timing, and detection of engine speed (engine speed) NE.

  The ECU 4 includes an accelerator sensor 12 that detects an operation amount AP of an accelerator pedal of a vehicle driven by the engine 1, an intake air flow rate sensor (not shown) that detects an intake air flow rate GA of the engine 1, and a cooling water temperature of the engine 1. A cooling water temperature sensor (not shown) for detecting TW, a cooling water temperature sensor (not shown) for detecting the intake air temperature TA of the engine 1, and the like are connected, and detection signals from these sensors are supplied to the ECU 4.

  The ECU 4 shapes input signal waveforms from various sensors, corrects the voltage level to a predetermined level, converts an analog signal value into a digital signal value, etc., and a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as “CPU”). A storage circuit for storing various calculation programs executed by the CPU and calculation results, an output circuit for supplying a control signal to the fuel injection valve 6 and the like. The CPU of the ECU 4 calculates the fuel injection time, the fuel injection timing, the opening degree of the EGR valve 10 and the like according to the operating state of the engine 1 detected by various sensors, and executes the fuel supply control and the exhaust gas recirculation control. Further, the CPU of the ECU 4 executes a process for estimating the cetane number CET of the fuel in use, and performs fuel injection control and exhaust gas recirculation control according to the estimated cetane number CET. The required torque TRQ is calculated according to the accelerator pedal operation amount AP. Basically, various controls are executed according to the engine speed NE and the required torque TRQ.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the cetane number estimation process, which is executed by the CPU of the ECU 4 in synchronization with the generation of the TDC pulse.
In step S11, it is determined whether or not the operating state of the engine 1 is an idle state. When not in the idle state, the present process is immediately terminated, and when in the idle state, premixed combustion is executed. Premix combustion means combustion in which the fuel burns after a lapse of a delay time from the time when the fuel is injected, and is executed in a preset premix combustion region. For example, while the vehicle driven by the engine 1 is traveling, a hatched area A in FIG. 4, that is, the required torque TRQ is equal to or less than a predetermined torque TRQ1 (for example, 60 Nm), and the engine speed NE is a first predetermined value. When a region in the range from the rotational speed NE1 (for example, 1200 rpm) to the second predetermined rotational speed NE2 (for example, 2300 rpm) is set as the premixed combustion region and the cetane number is estimated during idling, the region B, that is, the required torque TRQ is A region in which the engine speed NE is smaller than the predetermined torque TRQ1 and the engine rotational speed NE is in a range from a third predetermined rotational speed NE3 (for example, 830 rpm) to a fourth predetermined rotational speed NE4 (for example, 850 rpm) is defined as a premixed combustion region. In the premixed combustion, pilot injection is not executed and only main injection is executed.

  In the premixed combustion region, the difference in the ignition timing due to the difference in the cetane number of the fuel increases, so the difference in combustion fluctuation also increases when the fuel injection timing CAINJ is retarded, improving the estimation accuracy of the cetane number Can be made.

  In step S13, the fuel injection timing CAINJ is retarded by a predetermined crank angle ΔCA (for example, 0.1 degree). In step S14, it is determined whether or not a misfire has occurred in the engine 1. This determination is performed as follows. That is, based on the generation period of the CRK pulse output from the CRK sensor, the combustion fluctuation indicating the combustion state (combustion roughness) of the engine 1 by a known method (for example, Japanese Patent No. 3362020, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-50902, etc.) The parameter MF is calculated, and when the combustion fluctuation parameter MF exceeds the determination threshold value MFTH, it is determined that misfire has occurred.

If the answer to step S14 is negative (NO), that is, if no misfire has occurred, the process returns to step S13 to retard the fuel injection timing CAINJ by a predetermined crank angle ΔCA. When steps S13 and S14 are repeatedly executed and a misfire occurs, the process proceeds to step S15, and the CET table shown in FIG. 3 is displayed in accordance with the total retard amount CARTD (= ΔCA × NRTD, NRTD is the number of executions of step S13). Search and calculate the estimated cetane number CET. The larger the total retard amount CARTD until the misfire occurs, the more difficult the combustion state becomes unstable, so the CET table is set so that the cetane number CET increases as the total retard amount CARTD increases. In FIG. 3, the retard amounts CA1 and CA2 are, for example, 5 degrees and 10 degrees, respectively, and the corresponding cetane numbers CET1 and CET2 are, for example, 42 and 57.
In step S16, the fuel injection timing CAINJ is returned to the original, and this process is terminated.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing changes in the fuel injection timing CAINJ and the combustion fluctuation parameter MF when the cetane number determination process in FIG. 2 is executed. FIG. 5A corresponds to the case where the fuel in use has a low cetane number (for example, 41), and FIG. 5B corresponds to the case where the fuel in use has a high cetane number (for example, 57). CAN shown in FIG. 5 is a normal fuel injection timing, for example, about 20 degrees before top dead center. In the case of the low cetane number fuel shown in FIG. 5A, the combustion fluctuation parameter MF exceeds the misfire determination threshold value MFTH at time t1. The fuel injection timing CAMF1 at this time is about 15 degrees before top dead center. That is, the total retard amount CARTD is about 5 degrees.

  On the other hand, in the case of the high cetane number fuel shown in FIG. 5B, the combustion fluctuation parameter MF exceeds the misfire determination threshold value MFTH at time t2. The fuel injection timing CAMF2 at this time is about 10 degrees before top dead center. That is, the total retard amount CARTD is about 10 degrees.

Therefore, the cetane number CET of the fuel in use can be accurately estimated according to the total retard amount CARTD.
In this embodiment, since the combustion fluctuation parameter MF is calculated using only a normal crank angle position sensor, the cetane number of the fuel in use is estimated by a relatively simple method without using a special sensor. can do.

  In the present embodiment, the crank angle position sensor 11 and the ECU 4 constitute combustion state detection means, and the ECU 4 constitutes fuel injection control means and cetane number estimation means. More specifically, steps S12 and S16 in FIG. 2 correspond to fuel injection control means, and steps S13 to S15 correspond to cetane number estimation means.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the cetane number CET is estimated according to the total retard amount CARTD at the time of misfire occurrence, but the determination threshold is set to a value smaller than the misfire determination threshold MFTH, and the combustion state detected by the combustion variation parameter MF is The cetane number CET may be estimated in accordance with the retard amount at the fuel injection timing when the fuel deterioration is greater than a predetermined value.

Further, when executing the cetane number estimation process, the difference in combustion fluctuation due to the difference in cetane number is further reduced by decreasing the intake air amount and / or increasing the exhaust gas recirculation amount by a throttle valve (not shown). You may make it easy to detect.
In the above-described embodiment, the premix combustion is executed in the idling state of the engine 1 and the cetane number estimation process is performed. However, when the engine operation state is in the premix combustion region A shown in FIG. The price estimation process may be executed.

  Further, the cetane number estimation process may be executed only for at least one cylinder of the engine 1 and normal combustion may be continued in the other cylinders. In that case, the process shown in FIG. 2 is executed only for the cylinders that are the target of the cetane number estimation process.

  The present invention can also be applied to estimation of the cetane number of fuel used in a marine vessel propulsion engine such as an outboard motor having a vertical crankshaft.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the internal combustion engine and its control apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of a cetane number estimation process. It is a figure which shows the table used by the process of FIG. It is a figure which shows a premix combustion area | region. It is a time chart which shows transition of the fuel injection timing (CAINJ) and combustion fluctuation parameter (MF) when the process of FIG. 2 is performed.

Explanation of symbols

1 Internal combustion engine 4 Electronic control unit (fuel injection control means, combustion state detection means, cetane number estimation means)
6 Fuel injection valve (fuel injection means)
11 Crank angle position sensor (combustion state detection means)

Claims (3)

In a control apparatus for an internal combustion engine comprising fuel injection means for injecting fuel into a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine that performs compression ignition combustion,
Fuel injection control means for controlling the fuel injection means;
Combustion state detection means for detecting the combustion state of the engine;
A cetane that changes the fuel injection timing by the fuel injection control means and estimates the cetane number of the fuel based on the control information relating to the fuel injection timing at the time of the change and the combustion state detected by the combustion state detection means A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine, comprising: a price estimation means.   2. The control device for an internal combustion engine according to claim 1, wherein the cetane number estimating means changes the fuel injection timing in a premixed combustion region determined in advance according to an operating state of the engine. .   3. The control device for an internal combustion engine according to claim 2, wherein the cetane number estimating means estimates the cetane number for at least one cylinder of the engine.

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