JP2014211139A - Electric spark ignition engine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an engine to which special fuel lower in evaporation rate than gasoline in a state of a specific temperature or lower is supplied, and that can estimate the concentration of the special fuel as early as possible.SOLUTION: An engine 1 comprises: an oil reservoir 23a communicating with a crank chamber 12 and storing therein engine oil; a PCV hose 59 introducing blow-by gas of the crank chamber 12a to a surge tank 55a; a PCV valve 59a opening/closing the PCV hose 59; and an engine controller 100 that estimates an ethanol concentration based on an oxygen concentration of exhaust gas during operation of the engine 1 and controlling the operation of the engine 1 on the basis of the estimated ethanol concentration if predetermined conditions are satisfied. The engine controller 100 starts estimating the concentration in a state in which the PCV valve 59a is closed as long as a temperature of the engine 1 is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature if the engine 1 starts while the concentration estimation is not completed.

Description

  The technology disclosed herein relates to a spark ignition engine.

  In recent years, biofuels have attracted attention from the viewpoint of environmental issues such as global warming, and gasoline and bioethanol, for example bioethanol, are mixed at any mixing ratio from E25, which is 25% ethanol mixed with gasoline, to E100, which is 100% ethanol. FFVs (Flexible Fuel Vehicles) that can travel with the fuel thus produced have been put into practical use.

  Since the theoretical air-fuel ratio differs between ethanol and gasoline, the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio fluctuates according to the ethanol concentration in the fuel in which ethanol and gasoline are mixed. Therefore, in FFV, the ethanol concentration in the fuel is estimated, and various controls of the engine are performed based on the estimated ethanol concentration (see Patent Document 1).

  However, ethanol has poor vaporization performance when it is cold or the like, and unburned fuel that does not vaporize easily occurs. Unburned ethanol that does not vaporize drops from the combustion chamber into the crank chamber and enters the engine oil. However, when the engine temperature rises, ethanol in the engine oil evaporates and flows into the intake passage via the blow-by passage. If the ethanol concentration is estimated in such a state, a concentration deviated from the actual ethanol concentration is estimated by the amount of ethanol flowing in through the blow-by passage.

  Therefore, the FFV disclosed in Patent Document 1 estimates the concentration of ethanol when the ratio of the amount of blow-by gas to the amount of intake air taken into the intake passage is equal to or less than a determination value.

JP 2010-025085 A

  However, in the method of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to wait for estimation of the ethanol concentration until the amount of ethanol flowing in substantially through the blow-by passage decreases. In particular, when an automobile is operated only for a short time, ethanol in engine oil does not decrease easily, but rather increases. If the ethanol concentration is estimated by the method of Patent Document 1 in such a state, the time until the estimation is started becomes very long. As a result, the time required for concentration estimation becomes longer.

  The technology disclosed herein has been made in view of the above points, and the object of the technology is to provide special fuel in an engine supplied with special fuel having a lower vaporization rate than gasoline under a specific temperature or lower. This is to estimate the concentration of urine at an early stage.

  The technology disclosed herein is directed to a spark ignition engine. The spark ignition engine has an engine body configured to be supplied with a fuel including a special fuel that has a lower vaporization rate than gasoline under a specific temperature or lower condition and increases the vaporization rate when the specific temperature is exceeded. A storage portion for storing engine oil, communicating with a crank chamber of the engine body, a blow-by passage for guiding blow-by gas in the crank chamber to an intake passage provided in the engine body, and an on-off valve for opening and closing the blow-by passage When the predetermined condition is satisfied, the concentration of the special fuel is estimated based on the oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas during the operation of the engine body, and the operation of the engine body is controlled based on the estimated concentration of the special fuel. And when the engine body is started when the concentration estimation is not completed. Jin when the temperature of the body is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, it is assumed to start the concentration estimation in a state of closing the on-off valve.

  Here, the “special fuel whose vaporization rate is lower than gasoline under conditions below a specific temperature and whose vaporization rate increases when the specific temperature is exceeded” is, for example, a single component fuel, specifically ethanol or An alcohol such as methanol can be exemplified. As a specific example of the alcohol, a biological alcohol such as bioethanol made from sugar cane may be used.

  The “fuel containing special fuel” includes both a fuel obtained by mixing a special fuel and other substances (for example, gasoline) and a fuel containing only a special fuel. When special fuel is ethanol, “fuel containing special fuel” is, for example, gasoline and ethanol mixed in any mixing ratio, from E25 where gasoline is mixed with 25% to E100 where ethanol is 100%. Fuel may be included. This “fuel including special fuel” may include combustion in which special fuel and water are mixed. Therefore, E100 containing about 5% of water is also included in the “fuel including special fuel”.

  According to this configuration, when the predetermined condition is satisfied, the control unit estimates the concentration of the special fuel based on the oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas during the operation of the engine body. Since the concentration estimation is performed during operation of the engine body, the operation of the engine body may end before the concentration estimation is completed. In this case, the concentration estimation is started again when the engine body is started next time. Also, when the engine body is started for the first time after the predetermined condition is satisfied, the concentration estimation is started because the concentration estimation is not completed. Thus, when the concentration estimation is not completed and the engine body is started, the concentration estimation is started.

  At this time, when the temperature of the engine body is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, concentration estimation is started with the open / close valve closed. By so doing, accurate concentration estimation can be started early.

  In other words, when the engine is started, the temperature of the engine body may be low, which is disadvantageous for fuel vaporization. Therefore, the special fuel supplied to the combustion chamber tends to remain as unburned fuel without being vaporized. Unburned special fuel that does not evaporate drops in the reservoir and accumulates in the engine oil. Further, special fuel accumulated from the previous operation may exist in the engine oil. The special fuel in the engine oil evaporates as the engine temperature rises and flows into the intake passage via the blow-by passage.

  On the other hand, by performing the concentration estimation with the on-off valve closed, it is possible to prevent the special fuel from flowing into the intake passage via the blow-by passage. Thereby, accurate density estimation can be performed. Moreover, since concentration estimation can be performed without waiting for the reduction of special fuel flowing into the intake passage via the blow-by passage, concentration estimation can be started early.

  However, as described above, when the temperature of the engine body is low, unburned fuel remains in the combustion chamber and drops into the reservoir. Furthermore, some of the fuel remaining in the combustion chamber may remain attached to the wall surface in the cylinder. That is, in combustion under conditions where the fuel vaporization rate is low, it cannot be accurately determined whether the fuel supplied in that cycle has burned or whether the fuel remaining from the previous cycle has burned. Therefore, even if the concentration of the special fuel is estimated based on the oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas in such a state, the concentration cannot be estimated with high accuracy.

  On the other hand, the concentration estimation with the on-off valve closed is performed when the temperature of the engine body is equal to or higher than a predetermined value. As a result, the temperature of the engine body rises and the concentration estimation is performed in a state where there is little special fuel remaining without being vaporized, and the concentration estimation can be performed with high accuracy. Here, the predetermined temperature may be set according to the vaporization rate of the fuel. For example, the predetermined temperature may be set to a temperature at which the fuel remaining without vaporization of the fuel supplied to the combustion chamber becomes substantially zero.

  According to the spark ignition engine, the concentration of the special fuel can be estimated at an early stage in an engine supplied with a special fuel having a lower vaporization rate than gasoline under a specific temperature or lower.

It is the schematic which shows the structure of a spark ignition type engine and its control apparatus. It is a figure which compares the change of the distillation amount of gasoline with respect to temperature, and the change of the distillation amount of ethanol. It is a flowchart of density | concentration estimation. (A) is a time chart illustrating a change in the amount of ethanol dripped into the crank chamber, (B) is a time chart illustrating a change in the amount of ethanol evaporated in the crank chamber, and (C) is an oil It is a time chart which illustrates the change of the amount of ethanol accumulate | stored in a storage part.

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a direct injection engine will be described based on the drawings. In addition, the following description of preferable embodiment is an illustration. As shown in FIG. 1, the engine system includes an engine (engine body) 1, various actuators associated with the engine 1, various sensors, and an engine controller 100 that controls the actuators based on signals from the sensors. This engine system includes a high compression ratio engine 1 having a geometric compression ratio of 12 to 20 (for example, 14).

  The engine 1 is a spark ignition type four-stroke internal combustion engine. Although only one is shown in FIG. 1, the engine 1 has first to fourth four cylinders 11 arranged in series. However, an engine to which the technology disclosed herein is applicable is not limited to an in-line four-cylinder engine. The engine 1 is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and its output shaft is connected to drive wheels via a transmission, although not shown. The vehicle is propelled by the output of the engine 1 being transmitted to the drive wheels.

  The engine 1 is supplied with fuel containing ethanol (including bioethanol). In particular, this vehicle is an FFV that can use fuel of any concentration from 25% (ie, E25) to 100% (ie, E100) of ethanol. Although not shown in the figure, this vehicle has only the fuel (main tank) for storing the fuel, and stores a fuel having a high gasoline concentration separately from the main tank, like the conventional FFV. Does not have a sub tank. However, a sub tank may be provided.

  The engine 1 includes a cylinder block 12, a cylinder head 13 placed on the cylinder block 12, and an oil pan 23 provided below the cylinder block 12. A cylinder 11 is formed inside the block 12. As is well known, a crankshaft 14 is rotatably supported on the cylinder block 12 by a journal, a bearing or the like, and this crankshaft 14 is connected to a piston 15 via a connecting rod 16. A crank chamber 12 a is formed by the lower part of the cylinder block 12 and the oil pan 23. An oil reservoir 23a for storing engine oil is formed inside the oil pan 23. The oil reservoir 23a and the crank chamber 12a communicate with each other. The oil reservoir 23a is an example of a reservoir.

  Two inclined surfaces extending from the substantially central portion to the vicinity of the lower end surface of the cylinder head 13 are formed on the ceiling portion of each cylinder 11, and a so-called roof shape is formed in which these inclined surfaces are put against each other. It is a pent roof type.

  The piston 15 is slidably inserted into each cylinder 11, and defines a combustion chamber 17 together with the cylinder 11 and the cylinder head 13. The top surface of the piston 15 is formed in a trapezoidal shape that protrudes from the peripheral portion toward the center portion so as to correspond to the pent roof type shape of the ceiling surface of the cylinder 11 described above. The combustion chamber volume when the compression top dead center is reached is reduced to achieve a high geometric compression ratio of 12 or more. On the top surface of the piston 15, a cavity 151 that is recessed in a substantially spherical shape is formed at the approximate center position. The cavity 151 is disposed so as to be opposed to the spark plug 51 disposed at the center of the cylinder 11, thereby shortening the combustion period. That is, as described above, in the high compression ratio engine 1, the top surface of the piston 15 is raised, and when the piston 15 reaches the compression top dead center, the top surface of the piston 15 and the ceiling surface of the cylinder 11 are used. The interval between and is extremely narrow. For this reason, when the cavity 151 is not formed, the initial flame interferes with the top surface of the piston 15 and the cooling loss increases, flame propagation is inhibited and the combustion speed is delayed. On the other hand, the cavity 151 avoids the interference of the initial flame and does not hinder its growth, so that the flame propagation becomes faster and the combustion period can be shortened. This is advantageous in suppressing knocking in a fuel with a high gasoline concentration, and contributes to an improvement in torque due to the advance of the ignition timing.

  For each cylinder 11, an intake port 18 and an exhaust port 19 are formed in the cylinder head 13, and each communicates with the combustion chamber 17. The intake valve 21 and the exhaust valve 22 are arranged so that the intake port 18 and the exhaust port 19 can be shut off (closed) from the combustion chamber 17, respectively. The intake valve 21 is driven by the intake valve drive mechanism 30 and the exhaust valve 22 is driven by the exhaust valve drive mechanism 40, thereby reciprocating at a predetermined timing to open and close the intake port 18 and the exhaust port 19.

  The intake valve drive mechanism 30 and the exhaust valve drive mechanism 40 have an intake camshaft 31 and an exhaust camshaft 41, respectively. The camshafts 31 and 41 are connected to the crankshaft 14 via a power transmission mechanism such as a known chain / sprocket mechanism. As is well known, the power transmission mechanism rotates the camshafts 31 and 41 once while the crankshaft 14 rotates twice.

  The intake valve drive mechanism 30 includes an intake valve timing variable mechanism 32 that can change the opening / closing timing of the intake valve 21, and the exhaust valve drive mechanism 40 can change the exhaust valve timing that can change the opening / closing timing of the exhaust valve 22. A mechanism 42 is included. In this embodiment, the intake valve timing variable mechanism 32 is constituted by an electric phase variable mechanism (Variable Valve Timing: VVT) capable of continuously changing the phase of the intake camshaft 31 within a predetermined angle range, The variable valve timing mechanism 42 is an electric phase variable mechanism capable of continuously changing the phase of the exhaust camshaft 41 within a predetermined angle range. The intake valve timing variable mechanism 32 can adjust the effective compression ratio by changing the closing timing of the intake valve 21. The effective compression ratio is the ratio between the combustion chamber volume when the intake valve is closed and the combustion chamber volume when the piston 15 is at top dead center. The VVT may be a hydraulic type or a mechanical type.

  The spark plug 51 is attached to the cylinder head 13 by a known structure such as a screw. The electrode of the spark plug 51 faces the ceiling of the combustion chamber 17 at the approximate center of the cylinder 11. The ignition system 52 receives a control signal from the engine controller 100 and energizes the spark plug 51 so that a spark is generated at a desired ignition timing.

  The fuel injection valve 53 has a known structure, for example, using a bracket. In this embodiment, the fuel injection valve 53 is attached to one side (the intake side in the illustrated example) of the cylinder head 13. The engine 1 is a so-called direct injection engine that directly injects fuel into the cylinder 11, and the tip of the fuel injection valve 53 is located below the intake port 18 in the vertical direction and in the cylinder 11 in the horizontal direction. It is located in the center and faces the combustion chamber 17. However, the arrangement of the fuel injection valve 53 is not limited to this. In this example, the fuel injection valve 53 is a multi-hole (for example, six-hole) fuel injection valve (Multi Hole Injector: MHI). Although the direction of each nozzle hole is not shown in the drawing, the tip of the nozzle shaft is widened so that fuel can be injected into the entire cylinder 11. The advantage of MHI is that the diameter of one nozzle hole is small because of the multiple nozzle holes, the fuel can be injected at a relatively high pressure, and the fuel can be injected into the entire cylinder 11 so that the fuel can be injected. This increases the fuel efficiency and promotes fuel vaporization and atomization. Therefore, when fuel is injected during the intake stroke, it is advantageous in terms of fuel mixing performance and acceleration of vaporization / atomization using the intake air flow in the cylinder 11, while fuel is injected during the compression stroke. In this case, it is advantageous in terms of gas cooling in the cylinder 11 by promoting vaporization and atomization of the fuel. The fuel injection valve 53 is not limited to MHI.

  The fuel supply system 54 includes a high-pressure pump (fuel pump) that boosts the fuel and supplies the fuel to the fuel injection valve 53, piping and hoses that supply fuel from the fuel tank to the high-pressure pump, and the fuel injection valve 53. And an electric circuit to be driven. The fuel pump is driven by the engine 1 in this example. The fuel pump may be an electric pump. When the fuel injection valve 53 is a multi-injection type, the fuel injection pressure is set to be relatively high in order to inject fuel from a minute injection port. The electric circuit receives a control signal from the engine controller 100 and operates the fuel injection valve 53 to inject a desired amount of fuel into the combustion chamber 17 at a predetermined timing. Here, the fuel supply system 54 sets the fuel pressure higher as the engine speed increases. This is because as the engine speed increases, the amount of fuel injected into the cylinder 11 also increases, but the fuel pressure increases, which is advantageous for fuel vaporization and atomization, and the fuel injection valve 53 There is an advantage that the pulse width related to fuel injection is made as short as possible. As described above, an alcohol-containing fuel having an arbitrary ethanol concentration from E25 to E100 is stored in the fuel tank.

  The intake port 18 communicates with the surge tank 55 a through an intake path 55 b in the intake manifold 55. An intake air flow from an air cleaner (not shown) passes through the throttle body 56 and is supplied to the surge tank 55a. A throttle valve 57 is disposed in the throttle body 56, and the throttle valve 57 throttles the intake air flow toward the surge tank 55a and adjusts the flow rate as is well known. The throttle actuator 58 receives the control signal from the engine controller 100 and adjusts the opening degree of the throttle valve 57.

  A downstream end of a PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) hose 59 is connected to the surge tank 55a. The upstream end of the PCV hose 59 is connected to the engine block 12 via a PCV valve 59a. The PCV hose 59 communicates with the crank chamber 12 a of the engine block 12. The PCV valve 59a can open and close the PCV hose 59. That is, when the PCV valve 59a is opened, the PCV hose 59 and the crank chamber 12a communicate with each other, and when the PCV valve 59a is closed, the PCV hose 59 and the crank chamber 12a are shut off. The blow-by gas in the crank chamber 12 a flows into the surge tank 55 a through the PCV hose 59. The PCV hose 59 is an example of a blow-by passage. The surge tank 55a is an example of an intake passage.

The exhaust port 19 communicates with a passage in the exhaust pipe 61 as is well known by an exhaust path in the exhaust manifold 60. The exhaust manifold 60 is not shown, but the branch exhaust passages connected to the exhaust ports 19 of the cylinders 11 are gathered by the first gathering parts among the cylinders whose exhaust order is not adjacent to each other, and each first gathering part The downstream intermediate exhaust passages are gathered at the second gathering portion. That is, a so-called 4-2-1 layout is adopted for the exhaust manifold 60 of the engine 1. The exhaust pipe 61 is provided with a linear O ₂ sensor 79. The linear O ₂ sensor 79 detects the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture based on the oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas.

  The engine 1 is also provided with a starter motor 20 for performing cranking at the time of starting.

  The engine controller 100 is a controller based on a well-known microcomputer, and includes a central processing unit (CPU) that executes a program, a memory that is configured by, for example, RAM and ROM, and stores a program and data, And an input / output (I / O) bus for inputting and outputting signals. The engine controller 100 is an example of a control unit.

  The control unit may be realized by hard logic. The control unit may be composed of one element or may be physically composed of a plurality of elements. When configured by a plurality of elements, one control may be realized by a plurality of elements.

The engine controller 100 includes an intake air flow rate and an intake air temperature from the air flow sensor 71, an intake manifold pressure from the intake pressure sensor 72, a crank angle pulse signal from the crank angle sensor 73, an engine water temperature from the water temperature sensor 78, and a linear O ₂ sensor. Various inputs such as air-fuel ratio from 79 are received. The engine controller 100 calculates the engine speed based on, for example, a crank angle pulse signal. The engine controller 100 also receives an accelerator opening signal from an accelerator opening sensor 75 that detects the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal. Further, a vehicle speed signal from a vehicle speed sensor 76 that detects the rotational speed of the output shaft of the transmission is input to the engine controller 100. In addition, a knock sensor 77 including an acceleration sensor that converts the vibration of the cylinder block 12 into a voltage signal and outputs it is attached to the cylinder block 12, and the output signal is also input to the engine controller 100.

  The engine controller 100 calculates the following control parameters of the engine 1 based on the input as described above. For example, a desired throttle opening signal, fuel injection pulse, ignition signal, valve phase angle signal, etc. The engine controller 100 outputs these signals to the throttle actuator 58, the fuel supply system 54, the ignition system 52, the intake and exhaust valve timing variable mechanisms 32 and 42, and the like. The engine controller 100 also outputs a drive signal to the starter motor 20 when the engine 1 is started.

Here, as a configuration unique to the FFV engine system, the engine controller 100 estimates the ethanol concentration of the fuel injected by the fuel injection valve 53 based on the detection result of the linear O ₂ sensor 79. The theoretical air fuel ratio (9.0) of ethanol is smaller than the theoretical air fuel ratio (14.7) of gasoline. The higher the ethanol concentration of the fuel, the richer the theoretical air fuel ratio (that is, the smaller the theoretical air fuel ratio). Therefore, under the condition that the engine is operated at the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, when there is unburned oxygen in the exhaust gas, it can be determined that the ethanol concentration of the fuel was higher than expected. . From the signal output from the linear O ₂ sensor 79, the engine controller 100 determines that there is a lot of gasoline in the fuel when the air-fuel ratio is lean, and determines that there is a lot of ethanol in the fuel when the air-fuel ratio is rich. Thus, the ethanol concentration in the fuel is estimated.

The engine controller 100 further calculates the vaporization rate of the fuel supplied into the cylinder 11 based on the detection result of the linear O ₂ sensor 79. The vaporization rate is defined by the weight ratio of the amount of fuel that contributes to combustion with respect to the amount of fuel supplied into the cylinder 11 (in other words, the amount of fuel injected by the fuel injection valve 53). The engine controller 100 calculates the weight of the fuel amount that has contributed to combustion based on the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture and the detection value of the linear O ₂ sensor 79, and calculates the calculated fuel weight and the fuel injection of the fuel injection valve 53. The vaporization rate is calculated from the amount.

  This engine system is a system mounted on the FFV as described above, and the engine 1 is supplied with alcohol-containing fuel having any mixing ratio from E25 to E100. Here, FIG. 2 is a diagram comparing the gasification characteristics of gasoline and ethanol. In addition, FIG. 2 has shown the change of the distillation amount (%) of each of gasoline and ethanol with respect to the temperature change under 1 atmosphere. Since gasoline is a multi-component fuel, it evaporates according to the boiling point of each component. The amount of gasoline distilled will vary approximately linearly with changes in temperature. That is, the gasoline can be vaporized even when the temperature state of the engine 1 is relatively low to form a combustible mixture.

  On the other hand, since ethanol is a single component fuel, the distillation amount becomes 0% at a specific temperature (that is, 78 ° C. which is the boiling point of ethanol) or less, whereas when the specific temperature is exceeded, the distillation amount is 100%. %become. Thus, when gasoline and ethanol are compared, below the specified temperature, the amount of ethanol distilled is lower than the amount of gasoline distilled. On the other hand, when the specified temperature is exceeded, the amount of ethanol distilled is less than that of gasoline. It becomes higher than the amount of distillation. Therefore, in a cold state where the temperature state of the engine 1 is a predetermined temperature or lower (for example, the water temperature is about 20 ° C. or lower), the fuel containing ethanol has a lower vaporization rate than gasoline. Thus, when the engine 1 is in a cold state, the lower the temperature state of the engine 1 and the higher the ethanol concentration of the fuel, the lower the fuel vaporization rate.

  As described above, the fuel vaporization rate changes depending on the temperature state of the engine 1 and the ethanol concentration of the fuel. Therefore, the engine controller 100 can obtain the target vaporized fuel amount in accordance with the engine load or the like. A fuel amount increase correction is performed on the set base fuel amount in accordance with the fuel vaporization rate. That is, as the fuel vaporization rate is lower, the amount of fuel injected by the fuel injection valve 53 is increased.

  Further, the engine controller 100 estimates the ethanol concentration, and controls the engine 1 using the estimated ethanol concentration. Hereinafter, ethanol concentration estimation (hereinafter referred to as “concentration estimation”) of the engine controller 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of concentration estimation. FIG. 4A is a time chart illustrating changes in the amount of ethanol dripped into the crank chamber and the amount of ethanol evaporated in the crank chamber, and FIG. 4B shows a change in the amount of ethanol accumulated in the oil reservoir. It is a time chart which illustrates.

  The engine controller 100 first determines in step S1 whether or not the engine 1 has been started. If the engine 1 has been started, the flow proceeds to step S2. If the engine 1 has not been started, the engine controller 100 repeats step S1. Thus, step S1 is a step for waiting for the engine 1 to start.

In step S2, the engine controller 100 determines whether or not a predetermined estimation execution condition for executing concentration estimation is satisfied. The predetermined condition is a condition on which concentration estimation is to be performed. For example, refueling is performed, the battery is removed, the linear O ₂ sensor 79 used for concentration estimation is active, and the like. When fuel is supplied, the ethanol concentration in the fuel tank may change, so concentration estimation should be performed. When the battery is removed, the estimated ethanol concentration stored in the engine controller 100 disappears, so concentration estimation should be executed. For example, the engine controller 100 performs the fuel supply determination based on the detection value of the level gauge sensor of the fuel tank, and determines that the estimation execution condition is satisfied when the fuel supply is performed. When the estimated execution condition is satisfied, the flow proceeds to step S3, and when the estimated execution condition is not satisfied, the flow returns, that is, returns to step S1. When the estimation execution condition is satisfied, the engine controller 100 sets a completion flag indicating completion of concentration estimation to 0 (that is, a value indicating that concentration estimation is not completed).

  In step S3, the engine controller 100 determines whether the concentration estimation is complete. That is, the engine controller 100 determines whether or not the concentration estimation (step S6 described later) when the estimation execution condition has been satisfied is completed. For example, the engine controller 100 determines whether or not the concentration estimation is complete when the completion flag is 0. When the density determination is complete, the flow ends. When the density determination is not complete, the flow proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, the engine controller 100 determines whether or not the temperature of the engine 1 is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature T. The predetermined temperature T is the temperature of the engine 1 at which the ethanol supplied to the combustion chamber 17 is substantially vaporized. For example, the predetermined temperature T is set to the boiling point of ethanol or a value close to the boiling point. If the temperature of the engine 1 is lower than the predetermined temperature T, the ethanol supplied to the combustion chamber 17 is difficult to vaporize, and much ethanol remains in the combustion chamber 17 in an unburned state in a liquid state. The remaining ethanol passes through a gap such as a joint between the cylinder 11 and a piston ring (not shown), and drops into the oil reservoir 23a of the crank chamber 12a. The ethanol dripped into the oil pan 23 is mixed into the engine oil in the oil pan 23. On the other hand, if the temperature of the engine 1 is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, most of the ethanol supplied to the combustion chamber 17 is vaporized and combusted. That is, there is almost no dripping of ethanol to the oil storage part 23a.

  For example, the engine controller 100 determines whether or not the temperature of the engine 1 is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature T based on the engine water temperature from the water temperature sensor 78.

  If the temperature of the engine 1 is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature T, the flow proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if the temperature of engine 1 is less than predetermined temperature T, engine controller 100 repeats step S4. That is, step S4 is a step for waiting until the temperature of the engine 1 reaches a temperature at which almost no ethanol drops into the oil reservoir 23a.

  In step S5, the engine controller 100 closes the PCV valve 59a. As a result, the flow of blow-by gas from the crank chamber 12a to the surge tank 55a is blocked. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the ethanol evaporated in the crank chamber 12a from being introduced into the surge tank 55a.

In subsequent step S6, the engine controller 100 performs concentration estimation. The engine controller 100 estimates the concentration based on the output from the linear O ₂ sensor 79 as described above. When the concentration estimation is completed, the engine controller 100 sets a completion flag to 1 (that is, a value indicating that the concentration estimation is completed) and ends the flow.

  That is, immediately after the engine 1 is started, the temperature of the engine 1 is low and the vaporization rate of ethanol is low, so that unburned ethanol that has not been vaporized remains in the combustion chamber 17 and the remaining ethanol drops into the crank chamber 12a. . The vaporization rate of ethanol increases as the temperature of the engine 1 increases. Along with this, as shown in FIG. 4A, the amount of ethanol dripped into the crank chamber 12a also decreases. As the temperature of the engine 1 rises, the amount of ethanol dripping into the crank chamber 12a eventually becomes zero.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 4C, the amount of ethanol accumulated in the oil reservoir 23 a gradually increases until no ethanol drops from the combustion chamber 17.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the temperature of the engine 1 increases to some extent, evaporation of ethanol in the engine oil starts. As the temperature of the engine 1 increases (with time), the amount of ethanol evaporated from the engine oil increases. The timing at which the evaporation of ethanol starts and the timing at which the ethanol dripping into the crank chamber 12a becomes zero are substantially at the same time. As shown in FIG. 4C, the amount of ethanol accumulated in the oil reservoir 23a gradually decreases as the ethanol evaporates. Eventually, all the ethanol accumulated in the oil reservoir 23a evaporates.

  Then, according to the above-described concentration estimation control, when ethanol dripping into the oil reservoir 23a becomes substantially zero, the PCV valve 59a is closed and concentration estimation is started. If the concentration estimation is started after waiting for all the ethanol accumulated in the oil reservoir 23a to evaporate, the time required for concentration estimation becomes very long. In contrast, by temporarily closing the PCV valve 59a, concentration estimation that is not affected by the evaporated ethanol flowing through the PCV hose 59 can be started early.

  However, concentration estimation is not performed immediately after the engine is started, but concentration estimation is started after waiting for the temperature of the engine 1 to be equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature. When the temperature of the engine 1 is low, part of the fuel supplied to the combustion chamber 17 is not vaporized and remains in the combustion chamber 17 in an unburned state. Most of the remaining fuel is accumulated in the oil reservoir 23a, but some of the fuel remains attached to the inner wall of the cylinder 11 and burns in the next cycle. Even if concentration estimation is performed in such a state, it is not accurately known whether the fuel used for combustion is the fuel supplied to the combustion chamber 17 in that cycle or the fuel remaining from the previous cycle. The concentration cannot be estimated with high accuracy. Therefore, by waiting for the temperature of the engine 1 to be equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, the concentration estimation can be performed in a state where the fuel remaining in the combustion chamber 17 without being vaporized is reduced to the extent that the concentration estimation is not affected. . Thereby, concentration estimation can be performed more accurately.

  When the temperature of the engine 1 is low, the aforementioned fuel amount increase correction is performed. The increased amount is adjusted according to the fuel vaporization rate. That is, the amount of increase increases as the temperature of the engine 1 decreases. Therefore, the temperature of the engine 1 can also be determined based on the increase amount of the increase correction. The increased amount when the temperature of the engine 1 is the predetermined temperature T can be set as a threshold value. In this case, it can be determined that the temperature of the engine 1 is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature T when the increase amount becomes equal to or less than the threshold value.

  Therefore, the engine 1 is an engine configured to be supplied with fuel containing ethanol, and communicates with the crank chamber 12a of the engine 1 to store the engine oil and the crank chamber. A PCV hose 59 that guides the blow-by gas of 12a to a surge tank 55a provided in the engine 1, a PCV valve 59a that opens and closes the PCV hose 59, and when predetermined conditions are satisfied, And an engine controller 100 for controlling the operation of the engine 1 based on the estimated ethanol concentration, and the engine controller 100 has completed the concentration estimation. When the engine 1 is started and the temperature of the engine 1 is When the above temperature T, starting the concentration estimation in a state of closing the PCV valve 59a.

  According to this configuration, even when ethanol is accumulated in the oil reservoir 23a, concentration estimation that is not affected by the evaporated ethanol from the oil reservoir 23a, that is, accurate concentration estimation, This can be done early without waiting for the ethanol in the oil reservoir 23a to evaporate. In addition, by performing concentration estimation when the temperature of the engine 1 is high, concentration estimation can be performed in a state where there is little fuel remaining without being vaporized. Thereby, it is possible to estimate the concentration with higher accuracy.

  Further, the engine controller 100 is configured to increase the fuel injection amount in accordance with the fuel vaporization rate, and determines whether or not the temperature of the engine 1 is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature based on the increase in the injected fuel amount. May be.

  The increase amount of the increase correction is set according to the fuel evaporation rate, and the fuel evaporation rate is related to the temperature of the engine 1. That is, since the increase amount of the increase correction is related to the temperature of the engine 1, it can be determined whether the temperature of the engine 1 is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature based on the increase amount of the increase correction.

<< Other Embodiments >>
As described above, the embodiment has been described as an example of the technique disclosed in the present application. However, the technology in the present disclosure is not limited to this, and can also be applied to an embodiment in which changes, replacements, additions, omissions, and the like are appropriately performed. Moreover, it is also possible to combine each component demonstrated by the said embodiment and it can also be set as new embodiment. In addition, among the components described in the accompanying drawings and detailed description, not only the components essential for solving the problem, but also the components not essential for solving the problem in order to exemplify the above technique. May also be included. Therefore, it should not be immediately recognized that these non-essential components are essential as those non-essential components are described in the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

  About the said embodiment, it is good also as following structures.

  Although the above-described configuration is FFV, the technology disclosed herein can be widely applied to vehicles equipped with an engine to which fuel containing alcohol is supplied, even if not FFV.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which ethanol is used as the special fuel has been described. However, the special fuel may be a substance other than that. For example, the special fuel may be an alcohol such as methanol, or an oil such as edible oil or industrial oil. The fuel mixed with the special fuel is not limited to gasoline.

  In the embodiment, the concentration estimation is started when the temperature of the engine 1 becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature T. However, if the temperature of the engine 1 is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature T, the concentration estimation may be started anytime. However, the concentration estimation can be performed earlier by starting the concentration estimation when the temperature of the engine 1 becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature T. Further, although the PCV valve 59a is closed when the temperature of the engine 1 becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature T, the PCV valve 59a may be closed before the temperature of the engine 1 reaches the predetermined temperature T. . That is, if the PCV valve 59a is closed at the time of concentration estimation, the valve closing timing of the PCV valve 59a can be set arbitrarily. However, from the viewpoint of the ventilation function of the crank chamber 12a, it is preferable to close the PCV valve 59a when the concentration estimation is started.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the temperature of the engine 1 is determined based on engine water temperature, it is not restricted to this. As described above, the temperature of the engine 1 may be determined based on the correction amount of the increase correction, or the temperature of the engine 1 may be determined based on other physical quantities.

  As described above, the technology disclosed herein is such that a fuel including a special fuel that has a lower vaporization rate than gasoline under conditions below a specific temperature and increases when the specific temperature is exceeded is supplied. It is useful for engines configured in

1 Engine (Engine body)
12a Crank chamber 23a Oil reservoir (reservoir)
55a Surge tank (intake passage)
59 PCV hose (blow-by passage)
59a PCV valve (open / close valve)
100 Engine controller (control unit)

Claims (1)

An engine body configured to be supplied with a fuel including a special fuel that has a lower vaporization rate than gasoline under conditions below a specific temperature and increases the vaporization rate when the specific temperature is exceeded;
A storage section that communicates with a crank chamber of the engine body and stores engine oil;
A blow-by passage for guiding the blow-by gas in the crank chamber to an intake passage provided in the engine body;
An on-off valve for opening and closing the blow-by passage;
When the predetermined condition is satisfied, control for estimating the concentration of the special fuel based on the oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas during operation of the engine body and controlling the operation of the engine body based on the estimated concentration of the special fuel With
The controller estimates the concentration with the on-off valve closed when the concentration estimation is not completed and the engine body is started and the temperature of the engine body is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature. To start a spark ignition engine.

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