JP6230002B1 - Engine exhaust purification system - Google Patents

Abstract

Two types of control for reducing NOx of a NOx catalyst using different determination values for the NOx occlusion amount are executed to suppress deterioration of fuel consumption caused by NOx reduction. In an exhaust emission control device for an engine, a PCM 60 removes NOx occluded in a NOx catalyst 45 when an air-fuel ratio of exhaust gas when fuel injection is performed in response to an accelerator operation decreases to a predetermined value or less. In order to reduce, the first NOx reduction control is performed in which post-injection is performed so that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas becomes a predetermined target air-fuel ratio. In this case, the PCM 60 executes the first NOx reduction control only when the NOx occlusion amount is equal to or greater than the first occlusion amount determination value, and the NOx occlusion amount is greater than or equal to the second occlusion amount determination value greater than the first occlusion amount determination value. In this case, the second NOx reduction control is executed to continuously reduce the NOx occlusion amount to below a predetermined amount by continuously performing post injection so that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas becomes the target air-fuel ratio. [Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an exhaust emission control device for an engine, and more particularly, to an exhaust emission control device for an engine provided with an NOx catalyst for purifying NOx in exhaust gas on an exhaust passage.

  Conventionally, NOx in the exhaust gas is occluded in a lean state (λ> 1) where the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is larger than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, and this occluded NOx is stored in the vicinity of the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. NOx occlusion reduction type NOx catalysts that reduce in a certain state (λ≈1) or a rich state (λ <1) smaller than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio are known. In the normal operating range, from the viewpoint of improving fuel efficiency, the engine is operated with the air-fuel ratio set to a lean state (λ> 1). If this lean operating state continues, the NOx storage of the NOx catalyst is continued. When the amount reaches the limit, the NOx catalyst cannot store NOx in the exhaust gas (in this case, NOx is released). Therefore, the air-fuel ratio is appropriately set to a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or a richer state (λ ≦ 1) than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, so that NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst is reduced. “Λ” is an index indicating the air-fuel ratio expressed with the theoretical air-fuel ratio as a reference, and corresponds to a so-called excess air ratio.

  As described above, when the NOx catalyst is used, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is appropriately switched between λ> 1 and λ ≦ 1, but in that case, the NOx emission is appropriately improved while ensuring the fuel consumption. Thus, it is desirable to control the air-fuel ratio. From the viewpoint of such fuel consumption and emission, for example, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, control is performed so that the air-fuel ratio is set to λ ≦ 1 during acceleration operation of the engine, and NOx stored in the NOx catalyst is reduced. I try to reduce it.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-50884

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1 described above, from the viewpoint of fuel efficiency and the like, control for reducing NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst is performed by taking advantage of acceleration of the engine. In addition to the control, When the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, for example, when the NOx occlusion amount is near the limit, the NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst is forcibly reduced regardless of the operating state of the engine. It is conceivable to perform control. When two controls for reducing NOx occluded in such a NOx catalyst are used in combination, it is desirable to set each execution condition appropriately.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and uses two different determination values for determining the NOx occlusion amount to reduce NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst. An object of the present invention is to provide an engine exhaust purification device that can effectively suppress deterioration in fuel consumption caused by NOx reduction of a NOx catalyst by executing control.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is provided on an exhaust passage of an engine, and stores NOx in exhaust gas when the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is leaner than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. An exhaust purification device for an engine comprising a NOx catalyst that reduces occluded NOx when the air-fuel ratio of exhaust gas is in the vicinity of the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or richer than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, according to the operation of an accelerator pedal Exhaust gas state determination means for determining whether or not the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas decreases to a predetermined value or less when a fuel injection amount for outputting engine torque is injected from the fuel injection valve, and exhaust gas state determination When it is determined by the means that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas decreases to a predetermined value or less, the NOx catalyst stores the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas so as to reduce the NOx stored in the NOx catalyst. NOx reduction control means for performing first NOx reduction control for post-injecting from the fuel injection valve so as to set the reduced NOx to a reducible target air-fuel ratio, and the NOx reduction control means is an exhaust gas state determination means When it is determined that the air-fuel ratio decreases to a predetermined value or less, the first NOx reduction control is executed when the NOx storage amount of the NOx catalyst is equal to or greater than the first storage amount determination value, and the NOx storage amount is the first storage amount. When it is less than the determination value, the execution of the first NOx reduction control is restricted, and when the NOx storage amount of the NOx catalyst is equal to or larger than the second storage amount determination value that is larger than the first storage amount determination value, the exhaust gas state Regardless of the determination result by the determination means, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is set to the target air-fuel ratio in order to reduce the NOx stored in the NOx catalyst and reduce the NOx storage amount to below a predetermined amount. Further executes continuously the 2NOx reduction control for post-injection from the fuel injection valve so that, characterized in that.

  According to the present invention configured as described above, the fuel injection amount corresponding to the accelerator operation is increased and the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is reduced (for example, during acceleration) and stored in the NOx catalyst. First NOx reduction that is post-injected so as to set the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to a predetermined target air-fuel ratio in order to reduce NOx (hereinafter, the reduction of NOx stored in the NOx catalyst is referred to as “DeNOx” as appropriate). Execute control. Thereby, the post injection amount for setting the target air-fuel ratio can be reduced as compared with the case where DeNOx is performed in a situation where the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas does not decrease. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently perform DeNOx while ensuring NOx purification performance of the NOx catalyst while suppressing deterioration in fuel consumption due to DeNOx and oil dilution due to post injection.

In particular, in the present invention, the first NOx reduction control described above is executed only when the NOx occlusion amount is equal to or greater than the first occlusion amount determination value, and is executed when the NOx occlusion amount is less than the first occlusion amount determination value. Is prohibited. In addition, in the present invention, when the NOx occlusion amount is equal to or greater than the second occlusion amount determination value, which is greater than the first occlusion amount determination value, the operating condition is such that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas decreases to a predetermined value or less. Regardless of whether or not there is, the second NOx reduction control is performed to continuously reduce the NOx occlusion amount to below a predetermined amount by continuously performing post injection so as to set the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air-fuel ratio. .
By using such first and second storage amount determination values, the first NOx reduction control is suppressed from being performed wastefully even though the NOx storage amount is small, and more frequently than the second NOx reduction control. Thus, the first NOx reduction control can be performed. As described above, since the first NOx reduction control applies less post-injection amount than the second NOx reduction control, the first NOx reduction control is performed more frequently than the second NOx reduction control. Oil dilution by injection can be suppressed. In particular, by performing the first NOx reduction control at a high frequency and reducing the NOx occlusion amount, the execution frequency of the second NOx reduction control can be appropriately reduced. Therefore, fuel consumption deterioration due to DeNOx and post injection are caused. Oil dilution can be effectively suppressed. On the other hand, when the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst is large, the second NOx reduction control is executed to forcibly reduce the NOx occluded in a large amount in the NOx catalyst, thereby ensuring the NOx purification performance of the NOx catalyst. Can be secured.

In the present invention, preferably, NOx occlusion amount estimating means for estimating the NOx occlusion amount is further provided, and the NOx reduction control means performs the second NOx reduction control until the NOx occlusion amount estimated by the NOx occlusion amount estimation means becomes zero. The NOx occlusion amount used by the NOx occlusion amount estimating means is reset to 0 after the end of the second NOx reduction control.
According to the present invention configured as described above, the NOx occlusion amount is reset to 0 after the end of the second NOx reduction control, so that the NOx occlusion amount can be accurately estimated thereafter, and the first and second NOx reduction controls are performed. It is possible to accurately determine whether or not to execute the second NOx reduction control.

In the present invention, preferably, the NOx reduction control means executes the second NOx reduction control if the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst is less than the second occlusion amount determination value, but at the time of starting the engine.
According to the present invention configured as described above, when the engine is started, the second NOx reduction control is executed to reduce the NOx occlusion amount to less than a predetermined amount regardless of the NOx occlusion amount. The NOx purification rate can be secured and the emission can be improved.

In the present invention, preferably, the NOx reduction control means calculates a post-injection amount for setting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air-fuel ratio based on the operating state of the engine, and this post-injection amount is the first post-injection amount. If it is greater than or equal to the determination value, the execution of the first NOx reduction control is limited.
According to the present invention configured as described above, when the calculated post-injection amount is less than the first post-injection amount determination value, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is accurately set to the target air-fuel ratio by post-injection. Thus, DeNOx can be efficiently performed. On the other hand, when the calculated post injection amount is equal to or greater than the first post injection amount determination value, oil dilution by post injection can be appropriately suppressed.

In the present invention, preferably, the NOx reduction control means calculates a post-injection amount for setting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air-fuel ratio based on the operating state of the engine, and performs the second NOx reduction control when executing the second NOx reduction control. When the injection amount is equal to or greater than the second post injection amount determination value, the post injection amount is set to the second post injection amount determination value, and the oxygen concentration of air introduced into the engine is reduced while performing the post injection. Take control.
According to the present invention configured as described above, when performing the second NOx reduction control, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is appropriately set to the target air-fuel ratio by the post injection while suppressing the oil dilution by the post injection. Can do. Further, when the post injection amount is equal to or greater than the second post injection amount determination value, the execution of the second NOx reduction control is not limited as in the first NOx reduction control, and therefore the second NOx reduction control is continuously executed. Can do. Therefore, the time required for the second NOx reduction control can be shortened, and deterioration of fuel consumption can be suppressed. In addition, the second NOx reduction control can be continuously executed to quickly reduce the NOx occlusion amount to below a predetermined amount, and the NOx purification performance of the NOx catalyst can be reliably ensured.

In the present invention, it is preferable to further include an SCR catalyst that is provided on the exhaust passage of the engine and purifies NOx in the exhaust gas by reaction with ammonia, and the NOx reduction control means has a temperature of the SCR catalyst equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature. If it is, the execution of the first and second NOx reduction control is restricted.
According to the present invention configured as described above, when the temperature of the SCR catalyst is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, the execution of DeNOx is limited so that NOx in the exhaust gas can be purified by the SCR catalyst. Thereby, the fuel consumption deterioration resulting from DeNOx can be suppressed.

In the present invention, preferably, the exhaust gas state determination means is configured to set the exhaust gas air-fuel ratio to the target air-fuel ratio when the engine torque to be output in response to the operation of the accelerator pedal is equal to or greater than a predetermined torque. When the post-injection amount is less than the predetermined amount, it is determined that the air-fuel ratio decreases to a predetermined value or less.
According to the present invention configured as described above, it is possible to appropriately determine the state in which the first NOx reduction control is to be executed, and to efficiently execute the first NOx reduction control. Therefore, fuel consumption deterioration caused by DeNOx can be effectively suppressed.

  According to the exhaust emission control device for an engine of the present invention, two controls (first and second NOx reduction control) for reducing NOx stored in the NOx catalyst using different determination values for determining the NOx storage amount. By executing the above, it is possible to effectively suppress the deterioration of fuel consumption caused by NOx reduction of the NOx catalyst.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an engine system to which an engine exhaust gas purification apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an engine exhaust gas purification apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the fuel-injection control by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the post injection amount calculation process for DeNOx by embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing about the relationship between each catalyst temperature of an NOx catalyst and an SCR catalyst, and an exhaust gas purification rate. It is explanatory drawing about the temperature range which performs 1st DeNOx control and 2nd DeNOx control by embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing about the method of changing SCR determination temperature according to the amount of exhaust gas in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the setting process of the 1st DeNOx control execution flag by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the 1st DeNOx control by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the setting process of the 2nd DeNOx control execution flag by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the 2nd DeNOx control by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows DPF regeneration control by embodiment of this invention. It is a time chart which shows the change of NOx occlusion amount when performing DeNOx control by an embodiment of the present invention. It is a time chart which shows the change of various parameters when the 1st DeNOx control by an embodiment of the present invention is performed.

  Hereinafter, an exhaust emission control device for an engine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<System configuration>
First, an engine system to which an exhaust emission control device for an engine according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an engine system to which an engine exhaust gas purification apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the engine system 200 mainly includes an engine E as a diesel engine, an intake system IN that supplies intake air to the engine E, a fuel supply system FS that supplies fuel to the engine E, An exhaust system EX that exhausts exhaust gas from the engine E, sensors 100 to 119 that detect various states relating to the engine system 200, a PCM (Power-train Control Module) 60 that controls the engine system 200, and an SCR catalyst 47 And a DCU (Dosing Control Unit) 70 for performing control related to the above.

First, the intake system IN has an intake passage 1 through which intake air passes, and an air cleaner 3 that purifies air introduced from the outside in order from the upstream side, and intake air that passes through the intake passage 1. The compressor of the turbocharger 5 that compresses and raises the intake pressure, the intercooler 8 that cools the intake air by outside air or cooling water, and the intake shutter valve 7 that adjusts the intake air flow rate (corresponding to a throttle valve) And a surge tank 12 for temporarily storing the intake air supplied to the engine E.
In the intake system IN, an air flow sensor 101 for detecting the intake air amount and a temperature sensor 102 for detecting the intake air temperature are provided on the intake passage 1 immediately downstream of the air cleaner 3. A pressure sensor 103 for detecting the pressure of the intake air is provided. A temperature sensor 106 for detecting the intake air temperature is provided on the intake passage 1 immediately downstream of the intercooler 8. A position sensor 105 for detecting the opening degree is provided, and the surge tank 12 is provided with a pressure sensor 108 for detecting the pressure of intake air in the intake manifold. Various sensors 101 to 108 provided in the intake system IN output detection signals S101 to S108 corresponding to the detected parameters to the PCM 60, respectively.

  Next, the engine E includes an intake valve 15 for introducing the intake air supplied from the intake passage 1 (specifically, an intake manifold) into the combustion chamber 17, a fuel injection valve 20 for injecting fuel toward the combustion chamber 17, A piston 23 that reciprocates by combustion of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 17, a crankshaft 25 that is rotated by reciprocation of the piston 23, and exhaust gas that is generated by combustion of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 17 And an exhaust valve 27 for discharging to 41. Further, the engine E is provided with a crank angle sensor 100 that detects a crank angle as a rotation angle with respect to a top dead center in the crankshaft 25, and the crank angle sensor 100 is provided at the detected crank angle. The corresponding detection signal S100 is output to the PCM 60, and the PCM 60 acquires the engine speed based on the detection signal S100.

  Next, the fuel supply system FS includes a fuel tank 30 for storing fuel, and a fuel supply passage 38 for supplying fuel from the fuel tank 30 to the fuel injection valve 20. In the fuel supply passage 38, a low-pressure fuel pump 31, a high-pressure fuel pump 33, and a common rail 35 are provided in order from the upstream side.

  Next, the exhaust system EX has an exhaust passage 41 through which exhaust gas passes. A turbo that is rotated by the exhaust gas passing through the exhaust passage 41 and drives the compressor as described above by this rotation. A turbine of the supercharger 5 is provided. Further, on the exhaust passage 41 on the downstream side of the turbine, NOx catalyst 45 for purifying NOx in the exhaust gas and particulate matter (PM) in the exhaust gas are collected in order from the upstream side. A diesel particulate filter (DPF) 46, a urea injector 51 for injecting urea into the exhaust passage 41 downstream of the DPF 46, and urea injected from the urea injector 51 are hydrolyzed to generate ammonia. SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) catalyst 47 for purifying NOx by reacting (reducing) this NOx with NOx in the exhaust gas, and slip catalyst 48 for oxidizing and purifying unreacted ammonia discharged from SCR catalyst 47 And are provided. The urea injector 51 is controlled to inject urea into the exhaust passage 41 by a control signal S51 supplied from the DCU 70.

  Here, the NOx catalyst 45 will be described more specifically. The NOx catalyst 45 occludes NOx in the exhaust gas in a lean state (λ> 1) in which the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is larger than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. This is a NOx storage reduction catalyst (NSC) that reduces in the vicinity (λ≈1) or in a rich state (λ <1) smaller than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. The NOx catalyst 45 not only functions as this NSC, but also oxidizes hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), etc. using oxygen in the exhaust gas to change them into water and carbon dioxide. It is comprised so that it may also have a function as a catalyst (DOC: Diesel Oxidation Catalyst). Specifically, the NOx catalyst 45 is made by coating the surface of a DOC catalyst material layer with an NSC catalyst material.

In the exhaust system EX, a pressure sensor 109 for detecting the pressure of the exhaust gas and a temperature sensor 110 for detecting the temperature of the exhaust gas are provided on the exhaust passage 41 upstream of the turbine of the turbocharger 5. An O ₂ sensor 111 for detecting the oxygen concentration is provided on the exhaust passage 41 immediately downstream of the turbine of the turbocharger 5. Further, the exhaust system EX includes a temperature sensor 112 for detecting the temperature of the exhaust gas immediately upstream of the NOx catalyst 45, a temperature sensor 113 for detecting the temperature of the exhaust gas between the NOx catalyst 45 and the DPF 46, and the DPF 46. Differential pressure sensor 114 for detecting the pressure difference between the exhaust gas immediately upstream and the downstream side, a temperature sensor 115 for detecting the temperature of the exhaust gas immediately downstream of the DPF 46, and the exhaust gas immediately downstream of the DPF 46 NOx sensor 116 for detecting the concentration of NOx in the exhaust gas, temperature sensor 117 for detecting the temperature of the exhaust gas immediately upstream of the SCR catalyst 47, and the concentration of NOx in the exhaust gas immediately downstream of the SCR catalyst 47 And a PM sensor 119 for detecting PM in the exhaust gas immediately upstream of the slip catalyst 48. Various sensor sensors 109 to 119 provided in the exhaust system EX output detection signals S109 to S119 corresponding to the detected parameters to the PCM 60, respectively.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the turbocharger 5 is configured as a two-stage supercharging system that can efficiently obtain high supercharging throughout the entire range from a low rotation range to a high rotation range where the exhaust energy is low. That is, the turbocharger 5 includes a large turbocharger 5a for supercharging a large amount of air in a high rotation range, a small turbocharger 5b capable of efficiently supercharging with low exhaust energy, and a compressor of the small turbocharger 5b. A compressor bypass valve 5c for controlling the flow of intake air to the turbine, a regulator valve 5d for controlling the flow of exhaust gas to the turbine of the small turbocharger 5b, and a waste gate for controlling the flow of exhaust gas to the turbine of the large turbocharger 5a A valve 5e is provided, and the supercharging by the large turbocharger 5a and the small turbocharger 5b is switched by driving each valve according to the operating state (engine speed and load) of the engine E.

  The engine system 200 according to the present embodiment further includes an EGR device 43. The EGR device 43 connects the exhaust passage 41 upstream of the turbine of the turbocharger 5 and the intake passage 1 downstream of the compressor of the turbocharger 5 (specifically, downstream of the intercooler 8). The passage 43a, the EGR cooler 43b that cools the exhaust gas that passes through the EGR passage 43a, the first EGR valve 43c that adjusts the flow rate of the exhaust gas that passes through the EGR passage 43a, and the EGR cooler 43b are bypassed to flow the exhaust gas. For this purpose, an EGR cooler bypass passage 43d and a second EGR valve 43e for switching between exhaust gas inflow and shutoff to the EGR cooler bypass passage 43d are provided. Basically, the exhaust gas amount (EGR gas amount) recirculated to the intake system IN by the EGR device 43 is created by the exhaust pressure on the turbine upstream side of the turbocharger 5 and the opening degree of the intake shutter valve 7. It is generally determined by the intake pressure and the opening degree of the first EGR valve 43c.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the electrical configuration of the exhaust emission control device for an engine according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the engine exhaust gas purification apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In addition to the detection signals S100 to S119 of the various sensors 100 to 119 described above, the PCM 60 according to the embodiment of the present invention detects an accelerator opening sensor 150 that detects an accelerator pedal opening (accelerator opening), and a vehicle speed. Based on the detection signals S150 and S151 output from each of the vehicle speed sensors 151, the control signal S20 is mainly output to control the fuel injection valve 20, and the control signal S7 is controlled to control the intake shutter valve 7. Output.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, the PCM 60 sets the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas from the fuel injection valve 20 so as to set the target air-fuel ratio (specifically, near the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or a predetermined air-fuel ratio smaller than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio). Control for reducing the NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst 45 by performing post injection is performed. That is, the PCM 60 adds to the main injection that injects fuel into the cylinders in order to output the engine torque according to the driver's accelerator operation (basically, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas becomes lean in the main injection). After this main injection, post injection is performed to inject fuel at a timing that does not contribute to engine torque output (typically the expansion stroke), and the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is The NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst 45 is reduced so as to be set to a state close to the theoretical air-fuel ratio (λ≈1) or a rich state smaller than the theoretical air-fuel ratio (λ <1). Hereinafter, the control for reducing the NOx stored in the NOx catalyst 45 is referred to as “DeNOx control”. Note that “De” in the word “DeNOx” is a prefix meaning separation or removal.

  Although details will be described later, the PCM 60 functions as “exhaust gas state determination means”, “NOx reduction control means” and the like in the present invention.

  The PCM 60 stores a CPU, various programs interpreted and executed on the CPU (including a basic control program such as an OS and an application program that is activated on the OS and realizes a specific function), programs, and various data. It is configured by a computer having an internal memory such as a ROM or RAM for storing.

<Fuel injection control>
Next, the fuel injection control according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart (fuel injection control flow) showing the fuel injection control according to the embodiment of the present invention. This fuel injection control flow is started when the ignition of the vehicle is turned on and the PCM 60 is turned on, and is repeatedly executed at a predetermined cycle.

  First, in step S101, the PCM 60 acquires the driving state of the vehicle. Specifically, the PCM 60 is currently set to at least the accelerator opening detected by the accelerator opening sensor 150, the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 151, the crank angle detected by the crank angle sensor 100, and the transmission of the vehicle. Get the gear position.

  Next, in step S102, the PCM 60 sets a target acceleration based on the driving state of the vehicle including the operation of the accelerator pedal acquired in step S101. Specifically, the PCM 60 determines the acceleration corresponding to the current vehicle speed and gear stage from acceleration characteristic maps (created in advance and stored in a memory or the like) defined for various vehicle speeds and various gear stages. A characteristic map is selected, and a target acceleration corresponding to the current accelerator opening is determined with reference to the selected acceleration characteristic map.

  Next, in step S103, the PCM 60 determines a target torque of the engine E for realizing the target acceleration determined in step S102. In this case, the PCM 60 determines a target torque within the range of torque that can be output by the engine E based on the current vehicle speed, gear stage, road surface gradient, road surface μ, and the like.

  Next, in step S104, the PCM 60 calculates the fuel injection amount to be injected from the fuel injection valve 20 based on the target torque and the engine speed so as to output the target torque determined in step S103 from the engine E. . This fuel injection amount is a fuel injection amount (main injection amount) applied in main injection.

  On the other hand, in parallel with the processing of steps S102 to S104 described above, in step S105, the PCM 60 sets a fuel injection pattern according to the operating state of the engine E. Specifically, when performing the above-described DeNOx control, the PCM 60 sets a fuel injection pattern for performing at least post injection in addition to main injection. In this case, the PCM 60 also determines the fuel injection amount (post injection amount) to be applied in the post injection. A method of obtaining the post injection amount will be described in detail later in FIG.

  After steps S104 and S105, the process proceeds to step S106, and the PCM 60 is based on the main injection amount calculated in step S104 and the fuel injection pattern set in step S105 (including the post injection amount when performing post injection). The fuel injection valve 20 is controlled. That is, the PCM 60 controls the fuel injection valve 20 so that a desired amount of fuel is injected in a desired fuel injection pattern.

  Next, a method for calculating the post injection amount (hereinafter referred to as “DeNOx post injection amount”) applied during DeNOx control in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a flowchart (DeNOx post injection amount calculation flow) showing the DeNOx post injection amount calculation processing according to the embodiment of the present invention. This DeNOx post-injection amount calculation flow is repeatedly executed by the PCM 60 at a predetermined cycle, and is executed in parallel with the fuel injection control flow shown in FIG. That is, while the fuel injection control is being performed, the post injection amount for DeNOx is calculated as needed.

First, in step S201, the PCM 60 acquires the operating state of the engine E. Specifically, the PCM 60 determines at least the intake air amount (fresh air amount) detected by the air flow sensor 101, the oxygen concentration of the exhaust gas detected by the O ₂ sensor 111, and the main calculated in step S104 of FIG. Get the injection amount. In addition, the PCM 60 also obtains an exhaust gas amount (EGR gas amount) recirculated to the intake system IN by the EGR device 43, which is obtained by a predetermined model or the like.

  Next, in step S202, the PCM 60 calculates the amount of air (that is, the filling amount) introduced into the engine E based on the fresh air amount and the EGR gas amount acquired in step S201. In step S203, the PCM 60 calculates the oxygen concentration of the air introduced into the engine E from the filling amount calculated in step S202.

Next, in step S204, the PCM 60 performs post-injection in addition to main injection, so that the NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst 45 is reduced, so that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is near or below the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. A post injection amount (DeNOx post injection amount) necessary to set the air-fuel ratio is calculated. That is, the PCM 60 determines how much post injection amount should be applied in addition to the main injection amount in order to set the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air-fuel ratio. In this case, the PCM 60 considers the difference between the oxygen concentration acquired in step S201 (the oxygen concentration detected by the O ₂ sensor 111) and the oxygen concentration calculated in step S203, and determines the post-injection amount for DeNOx. calculate. Specifically, the PCM 60 appropriately performs feedback processing according to the difference between the detected oxygen concentration and the calculated oxygen concentration from the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas generated when the main injected fuel is burned. Then, the post-injection amount for DeNOx for setting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air-fuel ratio is calculated. By calculating the post-injection amount for DeNOx in this way, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is accurately set to the target air-fuel ratio by post-injection in DeNOx control, and NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst 45 is reliably reduced. I am doing so.

<DeNOx control>
Hereinafter, DeNOx control according to the embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described.

(Basic concept)
First, the basic concept of DeNOx control according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  In this embodiment, the PCM 60 reduces the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to a predetermined value or less when the fuel injection amount (main injection amount) for outputting the target torque according to the accelerator operation is injected from the fuel injection valve 20. In such a case, in order to reduce NOx stored in the NOx catalyst 45, DeNOx control in which post-injection is performed from the fuel injection valve 20 so that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas becomes the target air-fuel ratio (“first NOx reduction in the present invention”). In the following, it is referred to as “first DeNOx control” as appropriate. Typically, the exhaust gas air-fuel ratio decreases to a predetermined value or less during acceleration such that the target torque is equal to or greater than the predetermined torque, and the PCM 60 performs the first DeNOx control during such acceleration. In this way, the air-fuel ratio is made close to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or the target air-fuel ratio below the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio by taking advantage of the situation where the main injection amount increases during acceleration and the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas decreases. Post-injection is performed to execute DeNOx control. As a result, the post-injection amount for achieving the target air-fuel ratio becomes smaller than when DeNOx is performed in a situation where the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas does not decrease. In the present embodiment, by performing such first DeNOx control, the NOx purification performance of the NOx catalyst 45 is ensured by efficiently performing DeNOx while suppressing deterioration in fuel consumption due to DeNOx.

  However, in the present embodiment, the PCM 60 determines that the post-injection amount for DeNOx calculated as described above is a predetermined amount (the first number) even when the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is reduced to a predetermined value or less due to the main injection. If it is equal to or greater than (one post injection amount determination value), execution of the first DeNOx control is prohibited. In this way, oil dilution due to post injection is suppressed. From this point of view, the first post-injection amount determination value is a post-injection amount that is highly likely to cause oil dilution. When the calculated DeNOx post injection amount is equal to or greater than the first post injection amount determination value, the DeNOx post injection amount is limited by the first post injection amount determination value, that is, the DeNOx post injection amount is the first post injection amount. It is conceivable to perform the first DeNOx control by applying the one-post injection amount determination value. However, in such a case, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas cannot be set to the target air-fuel ratio, and wasteful fuel consumption occurs. Therefore, the PCM 60 determines that the post-injection amount for DeNOx is the first post-injection amount determination value. In the above case, the execution of the first DeNOx control is uniformly prohibited.

  On the other hand, the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 is not less than a predetermined amount (second occlusion amount determination value) even if the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is not reduced to a predetermined value or less. In this case, for example, when the NOx occlusion amount is near the limit, the PCM 60 performs fuel injection so that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas becomes the target air-fuel ratio in order to reduce the NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst 45 to almost zero. DeNOx control for post-injection from the valve 20 (corresponding to “second NOx reduction control” in the present invention, hereinafter referred to as “second DeNOx control” as appropriate) is executed. By so doing, NOx stored in the NOx catalyst 45 in a large amount is forcibly reduced, and the NOx purification performance of the NOx catalyst 45 is reliably ensured.

  In addition, the PCM 60 executes the first DeNOx control only when the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 is equal to or larger than a predetermined amount (first occlusion amount determination value), as in the second DeNOx control. In this case, the first storage amount determination value is set to a value smaller than the second storage amount determination value used in the second DeNOx control. By performing the first DeNOx control using such a first storage amount determination value, it is possible to suppress the first DeNOx control from being performed wastefully even though the NOx storage amount of the NOx catalyst 45 is small, and the second DeNOx. The first DeNOx control is performed more frequently than the control. Since the first DeNOx control is performed only during a short period of time during which the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas temporarily decreases as in acceleration, the first DeNOx control is executed as much as possible when NOx is occluded to some extent in the NOx catalyst 45. I try to do it. By doing so, the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 is reduced as much as possible, that is, the NOx occlusion amount does not reach the limit, and the execution frequency of the second DeNOx control, which is worse in fuel efficiency than the first DeNOx control, is reduced. The fuel consumption deterioration caused by DeNOx is improved.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, when the amount of PM collected in the DPF 46 exceeds a predetermined amount, the PCM 60 burns and removes the PM collected in the DPF 46, that is, performs DPF regeneration. In addition, a control for post injection from the fuel injection valve 20 (hereinafter referred to as “DPF regeneration control”) is performed. The unburned fuel thus post-injected reacts in the DOC in the NOx catalyst 45, and the PM collected in the DPF 46 is burned and removed by the reaction heat. Basically, in the DPF regeneration control, the PCM 60 secures the heat of reaction at the DOC in the NOx catalyst 45 and secures the amount of oxygen supplied to the DPF 46 so that the DPF regeneration is performed efficiently. Then, post-injection is performed so that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas decreases to a predetermined air-fuel ratio on the lean side.
When performing such DPF regeneration control, in this embodiment, the PCM 60 prohibits the execution of both the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control described above. During DeNOx, post-injection causes the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to be close to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or to be richer. Therefore, when DeNOx control is performed during DPF regeneration control, the heat of reaction at the DOC in the NOx catalyst 45 and the oxygen supplied to the DPF 46 If the amount is not adequately secured, the time required for DPF regeneration becomes long. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when performing DPF regeneration control, DeNOx control is prohibited, and DPF regeneration is preferentially executed to suppress the delay of DPF regeneration.

  Further, in this embodiment, the PCM 60 is based on the temperature of the NOx catalyst 45 (hereinafter referred to as “NOx catalyst temperature”) and the temperature of the SCR catalyst 47 (hereinafter referred to as “SCR temperature”). 1DeNOx control and second DeNOx control are performed. That is, in this embodiment, the temperature ranges for performing the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control are respectively defined based on the NOx catalyst temperature and the SCR temperature. This will be specifically described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the catalyst temperature (horizontal axis) and the exhaust purification rate (vertical axis). Specifically, the graph G11 shows the relationship between the NOx catalyst temperature and the NOx purification rate by the NOx catalyst 45, and the graph G12 shows the relationship between the SCR temperature and the NOx purification rate by the SCR catalyst 47. The range indicated by the symbol R11 indicates a temperature range in which the NOx catalyst 45 can obtain a NOx purification rate equal to or higher than a predetermined value according to the NOx purification characteristics of the NOx catalyst 45 as shown in the graph G11. The range indicated by the symbol R12 is The temperature range in which the SCR catalyst 47 obtains a NOx purification rate equal to or higher than a predetermined value according to the NOx purification characteristics of the SCR catalyst 47 as shown in the graph G12 is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the NOx catalyst 45 exhibits NOx purification performance in a relatively low temperature range, and the SCR catalyst 47 exhibits NOx purification performance in a relatively high temperature range. Therefore, NOx in the exhaust gas is purified by the NOx catalyst 45 when the exhaust gas is in a relatively low temperature region, and NOx in the exhaust gas is purified by the SCR catalyst 47 when the exhaust gas is in a relatively high temperature region. It is better to purify.

  Here, in the present embodiment, temperatures T11, T12, and T13 as shown in FIG. 5 are used (T11 <T12 <T13) to define temperature ranges for performing the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control, respectively. Specifically, the temperature T11 is a temperature that is at least included in the activation temperature range of the SCR catalyst 47, and corresponds to, for example, a lower boundary value of the temperature range R12 in which the SCR catalyst 47 can obtain a predetermined or higher NOx purification rate. . Further, the temperature T12 corresponds to a temperature at which the NOx purification performance by the NOx catalyst 45 is hardly exhibited, and the temperature T13 corresponds to a temperature at which thermal degradation of the NOx catalyst 45 may occur when DeNOx is performed at the temperature. To do. Hereinafter, the temperature T13 is appropriately referred to as “first NOx catalyst determination temperature”, the temperature T12 is appropriately referred to as “second NOx catalyst determination temperature”, and the temperature T11 is appropriately referred to as “SCR determination temperature”.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a temperature range in which the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control are applied in the embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 6 shows the NOx catalyst temperature on the horizontal axis and the SCR temperature on the vertical axis. In FIG. 6, the range indicated by reference numeral R <b> 21 is defined by the second NOx catalyst determination temperature T <b> 12 according to the NOx purification performance by the NOx catalyst 45 and the SCR determination temperature T <b> 11 according to the activation temperature range of the SCR catalyst 47. The temperature range which performs 2nd DeNOx control is shown. Further, the range indicated by the reference symbol R22 executes the first DeNOx control defined by the first NOx catalyst determination temperature T13 determined in consideration of the thermal deterioration of the NOx catalyst 45 by the DeNOx control and the SCR determination temperature T11. Shows the temperature range.

  As shown in the temperature ranges R21 and R23, in the present embodiment, the PCM 60 executes the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control only when the SCR temperature is lower than the SCR determination temperature T11, and the SCR temperature becomes the SCR determination temperature T11. In the above case, the execution of the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control is prohibited. This is because when the SCR temperature is equal to or higher than the SCR determination temperature T11, NOx in the exhaust gas can be appropriately purified by the SCR catalyst 47, so that the NOx purification performance by the NOx catalyst 45 should be ensured. This is because there is no need to perform DeNOx control. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the SCR temperature is equal to or higher than the SCR determination temperature T11, execution of the DeNOx control is prohibited, and deterioration in fuel consumption caused by the execution of the DeNOx control is suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, the PCM 60 executes the second DeNOx control only when the NOx catalyst temperature is lower than the second NOx catalyst determination temperature T12, and when the NOx catalyst temperature is equal to or higher than the second NOx catalyst determination temperature T12. Is prohibited from executing. On the other hand, the PCM 60 permits the execution of the first DeNOx control even when the NOx catalyst temperature is equal to or higher than the second NOx catalyst determination temperature T12, and the NOx catalyst temperature is higher than the second NOx catalyst determination temperature T12. Execution is prohibited when the temperature reaches the determination temperature T13 or higher. In this way, the temperature range R12 for executing the first DeNOx control is expanded to be larger than the temperature range R11 for executing the second DeNOx control, and the first DeNOx control is performed more frequently than the second DeNOx control. Thereby, the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 is reduced as much as possible by the first DeNOx control, and the execution frequency of the second DeNOx control in which the fuel consumption is worse than that of the first DeNOx control is reduced, so that the fuel consumption deterioration caused by DeNOx is improved. I am doing so. Note that the first NOx catalyst determination temperature T13 is a temperature at which thermal degradation of the NOx catalyst 45 may occur if DeNOx control is performed at that temperature, but the first DeNOx control is performed only in a short period of time such as during acceleration. Therefore, even if the first DeNOx control is performed in the vicinity of the second NOx catalyst determination temperature T13, the NOx catalyst 45 does not thermally deteriorate.

  Next, a method of changing the SCR determination temperature T11 according to the exhaust gas amount in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows the NOx catalyst temperature on the horizontal axis and the SCR temperature on the vertical axis. 7 that have the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 6 have the same meaning as in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in this embodiment, as the exhaust gas amount increases, the PCM 60 changes the SCR determination temperature T11 to a higher temperature as shown by the arrow A1, and widens the temperature range R22 for performing the first DeNOx control ( The broken line region R22a corresponds to a portion where the temperature range R22 is expanded). For example, the SCR determination temperature T11 is linearly changed according to the exhaust gas amount. This is because the NOx purification rate of the SCR catalyst 47 decreases as the amount of exhaust gas increases, so that in the operation state where the amount of exhaust gas is large, the first DeNOx control is performed in order to appropriately purify NOx using the NOx catalyst 45. The temperature range R22 is expanded to ensure the NOx purification performance of the NOx catalyst 45.

  Hereinafter, the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control according to the embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described.

(First DeNOx control)
First, the first DeNOx control according to the embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart (first DeNOx control execution flag setting flow) showing a setting process of a first DeNOx control execution flag used for determining whether or not the first DeNOx control is required to be executed according to the embodiment of the present invention. This first DeNOx control execution flag setting flow is repeatedly executed by the PCM 60 at a predetermined period, and is executed in parallel with the fuel injection control flow shown in FIG. 3 and the DeNOx post injection amount calculation flow shown in FIG. The

  First, in step S301, the PCM 60 acquires various information on the vehicle. Specifically, the PCM 60 calculates at least the NOx catalyst temperature, the SCR temperature, the target torque determined by the fuel injection control flow shown in FIG. 3, and the DeNOx post injection amount calculation flow shown in FIG. The obtained post-injection amount for DeNOx, the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45, and the value of the second DeNOx control execution flag used for determining whether the second DeNOx control needs to be executed are acquired. In this case, the NOx catalyst temperature is estimated based on, for example, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 112 provided immediately upstream of the NOx catalyst 45 (a temperature sensor provided between the NOx catalyst 45 and the DPF 46). The temperature detected by 113 may also be used). The SCR temperature is estimated based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 117 provided immediately upstream of the SCR catalyst 47, for example. Further, the NOx occlusion amount is obtained by, for example, estimating the NOx amount in the exhaust gas based on the operating state of the engine E, the flow rate of the exhaust gas, the temperature of the exhaust gas, and the like, and integrating this NOx amount. It is done. Further, the second DeNOx control execution flag is set in a second DeNOx control execution flag setting flow (see FIG. 10) described later.

Next, in step S302, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the SCR temperature acquired in step S301 is less than the SCR determination temperature T11, or whether or not the exhaust gas flow rate is greater than or equal to a predetermined amount. As a result of this determination, when the SCR temperature is lower than the SCR determination temperature T11 or when the exhaust gas flow rate is equal to or higher than a predetermined amount (step S302: Yes), the process proceeds to step S303. On the other hand, when the SCR temperature is equal to or higher than the SCR determination temperature T11 and the exhaust gas flow rate is less than the predetermined amount (step S302: No), the process proceeds to step S310. In this case, since the NOx in the exhaust gas can be appropriately purified by the SCR catalyst 47, the PCM 60 sets the first DeNOx control execution flag to “0” in order to prohibit the execution of the first DeNOx control ( Step S310). Then, the process ends.
In step S302, even if the SCR temperature is equal to or higher than the SCR determination temperature T11, if it is determined that the exhaust gas flow rate is equal to or higher than the predetermined amount, the process proceeds to step S310 and the first DeNOx control execution flag is set to “0”. However, this is intended to ensure the NOx purification performance of the NOx catalyst 45 by performing the first DeNOx control in consideration of the decrease in the NOx purification rate of the SCR catalyst 47 as the exhaust gas amount increases. is there. Therefore, when the exhaust gas flow rate is equal to or greater than the predetermined amount, it corresponds to determining the SCR temperature by substantially changing the SCR determination temperature T11 to a high temperature.

  Next, in step S303, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the NOx catalyst temperature acquired in step S301 is lower than the first NOx catalyst determination temperature T13. As a result of this determination, when the NOx catalyst temperature is lower than the first NOx catalyst determination temperature T13 (step S303: Yes), the process proceeds to step S304. On the other hand, when the NOx catalyst temperature is equal to or higher than the first NOx catalyst determination temperature T13 (step S303: No), the process proceeds to step S310. In this case, the PCM 60 prohibits the execution of the first DeNOx control and sets the first DeNOx control execution flag to “0” in order to suppress the thermal deterioration of the NOx catalyst 45 due to the execution of the first DeNOx control ( Step S310). Then, the process ends.

  Next, in step S304, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the target torque acquired in step S301 is equal to or greater than a predetermined torque. This determination corresponds to determining whether or not the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas when the fuel corresponding to the target torque is injected is lowered to a predetermined value or less. In other words, this corresponds to determining whether or not the driving state is such that the first DeNOx control can be executed while suppressing deterioration in fuel consumption and the like. As a result of the determination in step S304, when the target torque is equal to or greater than the predetermined torque (step S304: Yes), typically, when acceleration is being performed, the process proceeds to step S305. On the other hand, when the target torque is less than the predetermined torque (step S304: No), the process proceeds to step S310. In this case, the PCM 60 prohibits the execution of the first DeNOx control, and sets the first DeNOx control execution flag to “0” in order to suppress deterioration in fuel consumption caused by the execution of the first DeNOx control (step S310). . Then, the process ends.

  Next, in step S305, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the DPF regeneration control for burning and removing the PM collected by the DPF 46 is in progress. If the result of this determination is that DPF regeneration control is not in progress (step S305: Yes), processing proceeds to step S306. On the other hand, when the DPF regeneration control is being performed (step S305: No), the process proceeds to step S310. In this case, the PCM 60 prohibits the execution of the first DeNOx control and sets the first DeNOx control execution flag to “0” in order to suppress the delay of the DPF regeneration caused by the execution of the first DeNOx control (step S310). ). Then, the process ends.

  Next, in step S306, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the NOx storage amount acquired in step S301 is greater than or equal to the first storage amount determination value. For example, the first storage amount determination value is set to a value that is approximately half the limit value of the NOx storage amount. As a result of this determination, when the NOx storage amount is equal to or greater than the first storage amount determination value (step S306: Yes), the process proceeds to step S307. On the other hand, when the NOx storage amount is less than the first storage amount determination value (step S306: No), the process proceeds to step S310. In this case, the PCM 60 prohibits execution of useless first DeNOx control and sets the first DeNOx control execution flag to “0” in order to suppress deterioration in fuel consumption caused by execution of the first DeNOx control (step S310). ). Then, the process ends.

  Next, in step S307, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the second DeNOx control execution flag acquired in step S301 is “0”. That is, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the second DeNOx control should be executed. As a result of this determination, when the second DeNOx control execution flag is “0” (step S307: Yes), the process proceeds to step S308. On the other hand, when the second DeNOx control execution flag is not “0”, that is, when it is “1” (step S307: No), the process proceeds to step S310. In this case, the PCM 60 prohibits the execution of the first DeNOx control and sets the first DeNOx control execution flag to “0” in order to preferentially execute the second DeNOx control (step S310). That is, even if the execution condition for the first DeNOx control is satisfied, the second DeNOx control is executed with priority when the execution condition for the second DeNOx control is satisfied. Then, the process ends.

  Next, in step S308, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the DeNOx post injection amount acquired in step S301 is less than the first post injection amount determination value. As a result of the determination, when the DeNOx post injection amount is less than the first post injection amount determination value (step S308: Yes), the process proceeds to step S309. In this case, since all of the above-described conditions of steps S302 to S308 are satisfied, the PCM 60 sets the first DeNOx control execution flag to “1” in order to permit execution of the first DeNOx control (step S309). Then, the process ends. On the other hand, when the DeNOx post injection amount is equal to or greater than the first post injection amount determination value (step S308: No), the process proceeds to step S310. In this case, the PCM 60 prohibits the execution of the first DeNOx control and sets the first DeNOx control execution flag to “0” in order to suppress oil dilution due to the post injection of the first DeNOx control (step S310). Then, the process ends.

Note that the first post-injection amount determination value used in the determination of step S308 is set based on the post-injection amount that is highly likely to cause oil dilution in the section “Basic Concept” above. The first post-injection amount determination value may be set from the viewpoint of suppressing not only oil dilution but also deterioration in fuel consumption caused by the execution of the first DeNOx control. In such a case, it is determined in step S308 whether or not the DeNOx post-injection amount is less than the first post-injection amount determination value because the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas when the fuel corresponding to the target torque is injected is predetermined. This is equivalent to determining whether or not the value drops to a value or less. In other words, it is almost synonymous with determining whether or not the target torque in step S304 is equal to or greater than a predetermined torque. For this reason, the determination in step S304 and the determination in step S308 overlap. For example, only the determination in step S308 may be performed without performing the determination in step S304, and the first DeNOx control execution flag may be set.
The first post injection amount determination value is not limited to a fixed value, and the first post injection amount determination value may be changed according to the in-cylinder temperature. Specifically, the first post injection amount determination value may be changed to a larger value as the in-cylinder temperature becomes higher. When the in-cylinder temperature rises, the post-injected fuel is vaporized and oil dilution is less likely to occur. Therefore, the restriction on the DeNOx post-injection amount in performing the first DeNOx control may be relaxed, that is, the DeNOx post What is necessary is just to enlarge the upper limit of the injection amount.

  Next, FIG. 9 is a flowchart (first DeNOx control flow) showing the first DeNOx control according to the embodiment of the present invention, which is executed based on the first DeNOx control execution flag set as described above. This first DeNOx control flow is repeatedly executed by the PCM 60 at a predetermined cycle, and the fuel injection control flow shown in FIG. 3, the DeNOx post injection amount calculation flow shown in FIG. 4, and the first DeNOx control shown in FIG. It is executed in parallel with the execution flag setting flow.

  First, in step S401, the PCM 60 acquires various information on the vehicle. Specifically, the PCM 60 at least sets the DeNOx post-injection amount calculated in the DeNOx post-injection amount calculation flow shown in FIG. 4 and the first DeNOx control execution flag setting flow shown in FIG. 1DeNOx control execution flag value is acquired.

  Next, in step S402, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the first DeNOx control execution flag acquired in step S401 is “1”. That is, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the first DeNOx control is to be executed. As a result of this determination, when the first DeNOx control execution flag is “1” (step S402: Yes), the process proceeds to step S403 to execute the first DeNOx control. On the other hand, when the first DeNOx control execution flag is “0” (step S402: No), the process ends without executing the first DeNOx control.

  Next, in step S403, the PCM 60 controls the fuel injection valve 20 to post-inject the DeNOx post injection amount acquired in step S401. Actually, the PCM 60 executes the process of step S403 in step S106 of the fuel injection control flow shown in FIG. Then, the process proceeds to step S404.

  Next, in step S404, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the first DeNOx control execution flag has become “0”. That is, the PCM 60 determines whether or not to end the first DeNOx control. As a result of this determination, when the first DeNOx control execution flag becomes “0” (step S404: Yes), the process ends. In this case, the PCM 60 ends the first DeNOx control. On the other hand, when the first DeNOx control execution flag is not “0” (step S404: No), that is, when the first DeNOx control execution flag is maintained at “1”, the process returns to step S403. In this case, the PCM 60 continues the first DeNOx control. That is, the PCM 60 continues the first DeNOx control until the first DeNOx control execution flag is switched from “1” to “0”.

(Second DeNOx control)
Next, the second DeNOx control according to the embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart (second DeNOx control execution flag setting flow) showing a setting process of a second DeNOx control execution flag used for determining whether or not the second DeNOx control needs to be executed according to the embodiment of the present invention. The second DeNOx control execution flag setting flow is repeatedly executed by the PCM 60 at a predetermined cycle, and the fuel injection control flow shown in FIG. 3, the DeNOx post injection amount calculation flow shown in FIG. 4, and the flow shown in FIG. It is executed in parallel with the first DeNOx control execution flag setting flow or the like.

  First, in step S501, the PCM 60 acquires various information on the vehicle. Specifically, the PCM 60 acquires at least the NOx catalyst temperature, the SCR temperature, and the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45. Note that the method for obtaining the NOx catalyst temperature, the SCR temperature, and the NOx occlusion amount is as described in the description of step S301 in the section of “First DeNOx control”.

  Next, in step S502, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the SCR temperature acquired in step S501 is lower than the SCR determination temperature T11. As a result of this determination, when the SCR temperature is lower than the SCR determination temperature T11 (step S502: Yes), the process proceeds to step S503. On the other hand, when the SCR temperature is equal to or higher than the SCR determination temperature T11 (step S502: No), the process proceeds to step S508. In this case, since the NOx in the exhaust gas can be appropriately purified by the SCR catalyst 47, the PCM 60 sets the second DeNOx control execution flag to “0” in order to prohibit the execution of the second DeNOx control ( Step S508). Then, the process ends.

  Next, in step S503, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the NOx catalyst temperature acquired in step S501 is lower than the second NOx catalyst determination temperature T12. As a result of this determination, when the NOx catalyst temperature is lower than the second NOx catalyst determination temperature T12 (step S503: Yes), the process proceeds to step S504. On the other hand, when the NOx catalyst temperature is equal to or higher than the second NOx catalyst determination temperature T12 (step S503: No), the process proceeds to step S508. In this case, the PCM 60 sets the second DeNOx control execution flag to “0” to prohibit execution of the second DeNOx control (step S508). By doing so, the second DeNOx control is performed for a relatively long time, and the NOx catalyst temperature reaches the first NOx catalyst determination temperature T11 to reliably prevent the NOx catalyst 45 from being thermally deteriorated. Then, the process ends.

  Next, in step S504, the PCM 60 determines whether or not DPF regeneration control is being performed. If the result of this determination is that DPF regeneration control is not in progress (step S504: Yes), processing proceeds to step S505. On the other hand, when the DPF regeneration control is being performed (step S504: No), the process proceeds to step S508. In this case, the PCM 60 prohibits the execution of the second DeNOx control and sets the second DeNOx control execution flag to “0” in order to suppress the delay of the DPF regeneration caused by the execution of the second DeNOx control (step S508). ). Then, the process ends.

  Next, in step S505, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the current state is a state immediately after the start of the engine E. For example, the PCM 60 determines that the current state is a state immediately after the start of the engine E when the engine water temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, or when the elapsed time since the ignition is turned on is equal to or shorter than a predetermined time. To do. As a result of the determination in step S505, when the current state is a state immediately after the start of the engine E (step S505: Yes), the process proceeds to step S506. In this case, the PCM 60 sets the second DeNOx control execution flag to “1” in order to permit execution of the second DeNOx control (step S506). In this way, the second DeNOx control is forcibly executed when the engine is started, and the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 is made almost zero, so that the NOx purification rate of the subsequent NOx catalyst 45 is secured and the emission is improved. I will let you.

  On the other hand, when the current state is not the state immediately after the start of the engine E (step S505: No), the process proceeds to step S507. In step S507, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the NOx storage amount acquired in step S501 is greater than or equal to the second storage amount determination value. For example, the second storage amount determination value is set to a value near the limit value of the NOx storage amount. As a result of this determination, when the NOx storage amount is equal to or greater than the second storage amount determination value (step S507: Yes), the process proceeds to step S506. In this case, the PCM 60 sets the second DeNOx control execution flag to “1” in order to permit execution of the second DeNOx control (step S506). In this way, the second DeNOx control is executed to forcibly reduce the NOx occluded in a large amount in the NOx catalyst 45, thereby ensuring the NOx purification performance of the NOx catalyst 45 reliably. On the other hand, when the NOx storage amount is less than the second storage amount determination value (step S507: No), the process proceeds to step S508. In this case, the PCM 60 sets the second DeNOx control execution flag to “0” in order to inhibit the unnecessary execution of the second DeNOx control and suppress the deterioration of the fuel consumption caused by the execution of the second DeNOx control. S508). Then, the process ends.

  Next, FIG. 11 is a flowchart (second DeNOx control flow) showing the second DeNOx control according to the embodiment of the present invention, which is executed based on the second DeNOx control execution flag set as described above. This second DeNOx control flow is repeatedly executed by the PCM 60 at a predetermined cycle, and the fuel injection control flow shown in FIG. 3, the DeNOx post injection amount calculation flow shown in FIG. 4, and the second DeNOx control shown in FIG. It is executed in parallel with the execution flag setting flow.

  First, in step S601, the PCM 60 acquires various information on the vehicle. Specifically, the PCM 60, at least, the NOx catalyst temperature, the DeNOx post injection amount calculated in the DeNOx post injection amount calculation flow shown in FIG. 4, and the second DeNOx control execution flag setting flow shown in FIG. And the value of the second DeNOx control execution flag set in step.

  Next, in step S602, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the second DeNOx control execution flag acquired in step S601 is “1”. That is, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the second DeNOx control is to be executed. As a result of this determination, when the second DeNOx control execution flag is “1” (step S602: Yes), the process proceeds to step S603. On the other hand, when the second DeNOx control execution flag is “0” (step S602: No), the process ends without executing the second DeNOx control.

  Next, in step S603, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the NOx catalyst temperature acquired in step S601 is lower than a predetermined temperature. In step S603, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the NOx catalyst temperature has reached a predetermined temperature suitable for reducing NOx stored in the NOx catalyst 45. As a result of this determination, if the NOx catalyst temperature is lower than the predetermined temperature (step S603: Yes), the process proceeds to step S604, and the PCM 60 performs control (NOx catalyst temperature increase control) for raising the temperature of the NOx catalyst 45. Run. Specifically, the PCM 60 performs control for post-injecting a relatively small amount of fuel so that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas decreases to a predetermined air-fuel ratio on the lean side as NOx catalyst temperature increase control. In this case, the PCM 60 controls the first EGR valve 43c and the second EGR valve 43e so as to allow the EGR gas to pass through the EGR cooler bypass passage 43d so that the EGR gas recirculated to the intake system IN is not cooled by the EGR cooler 43b. Is good. Further, the PCM 60 may delay the timing of performing the main injection so as to delay the fuel ignition timing. The PCM 60 continues such NOx catalyst temperature increase control until the NOx catalyst temperature becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature. Then, the process proceeds to step S605. On the other hand, when the NOx catalyst temperature is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature (step S603: No), the process proceeds to step S605 without performing the NOx catalyst temperature increase control.

  In step S605, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the DeNOx post injection amount acquired in step S601 is less than the second post injection amount determination value. The second post injection amount determination value is set to a value larger than the first post injection amount determination value used in the first DeNOx control. In this way, it is possible to inject a larger amount of post-injection in the second DeNOx control than in the first DeNOx control, and regardless of the operating state of the engine E (for example, in a situation where the air-fuel ratio decreases during acceleration) If not), the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas can be reliably set to the target air-fuel ratio.

  As a result of the determination in step S605, when the DeNOx post injection amount is less than the second post injection amount determination value (step S605: Yes), the process proceeds to step S606. In step S606, the PCM 60 controls the fuel injection valve 20 so as to post-inject the DeNOx post injection amount acquired in step S601. Actually, the PCM 60 executes the process of step S606 in step S106 of the fuel injection control flow shown in FIG. Then, the process proceeds to step S609.

On the other hand, when the DeNOx post injection amount is equal to or greater than the second post injection amount determination value (step S605: No), the process proceeds to step S607. In step S607, the PCM 60 sets the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas by the post injection amount that does not exceed the second post injection amount determination value (specifically, the second post injection amount determination value itself is applied as the DeNOx post injection amount). In order to set the target air-fuel ratio, control is performed to reduce the oxygen concentration of the air introduced into the engine E. In this case, the PCM 60 executes at least one of the control for driving the intake shutter valve 7 in the valve closing direction, the control for increasing the EGR gas amount, and the control for decreasing the supercharging pressure by the turbocharger 5. Thus, the oxygen concentration of the air introduced into the engine E is reduced, that is, the filling amount is reduced. For example, the PCM 60 obtains the supercharging pressure required to bring the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air-fuel ratio by the DeNOx post-injection amount to which the second post-injection amount determination value is applied, and realizes this supercharging pressure. In addition, the intake shutter valve 7 is controlled to a desired opening on the closing side based on the actual supercharging pressure (pressure detected by the pressure sensor 108) and the EGR gas amount. Then, the process proceeds to step S608.
Note that the intake shutter valve 7 is set to be fully open in the normal operation state of the engine E. On the other hand, at the time of DeNOx, DPF regeneration, idle operation, etc., the intake shutter valve 7 is basically set to a predetermined base opening. In the operation state where EGR gas is not introduced, the intake shutter valve 7 is feedback-controlled based on the supercharging pressure.

  In step S608, the PCM 60 applies the second post injection amount determination value to the DeNOx post injection amount, that is, sets the DeNOx post injection amount to the second post injection amount determination value, and this DeNOx post injection amount. The fuel injection valve 20 is controlled to post-inject fuel. Actually, the PCM 60 executes the process of step S608 in step S106 of the fuel injection control flow shown in FIG. Then, the process proceeds to step S609.

  In step S609, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst has become substantially zero. Specifically, in the PCM 60, the NOx occlusion amount estimated based on the operating state of the engine E, the flow rate of exhaust gas, the temperature of exhaust gas, and the like is almost zero, and the NOx provided immediately downstream of the DPF 46 When the detection value of the sensor 116 changes, it is determined that the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 has become almost zero. When the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 becomes almost zero (step S609: Yes), the process ends. In this case, the PCM 60 ends the second DeNOx control. Further, the PCM 60 resets the NOx occlusion amount used in the second DeNOx control flow and the second DeNOx control execution flag setting flow of FIG. 10 to 0.

  On the other hand, when the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 is not substantially zero (step S609: No), the process returns to step S605. In this case, the PCM 60 continues the second DeNOx control. That is, the PCM 60 continues the second DeNOx control until the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 becomes substantially zero. In particular, even if the execution condition of the second DeNOx control is not satisfied during the second DeNOx control, and the second DeNOx control is stopped, the PCM 60 promptly resumes the second DeNOx control when the execution condition of the second DeNOx control is satisfied. Thus, the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 is made substantially zero. That is, once the second DeNOx control is executed, the PCM 60 does not end the second DeNOx control until the NOx occlusion amount becomes almost zero even if the second DeNOx control is interrupted in the middle.

  Here, the reason why it is possible to determine that the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 has become substantially zero based on the detection value of the NOx sensor 116 is as follows. Since the NOx sensor 116 also has a function as an oxygen concentration sensor, the detected value of the NOx sensor 116 corresponds to the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas supplied to the NOx sensor 116. While the NOx catalyst 45 is being reduced, that is, when the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 is not substantially zero, oxygen produced by the reduction of NOx is supplied to the NOx sensor 116. On the other hand, when the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 becomes substantially zero, oxygen generated by such reduction is not supplied to the NOx sensor 116. Therefore, at the timing when the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 becomes substantially zero, the detected value of the NOx sensor 116 changes as the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas supplied to the NOx sensor 116 decreases.

  Note that the second post injection amount determination value used in the second DeNOx control flow is not limited to a fixed value, and the second post injection amount determination value may be changed according to the in-cylinder temperature. Specifically, in the same way as the first post-injection amount determination value described above, the in-cylinder temperature is reduced in consideration that the fuel in the post-injection is vaporized and oil dilution is less likely to occur as the in-cylinder temperature increases. What is necessary is just to change a 2nd post injection amount determination value to a large value, so that it becomes high.

  In the second DeNOx control flow described above, the NOx catalyst temperature increase control is executed when the NOx catalyst temperature is lower than the predetermined temperature (steps S603 and S604). In other examples, the NOx catalyst temperature is controlled during the second DeNOx control. The temperature increase control need not be executed.

<DPF regeneration control>
Next, the DPF regeneration control according to the embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart (DPF regeneration control flow) showing DPF regeneration control according to the embodiment of the present invention. This DPF regeneration control flow is repeatedly executed by the PCM 60 at a predetermined cycle, and is executed in parallel with the fuel injection control flow shown in FIG.

  First, in step S701, the PCM 60 acquires various information on the vehicle. Specifically, the PCM 60 acquires at least an exhaust gas pressure difference between the upstream side and the downstream side of the DPF 46 detected by the differential pressure sensor 114 (hereinafter simply referred to as “DPF differential pressure”). .

  Next, in step S702, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the DPF differential pressure acquired in step S701 is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. In this step S702, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the amount of PM collected in the DPF 46 has exceeded a predetermined amount based on the DPF differential pressure, that is, whether or not the amount of PM to be DPF regenerated has been reached. Is judged. Since there is a correlation between the amount of PM collected by the DPF 46 and the DPF differential pressure, the amount of PM collected by the DPF 46 can be determined based on the DPF differential pressure.

  As a result of the determination in step S702, when the DPF differential pressure is less than the predetermined value (step S702: No), the process ends. In this case, since the amount of PM collected by the DPF 46 does not exceed a predetermined amount, the PCM 60 does not perform DPF regeneration. On the other hand, when the DPF differential pressure is greater than or equal to the predetermined value (step S702: Yes), the process proceeds to step S703. In this case, since the amount of PM collected in the DPF 46 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, DPF regeneration is performed in the subsequent processing.

  In step S703, first, the PCM 60 sets a post injection amount to be applied during DPF regeneration control (hereinafter referred to as “DPF regeneration post injection amount”). Specifically, the PCM 60 sets the post injection amount necessary for setting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to a predetermined lean air-fuel ratio as the DPF regeneration post-injection amount. In this way, post injection is performed during DPF regeneration control to set the air-fuel ratio to a predetermined lean air-fuel ratio, so that the amount of oxygen supplied to the DPF 46 can be reduced while ensuring the reaction heat in the DOC in the NOx catalyst 45. To ensure efficient DPF regeneration. In this case, the PCM 60 estimates the temperature of the DPF 46 based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 113 provided between the NOx catalyst 45 and the DPF 46, so that the temperature of the DPF 46 is within a predetermined temperature range. It is recommended to obtain the post injection amount for regeneration at any time.

  Next, in step S704, the PCM 60 controls the fuel injection valve 20 to post-inject the DPF regeneration post-injection amount set in step S703. Actually, the PCM 60 executes the process of step S704 in step S106 of the fuel injection control flow shown in FIG. Then, the process proceeds to step S705.

  In step S705, the PCM 60 determines whether or not the DPF regeneration end condition is satisfied. Specifically, the PCM 60 satisfies the DPF regeneration termination condition when the DPF differential pressure detected by the differential pressure sensor 114 indicates that the amount of PM trapped by the DPF 46 is less than a predetermined amount. It is determined that For example, the PCM 60 determines that the DPF regeneration termination condition is satisfied when the DPF differential pressure indicates that the amount of PM collected by the DPF 46 is substantially zero.

  If the DPF regeneration end condition is satisfied (step S705: Yes), the process ends. In this case, the PCM 60 ends the DPF regeneration. That is, the post injection for DPF regeneration is terminated. On the other hand, when the DPF regeneration end condition is not satisfied (step S705: No), the process returns to step S703. In this case, the PCM 60 continues the DPF regeneration. That is, the PCM 60 continues the post-injection for DPF regeneration until the DPF regeneration end condition is satisfied.

<Control example>
Next, with reference to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, a specific example in the case of performing DeNOx control according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 13 is a time chart example showing a change in the NOx occlusion amount when the DeNOx control according to the embodiment of the present invention is executed. FIG. 13 shows the time variation of the NOx occlusion amount at the top and the time variation of the vehicle speed at the bottom. Moreover, code | symbol S1 has shown the 1st occlusion amount determination value, and code | symbol S2 has shown the 2nd occlusion amount determination value (S1 <S2).

  As shown in FIG. 13, in the periods T21, T22, T23, and T24, the first DeNOx control in which the execution condition is defined by the first storage amount determination value S1 is executed. From this, it can be seen that the first DeNOx control is frequently executed by taking advantage of the increase in the vehicle speed, that is, by taking the acceleration of the vehicle. On the other hand, in the period T25, the second DeNOx control in which the execution condition is defined by the second storage amount determination value S2 is executed. It can be seen that this second DeNOx control reduces the NOx occlusion amount to almost zero at once. Thus, according to the present embodiment, the first DeNOx control is executed at a high frequency by taking advantage of acceleration, and the NOx occlusion amount is efficiently reduced, so that the execution frequency of the second DeNOx control is lowered.

  Next, FIG. 14 is a time chart example showing changes in various parameters when the first DeNOx control according to the embodiment of the present invention is executed. FIG. 14 shows, in order from the top, vehicle speed over time, engine speed over time, accelerator opening over time, fuel injection amount over time, exhaust gas air-fuel ratio over time, NOx catalyst temperature over time, It shows the time change of the SCR temperature, the time change of the exhaust gas amount, the time change of the PM collection amount of the DPF 46, and the time change of the NOx storage amount. In FIG. 14, the symbol Q1 indicates the first post-injection amount determination value, the symbol λ1 indicates the theoretical air-fuel ratio, the symbol T12 indicates the second NOx catalyst determination temperature, and the symbol T11 indicates the SCR determination temperature. The reference sign D1 indicates the amount of PM collected for DPF regeneration, and the reference sign S1 indicates the first storage amount determination value. Further, the graph G21 shows the main injection amount, the graph G22 shows the post injection amount (calculated post injection amount for DeNOx) necessary to set the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air-fuel ratio, and the graph G23. Indicates the post-injection amount actually applied when the first DeNOx control is executed.

  In the situation shown in FIG. 14, the NOx catalyst temperature is lower than the second NOx catalyst determination temperature T12, the SCR temperature is lower than the SCR determination temperature T11, and the PM trapped amount of the DPF 46 is to perform DPF regeneration. It is less than D1. That is, it is a situation where some execution conditions of the first DeNOx control are satisfied. At this time, in the periods T31, T32, T33, the post injection amount necessary for setting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air-fuel ratio becomes less than the first post-injection amount determination value Q1 (see graph G22), and the first DeNOx The first DeNOx control is executed when all the control execution conditions are satisfied. Thereby, post injection for DeNOx is performed (see graph G23), and the NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst 45 is reduced and NOx occluded by setting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the theoretical air-fuel ratio λ1 or less. The amount is reduced.

<Effect>
Next, the operation and effect of the engine exhaust gas purification apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  According to the present embodiment, when the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is lowered to a predetermined value or less due to main injection, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is set to the target air-fuel ratio that is near the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio or less than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. Post-injection is performed so that the NOx stored in the NOx catalyst 45 is reduced, and the first DeNOx control is performed. That is, in the present embodiment, the post-injection for setting the air-fuel ratio to the target air-fuel ratio is performed by taking advantage of the situation where the main injection amount increases during acceleration and the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas decreases, and DeNOx Execute. Thereby, the post-injection amount for achieving the target air-fuel ratio can be reduced as compared with the case where DeNOx is performed in a situation where the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas does not decrease. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the NOx purification performance of the NOx catalyst 45 can be ensured by efficiently performing DeNOx while suppressing the deterioration of fuel consumption caused by DeNOx and the oil dilution due to post injection.

In particular, in the present embodiment, the first DeNOx control described above is executed only when the NOx occlusion amount is equal to or greater than the first occlusion amount determination value, and is executed when the NOx occlusion amount is less than the first occlusion amount determination value. Is prohibited. In addition, in the present embodiment, when the NOx occlusion amount is equal to or greater than the second occlusion amount determination value that is larger than the first occlusion amount determination value, the operating state in which the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is reduced to a predetermined value or less. Regardless of whether or not, the second DeNOx control is performed in which the post-injection is continuously performed so that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas becomes the target air-fuel ratio, and the NOx occlusion amount is reduced to almost zero.
By using such first and second storage amount determination values, the first DeNOx control is prevented from being performed wastefully even though the NOx storage amount is small, and the first DeNOx control is performed more frequently than the second DeNOx control. 1DeNOx control can be performed. As described above, the first DeNOx control applies less post-injection amount than the second DeNOx control. Therefore, by performing the first DeNOx control more frequently than the second DeNOx control, fuel deterioration caused by DeNOx and oil dilution due to post-injection are achieved. Can be suppressed. In particular, by performing the first DeNOx control frequently and reducing the NOx occlusion amount, the execution frequency of the second DeNOx control can be appropriately reduced, so that the fuel consumption deterioration due to DeNOx and oil dilution by post injection are reduced. Can be effectively suppressed. On the other hand, when the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst 45 is large, the NOx purification performance of the NOx catalyst 45 is forcibly reduced by executing the second DeNOx control so as to forcibly reduce the NOx occluded in the NOx catalyst 45 in a large amount. Can be ensured.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the first and second DeNOx controls are executed based on the estimated NOx occlusion amount, but after the second DeNOx control is finished (that is, after the NOx occlusion amount becomes almost zero), the NOx occlusion amount is increased. Reset occlusion amount to zero. As a result, the NOx occlusion amount can be accurately estimated thereafter, and it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the first and second DeNOx controls are to be executed and whether to end the second DeNOx control.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when the engine is started, the second DeNOx control is executed to make the NOx occlusion amount substantially zero regardless of the NOx occlusion amount, so that the NOx purification rate of the NOx catalyst 45 thereafter is ensured. To improve emissions.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a post injection amount (DeNOx post injection amount) for setting the air fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air fuel ratio is calculated, and the DeNOx post injection amount is equal to or greater than the first post injection amount determination value. In some cases, the execution of the first DeNOx control is prohibited. Thereby, when the post injection amount for DeNOx is less than the first post injection amount determination value, the air / fuel ratio of the exhaust gas can be accurately set to the target air / fuel ratio by post injection, and DeNOx can be performed efficiently. On the other hand, when the post-injection amount for DeNOx is greater than or equal to the first post-injection amount determination value, oil dilution due to post-injection can be appropriately suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, when the second DeNOx control is executed, if the DeNOx post injection amount is equal to or larger than the second post injection amount determination value, the post injection amount is set to the second post injection amount determination value. Then, control is performed to reduce the oxygen concentration of the air introduced into the engine E while performing post injection. Thereby, the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas can be appropriately set to the target air-fuel ratio by post injection while suppressing oil dilution by post injection. Further, when the DeNOx post injection amount is equal to or greater than the second post injection amount determination value, the second DeNOx control is not prohibited as in the first DeNOx control, and therefore the second DeNOx control can be continuously executed. Therefore, the time required for the second DeNOx control can be shortened, and deterioration of fuel consumption can be suppressed. Further, the second DeNOx control can be continuously executed to quickly reduce the NOx occlusion amount to almost 0, and the NOx purification performance of the NOx catalyst 45 can be reliably ensured.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when the SCR temperature is equal to or higher than the SCR determination temperature T11, NOx in the exhaust gas can be appropriately purified by the SCR catalyst 47, and thus DeNOx control is prohibited. Thereby, the fuel consumption deterioration resulting from execution of DeNOx control can be suppressed.

  Further, in the present embodiment, when the target torque is equal to or greater than the predetermined torque and / or post injection for setting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to a predetermined air-fuel ratio (the target air-fuel ratio described above may be applied as it is). When the amount is less than the predetermined amount, it is determined that the air-fuel ratio decreases to a predetermined value or less. Thereby, the state which should perform 1st DeNOx control can be determined appropriately, and 1st DeNOx control can be performed efficiently. Therefore, fuel consumption deterioration due to DeNOx can be effectively suppressed.

<Modification>
Below, the modification of above-described embodiment is demonstrated.

  In the above-described embodiment, the execution of the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control is prohibited when the SCR temperature is equal to or higher than the SCR determination temperature T11. In this embodiment, it is determined whether or not the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control are to be executed by using the same temperature (SCR determination temperature T11) as the determination temperature of the SCR temperature. In another example, the determination temperature of the SCR temperature may be different for each of the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control. Specifically, the determination temperature of the SCR temperature used in the first DeNOx control may be higher than the determination temperature of the SCR temperature used in the second DeNOx control. By doing so, the first DeNOx control is more easily executed, the frequency of execution of the second DeNOx control can be reduced, and the deterioration of fuel consumption due to the DeNOx control can be suppressed.

In the above-described embodiment, the execution of the first DeNOx control is completely prohibited when the DeNOx post injection amount is equal to or greater than the first post injection amount determination value. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In short, when the DeNOx post-injection amount is equal to or greater than the first post-injection amount determination value, the first DeNOx control is executed as compared with the case where the DeNOx post-injection amount is less than the first post-injection amount determination value. Limit it. For example, when the post-injection amount for DeNOx is equal to or greater than the first post-injection amount determination value, the number of post injections can be reduced as compared with the case where the post-injection amount for DeNOx is less than the first post-injection amount determination value Good.
Similarly, when the NOx catalyst temperature is equal to or higher than the first NOx catalyst determination temperature T13, the execution of the first DeNOx control is not limited to being completely prohibited, and the execution of the first DeNOx control may be limited. Further, when the NOx catalyst temperature is equal to or higher than the second NOx catalyst determination temperature T12, the execution of the second DeNOx control is not limited to being completely prohibited, and the execution of the second DeNOx control may be limited. Further, when the SCR temperature is equal to or higher than the SCR determination temperature T11, the execution of the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control is not completely prohibited, and the execution of these may be limited. In addition, when performing DPF regeneration control, the execution of the first DeNOx control and the second DeNOx control is not completely prohibited, and the execution of these may be restricted.

1 Intake passage 5 Turbocharger 7 Intake shutter valve 20 Fuel injection valve 41 Exhaust passage 43 EGR device 45 NOx catalyst 46 DPF
47 SCR catalyst 60 PCM
70 DCU
200 Engine system E Engine EX Exhaust system

Claims (7)

NOx in the exhaust gas is occluded when the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is leaner than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, provided on the exhaust passage of the engine. An engine exhaust purification device comprising a NOx catalyst that reduces when the fuel is in the vicinity of the fuel ratio or richer than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio,
Exhaust gas state determination means for determining whether or not the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas decreases to a predetermined value or less when a fuel injection amount for outputting engine torque in accordance with the operation of the accelerator pedal is injected from the fuel injection valve When,
When the exhaust gas state determination means determines that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is reduced to the predetermined value or less, the NOx catalyst stores the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas so as to reduce the NOx stored in the NOx catalyst. NOx reduction control means for performing first NOx reduction control for post-injecting from the fuel injection valve so as to set the reduced NOx to a reducible target air-fuel ratio,
The NOx reduction control means includes:
The first NOx reduction control is executed when the NOx storage amount of the NOx catalyst is equal to or greater than the first storage amount determination value when the exhaust gas state determination means determines that the air-fuel ratio decreases to the predetermined value or less. When the NOx occlusion amount is less than the first occlusion amount determination value, the execution of the first NOx reduction control is limited,
When the NOx occlusion amount of the NOx catalyst is greater than or equal to the second occlusion amount determination value that is larger than the first occlusion amount determination value, the NOx catalyst occludes regardless of the determination result by the exhaust gas state determination means. Second NOx reduction control for continuously post-injecting from the fuel injection valve so as to set the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air-fuel ratio in order to reduce the NOx occluded and reduce the NOx occlusion amount to less than a predetermined amount An exhaust emission control device for an engine, further comprising: A NOx occlusion amount estimating means for estimating the NOx occlusion amount;
The NOx reduction control means continues the second NOx reduction control until the NOx occlusion amount estimated by the NOx occlusion amount estimation means becomes 0, and is used by the NOx occlusion amount estimation means after the end of the second NOx reduction control. The engine exhaust gas purification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the NOx occlusion amount is reset to zero.   The NOx reduction control means executes the second NOx reduction control when the engine is started even when the NOx storage amount of the NOx catalyst is less than the second storage amount determination value. Or the exhaust emission control device for an engine according to 2.   The NOx reduction control means calculates a post-injection amount for setting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air-fuel ratio based on the operating state of the engine, and the post-injection amount is greater than or equal to the first post-injection amount determination value. The engine exhaust gas purification apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein execution of the first NOx reduction control is restricted in some cases.   The NOx reduction control means calculates a post-injection amount for setting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the target air-fuel ratio based on the operating state of the engine, and executes the second NOx reduction control when the post-injection amount is executed. Is set to the second post-injection amount determination value, the post-injection is performed while the post-injection is performed, and the oxygen concentration of the air introduced into the engine is decreased. The engine exhaust gas purification apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: An SCR catalyst provided on the exhaust passage of the engine and purifying NOx in the exhaust gas by reaction with ammonia;
The engine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the NOx reduction control means limits execution of the first and second NOx reduction control when the temperature of the SCR catalyst is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature. Exhaust purification equipment.   The exhaust gas state determining means is configured to provide a post-injection amount for setting the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas to the predetermined air-fuel ratio when the engine torque to be output in response to the operation of the accelerator pedal is equal to or higher than the predetermined torque. The engine exhaust gas purification apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein when the air-fuel ratio is less than a predetermined amount, the air-fuel ratio is determined to decrease to the predetermined value or less.

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