Clogging determination device and clogging determination system

Abstract

To provide a clogging determination device capable of determining clogging of an EGR cooler.SOLUTION: A clogging determination device 2 for an EGR cooler 22 including the EGR cooler 22 that recirculates part of exhaust gas to a diesel engine 11 and a urea SCR system 13 that causes the other part of the exhaust gas to react with ammonia on a catalyst and be reduced to nitrogen for purification includes: a storage device 52 that stores a threshold value of urea injection amount correlated with a vehicle type and average vehicle speed; and an EGR state determination section 512 that determines that there is a possibility of clogging of the EGR cooler 22 when the urea injection amount of a vehicle 1 for a predetermined period exceeds a threshold value correlated with a vehicle type of the vehicle 1 and average vehicle speed for the predetermined period.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a clogging determination device and a clogging determination system for an EGR cooler. [Background technology]

[0002] Vehicles equipped with diesel engines have been known for some time. As technologies for reducing NOx in diesel exhaust from such vehicles, urea SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) systems and EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) systems are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The urea SCR system is a system for purifying NOx (nitrogen oxides) in diesel exhaust. This system is located downstream of the diesel engine and purifies the exhaust by causing ammonia and NOx to react with each other on an SCR catalyst, reducing them to nitrogen. Because ammonia is a deleterious substance, the urea SCR system employs a mechanism in which a urea solution is installed on the vehicle, urea is sprayed using a urea injector, and ammonia is produced by thermal decomposition of the urea.

[0003] The EGR system reduces NOx in the exhaust by recirculating part of the exhaust gas from the diesel engine and mixing it with the intake air, reducing the amount of oxygen in the intake air and lowering the combustion temperature.The EGR cooler used in the EGR system is one of the components that make up the EGR system and is used to cool the exhaust gas that is returned to the diesel engine. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-142363 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The EGR cooler contains a gas flow path for the exhaust gas to flow through. Therefore, soot and fuel components from the exhaust can adhere to the inside of the cooler, clogging the gas flow path. A clogged EGR cooler increases the amount of NOx in the exhaust. Furthermore, if the clogging progresses, it can cause the engine to stall. For this reason, early detection of blockages in the EGR cooler's gas flow path is necessary to ensure stable operation of a diesel engine.

[0006] One indicator of the degree of EGR cooler clogging is an increase in the amount of urea injected. This occurs because the amount of NOx in the exhaust gas increases due to clogging, which in turn triggers a control to increase the amount of urea injected to purify the NOx. However, increases or decreases in the amount of urea injected are also affected by driving conditions, vehicle size, and other factors. For this reason, it is difficult to set a threshold value for determining whether the EGR cooler is abnormal, making it difficult to determine whether the EGR cooler is clogged.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a clogging determination device and a clogging determination system that can determine whether an EGR cooler is clogged. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, a clogging determination device is provided for determining clogging of the EGR cooler of a vehicle having a diesel engine, an EGR cooler that cools a portion of the exhaust gas from the diesel engine and returns the cooled gas to the diesel engine, and a urea SCR system that purifies another portion of the exhaust gas from the diesel engine by reacting it with ammonia on a catalyst to reduce it to nitrogen, and the clogging determination device includes: a memory device that stores a threshold value for the urea injection amount associated with the vehicle type and average vehicle speed; and an EGR state determination unit that determines that there is a suspicion of clogging of the EGR cooler when the urea injection amount of the vehicle over a predetermined period of time exceeds the threshold value associated with the vehicle type of the vehicle and the average vehicle speed over the predetermined period of time. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an EGR cooler clogging determination device and an EGR cooler clogging determination system that can determine whether an EGR cooler is clogged. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a clogging determination system for determining clogging of an EGR cooler according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a vehicle and an on-board device according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the management server according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of group information in the group information storage unit of the management server according to the embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the relationship between the average vehicle speed and the average urea injection amount per unit time according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the relationship between the average vehicle speed and the average urea injection amount per unit distance according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the relationship between the vehicle type and the average amount of urea injected per unit time according to the embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the relationship between the monthly urea injection amount and the threshold value of the user vehicle according to the embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a determination method of the clogging determination device according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, a clogging determination device and a clogging determination system 100 for determining clogging of the EGR cooler 22 of a vehicle 1 will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, parts with the same numbers perform similar operations, and redundant description will be omitted. For example, when there are multiple identical or similar elements, a common reference number may be used to describe each element without distinguishing between them.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a clogging determination system 100 that determines clogging of an EGR cooler 22 of a vehicle 1 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the clogging determination system 100 includes an onboard device 15 mounted on one or more vehicles 1, a management server 2, a management server 3, and a processing terminal 4 owned by a business operator or the like. The onboard device 15, the management server 2, the management server 3, and the processing terminal 4 are connected via a network NW by a mobile communication network such as 4G or 5G or a relatively long-distance wireless communication means such as Wimax. The management server 2 is an example of a determination device that determines clogging of the EGR cooler 22 provided in the vehicle 1 based on various information about the vehicle 1 acquired from the onboard device 15. The management server 3 issues information to the processing terminal 4 operated by the business operator based on the determination result (clogging determination result) of the management server 2. In this embodiment, the clogging determination system 100 will be described as an example of a configuration including a management server 2 and a management server 3, but it may also be configured to have one management server that has the functions of management server 2 and management server 3, or it may be configured to have other management servers in addition to management server 2 and management server 3.

[0013] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle 1 and an onboard device 15. The vehicle 1 is driven by a diesel engine 11. The vehicle 1 is, for example, a truck. The vehicle 1 is, for example, a flatbed vehicle, a wing vehicle, a covered vehicle, a crane vehicle, an onboard vehicle, a tanker truck, etc. Note that the vehicle 1 is not limited to a truck, and may be a bus, a passenger car, a special-purpose vehicle, etc.

[0014] 2, the vehicle 1 includes a diesel engine 11, an EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system 12, a urea SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system 13, a vehicle speed sensor 14, and an onboard device 15. The vehicle 1 also includes, for example, a chassis having four or more wheels, a cabin, a battery, a cooling fan including a heat exchanger, and the like.

[0015] The EGR system 12 is a system that recirculates a portion of the exhaust gas from the diesel engine 11 and mixes it with the intake air, thereby reducing the amount of oxygen in the intake air and lowering the combustion temperature in the combustion chamber of the diesel engine 11, thereby reducing NOx in the exhaust gas. The EGR system 12 includes an exhaust pipe 16 connected to the secondary side of the diesel engine 11, an EGR pipe 21 connected to the intake manifold of the diesel engine 11, and an EGR cooler 22 provided in the EGR pipe 21. The EGR cooler 22 is a cooling device that cools a portion of the exhaust gas from the diesel engine 11 supplied via the EGR pipe 21 and recirculates the cooled portion to the intake manifold of the diesel engine 11. The EGR system 12 also includes an EGR valve and the like that controls the flow rate of the recirculated exhaust gas, and a supply device that supplies a cooling medium such as cooling water or fresh air to the EGR cooler 22.

[0016] The urea SCR system 13 is provided in an exhaust pipe 16. For example, the urea SCR system 13 includes a DOC (Diesel Oxidation Catalyst) 31, a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) 32, a urea injector 33, an SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) catalyst 34, and an ASC (Ammonia Slip Catalyst) 35.

[0017] The DOC 31 is an exhaust gas after-treatment device that reduces soluble organic fractions (SOF) contained in suspended particulate matter such as soot by using an oxidation catalyst function. The DPF 32 is an exhaust gas after-treatment device that is a filter that collects particulate matter contained in the exhaust gas. The urea injector 33 injects a predetermined amount of urea water stored in a tank or the like into the exhaust gas that has passed through the DPF 32.

[0018] The SCR catalyst 34 purifies the exhaust gas by using the ammonia contained in the urea water as a reducing agent to react with NOx and reduce it to nitrogen. The ASC 35 oxidizes the excess ammonia contained in the exhaust gas that has passed through the SCR catalyst 34, thereby suppressing the emission of excess ammonia.

[0019] The vehicle speed sensor 14 detects the speed of the vehicle 1 and outputs a signal corresponding to the detected vehicle speed to the on-board device 15 .

[0020] The on-board device 15 is installed in the vehicle 1. The on-board device 15 acquires data measured by various devices, including the vehicle speed sensor 14, installed in the vehicle 1, and control data for the vehicle 1. Based on the acquired data, the on-board device 15 acquires information about the driving conditions of the vehicle 1, including the vehicle speed, acceleration / deceleration, and the amount of urea injected from the urea injector 33 while driving. Based on the acquired data, the on-board device 15 also acquires information about the operating conditions of the vehicle 1, including the driving route and driving time of the vehicle 1. The on-board device 15 also transmits the acquired information, including the driving conditions and operating conditions of the vehicle 1, to the management server 2 and the management server 3 via the network NW. Here, the information transmitted by the on-board device 15 may include, in addition to the driving conditions and operating conditions of the vehicle 1, driving operation information for the vehicle 1, internal combustion engine operation information including fuel consumption information for the vehicle 1, and the like.

[0021] The management server 2 is an example of a management server capable of accumulating and analyzing data transmitted from multiple vehicles 1. The management server 2 transmits and receives various information related to the vehicles 1 to and from the management server 3, the processing terminal 4, and the onboard device 15 via the network NW. For example, the management server 2 is a computer having a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU), memories such as read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM), a display device, an input device, and a communication device. The management server 2 has a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or an integrated circuit storage device for managing various data. The large-capacity storage device may also be referred to as a database in the following description. For example, the management server 2 may receive various information from the onboard device 15 and accumulate and analyze various data such as the driving status and operating status of the vehicles 1. The management server 2 also determines whether the EGR cooler 22 of the vehicle 1 is clogged based on the accumulated and analyzed data. In other words, in this embodiment, the management server 2 is a clogging determination device that determines whether the EGR cooler 22 of the vehicle 1 is clogged. For example, the management server 2 is provided in a management service company that performs labor management, movement management, operation management, etc. Furthermore, for example, the management server 2 may transmit various data such as the driving status and operation status of the vehicle 1 to the management server 3, the processing terminal 4 of the business operator, and / or the onboard device 15 of the vehicle 1. The management server 2 is not limited to being an on-premise server, and may also be a cloud server.

[0022] The management server 3 is an example of a management server that can accumulate and analyze data on multiple vehicles 1 transmitted from the management server 2. The management server 3 transmits and receives various information related to the vehicles 1 to and from the management server 2, the processing terminal 4, and the onboard device 15 via a network NW. For example, the management server 3 is a computer having a processor such as a CPU, memory such as ROM and RAM, a display device, an input device, and a communication device. The management server 3 has a large-capacity storage device such as an HDD, an SSD, or an integrated circuit storage device for managing various data. This large-capacity storage device may also be referred to as a database in the following description. For example, the management server 3 may receive various information about the vehicles 1 from the management server 2 and accumulate and analyze various data on the vehicles 1 that are different from those stored in the management server 2, such as data on the vehicle status and maintenance status. For example, the management server 3 may be provided at a management service company that manages vehicles, maintenance, etc. The management server 3 may also transmit various data on the vehicles 1, such as the vehicle status and maintenance status, to the management server 2, the processing terminal 4, and / or the onboard device 15 of the vehicles 1. The management server 3 is not limited to an on-premise server, but may also be a cloud server.

[0023] The processing terminal 4 is, for example, a terminal owned by the business operator or the driver. The processing terminal 4 is any terminal such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a wearable terminal, or a PC (Personal Computer). The processing terminal 4 can receive information about the vehicle 1 transmitted by the management server 2 and / or the management server 3, and display the received information.

[0024] Next, the hardware configuration of the on-board device 15 and the software configuration associated with the hardware configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

[0025] The on-board device 15 includes a control unit 41, a storage device 42, a communication interface 43, an input / output interface 44, an input device 45, and a display device 46. The control unit 41, the storage device 42, the communication interface 43, the input / output interface 44, the input device 45, and the display device 46 are connected to each other via a bus so that they can communicate with each other.

[0026] The control unit 41 controls the on-board device 15. The control unit 41 includes a hardware processor, which is an arithmetic device such as a central processing unit (CPU). The control unit 41 executes various programs stored in the storage device 42 to realize the functions of the communication interface 43, the input / output interface 44, the input device 45, and the display device 46.

[0027] The storage device 42 is a memory device such as a ROM, RAM, HDD, SSD, or integrated circuit storage device that stores various data. The storage device 42 may be implemented as a single physical memory device, or as multiple physically separated memory devices within the mounted device 15. The storage device 42 is configured, for example, by combining a nonvolatile memory such as an SSD, which can be written to and read from as needed, with a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM, as a storage medium, and stores middleware such as an OS (Operating System) as well as application programs required to execute various control processes according to one embodiment. Hereinafter, the OS and each application program will be collectively referred to as the "program."

[0028] In addition, the storage device 42 may, for example, combine a non-volatile memory such as an SSD that can be written to and read from at any time with a volatile memory such as a RAM as a storage medium, and stores data acquired by various sensors such as the vehicle speed sensor 14 and data related to the control of each component.

[0029] The communication interface 43 includes one or more wired or wireless communication modules. For example, the communication interface 43 includes a communication module that performs long-distance communication using a mobile communication network such as 4G or 5G and wirelessly connects to the management server 2, the management server 3, and the processing terminal 4 via the network NW. The communication interface 43 may also include a communication module that connects to the vehicle 1 via a wired connection. The communication interface 43 may be a general communication interface as long as it can communicate with external devices including the vehicle 1, the management server 2, the management server 3, and the processing terminal 4 under the control of the control unit 41 and send and receive various information.

[0030] The input / output interface 44 is connected to various sensors including the vehicle speed sensor 14. The input / output interface 44 is an interface that enables transmission and reception of information between the control unit 41 and the vehicle speed sensor 14. The input / output interface 44 may be integrated with the communication interface 43. For example, the input / output interface 44 integrated with the communication interface 43 is wirelessly connected to the vehicle speed sensor 14 using short-range wireless technology such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), and can transmit and receive information using the short-range wireless technology.

[0031] The input device 45 converts a user's instruction into an electrical signal. The input device 45 may be, for example, an operation panel, a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, or various switches. Note that a voice input device may also be used as the input device 45. The electrical signal from the input device 45 is supplied to the control unit 41 via a bus.

[0032] The display device 46 displays various data. The display device 46 may be any display such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, an LED display, or a plasma display, but may also be an LED lamp or a segment display that displays information by lighting and / or blinking light.

[0033] Next, the software configuration of the on-board device 15 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The control unit 41 includes an input / output unit 411 , an injection amount control unit 412 , a driving information identification unit 413 , and a communication control unit 414 .

[0034] The input / output unit 411 is an input unit and an output unit that inputs (acquires) and outputs various information about the vehicle 1 between the vehicle 1 and various devices including the vehicle speed sensor 14 and various components of the onboard device 15 via the input / output interface 44. The input / output unit 411 outputs the input information to the storage device 42 and stores the information in the storage device 42.

[0035] The injection amount control unit 412 controls the injection amount of urea injected from the urea injector 33 based on the running conditions of the vehicle 1, such as the vehicle speed, the model of the vehicle 1, the outside air temperature, etc., output from the input / output unit 411. The injection amount control unit 412 also outputs information on the injection amount of urea injected from the urea injector 33 to the input / output unit 411 and stores it in the storage device 42.

[0036] The driving information identification unit 413 identifies driving information, which is information relating to the actual driving of the vehicle 1, such as average vehicle speed, driving time, and driving distance, from the driving conditions of the vehicle 1, such as vehicle speed, output from the input / output unit 411. The driving information identification unit 413 outputs the identified driving information to the input / output unit 411 and stores it in the storage device 42. Note that the driving information identification unit 413 may not be included in the control unit 41 of the onboard device 15, but may be configured as software in the management server 2, for example, and the management server 2 may acquire the driving conditions of the vehicle 1, such as vehicle speed, via the communication interface 43, and identify the driving information, which is information relating to the actual driving of the vehicle 1.

[0037] The communication control unit 414 is a control unit that transmits and receives various information between the vehicle 1, the management server 2, the management server 3, and the processing terminal 4 via the communication interface 43. For example, the communication control unit 414 transmits, via the communication interface 43 to the management server 2, the driving conditions and driving information of the vehicle 1, the amount of urea injected from the urea injector 33, and the model of the vehicle 1 on which the onboard device 15 is installed.

[0038] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the management server 2 according to the embodiment and a software configuration associated with the hardware configuration. First, the details of the hardware configuration of the management server 2 will be described. The management server 2 includes a control unit 51, a storage device 52, a communication interface 53, an input device 54, and a display device 55. The control unit 51, the storage device 52, the communication interface 53, the input device 54, and the display device 55 are connected to each other via a bus so that they can communicate with each other.

[0039] The control unit 51 controls the management server 2. The control unit 51 includes a hardware processor, which is a computing device such as a CPU. The control unit 51 executes various programs stored in the storage device 52 to realize the functions of the communication interface 53, the input device 54, and the display device 55. For example, the control unit 51 stores, in the storage device 52, the driving conditions and driving information of the vehicle 1 received from the communication interface 43 of the onboard device 15 via the communication interface 53, the amount of urea injected from the urea injector 33, and the vehicle model of the vehicle 1 on which the onboard device 15 is mounted, for example, at every predetermined period. For example, the predetermined period is one month, and the control unit 51 collects data on the driving conditions, driving information, urea injection amount, and vehicle model of the vehicle 1 for the previous month from the vehicles 1 traveling in the market at the beginning of each month.

[0040] The storage device 52 is a memory device such as a ROM, RAM, HDD, SSD, or integrated circuit storage device that stores various data. The storage device 52 may be realized by a single physical memory device, or may be realized by multiple memory devices that are physically separated within the management server 2. The storage device 52 is configured by combining, for example, a nonvolatile memory such as an SSD that can be written to and read from as needed as a storage medium, and a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM, and stores programs.

[0041] The storage device 52 uses, for example, a combination of a nonvolatile memory such as an SSD that can be written to and read from at any time and a volatile memory such as a RAM as a storage medium, and stores data transmitted from the communication interface 43 of the onboard device 15 and data related to the control of each component. For example, the storage device 52 stores the driving conditions and driving information of each vehicle 1 received from the communication interface 43 of the onboard device 15 of each vehicle 1 via the communication interface 53, as well as the vehicle model of the vehicle 1 on which the onboard device 15 is mounted.

[0042] The storage device 52 also includes a group information storage unit 521 that stores group information in which groups are set into several stages based on a plurality of vehicle types and average vehicle speed ranges. For example, as shown in Fig. 4, the group information storage unit 521 sets a plurality of groups based on a plurality of vehicle types and a plurality of vehicle speed V classifications as group information. As an example of group information, for example, groups are set in advance for each of vehicle types A to D, with vehicle speeds V classified into a to c. Here, the vehicle speed V is an average vehicle speed, and is a predetermined range of average vehicle speeds with upper and lower limits set. The number of vehicle type types and the number of vehicle speed V classifications can be set as appropriate.

[0043] Furthermore, as group information, a threshold value Y of the urea injection amount per unit time (L / h) or the urea injection amount per unit distance (L / km) is set in advance for each group. The threshold value Y is a urea injection amount associated with the vehicle type and average vehicle speed. For example, the threshold value Y can be set based on an average urea injection amount per unit time for each average vehicle speed or an average urea injection amount per unit distance for each average vehicle speed obtained through experiments using an engine bench or a test vehicle, or can be determined based on the annual average urea injection amount per unit time or per unit distance of vehicles 1 traveling in the market.

[0044] The communication interface 53 includes one or more wired or wireless communication modules. For example, the communication interface 53 includes a communication module that performs long-distance communication using a mobile communication network such as 4G or 5G, or a relatively long-distance network such as Wimax, and wirelessly connects to the onboard device 15, the management server 3, and the processing terminal 4 via the network NW. The communication interface 53 may be a general communication interface as long as it can communicate with external devices including the onboard device 15, the management server 3, and the processing terminal 4 under the control of the control unit 51 and send and receive various information.

[0045] The input device 54 converts user instructions into electrical signals. Examples of the input device 54 include an operation panel, a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, and various switches. Note that a voice input device may also be used as the input device 54. The electrical signals from the input device 54 are supplied to the control unit 51 via a bus.

[0046] The display device 55 displays various data. The display device 55 may be any display such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, an LED display, or a plasma display.

[0047] Next, the software configuration of the management server 2 will be described in detail. The control unit 51 includes a group determination unit 511 , an EGR state determination unit 512 , and a communication control unit 514 .

[0048] The group determination unit 511 determines the group to which the vehicle 1 belongs based on the average vehicle speed V and the vehicle type of the vehicle 1 included in the travel information of the vehicle 1 acquired from the onboard device 15 of the vehicle 1 to be group-determined and stored in the storage device 52, and the group information stored in the group information storage unit 521. For example, in the example of group information shown in FIG. 4, if the vehicle type of the vehicle 1 is A and the average vehicle speed V is b, the group of the vehicle 1 is assigned to group Ab. In addition, the group determination of the vehicle 1 by the group determination unit 511 is performed for a predetermined period, monthly in this embodiment, taking into consideration the possibility that the way the vehicle is used may change. Here, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the average vehicle speed V affects the amount of urea injection, and as shown in FIG. 7, the vehicle type of the vehicle 1 affects the amount of urea injection. Therefore, the groups are classified according to the average vehicle speed and the vehicle type, as shown in FIG. 4.

[0049] The EGR state determination unit 512 determines the average vehicle speed V and the urea injection amount X per unit time or per unit distance for each predetermined period. In this embodiment, the EGR state determination unit 512 determines the average vehicle speed V and the urea injection amount X per unit time or per unit distance for the previous month from the driving information of each vehicle 1 collected from the onboard device 15 at the beginning of each month. The EGR state determination unit 512 also compares the urea injection amount X per unit time or per unit distance of the vehicle 1 with a threshold Y for the group of vehicles 1 determined by the group determination unit 511. If the urea injection amount X per unit time or per unit distance of the vehicle 1 is greater than the threshold Y, the EGR state determination unit 512 determines that the EGR cooler 22 of the vehicle 1 is suspected of being clogged. The EGR state determination unit 512 stores the determination result for the vehicle 1 in the storage device 52. In addition, if the EGR state determination unit 512 determines that the vehicle 1 is suspected of having a clogged EGR cooler 22, it issues an alert to the outside that the threshold has been exceeded, such as outputting an alert to the onboard device 15, the display device 55 of the management server 2, the management server 3 and / or the processing terminal 4, urging inspection.

[0050] The communication control unit 514 is a control unit that transmits and receives various information between the on-board device 15, the management server 3, and the processing terminal 4 via the communication interface 53. For example, the communication control unit 514 transmits the driving conditions and driving information of the vehicle 1 and the clogging determination result of the EGR cooler 22 of the vehicle 1 determined by the EGR state determination unit 512 to the on-board device 15, the management server 3, and the processing terminal 4 via the communication interface 43.

[0051] The management server 3 has, for example, the same hardware configuration as the management server 2. Furthermore, the management server 3 uses, for example, the result of the determination of clogging of the EGR cooler 22 of the vehicle 1 determined by the EGR state determination unit 512 transmitted from the communication interface 53 of the management server 2 for vehicle management and maintenance management. Note that the management server 3 may include, for example, one of the group determination unit 511 and the EGR state determination unit 512 out of the software configuration of the management server 2 instead of the management server 2 or together with the management server 2. In other words, the management server 3 may have part or all of the software configuration of the management server 2, and the management server 3 may group the vehicles 1 and / or determine clogging of the EGR cooler 22.

[0052] The processing terminal 4 has, for example, the same hardware configuration as the management server 2. The processing terminal 4 manages the vehicle 1 by, for example, displaying various information about the vehicle 1 transmitted from the management server 2 and the management server 3 on a display device.

[0053] Next, an example of a process for determining whether the EGR cooler 22 of the vehicle 1 in this embodiment is shown using the flowchart in FIG. 9 . In this example, an example is described in which the management server 2 serving as a clogging determination device performs the clogging determination process. Note that the clogging determination process may be performed by another device having the same hardware and software configuration as the management server 2, such as the onboard device 15, the management server 3, and the processing terminal 4. The clogging determination process may also be performed by a plurality of devices. Furthermore, although the clogging determination process is performed for each of a plurality of vehicles 1, in this example of the clogging determination process, any vehicle 1 for which a clogging of the EGR cooler 22 is determined will be referred to as a user vehicle i below.

[0054] In step ST11, the EGR state determination unit 512 performs processing at the beginning of each month to identify the monthly average vehicle speed Vi and average urea injection amount Xi of the user vehicle i for the previous month from data on the travel distance, travel time, and urea injection amount for the previous month collected from the onboard device 15 mounted on the user vehicle i. Here, the average vehicle speed Vi is the average vehicle speed V of the user vehicle i. Furthermore, the average urea injection amount Xi is the average urea injection amount X of the user vehicle i. Furthermore, in one example of the main clogging determination processing, the average urea injection amount Xi is the average urea injection amount per unit time, but may also be the average urea injection amount per unit distance.

[0055] 4 stored in the group information storage unit 521. As a specific example, if the vehicle type of the user vehicle i is A and the average vehicle speed Vi is within the range of a, the group determination unit 511 determines that the vehicle speed V of the user vehicle i is in group a, which is a classification of a, and is a vehicle type A (hereinafter referred to as group Aa), and stores the group allocation information of the user vehicle i in the storage unit 52 in association with various information of the user vehicle i.

[0056] In step ST13, the EGR state determination unit 512 retrieves the threshold value Ya corresponding to the group Aa of the user vehicle i determined by the group determination unit 511 from the storage device 52, compares the average urea injection amount Xi with the threshold value Ya, and determines whether the average urea injection amount Xi exceeds the threshold value Ya. If the average urea injection amount Xi exceeds the threshold value Ya (YES in step ST13), the process proceeds to step ST14. If the average urea injection amount Xi is equal to or less than the threshold value Ya (NO in step ST13), the process proceeds to step ST15.

[0057] In step ST14, the EGR state determination unit 512 determines that the average urea injection amount Xi exceeds the threshold value Ya and issues an alert. As a specific example, as shown in FIG. 8 , when the EGR state determination unit 512 determines that the average urea injection amount Xi for the previous month exceeds the threshold value Ya, unlike the average urea injection amount Xi for the month before last, the EGR state determination unit 512 determines that there is a suspicion of clogging in the EGR cooler 22. Then, the EGR state determination unit 512 issues an alert to, for example, at least one of the previously set onboard device 15 of the user vehicle i, the display device 55 of the management server 2, the management server 3, and the processing terminal 4. For example, the EGR state determination unit 512 causes at least one of the previously set onboard device 15, the management server 2, the management server 3, and the processing terminal 4 to display information indicating that there is a suspicion of clogging in the EGR cooler 22 of the user vehicle i, and issues an alert to the outside. In this way, the EGR state determination unit 512 issues an alert indicating that the threshold value has been exceeded, urging the user or business to inspect or maintain the EGR cooler 22 at an early stage.

[0058] In step STS15, the EGR state determination unit 512 determines that the average urea injection amount Xi is a normal injection amount, and does not issue an alert.

[0059] The management server (clogging determination device) 2 and clogging determination system 100 configured in this manner sort the vehicles 1 into groups based on the average vehicle speed and vehicle type of the vehicles 1, which affect the urea injection amount. The management server 2 and clogging determination system 100 also determine clogging of the EGR cooler 22 based on a threshold value set for each group and the average urea injection amount. As a result, the management server 2 and clogging determination system 100 can detect clogging of the EGR cooler 22 early and accurately while taking into account fluctuations in the urea injection amount due to changes in the average vehicle speed, and can urge inspection and maintenance before a malfunction of the EGR cooler 22 becomes serious, thereby preventing breakdowns of the vehicle 1 on the road.

[0060] According to the present embodiment described above, the clogging determination device and the clogging determination system 100 can determine whether the EGR cooler 22 is clogged.

[0061] At least a part of the process for determining clogging of the EGR cooler 22 in each of the above embodiments can be implemented by using, for example, a processor installed in a general-purpose computer as basic hardware. A program for implementing the above process may be stored in a computer-readable recording medium and provided. The program is stored in the recording medium as an installable file or an executable file. Examples of the recording medium include a magnetic disk, an optical disk (CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD, Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc, etc.), a magneto-optical disk (MO, etc.), and a semiconductor memory. Any recording medium can be used as long as it can store the program and is computer-readable. Furthermore, the program for implementing the above process may be stored on a computer (server) connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded to a computer (client) via the network.

[0062] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made in the implementation stage without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, the embodiments may be implemented in appropriate combinations, in which case the combined effects can be obtained. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments include various inventions, and various inventions can be extracted by combining selected elements from the disclosed elements. For example, if the problem can be solved and the desired effect can be obtained even if some elements are deleted from all elements shown in the embodiments, the configuration from which these elements are deleted can be extracted as an invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0063] 100...clogging determination system, 1...vehicle, 2...management server (clogging determination device), 3...management server, 4...processing terminal, 11...internal combustion engine (diesel engine), 12...EGR system, 13...urea SCR system, 14...vehicle speed sensor, 15...mounted device, 16...exhaust pipe, 21...EGR pipe, 22...EGR cooler, 31...DOC, 32...DPF, 33...urea injector, 34...SCR catalyst, 35...ASC, 41...control unit, 4 2...storage device, 43...communication interface, 44...input / output interface, 45...input device, 46...display device, 51...control unit, 52...storage device, 53...communication interface, 54...input device, 55...display device, 411...input / output unit, 412...injection amount control unit, 413...traveling information identification unit, 414...communication control unit, 511...group determination unit, 512...EGR state determination unit, 513...threshold value generation unit, 514...communication control unit, 521...group information storage unit,

Claims

1. Diesel engines and an EGR cooler that cools a portion of the exhaust gas of the diesel engine and returns the cooled exhaust gas to the diesel engine; a urea SCR system that purifies another portion of the exhaust gas from the diesel engine by reacting it with ammonia on a catalyst to reduce it to nitrogen, a storage device that stores a threshold value of the urea injection amount associated with a vehicle type and an average vehicle speed; an EGR state determination unit that determines that there is a suspicion of clogging of the EGR cooler when the urea injection amount of the vehicle for a predetermined period exceeds the threshold associated with the vehicle type and an average vehicle speed for the predetermined period; A clogging determination device comprising:

2. 2. The clogging determination device according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value is set based on a urea injection amount obtained from actual values ​​of an engine bench and / or a test vehicle of the diesel engine, or an annual average urea injection amount of vehicles running in the market.

3. a group determination unit that classifies the vehicles into groups for each predetermined period based on a plurality of group information set based on vehicle type and average vehicle speed and the vehicle type and average vehicle speed of the vehicles; The clogging determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the storage device stores the threshold value for each group of the group information.

4. 2. The clogging determining device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined period is one month.

5. The clogging determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the EGR state determination unit issues an alert when the determined urea injection amount exceeds the threshold value.

6. The clogging determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, an on-board device mounted on the vehicle, the on-board device having a travel information determination unit that determines the average vehicle speed of the vehicle from the vehicle speed of the vehicle, and a communication interface that transmits the determined average vehicle speed to the clogging determination device; A clogging determination system for determining clogging of the EGR cooler, comprising:

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