Dual-Fuel Engine Control System for Dynamic Fuel Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for dual-fuel engines fail to optimize fuel usage while meeting emission standards, as they are influenced by fluctuating fuel costs and availability, and do not effectively manage nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions.
Innovation Solution
A fuel optimizing system that determines characteristic profiles for a mobile asset's journey along a predefined path, calculates a fuel combustion ratio for engine cylinders based on these profiles, and controls the fuel delivery system to maintain actual fuel usage values within predefined thresholds, ensuring optimal fuel use and emission compliance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a dual-fuel engine operates with fixed fuel proportions, then the engine can maintain simple operation, but it cannot optimize fuel usage in response to fluctuating fuel costs and availability
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel delivery system dynamically adjusts fuel proportions based on real-time characteristics profiles that include fuel cost, availability, and emission standards. The system transitions from fixed fuel proportions to dynamic, real-time optimization, allowing the engine to adapt fuel mix ratios according to changing operational conditions and external factors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where characteristic profiles (fuel cost, availability, emission standards) are continuously monitored and fed back into the fuel delivery control system. This enables the system to learn from past performance and adjust fuel proportions to optimize both cost and emission compliance.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the fuel blend is adjusted to reduce NOx and PM emissions, then emission compliance is improved, but fuel cost may increase due to less optimal fuel selection
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes multiple parameters simultaneously including fuel type, fuel proportion, and injection timing based on the characteristic profiles. By optimizing the combination of these parameters rather than adjusting them in isolation, the system achieves both emission reduction and cost optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system treats the fuel mixture as a composite material where different fuel types (e.g., diesel, natural gas, biofuels) are combined in optimized proportions. The characteristic profiles guide the creation of an optimal fuel composite that balances emission characteristics with cost-effectiveness.
3Productivity
If real-time fuel optimization is implemented based on characteristic profiles, then fuel efficiency and emission compliance are improved, but the system complexity and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculations of optimal fuel proportions based on predicted characteristic profiles before actual fuel delivery occurs. By pre-computing optimization strategies based on anticipated conditions, the system reduces real-time computational burden while maintaining high fuel efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system optimizes fuel utilization based on cost and availability, reducing NOx and PM emissions by adjusting the fuel blend, ensuring compliance with emission standards and minimizing fuel costs.
Implementation Method 1
controlling a fuel delivery system of the mobile asset so as to deliver the plurality of fuels to the at least one engine cylinder based on the fuel combustion ratio
Implementation Method 2
a dual-fuel engine is an alternative internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, for example, natural gas and diesel
Implementation Method 3
operate by directly injecting a fuel (e.g., diesel fuel) into compressed air in one or more piston-cylinder assemblies, such that the heat of the compressed air ignites the fuel-air mixture
Implementation Method 4
The direct fuel injection atomizes the fuel into droplets, which evaporate and mix with the compressed air in the combustion chambers of the piston-cylinder assemblies
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes determining a plurality of characteristic profiles associated with a mobile asset moving from a first operating point to a second operating point along a predefined path. The method further includes determining a fuel combustion ratio of the plurality of the fuels associated with at least one engine cylinder of the mobile asset based on the plurality of characteristic profiles so as to maintain a plurality of actual values associated with usage of the plurality of fuels to less than or equal to predefined corresponding threshold values. The method also includes controlling a fuel delivery system of the mobile asset so as to deliver the plurality of fuels to the at least one engine cylinder based on the fuel combustion ratio.