Engine Control System for Emissions and Fuel Consumption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Compression-ignition engines, such as diesel engines, face challenges in controlling exhaust emissions and specific fuel consumption, especially in extreme environmental conditions like high altitudes, where ambient conditions adversely affect engine performance and efficiency, making it difficult to maintain emissions and fuel consumption within specific limits.
Innovation Solution
The method involves controlling engine speed based on intake manifold air temperature and pressure, and recirculating a portion of the exhaust gas to the combustion cylinders, while adjusting fuel injection timing and airflow to maintain specific fuel consumption and exhaust emission limits, using a system that includes a turbocharger, recirculation channel, and a controller to manage these parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If the engine operates at full load in extreme ambient conditions (high altitude, low temperature), then the engine power and torque are improved, but the exhaust emissions exceed design limits and specific fuel consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adjustment of the air-fuel ratio based on ambient conditions through the controller (16). The system continuously monitors intake air temperature and pressure sensors, and the controller modifies fuel injection quantity and timing to maintain optimal combustion across varying operating conditions, preventing emission limits from being exceeded while preserving engine power output.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes key combustion parameters including air-fuel ratio, injection timing, and EGR rate in response to ambient conditions. The controller adjusts these parameters dynamically to optimize combustion efficiency and reduce emissions. Specifically, the system modifies the air-fuel ratio and fuel injection timing based on intake manifold temperature and pressure readings to maintain compliance with emission standards under extreme operating conditions.
2Power
If the engine operates at full load in extreme ambient conditions, then the engine power is maintained, but the specific fuel consumption increases beyond acceptable limits
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs feedback control through the controller (16) that continuously monitors engine operating parameters including intake air temperature, pressure, and exhaust gas composition. Based on this feedback, the controller adjusts fuel injection timing and quantity to optimize combustion efficiency, thereby maintaining engine power while reducing specific fuel consumption to acceptable levels under extreme ambient conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary adjustment of fuel injection timing and air-fuel ratio based on predicted ambient conditions. The controller pre-adjusts combustion parameters before the engine operates under extreme conditions, optimizing fuel combustion efficiency in advance to prevent excessive specific fuel consumption while maintaining required power output.
3Power
If the air-fuel ratio is enriched to maintain power output in extreme conditions, then the engine power is maintained, but the exhaust emissions of carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the air-fuel ratio parameter dynamically based on ambient conditions rather than using a fixed enriched mixture. The controller adjusts the air-fuel ratio to achieve complete combustion while maintaining power output, thereby reducing carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbon emissions. The system modifies fuel injection timing and quantity to ensure efficient combustion even under extreme temperature and pressure conditions.
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
This approach effectively maintains specific fuel consumption and exhaust emissions within predefined limits, meeting or exceeding Tier 4 standards without the need for aftertreatment systems, by optimizing air-fuel ratio, exhaust gas recirculation, and fuel injection strategies in response to ambient conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a turbocharger, recirculation channel, and a controller to manage these parameters
Implementation Method 2
recirculating at least a portion of the exhaust gas flow to a plurality of combustion cylinder of the engine via a recirculation channel
Implementation Method 3
adjusting fuel injection timing and airflow to maintain specific fuel consumption and exhaust emission limits
Implementation Method 4
Compression-ignition engines, such as diesel engines, 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
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes controlling an engine speed based on: intake manifold air temperature and/or intake manifold pressure one, or more, of the following data parameters: an engine load as a function of a fuel level, a fuel injecting timing, an intake oxygen concentration, a constituent concentration from the exhaust gas flow, an engine power, and an engine torque. The method also recirculates a portion of the exhaust gas flow to the combustion cylinders of the engine via a recirculation channel, as a function of intake manifold temperature and/or intake manifold pressure at which the engine is operated. An engine system, other methods, and a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a program, to enable a processor-based control unit to control aspects of the engine are also disclosed.