Engine Cylinder Configuration Control for Low-Load Fuel and Emissions
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing engine control systems, such as the skip fire engine control system, do not effectively manage fuel and air distribution to individual cylinders, leading to inefficient fuel use and excessive pollutant production during idling or low-load conditions, and lack comprehensive optimization across multiple engine performance parameters.
Innovation Solution
An engine optimization controller determines an engine configuration scheme by processing input parameters using an engine model to decide which cylinders should be active or inactive for fuel and air, allowing for dynamic control of fuel injectors and air induction systems to optimize engine performance across various parameters like torque, pollution, and noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If all cylinders are supplied with fuel and air mixture during idling or low-load events, then the engine maintains sufficient power output, but fuel efficiency deteriorates and pollutant production increases
Solution Approach 1:
The engine control system segments the cylinder population into different operational groups (active vs. inactive cylinders) based on load conditions. During idle or low-load events, only a subset of cylinders is activated while others are deactivated, allowing the engine to maintain necessary power output with fewer combustion events, thereby improving fuel efficiency and reducing energy losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the number and configuration of active cylinders based on real-time operating conditions such as engine load, speed, and temperature. This dynamic reconfiguration allows the engine to optimize the balance between power output and fuel consumption across different operational regimes, rather than maintaining a fixed all-cylinders-active configuration.
2Power
If all cylinders are supplied with fuel and air mixture during high temperature exhaust gas events, then the engine maintains power output, but pollutant production increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control system segments cylinders into active and inactive groups, deactivating certain cylinders during high-temperature exhaust events. This reduces the total number of combustion reactions occurring, thereby decreasing the generation of harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, while maintaining sufficient power output through the active cylinders.
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the potential harm of high-temperature exhaust gas (which promotes pollutant formation) into a benefit by selectively deactivating cylinders during these conditions. This reduces the overall combustion activity in high-temperature zones, thereby converting a harmful thermal environment into an opportunity for emissions reduction while preserving necessary power output.
3Loss of energy
If a skip firing fraction is used to control cylinder firing, then fuel efficiency improves during low-load events, but the control system lacks detail on individual cylinder configuration
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a generic skip firing fraction that treats all cylinders uniformly, the system segments individual cylinders and assigns specific configurations (active with fuel, active without fuel, or inactive) to each cylinder based on its position, thermal state, and load requirements. This provides detailed individual cylinder control while maintaining fuel efficiency benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system applies local quality by tailoring the operational state of each individual cylinder based on local conditions such as cylinder position, thermal history, and instantaneous load requirements. Rather than applying a uniform skip-fire strategy, each cylinder receives a customized control command that optimizes fuel efficiency while considering local engine conditions.
4Productivity
If an engine model processes multiple input parameters to determine cylinder configuration, then overall engine performance optimization improves, but computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-processing input parameters (temperature, pressure, flow rates) and using a trained engine model to predict optimal cylinder configurations before actual combustion events. This allows the control system to anticipate the best cylinder arrangement for upcoming operating conditions, optimizing performance in advance rather than reacting to current states.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex real-time mechanical optimization with a computational approach using a trained engine model (neural network or other AI model). The model has been pre-trained offline to capture complex engine behavior, allowing real-time control to use simplified inference rather than complex calculations, thereby reducing online computational complexity while maintaining optimization capability.
Data Source
AI summary
An engine optimization controller may determine values of a set of input parameters of an engine and process, using an engine model, the values to determine a plurality of sets of potential output parameters. The engine optimization controller may determine, based on the plurality of sets of potential output parameters, an engine optimization scheme, which may indicate a first number of cylinders, of one or more cylinders of the engine, to be active and to receive gas; a second number of cylinders, of the one or more cylinders, to be inactive and to receive gas, and/or a third number of cylinders, of the one or more cylinders, to be inactive and to not receive gas. The engine optimization controller may provide the engine configuration scheme to another controller to allow control of the one or more cylinders and one or more fuel injectors according to the engine configuration scheme.