Fuel Taggant Sensor System for Combustion Engine Property Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fuel systems lack the ability to accurately determine physical fuel properties, such as energy density and lubricity, which affect combustion engine performance, and this information is often unreliable due to blending and contamination within the supply chain.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize sensors and taggants to measure and predict performance characteristics of a combustion engine by associating physical fuel properties with operating and maintenance characteristics, using a fuel-performance relationship stored in a database, allowing for accurate determination even in blended fuels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If fuel properties are determined based on manufacturer information, then the process is simple, but the information becomes unreliable due to blending and contamination in the supply chain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces taggants as intermediary substances added to fuel at the manufacturing stage. These taggants serve as reliable markers that persist through blending and contamination in the supply chain, enabling accurate fuel property determination without relying on potentially compromised manufacturer information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces reliance on information systems (manufacturer-provided data that can be compromised) with direct physical measurement systems. Sensors detect taggants and fuel properties directly at the point of use, substituting indirect information transfer with direct physical detection to ensure reliability.
2Measurement precision
If sensors and taggants are used to measure fuel properties, then measurement accuracy improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs inexpensive taggants that can be easily added to fuel and disposed of after serving their measurement purpose. These disposable markers provide accurate measurement without requiring complex, expensive, or maintainable measurement infrastructure, thus achieving high precision without proportional increases in system complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If fuel blending occurs in the supply chain, then fuel versatility improves, but the ability to determine original fuel properties is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the principle of local quality by adding distinct taggants to different fuel types at manufacturing. Even when fuels are blended, each component retains its unique taggant signature, allowing the system to identify and characterize individual fuel components within the blend, thus preserving original fuel property information despite mixing.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for use in determining one or more performance characteristics of a mechanical system that includes a combustion engine. One or more values of a physical property of fuel are associated with a performance characteristic (e.g., an operating characteristic and/or a maintenance characteristic) of a mechanical system to create a fuel-performance relationship. An actual value of the physical property of a fuel to be burned by the combustion engine is determined using one or more sensors. A predicted value of the performance characteristic is determined based on the actual value of the physical property and the fuel-performance relationship.