A battery temperature adjusting device for a vehicle on which a battery is mounted, the battery being a lithium ion battery disposed near a powertrain unit inside an engine bay, is provided. The device includes a first air duct provided to an intake passage configured to lead intake air to a combustion chamber of an engine, a second air duct provided to the intake passage and provided with an intake opening that opens toward a space between the powertrain unit and the battery, an intake-air-amount adjusting part, and a controller configured to acquire an ambient temperature of the powertrain unit. The controller increases a ratio of the second intake air amount relative to the sum of the first intake air amount and the second intake air amount, when the ambient temperature exceeds a first threshold temperature, compared with when the ambient temperature is below the first threshold temperature.

An integrated biomass conversion system and a method of starting and shutting down the system are disclosed. The integrated biomass conversion system comprises a syngas generator, such as a gasifier, a cleanup engine and a syngas utilization system, which could be a power producing engine or a chemical reactor for chemical or fuel synthesis. The cleanup engine operates rich and at high temperatures so that the tars exhausted by the syngas generators are destroyed and not allowed to foul other components. An orderly sequence to start and shut down the integrated biomass conversion system is disclosed.

A control method of a butterfly valve of an internal combustion engine, when said internal combustion engine is running, wherein said butterfly valve is controlled by means of a control signal, indicative of an angular position of said valve, the method comprising a step of applying a first limiting filter of a gradient of said control signal, when a ratio between a target pressure downstream of the butterfly valve and a measured pressure upstream of the butterfly valve is greater than a first predetermined threshold.

A method for cleaning an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve includes scheduling a cleaning for the EGR valve, and receiving a signal indicative of a temperature of exhaust gas produced with an internal combustion engine. The method may also include generating a command to actuate an intake throttle valve to a restrictive position to increase the temperature of the exhaust gas for cleaning the EGR valve, and generating a signal to repeatedly actuate the EGR valve.

A method for activating a boost pressure control for an internal combustion engine, which contains, in a through-flow direction, a compressor, a charge air line, a throttle valve, an intake manifold, at least one combustion chamber and a turbine speed-coupled to the compressor, an aperture of the throttle valve being controllable, a driving of the turbine being controllable by an exhaust gas flow, and the method including: predefining a setpoint intake manifold pressure; calculating a simplified inverse flow characteristic of the throttle valve; calculating a pseudo setpoint aperture of the throttle valve, based on the simplified inverse flow characteristic and the setpoint intake manifold pressure; and controlling the driving of the turbine, based on an exceeding of a maximum aperture of the throttle valve by the pseudo setpoint aperture of the throttle valve.

Systems, methods and apparatus are disclosed for providing or maintaining a target surge margin at the compressor during steady state engine operating conditions and to avoid compressor surge during transients by controlling a compressor recirculation valve position to a commanded position. The estimated surge margin can be determined in response to the measured pressure ratio across the compressor, an estimated compressor flow, and a compressor map for the compressor.

Systems and methods for operating an engine that is started via expansion stroke combustion are described. In one example, the method increases air flow through the engine during an engine stopping process so that a larger amount of air may be trapped in a cylinder that is on its expansion stroke so that greater amounts of engine torque may be provided during engine starting.

Methods and systems are provided for pinpointing a source of degradation in a vehicle engine system. In one example, a method includes spinning an engine of a vehicle unfueled in a forward and a reverse direction, in no particular order, and recording a first intake air flow and a second intake air flow, respectively, in an intake of the engine, and where the source of degradation is indicated as a function of both the first air flow and the second air flow. In this way, the degradation of the vehicle engine system may be pinpointed as to being located in the intake manifold, the exhaust system, or the engine.

Systems and methods for stopping an engine of a vehicle are described. In one example, the method anticipates when an engine is expected to stop and modifies engine operation so that less fuel is in the engine's intake ports when the engine is stopped so that the fuel may not escape the engine when the engine is restarted.

A method (100) is proposed for operating an internal combustion engine (210), which comprises a lean-burn engine having compression-ignition, having a throttle valve (213) in an air path (212) upstream of the internal combustion engine (210) and an exhaust gas posttreatment system (202) downstream of the internal combustion engine (210), comprising a control of the internal combustion engine (210) according to a present load demand (130) using metering of an amount of fuel in dependence on the present load demand; and if a load demand (130) is absent in a heating operating mode, further comprising partially closing (140) the throttle valve (213) and defining a minimum value for the amount of fuel, which is greater than zero. Furthermore, a computing unit and a computer program for carrying out such a method (100) are proposed.