A method is described for setting a temperature of a glow plug, in particular for igniting a fuel/air mixture in an internal combustion engine in which the temperature of the glow plug is set as a function of a resistance of the glow plug with the aid of a control. To prevent temperature overshoots from occurring during the preheating phase of the glow plug, the temperature is controlled with the aid of a predictive model during a preheating phase during which an overvoltage is applied to the glow plug.

A method for controlling the temperature of glow plugs of a combustion engine is described, wherein all glow plugs are heated up for an engine start by the input of electrical energy according to a profile which is uniformly specified for all glow plugs of the engine, a change in resistance R is ascertained for each of the glow plugs for at least one specified time span, and a target resistance value is calculated for each glow plug from the associated change in resistance R, this value being expected for the glow plug when it has reached its target temperature, and the target resistance value is used to control the temperature of the glow plug to the target temperature.

A control apparatus for a diesel engine includes a neighboring temperature estimating section which estimates a temperature of a neighborhood of a glow plug that heats an interior of a cylinder upon startup, and a supercharging pressure control section which controls a supercharging pressure in such a way that a rotation fluctuation of the engine does not increase, on the basis of the estimated temperature of the neighborhood of the glow plug.

A control apparatus for a diesel engine includes a neighboring temperature estimating section which estimates a temperature of a neighborhood of a glow plug that heats an interior of a cylinder upon startup, and a supercharging pressure control section which controls a supercharging pressure in such a way that a rotation fluctuation of the engine does not increase, on the basis of the estimated temperature of the neighborhood of the glow plug.

This invention refers to a method for diagnosing faults in the operation of a fuel heating system associated with an internal combustion engine, that includes a plurality of routines to detection of several kinds of faults. The relevant concern is to provide a sufficiently robust solution implemented by computer, to conceive a fuel heating system that includes a main control unit and a heating control unit independent from each other, both comprising respective intelligences so that this latter is particularly able to perform several functions and/or routines relating to the self-diagnostic of the heating system. For such, a method for self-diagnostic of fuel heating system that includes at least one engine control unit ECU that includes a respective microcontroller, and at least one heating control unit HCU that includes a respective microcontroller, both fed by at least one tension source 10 interconnected to each other and to the at least heating element 13 through an electronic circuit that still includes, at least, one main relay 11 and at least one secondary relay 12.

An autonomous glow driver system for radio controlled (RC) engines. Aspects of the system include a connector that securely attaches to the glow plug to maintain good electrical contact with the glow plug and reduce signal noise and using a current and differential amplifiers to determine the temperature of the glow element and the RPMs of the glow engine from a voltage signal (obtained via the connector) that varies with the temperature as induced changes in the resistance of the glow element occur. Using the data of temperature, non-running RPM, and running RPM to control operation of the glow driver leads to a very reliable approach to automatically activating the glow driver to maintain the combustion chamber temperature of the glow engine at a selected level because RPM is indicative of a rotating engine whereas temperature is not.

A method for determining the temperature of a sheathed-element glow plug during operation in an internal combustion engine is described, in which a temperature-resistance reference correlation is determined. In order to reduce the tolerance range of a sheathed-element glow plug, after the sheathed-element glow plug has been installed in the internal combustion engine, a calibration step is carried out in which, with the aid of the temperature-resistance reference correlation determined prior to the installation of the sheathed-element glow plug in the internal combustion engine, a temperature-resistance correlation specific to the sheathed-element glow plug is ascertained, from which the temperature of the sheathed-element glow plug during operation of the sheathed-element glow plug in the internal combustion engine is determined.

Described is a method for detecting a glow plug replacement of an engine, wherein a first value of a temperature-dependent variable is measured at a first glow plug of the engine and, simultaneously, a second value of the temperature-dependent variable is measured at a second glow plug of the engine. The first value of the temperature-dependent variable is compared with a stored reference value of the first glow plug and a glow plug replacement is detected if the difference of the first value from the reference value exceeds a threshold value. According to this disclosure, it is provided that the reference value is a value which, in an earlier measurement, was measured at the first glow plug simultaneously with the measurement of a value at the second glow plug which corresponds to the second value within a predefined tolerance.