The present disclosure relates to a combustion process for an internal combustion engine, in which a fuel mixture composed of a dimethyl ether-containing first fuel and a methane-containing second fuel is combusted, wherein the premixed fuel mixture or the fuels independently are fed directly to at least one combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine and/or indirectly via at least one intake pipe of the internal combustion engine upstream of the at least one combustion chamber, wherein the fuel mixture present in the respective combustion chamber is combusted by self-ignition with addition of combustion air on the intake pipe side.

Systems, methods and apparatus for controlling operation of dual fuel engines are disclosed that regulate the fuelling amounts provided by a first fuel and a second fuel during operation of the engine. The first fuel can be a liquid fuel and the second fuel can be a gaseous fuel. The fuelling amounts are controlled to improve operational outcomes of the duel fuel engine.

Systems, methods and apparatus for controlling operation of dual fuel engines are disclosed that regulate the fuelling amounts provided by a first fuel and a second fuel during operation of the engine. The first fuel can be a liquid fuel and the second fuel can be a gaseous fuel. The fuelling amounts are controlled to improve operational outcomes of the duel fuel engine.

An engine including a main fuel injection valve, a pilot fuel injection valve, a liquid fuel supply rail pipe, and a pilot fuel supply rail pipe. The main fuel injection valve supplies liquid fuel from the liquid fuel supply rail pipe to a combustion chamber during combustion in a diffusion combustion system. The pilot fuel injection valve supplies pilot fuel from the pilot fuel supply rail pipe to the combustion chamber in order to ignite gaseous fuel during combustion in a premixed combustion system. The liquid fuel supply rail pipe is disposed at one side of an imaginary vertical plane including an axis of a crank shaft. The pilot fuel supply rail pipe is disposed at the side of the imaginary vertical plane at which the liquid fuel supply rail pipe is disposed.

A dual fuel system for an internal combustion engine includes a first fuel supply of a liquid pilot fuel, a primary fuel supply of a liquid primary fuel, and a dual fuel injector. The dual fuel injector includes a spill valve fluidly connected with a plunger cavity and movable to control a start of injection and an end of injection, and an admission valve. The admission valve is movable to admit a pilot fuel into the fuel injector, such that the pilot fuel is conveyed through an outlet check to form, within a primary fuel passage fluidly connected to the plunger cavity, a segmented fuel charge of leading pilot fuel and trailing primary fuel by displacing some of the primary fuel. The liquid pilot fuel may be a higher cetane/lower octane liquid fuel, and the primary fuel may be a lower cetane/higher octane liquid fuel.

In certain embodiments, Lube Oil Controlled Ignition (LOCI) Engine Combustion overcomes the drawbacks of known combustion technologies. First, lubricating oil is already part of any combustion engine; hence, there is no need to carry a secondary fuel and to have to depend on an additional fuel system as in the case of dual-fuel technologies. Second, the ignition and the start of combustion rely on the controlled autoignition of the lubricating oil preventing the occurrence of abnormal combustion as experienced with the Spark Ignition technology. Third, LOCI combustion is characterized by the traveling of a premixed flame; hence, it has a controllable duration resulting in a wide engine load-speed window unlike the Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition technology where the engine load-speed window is narrow. Adaptive Intake Valve Closure may be used to control in-cylinder compression temperature to be high enough to realize the consistent auto ignition of the lubricating oil mist.

In certain embodiments, Lube Oil Controlled Ignition (LOCI) Engine Combustion overcomes the drawbacks of known combustion technologies. First, lubricating oil is already part of any combustion engine; hence, there is no need to carry a secondary fuel and to have to depend on an additional fuel system as in the case of dual-fuel technologies. Second, the ignition and the start of combustion rely on the controlled autoignition of the lubricating oil preventing the occurrence of abnormal combustion as experienced with the Spark Ignition technology. Third, LOCI combustion is characterized by the traveling of a premixed flame; hence, it has a controllable duration resulting in a wide engine load-speed window unlike the Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition technology where the engine load-speed window is narrow. Adaptive Intake Valve Closure may be used to control in-cylinder compression temperature to be high enough to realize the consistent auto ignition of the lubricating oil mist.

A system, apparatus, and method for controlling an engine system can provide fuel reactivity compensation control for an engine of the engine system. Pilot fuel quantity supplied to the engine can be controlled using a nitrous oxide (NOx) error. Likewise, air-to-fuel ratio (AFR) for the engine can be controlled using the NOx error. Each of a pilot fuel offset and an AFR control trim can be generated using the NOx error. The pilot fuel offset and the AFR control trim can be used to control the pilot fuel quantity and the AFR, respectively.

Systems, methods and apparatus for controlling operation of dual fuel engines are disclosed that regulate the fueling amounts provided by a first fuel and a second fuel during operation of the engine. The first fuel can be a liquid fuel and the second fuel can be a gaseous fuel. The fueling amounts are controlled to improve operational outcomes of the duel fuel engine.

Systems, methods and apparatus for controlling operation of dual fuel engines are disclosed that regulate the fueling amounts provided by a first fuel and a second fuel during operation of the engine. The first fuel can be a liquid fuel and the second fuel can be a gaseous fuel. The fueling amounts are controlled to improve operational outcomes of the duel fuel engine.