Methods and systems are provided for controlling spark plug fouling in newly manufactured vehicles. In one example, an engine is operated with a first, more aggressive spark discharge schedule when in a pre-delivery state and transitioned to a second, less aggressive spark discharge schedule when in a post-delivery state. In each spark discharge schedule, a spark plug ignition coil is repeatedly discharged when the engine is off, such as when the engine is spinning down to rest on a shutdown event or before the engine is fueled on an engine restart event.

A method for determining the composition of a fuel in a lubricant in an internal combustion engine in disclosed. The composition of a fuel having at least a first portion of a first fuel component and a second portion of a second fuel component is predefined. The mass flow with which the fuel is introduced into the lubricant in an introduction phase or discharged from the lubricant and from the housing in a discharge phase is determined. The composition of the mass flow is determined from a first mass flow of the first fuel component and a second mass flow of the second fuel component, which are determined based on a) an introduction parameter in the introduction phase or a discharge parameter in the discharge phase, and b) the first portion of the first fuel component and the second portion of the second fuel component in the fuel.

A method is provided for determining fuel blend in a dual fuel mixture including a first and a second fuel in an internal combustion engine. The method includes the steps of measuring multiple engine parameters using sensors during transient cycle operation for a predetermined range of engine loads and fuel blends; using system identification of transient time series of the measurements to determine one or more relevant engine parameters; determining a model for estimation of the fuel blend based on said one or more engine parameters; using the model for determining a current fuel blend during transient operation using current measured values of the one or more engine parameters, and using the calculated current fuel blend for controlling the amount of dual fuel mixture injected into each cylinder of the internal combustion engine. A vehicle and a computer program product using the method are also provided.

In an engine apparatus which is driven by at least one of a gaseous fuel and a liquid fuel being inputted into a combustion chamber, a dangerous region where abnormal combustion is predicted is preset with respect to the mixed combustion ratio of the gaseous fuel contained in fuels which are inputted into the combustion chamber, and the dangerous region is avoided when an engine is operated. For example, in the engine apparatus, when the engine is operated while the mixed combustion ratio is changed, an avoidance control which avoids the dangerous region is executed. For example, in the engine apparatus, the dangerous region is preset in a relation between the engine load and the mixed combustion ratio of the gaseous fuel.

Method and apparatus for standby fuel storage and use to provide uninterrupted power generation by a power generation mechanism. An infrastructure pipeline supplies natural gas at a selected flow rate and a selected pressure as a primary fuel. A secondary fuel is accumulated in a plurality of sub-surface storage pods. In response to an exception event such as a curtailment order, a controller throttles a subsequent flow of the natural gas from the infrastructure pipeline so that the natural gas continues to flow to the power generation mechanism at a reduced flow rate, and blends the reduced flow of the natural gas with the secondary fuel. The secondary fuel can be an additional quantity of natural gas, hydrogen, or some other fuel. Renewable energy sources such as wind or solar can be used to generate the hydrogen, even during the blending process. The blend ratio can be adaptively adjusted.

Methods and systems are provided for controlling exhaust emissions by adjusting an injection profile for different fuels injected into an engine cylinder from different fuel injectors during engine start and crank. By splitting fuel injection during start and cranking so that fuel of lower alcohol content is port injected and fuel of higher alcohol content is direct injected as one or multiple injections, the soot load of the engine can be reduced and fuel economy can be improved.

A method and control unit for a start of an Otto engine operated at low temperatures, using ethanol and/or gasoline, having direct injection. The method includes generating by a high pressure pump a fuel pressure in a high pressure system connected to a high pressure reservoir; a sensor monitoring the fuel pressure in the reservoir and the system; injecting the fuel, by an injector, from the reservoir into a cylinder of the engine, the fuel pressure, an injection quantity and a fuel quantity being specified by a control unit based on, sensor the fuel pressure being specified based on the operating point of the engine up to an upper pressure which is below a starting pressure to which the fuel is increased before the fuel injection, and the fuel pressure in the reservoir and the system being limited to a maximum by an opening pressure of a limiting valve.

An electronic control unit calculates a rotation variation amount NE as a cetane number index value of the fuel supplied to an internal combustion engine and executes fuel injection control in a first execution mode corresponding to the rotation variation amount NE (S407, S408). In a mixing period in which the cetane number of the fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine is changed due to the fuel feed into the fuel tank (S401: YES), the fuel injection control is executed in a second execution mode such that, compared with the first execution mode, stable operation of the internal combustion engine is given more importance (S402:YES, S403). When calculation of the rotation variation amount NE is executed during the mixing period (S404: YES), fuel injection control is executed while limiting the reflection of the rotation variation amount NE (S405, S406).

The present invention refers to a fuel supply system of an internal combustion engine, in particular of a marine diesel engine, for supplying a fuel emulsion to a fuel injection system of the engine. The fuel supply system includes at least one actuated blending unit configured to blend a primary fuel and a secondary fuel to provide the fuel emulsion prior to being supplied to the fuel injection system.

Method and apparatus for adaptively adjusting the storage of fuels for use in a fuel blending process. First and second fuels are stored in storage vessels at an initial volumetric fuel storage ratio. A storage controller executes a performance strategy to adaptively adjust at least one storage parameter in response to a predicted or detected change in operating conditions of the system. The performance strategy can include increasing a storage pressure of at least one of the fuels and/or changing a total number of storage vessels used to store the respective fuels. A dispensing mechanism transfers a blended fuel formed from the first and second fuels in accordance with the execution of the performance strategy. The fuels can take a variety of forms including hydrogen (H2), oxygen (O2), hydrocarbons, etc. The blended fuel may be dispensed by a fueling station to a motor vehicle.