An exhaust control system of a vehicle includes a fuel injector configured to inject fuel into a combustion chamber of a burner of an exhaust system upstream of a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst; an air pump configured to pump air into the combustion chamber of the burner; a spark plug configured to ignite an air/fuel mixture within the combustion chamber of the burner; a fuel control module configured to, while an engine is off before an engine startup, selectively actuate the fuel injector and begin fuel injection; a pump control module configured to, while the engine is off before the engine startup, selectively turn on the air pump; and a spark control module configured to, while the engine is off and before the engine startup, selectively apply power to the spark plug and begin providing spark.

The invention relates to a method for controlling an internal combustion engine system (2), wherein the internal combustion engine system (2) is provided with an air intake duct (3), an exhaust gas duct (4) and an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system (5), wherein the EGR system (5) comprises an EGR conduit (6) that fluidly connects the exhaust duct (4) and the intake duct (3), and wherein a gas feeding device (7) is arranged in the EGR conduit (6), said gas feeding device (7) being configured to feed exhaust gas from the exhaust duct (4) to the intake duct (3) during operation of the engine system (2). The method is characterized in that it comprises the step of: detecting a risk of freezing of condensed water in the EGR conduit (6), and, in case such a risk is detected and in case the gas feeding device (7) is not in operation, operating the gas feeding device (7). The invention also relates to an internal combustion engine system (2) configured for being operated by such a method and to a vehicle (1) provided with such an engine system (2). The invention further relates to means for controlling the above method.

A vehicle exhaust gas purification system and a control method thereof that may effectively remove nitrogen oxides in an exhaust gas even in a cold state, which is the initial stage of an engine starting, is disclosed. A control method of an exhaust gas purification system of a vehicle may include: a step of performing a rich control for controlling a concentration of non-combusted fuel contained in the exhaust gas flowing into the housing to be a rich fuel directly after the starting of the engine; a step of performing a lean control for controlling the concentration of the non-combusted fuel contained in the exhaust gas flowing into the housing to be a lean fuel; a step of determining whether a temperature of the exhaust gas flowing into the housing is a predetermined temperature or more; and a step of performing a normal control for controlling the concentration of the non-combusted fuel contained in the exhaust gas flowing into the housing so that a lean fuel and a rich fuel are periodically repeated with a regular interval.

A multiple fuel tank purge system and method includes providing a pair of fuel tanks, including a main fuel tank for containing impure fuel and a separate, auxiliary fuel tank that contains commercial canned fuel. The engine runs on the impure fuel from the main fuel tank while the engine is in normal use, and then employs a shutdown cycle that switches to the commercial canned fuel from the auxiliary fuel tank for some pre-set time period. This arrangement allows the engine to be purged of the impure fuel (by burning the impure fuel during the shutdown cycle) and replaced by the commercial pre-mixed fuel before the engine is finally shut down. The system may further include a novel fuel cap with a fuel line, a tank within a tank fuel container, and/or an electronically actuated shutdown cycle mechanism.

Methods and systems are provided for carrying out diagnostics of a bleed canister of an evaporative emissions control system in a vehicle. In one example, a method may include, loading the bleed canister during a refueling event, and then during an immediately subsequent engine start, detecting if the bleed canister is degraded or not based on output of an exhaust gas oxygen sensor.

This disclosure relates to a method of controlling an engine and more particularly for controlling the transition between operating modes of an internal combustion engine such as between an economy mode and a performance mode. The method comprising the steps of determining a current fuel-air ratio at which the engine is operating and comparing it with a predetermined fuel-air ratio limit. The time duration for which the current fuel air-ratio is below the fuel-air ratio limit is determined and compared with a predetermined waiting time threshold value. A count is triggered, which is based on a difference between the current fuel-air ratio and the fuel-air ratio limit when the engine is operating at a current fuel-air ratio which is below the fuel-air ratio limit and this is compared with an intensity threshold value. The operating mode is shifted from the performance mode to the economy mode when both the time duration and the count exceed the waiting time threshold value and the intensity threshold value respectively. The operating mode is automatically shifted back to the performance mode when the current fuel-air ratio reaches or exceeds the fuel ratio limit. The method alternatively comprises using the air-fuel ratio, instead of the fuel-air ratio, and the switch from performance mode to economy mode only occurs when the current air-fuel is above a predetermined air-fuel limit and it remains above the predetermined air-fuel limit until two other predetermined thresholds have been reached.

A control device of a hybrid vehicle including an engine, motor that receives power from the engine via an engine connecting and disconnecting device, and automatic transmission, starts the engine in a first starting method in which the engine performs ignition and rotates by itself after the engine speed is increased to be equal to or higher than a predetermined rotational speed through slipping engagement of the engine connecting and disconnecting device, or a second starting method in which the engine performs ignition and rotates by itself from a stage before the engine speed reaches the predetermined rotational speed, and controls the automatic transmission to permit a lower gear position to be established according to shift conditions when the engine is started in the second starting method during a downshift of the automatic transmission, as compared with when the engine is started in the first starting method during the downshift.

A control method can be used for securing continuously variable valve duration (CVVD) startability when a CVVD error is recognized by a CVVD controller during an operation of a CVVD system. The control method includes performing engine startability securing control for solving the CVVD error by applying a starting air volume to starting of an engine through at least one of a valve position fixing value, a valve position threshold, or an immediately previous valve position value.

A throttle valve heating control apparatus of an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system for a combustion engine includes a heat source installed in a valve housing and operated when receiving a voltage from a battery of a vehicle, a first sensor unit configured to measure a temperature of outside air of the vehicle, a second sensor unit configured to measure the voltage of the battery, and a controller configured to selectively control an operation of the heat source when the temperature of the outside air and the voltage satisfy a predetermined condition in a state in which the vehicle is turned on, and to determine whether an operation of the heat source is maintained through re-comparison of the temperature of the outside air in a state in which the heat source is operated.

Methods and system are provided to heat a catalyst of an after-treatment system for a vehicle. The after-treatment system comprises a heating module having a plurality of heating elements. Each of the plurality of heating elements is independently operable to provide thermal energy to the catalyst of the after-treatment system. One or more of the heating elements of the heating module are selectively operated to provide heat to the catalyst based on an operational parameter of the after-treatment system.