A fuel content detection system is disclosed. The fuel content detection system may include an engine control module (ECM) to receive a measurement of a parameter. The parameter may correlate with an amount of a substance in a fuel that is being consumed in an engine. The ECM may determine an estimation of the parameter based on a model. The model may use a predetermined value associated with the amount of the substance, and the engine may be configured to consume a designated type of fuel that includes an amount of the substance that corresponds to the predetermined value. The ECM may determine, based on the estimation and the measurement not being within a threshold range, that the fuel is not the designated type of fuel and perform an action associated with the engine.

An engine diagnostic system is provided for diagnosing a deterioration degree of an engine mounted on a vehicle. The engine diagnostic system learns, as a knock learning value, a maximum advancement amount of an ignition timing that reduces knocking. A database stores time-series data of the knock learning value of the engine for each individual engine. The knock learning value is acquired from each of a plurality of vehicles of the same model. An evaluation process computes an evaluation value indicating the deterioration degree of a designated engine using the time-series data of the knock learning value of each engine stored in the database.

The present invention refers to a charge changing control device for a reciprocating engine, comprising at least one cam follower configured for being pivotably actuated around a pivot axis (P) upon rotational movement of a camshaft, and an adjustment unit configured for setting at least three different charge-changing modes of the device by translationally displacing the pivot axis relative (P) to a rotational axis (R) of the camshaft.

A method of detecting a percentage of ethanol in fuel used by an engine is provided. The method includes obtaining the heater temperature at a first time t.sub.1 at which a slope of the heater temperature as a function of time reaches a predetermined threshold value indicative of fuel boiling; obtaining the heater temperature at a subsequent time t.sub.2 at which the slope of the heater temperature approaches a value of the slope prior to the time t.sub.1 and which is greater than the predetermined threshold value; and determining the percentage of ethanol in the fuel as a function of the first time t.sub.1 and a calculated temperature difference T between the heater temperature at time t.sub.2 and the heater temperature at the first time t.sub.1. A fuel delivery system that detects a percentage of ethanol in fuel by the method, and a flexible fuel vehicle including the fuel delivery system, are also provided.

Method for controlling injection of a non-combustible fluid into an internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine may include at least one cylinder, at least one non-combustible fluid injector, at least one combustion phase determining means, and at least one control unit. The method may comprise the steps of determining the combustion phase by the combustion phase determining means, determining the amount of non-combustible fluid to be injected depending on the combustion phase.

A system and method for self-adjusting engine performance parameters in response to fuel quality variations that includes an exhaust sensor for measuring a level of carbon dioxide present in an exhaust manifold, at least one of a knock sensor and a cylinder pressure transducer for determining a location of peak pressure and a centroid, respectively, a controller in communication with the exhaust sensor and the at least one of the knock sensor and the cylinder pressure transducer, the controller correlating a methane number of the fuel used by the engine to a brake specific carbon dioxide value calculated using the level of carbon dioxide measured by the exhaust sensor and the at least one of the centroid and the location of peak pressure, and an adjusting mechanism, wherein the adjusting mechanism adjusts an engine performance parameter based on the determined methane number.

Methods and systems are provided for an integrated fuel composition-pressure sensor. In one example, the integrated sensor may include a set of cylindrical capacitors and a set of plate capacitors with a common capacitor element shared between the sets. A composition of fuel may be determined from the set of cylindrical capacitors and a pressure of fuel may be determined from the set of plate capacitors.

The present disclosure provides a method for predicting a fluid type, comprising sensing, by a first sensor, mass flow data of a fluid in an engine, wherein the first sensor operates based on a first fluid property; sensing, by a second sensor, mass flow data of the fluid, wherein the second sensor operates based on a second fluid property; and detecting, by a logic circuit of a controller, a percent difference in the mass flow data provided by the first and second sensors, the percent difference indicating that the fluid is comprised of at least a first fluid type.

An estimation device is applicable to a combustion system including an internal combustion engine and includes a mixing acquisition unit, a main region estimation unit, and an after region estimation unit. The mixing acquisition unit acquires a mixing ratio of various components contained in the fuel used for combustion in the internal combustion engine. The main region estimation unit estimates a combustion region of the fuel as a main combustion region for a main combustion produced by injecting the fuel into a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine by main injection, based on the mixing ratio acquired by the mixing acquisition unit. The after region estimation unit estimates an injection region of the fuel as the after combustion region based on the mixing ratio, for an after combustion produced by injecting the fuel into the combustion chamber by an after injection, after the main injection in one combustion cycle.

A method is provided to determine the hydrocarbon content in the purge gas of a fuel tank system of a combustion machine, whereby the fuel tank system comprises at least a fuel tank, a fuel vapor filter that is fluidically connected to an atmospheric port, a vent line leading from the fuel tank to the fuel vapor filter, a purge gas line leading from the fuel vapor filter to the fresh gas line of the combustion machine, a fuel tank vent valve that is integrated into the purge gas line, a pressure sensor that is integrated into the purge gas line and that can be configured as an absolute pressure sensor or as a differential pressure sensor, and a compressor that is integrated into the purge gas line. In this context, it is provided that, during operation of the compressor, at least three pressure measurements are carried out in the purge gas line over a defined period of time by means of the pressure sensor and, only at the end of this period of time, on the basis of the determined pressure values, the loading of the purge gas with hydrocarbons is qualitatively determined in the purge gas that had flowed through the purge gas line during the period of time. Aside from the determination of the quantitative loading, which is preferably carried out parallel to the determination of the qualitative loading, the determination according to the invention of the qualitative loading allows a very precise assessment of the influence that the purge gaswhich is fed to the fresh gas line of the combustion machine and from there to the internal combustion engineexerts on the combustion processes during operation of the internal combustion engine.