Methods and systems are provided for improving the performance of a variable displacement engine. Split injection and spark retard may be used in active cylinders during a VDE mode to heat an exhaust catalyst and extend the duration of VDE mode operation. Split injection and spark retard may also be used in reactivated cylinders at a time of cylinder reactivation to improve restart combustion stability.

A method includes receiving information indicative of a temperature of exhaust gas emitted from an engine operating at an engine speed, determining that the temperature of the exhaust gas is below a predefined temperature threshold, determining an engine load sized to increase the temperature of the exhaust gas above the predefined temperature threshold, increasing a load on the engine to the determined engine load while maintaining the engine at the engine speed by increasing at least one of a fuel flow rate and a fuel flow pressure of the fuel pump powered by the engine, and diverting the excess fuel from the fuel flow path upstream of the engine. Increasing at least one of the fuel flow rate and the fuel pressure of the fuel pump causes excess fuel to be provided to the engine than is necessary to maintain the engine at the engine speed.

A variety of methods and arrangements are described for operating an engine in a skip fire manner so that engine requirements, such as exhaust temperature, exhaust flow, torque and NVH, are met.

A fuel injection amount control apparatus comprises an air-fuel ratio sensor disposed between an exhaust gas merging portion and an upstream catalyst. The control apparatus performs a feedback correction on an amount of fuel to be injected by the fuel injection valve so that an air-fuel ratio represented by the output value of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor becomes equal to a target air-fuel ratio set at stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. The control apparatus obtains an air-fuel ratio imbalance indicating value, which becomes larger as a difference in air-fuel ratio of each of the mixtures supplied to each of the combustion chambers among the cylinders becomes larger, and performs an increasing correction to the instructed fuel injection amount in such a manner that an air-fuel ratio determined by the instructed fuel injection amount becomes richer than the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio as the obtained air-fuel ratio imbalance indicating value increases.

The present invention relates to a method for controlling an internal combustion engine arrangement, which method comprises the steps of controlling an outlet valve to be arranged in an at least partial open position during a portion of an intake stroke; and providing a reducing agent to at least a portion of the flow of combustion gas exhausted from the combustion cylinder during an exhaust stroke.

A method for operating a system having a plurality of internal combustion engines coupled together such that then outputs are drawn off by a common load, a downstream individual exhaust gas aftertreatment device, in which the exhaust gas of a particular engine undergoes an individual exhaust gas aftertreatment, positioned downstream of each engine, or a common exhaust gas aftertreatment device, in which the exhaust gas undergoes a common exhaust gas aftertreatment, positioned downstream of to the engine. To regenerate an exhaust gas aftertreatment device, the drive output of one engine is reduced, the temperature of the exhaust gas is increased, and the drive output of a second engine is increased such that the drive output reduction is at least partially compensated for.

A method of starting up a thermoreactor arranged in an exhaust gas flow of an internal combustion engine includes igniting combustion gas by spark ignition in at least one cylinder of the internal combustion engine. The exhaust gas resulting from the combustion of the combustion gas is fed at least partially to the thermoreactor as an exhaust gas flow. The temperature of the exhaust gas resulting from combustion of the combustion gas is increased by the moment in time of the spark ignition being selected later in comparison with a present moment in time.

There is provided a regeneration device for an exhaust-gas purifying device 40 which is provided in an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine, the regeneration device including: an injector for injecting fuel into a cylinder; a glow plug which is energized to be heated to thereby increase a temperature inside the cylinder; and a regeneration control unit for executing a regenerating operation for restoring a purification capacity of the exhaust-gas purifying device by controlling the injection of fuel of the injector and the energization of the glow plug , wherein during the regenerating operation, the regeneration control unit controls the injection of fuel of the injector by a multi-stage injection including at least a post injection and energizes the glow plug at a predetermined duty ratio to burn, within the cylinder, fuel supplied by the post injection.

A control system includes a supercharged engine and an electronic control unit. The supercharged engine including: a combustion chamber; an exhaust passage; a turbine; and an exhaust catalyst. The turbine includes a turbine wheel, and a turbine control valve. The electronic control unit is configured to calculate a first exhaust gas temperature and a second exhaust gas temperature that are temperatures of exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust catalyst. The electronic control unit is configured to control the turbine control valve such that: the turbine control valve is set to the first valve opening degree when the first exhaust gas temperature is higher than the second exhaust gas temperature; and that the turbine control valve is set to the second valve opening degree when the second exhaust gas temperature is higher than the first exhaust gas temperature.

When a catalytic converter in an exhaust passage is in an un-activated state, an intake air amount is increased, as compared to when the converter is in an activated state under the same engine operation condition, and an ignition timing is retarded beyond a TDC of a compression stroke. The ignition timing is set such that a retard amount thereof from the TDC becomes larger as an external load causing a rotational resistance of an engine becomes lower. A valve opening start timing of an exhaust valve is set such that, when the external load is lower than a given reference load, the valve starts opening, before an in-cylinder pressure reaches a peak, according to combustion of an air-fuel mixture ignited at the above ignition timing, in a subsequent expansion stroke, wherein the in-cylinder pressure is based on an assumption that the valve is maintained in a valve-closed state.