A method for controlling a powertrain of a hybrid vehicle includes the following steps performed by a hybrid controller: determining whether an ambient air temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature; driving a motor and operating a heating disc of an electrically heated catalytic converter disposed in an exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine during a predetermined operating time when an ambient air temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature; supplying ambient air to the heating disc; and varying a flow rate of the ambient air supplied to the heating disc in response to a temperature change of the heating disc.

A hybrid vehicle includes: an internal combustion engine; a rotating electric machine; a planetary gear mechanism to which the internal combustion engine, the rotating electric machine and an output shaft are connected; a catalyst that purifies exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine; and a controller that controls the internal combustion engine and the rotating electric machine. The controller controls the internal combustion engine and the rotating electric machine to perform catalyst temperature control to shift an operating point on a map representing a relationship between rotation speed of the internal combustion engine and torque generated by the internal combustion engine so that the catalyst has a temperature within an appropriate temperature range. Degradation of the catalyst can be suppressed without deteriorating the function of the catalyst.

Systems and methods are described for electrical power control of a hybrid vehicle. A change in an electrical load of an ancillary component of the vehicle is determined. In response to determining the change in the electrical load of the ancillary component, an electrical load of an electrically heated catalyst of the vehicle is adjusted.

A method to control an internal combustion engine having an exhaust duct and an exhaust gas after-treatment system comprising at least one catalytic converter arranged along the exhaust duct; an oxygen sensor housed along the exhaust duct and arranged upstream of said at least one catalytic converter; and a burner suited to introduce the exhaust gases into the exhaust duct upstream of the oxygen sensor the method provides the steps of calculating the thermal power required to reach the nominal operating temperature of said at least one catalytic converter obtained with an objective value of the air/fuel ratio value; and determining both the objective fuel flow rate and the objective air flow rate to be fed to the burner to obtain the thermal power required to reach the nominal operating temperature of said at least one catalytic converter.

A method to control an internal combustion engine provided with an exhaust system for the exhaust gases of a vehicle having an exhaust duct and an exhaust gas after-treatment system comprising at least one catalytic converter arranged along the exhaust duct; a burner suited to introduce the exhaust gases into the exhaust duct to speed up the heating of said at least one catalytic converter, wherein a combustion chamber is defined inside the burner which receives fuel from an injector, designed to inject the fuel inside the combustion chamber and the fresh air by means of an air feeding circuit provided with a pumping device that feeds the air, a shut-off valve arranged upstream of the burner and a mass air flow sensor interposed between the pumping device and the shut-off valve; the method provides the following steps: calculating the thermal power required to reach the nominal operating temperature of said at least one catalytic converter; determining the objective air flow rate to be fed to the burner to obtain said thermal power required to reach the nominal operating temperature of said at least one catalytic converter; determining the nominal number of revolutions with which to operate the pumping device by means of a map depending on the objective air flow rate, on the ambient pressure, on the ambient temperature and on the pressure of the air entering the burner; determining a closed-loop contribution of the number of revolutions with which to operate the pumping device by means of a PID controller which tries to zero a difference between the objective air flow rate and the air flow rate detected by the mass air flow sensor; determining a further contribution of the number of revolutions with which to operate the pumping device depending on the integral action of the PID controller under stationary conditions; and determining the actual number of revolutions with which to operate the pumping device by the sum of the nominal number of revolutions, the closed-loop contribution of the number of revolutions with which to operate the pumping device and the further contribution of the number of revolutions with which to operate the pumping device.

A method to control an internal combustion engine having an exhaust duct and an exhaust gas after-treatment system comprising at least one catalytic converter arranged along the exhaust duct; an oxygen sensor housed along the exhaust duct and arranged upstream of said at least one catalytic converter; and a burner suited to introduce the exhaust gases into the exhaust duct upstream of the oxygen sensor the method provides the steps of identifying the operation phases in which the internal combustion engine is turned off and the burner is turned on so that the oxygen sensor is exclusively hit by the exhaust gases produced by the burner; acquiring the signal generated by the oxygen sensor; and using the signal generated by the oxygen sensor to determine the objective fuel flow rate and the objective air flow rate to be fed to the burner.

Methods and systems are provided to heat a catalyst of an after-treatment system for a vehicle. The after-treatment system is powered by a battery. An operational parameter of the battery and the driving mode of the vehicle is determined. After receiving an indication that a first operational parameter threshold has been surpassed and a torque demand of the vehicle has been predicted, heat is provided to the catalyst of the after-treatment system based on the predicted torque demand of the vehicle surpassing a second operational parameter threshold.

A hybrid vehicle includes a canister that adsorbs evaporative fuel generated in the fuel tank for an internal combustion engine. The hybrid vehicle can drive a drive wheel even when the internal combustion engine is stopped. When the internal combustion engine of the hybrid vehicle is stopped and a prescribed set of conditions is satisfied, the internal combustion engine is rotated by the generator. When the internal combustion engine of the hybrid vehicle is rotated by the generator, the evaporative fuel adsorbed in the canister is supplied to the upstream side of an upstream side exhaust catalytic converter device. In the hybrid vehicle, the introduced evaporative fuel as reducing agent is adsorbed in the upstream side exhaust catalytic converter device and a downstream side exhaust catalytic converter device.

Methods and systems are provided for regenerating a particulate filter positioned in an exhaust system of an engine of a vehicle. In one example, a method comprises obtaining a first air flow in an intake of the engine and obtaining a second air flow in the intake of the engine, where regeneration of the particulate filter is conducted in response to the first air flow differing from the second air flow by at least a threshold amount, where the first air flow and the second air flow comprise air flow routed from the exhaust system to the intake of the engine. In this way, the particulate filter may be regenerated under conditions where a loading state of the particulate filter is not known.

An engine system for an off-highway vehicle includes a diesel engine configured to drive a driveline of the vehicle; an after-treatment arrangement configured to reduce emissions from the engine system; an after-treatment heating element configured to raise an operating temperature of the after-treatment arrangement; an electric energy storage device; and a controller configured to direct energy from the electric energy storage device to the after-treatment heating element in order to raise the operating temperature of the after-treatment arrangement.