System and method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines

Abstract

A system and a method of controlling the temperature of fuel injected into combustion engines, which provides a reduced amount of fuel injected into engines propelled with either pure gasoline or ethanol or any bi-fuel mixture by precisely controlling the amount of heat supplied to the fuel.

Claims

1. A method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines, being provided with: at least one fuel transporting line (11); at least one fuel distribution system (12) associated with the fuel transporting line (11) having at least one main duct (121) and at least one branch (122); a fuel injecting device (14) associated with the branch (122) and at least one fuel heating device (13) provided with a heating chamber (131), said heating device (13) being placed adjacent to the fuel injecting device; at least one electronic control device (2) associated with the fuel injecting device (14); and at least one fuel heating control device (3) associated with the electronic control device (2) and associated with at least one fuel heater (13); characterized in that the method comprises the steps of: measuring an upstream fuel temperature, the upstream fuel temperature being measured at a location upstream of the heating device (13) and by means of a temperature sensor (4) associated with the fuel distribution system (12); reading the fuel flow rate by the electronic control device (2); reading a previously entered and stored target downstream fuel temperature, the target downstream fuel temperature correlating to a fuel temperature at a location downstream of the heating device (13); sending to the electronic control device (2) at least one signal referring to the upstream fuel temperature and at least one signal referring to the fuel flow rate; processing the at least one signal referring to the upstream fuel temperature and processing the at least one signal referring to the fuel flow rate; and performing an action.

2. The method for managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines of claim 1, characterized in that the step of processing the at least one signal referring to the fuel temperature and the at least one signal referring to the fuel flow rate comprises the steps of: calculating a calculated downstream fuel temperature; comparing the calculated downstream fuel temperature with the target downstream fuel temperature; calculating the amount of required power to be applied to the heating device (13); and applying the calculated power to the heating device (13) under the control of the heating control device (3).

3. The method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines of claim 1, characterized in that the step of performing an action comprises an action selected from turning the heating device (13) off and processing the at least one signal referring to the upstream fuel temperature and the at least one signal referring to the fuel flow rate.

4. The method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines of claim 1, characterized in that the target downstream fuel temperature is previously entered and stored in the electronic control device (2) or heating control device (3).

5. A system for managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines, the system comprising: at least one fuel transporting line (11); at least one fuel distribution system (12) associated with the fuel transporting line (11) having at least one main duct (121) and at least one branch (122); a fuel injecting device (14) associated with the branch (122) and at least one fuel heating device (13) provided with a heating chamber (131), said at least one fuel heating device (13) being placed adjacent to the fuel injecting device; at least one electronic control device (2) associated with the fuel injecting device (14); and at least one fuel heating control device (3) associated with the electronic control device (2) and associated with at least one fuel heating device (13); characterized in that the system comprises at least one temperature sensor (4) mechanically associated with the fuel distribution system (12) and electrically associated with the at least one electronic control device (2), wherein at least one fuel heating device (13) includes a heating chamber (131) provided with a fuel inlet portion (132) and a fuel outlet portion (133) distal from the fuel inlet portion (132), and wherein the fuel inlet portion (132) is placed at a lower region of said heating chamber (131) and the fuel outlet portion (133) is placed at an upper region of said heating chamber (131).

6. The system for managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines of claim 5, characterized in that the fuel transporting line (11) comprises a low pressure line.

7. The system for managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines of claim 5, characterized in that the fuel transporting line (11) comprises a high pressure line.

8. The system for managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines of claim 5, characterized in that the temperature sensor (4) is associated with the main duct (121) of the fuel distribution system (12).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1—Scheme of a first embodiment of the temperature management system.

(2) FIG. 2—Detail of the fuel heating device.

(3) FIG. 3—Diagram of the injected fuel temperature management method.

(4) FIG. 4—Diagram of the injected fuel temperature management method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) The fuel heating and heating management system is responsible for heating the fuel to be injected into the engine to a predetermined temperature. Heating of the fuel is aimed at improving spraying of the injected fuel, reducing its droplet size, which means a better preparation of the air-fuel mixture leading to a more homogeneous mixture, which will lead to a reduced amount of injected fuel, hence reducing the amount of emitted gases and particulates.

(6) The heating system operation begins when the engine starts. Management of the system is intended to keep the injected fuel temperature at the target temperature at all times. To this end, the system determines the amount of power to be supplied to the fuel based on the gallery inlet fuel temperature, the fuel flow rate and the type of fuel.

(7) Thus, the present invention describes a system for managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines, being provided with: at least one fuel transporting line 11; at least one fuel distribution system 12 associated with the fuel transporting line 11 having at least one main duct 121 and at least one branch 122; a fuel injecting device 14 associated with the branch 122 and at least one fuel heating device 13 provided with a heating chamber 131, said heating device 13 being placed adjacent to the fuel injecting device; at least one electronic control device 2 associated with the fuel injecting device 14; at least one fuel heating control device 3 associated with the electronic control device 2 and associated with at least one fuel heater 13;

(8) wherein said system comprises at least one temperature sensor 4 mechanically associated with the fuel distribution system 12 and electrically associated with the electronic control device 2. This association can occur directly or through the fuel heating control device 3.

(9) In a first preferred alternative embodiment, the present invention describes a temperature management system for fuel injected into internal combustion engines, so that the fuel transporting line 11 comprises a low pressure line. The low pressure line can be used both in Port Fuel Injection (PFI) engines and those engines that use an additional high pressure line (PDI).

(10) In a second alternative embodiment, the present invention describes a temperature management system for fuel injected into internal combustion engines, so that the fuel transporting line 11 comprises a high pressure line. The high pressure line can be used both in direct injection (DI) engines and in those engines that use an additional low pressure line (PDI).

(11) In a third alternative embodiment, the present invention describes a temperature management system for fuel injected into internal combustion engines, wherein the temperature sensor 4 is associated with the main duct 121 of the fuel distribution system 12. In order to know the initial temperature of the fuel to be heated, a fuel temperature sensor 4 can be placed anywhere along the fuel transporting line, positioned between the fuel tank 1 and the heating device 13. However, the closer to the heating device 13, the more accurate the measurement of fuel temperature.

(12) In a forth alternative embodiment, the present invention describes a temperature management system for fuel injected into internal combustion engines, wherein the fuel heating device 13 includes a heating chamber 131 provided with a fuel inlet portion 132 and a fuel outlet portion 133 distal from the inlet portion 132.

(13) In a fifth alternative embodiment, the present invention describes a temperature management system of fuel injected into internal combustion engines, so that the fuel heating device 13 includes a heating chamber 131 provided with a fuel inlet portion 132 placed at a lower region of said heating chamber 131 and an outlet portion 133 placed at an upper region of said heating chamber 131.

(14) According to the aforementioned embodiments, the configuration of the heating device 13 provides an even heating of the fuel, as it enters the heating chamber 131 through a first opening 132 located at its lower region, it is obliged to fully pass through the heating device 13—effecting thermal exchange—and exits heated from the second opening 133 located at an upper region.

(15) Thus, the present invention describes a method for managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines, being provided with: at least one fuel transporting line 11; at least one fuel distribution system 12 associated with the fuel transporting line 11 having at least one main duct 121 and at least one branch 122; a fuel injecting device 14 associated with the branch 122 and at least one fuel heating device 13 provided with a heating chamber 131, said heating device 13 being placed adjacent to the fuel injecting device; at least one electronic control device 2 associated with the fuel injecting device; at least one fuel heating control device 3 associated with the electronic control device 2 and associated with at least one fuel heater 13;

(16) wherein the said method comprises the steps of: measuring the fuel temperature upstream of the heating device 13 by means of a temperature sensor 4 associated with the fuel distribution system 12; measuring the fuel flow rate by the electronic control device 2; reading a target fuel temperature downstream of the heating device 13 previously entered and stored; sending to the electronic control device at least one signal referring to the fuel temperature and at least one signal referring to the fuel flow rate; processing the signal relative to the fuel temperature and the signal relative to the fuel flow rate; performing an action.

(17) In a first alternative embodiment, the present invention describes a method for managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines, so that the step of processing the signal relative to the fuel temperature and the signal relative to the fuel flow rate comprises the steps of: calculating the calculated fuel temperature downstream of the heating device 13; comparing the calculated fuel temperature downstream of the heating 13 with the target temperature downstream of the heating device 13; calculating the amount of required power to be applied to the heating device 13; applying the calculated power to the heating device 13 under the control of the heating control device 3.

(18) In a second alternative embodiment, the present invention describes a method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines, so that the step of performing an action comprises an action selected from turning the heating device off 13 and processing the signal relative to the fuel temperature and the signal relative to the fuel flow rate. The heating device 13 does not heat the fuel when the temperature upstream of the heater 13 is equal to or greater than the target temperature. For example, after working for a long time, the engine heats up and begins to heat the components surrounding it. The engine temperature can be such that it causes the incoming fuel to warm up to the target temperature without requiring turning the heater 13 on. In this case, the heater 13 is switched off to save energy, since heating of fuel by heaters 13 is no longer necessary.

(19) In a third alternative embodiment, the present invention describes a method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines, so that the target temperature of the fuel downstream of the heating device 13 is previously entered and stored in the electronic control device 2 or the heating control device 3.

(20) The calculated fuel temperature downstream of the heating device 13 is obtained as a function of the fuel temperature upstream of the heating device 13.

(21) Some variables that affect the proposed method are known to be calculated by the electronic control device 2, such as the gallery fuel flow rate 12 and the type of fuel.

(22) Under some dynamic conditions, both a sudden acceleration and a severe deceleration can be requested by the driver. In these instances, a great variation in the accelerator pedal takes place, which is detected by the electronic control device 2. Therefore the engine electronic control device 2 can predict whether the engine will require more or less fuel mass. Thus, it anticipates the injection of a greater or lesser volume of fuel to meet acceleration or deceleration based on a predetermined fuel volume for that engine speed transition. Therefore, based on this same concept, the electronic control device 2 can anticipate fuel heating. In this case, a pre-targeting or anticipated storage of power for heating the fuel can be determined by the fuel heating control device 3, anticipating heating of the fuel so that the fuel temperature remains at the target temperature, even with the sudden variation in fuel flow rate.

(23) Thus, during severe acceleration changes, no alterations occur in the fuel temperature, since the fuel heating control device 3 has previously heated the fuel. In addition, heating the fuel during these dynamic maneuvers also provides a reduction in the level of pollutants emitted, as such maneuvers contribute to increase the total level of car emissions.

(24) Thus, it should be noted that, as described above, the present invention achieves the goal of providing a system and method for managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines.

(25) Thus, the present invention also provides an increase in the power drawn from the engine associated with lower gasoline consumption and consequent reduction of CO.sub.2 and other pollutant gases emitted by the engines.