METHOD FOR MANAGING THE TEMPERATURE OF FUEL INJECTED INTO AN INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE

Abstract

Method of temperature management of fuel injected in internal combustion engines (1) applicable to said system, which takes into account the measurement of the fuel flow to be injected and one or more dynamic data of the engine demand level (1) in an immediate current instant, providing accuracy in the transformation of electrical energy into heat by controlling the fuel heating temperature and, consequently, great precision in the reduction of pollutant gases, without deterioration of the vehicle's energy balance (battery).

Claims

1. A method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines from a mixture of an air flow and fuel applicable to a vehicle, said engines having at least one line for transporting fuel (11) which carries a quantity of at least one fuel to be injected; at least one fuel heater device (13) provided with a heating chamber; at least one fuel heating control device (3) associated with an electronic control device (2) and associated with the at least one fuel heater device (13); said method comprising: reading at least one vehicle parameter (10) and an injected fuel flow value in a first instant; reading at least one vehicle parameter (10) and an injected fuel flow value in a current instant after the first instant; determining the fuel flow gradient at the current instant; determining an amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel temperature value at the current instant, according to the fuel flow gradient at the current instant; performing an action between supplying and withdrawing the amount of energy necessary for the injected fuel to reach the target fuel temperature; carrying out the mixing of the air and fuel flow; checking heated fuel temperature against current target temperature; performing an action.

2. The method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle parameter (10) comprises at least one parameter sent from at least one device associated with an air flow control device.

3. The method of managing injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle parameter (10) comprises at least one air flow parameter.

4. The method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle parameter (10) comprises at least one parameter sent from a device that performs vehicle acceleration.

5. The method of managing the temperature of injected fuel in internal combustion engines, according to claim 4, wherein the device that performs the acceleration of the vehicle comprises an accelerator pedal.

6. The method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle parameter (10) comprises at least one vehicle acceleration parameter.

7. The method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle parameter (10) comprises at least one parameter sent from at least one associated device at vehicle speed.

8. The method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle parameter (10) comprises at least one parameter sent from at least one associated device to a pitching motion.

9. The method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle parameter (10) comprises at least one parameter sent from at least one device associated with a global position of the vehicle.

10. The method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines, according to claim 1, wherein the step of executing an action comprises an action between providing energy, withdrawing energy and interrupting a supply power.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0039] FIG. 1—Scheme of an embodiment of the fuel heating system.

[0040] FIG. 2—Diagram of the injected fuel temperature management method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] The fuel heating and heating management system is responsible for heating the fuel that will be injected into the engine to a predetermined temperature. Fuel heating aims to improve the atomization of the injected fuel spray, reducing its droplet size, which means better preparation of the air-fuel mixture, leading to a more homogeneous mixture, which will result in a decrease in the amount of fuel injected and thus reducing the amount of gases and particulates emitted.

[0042] The operation of the heating system takes place from the start of the engine. System management aims to keep the temperature of the injected fuel always at the target temperature. For this, the system determines the amount of energy that must be supplied to the fuel, based on the fuel inlet temperature in the gallery, the fuel flow rate and the type of fuel.

[0043] Thus, the present invention describes a method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines from a mixture of an air flow and fuel applicable to a vehicle, said engines equipped with at least one line for transporting fuel 11 that carries a quantity of at least one fuel to be injected; [0044] at least one fuel heater device 13 provided with a heating chamber; [0045] at least one fuel heating control device 3 associated with an electronic control device 2 and associated with at least one fuel heating device 13; [0046] said method comprising the steps of reading at least one vehicle parameter 10 and an injected fuel flow value in a first instant; [0047] reading at least one vehicle parameter 10 and an injected fuel flow value at a current time after the first time; [0048] determining the fuel flow gradient at the current instant; [0049] determining an amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel temperature value at the current time, according to the fuel flow gradient at the current time; [0050] performing an action between supplying and withdrawing the amount of energy necessary for the injected fuel to reach the target temperature; [0051] carrying out the mixing of the air and fuel flow; [0052] checking heated fuel temperature against current target temperature; [0053] performing an action.

[0054] As this invention is applicable to engines that already have systems that heat the fuel that is injected. Thus, in order to make the present invention feasible and achieve the proposed objectives, it is essential to have knowledge of the fuel flow gradient.

[0055] The flow gradient is the amount of fuel more or less that engine 1 must demand to perform a certain activity within the route being covered at that moment. For example, the additional amount of fuel that engine 1 will require to overcome a slope or a ramp, when overtaking, or the reduction in fuel demand to go down a slope or a declivity.

[0056] The determination of the amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel temperature value at the current instant, according to the fuel flow gradient at the current instant must be performed by a parameter processing control unit of the vehicle 10, which is primarily responsible for the intelligence of engine 1 as a whole. This control unit 3 can comprise either the ECU (Electronic Control Unit—responsible for electronically managing all engine operation) already present in the vehicle, or an exclusive and dedicated unit 2 just for the fuel heating system.

[0057] A vehicle parameter to be considered in this method is understood to be any data or signal captured by any sensor, microcontroller (or other device) referring to the load or demand to which engine 1 is being subjected while the driver is driving.

[0058] The method that describes the present invention presents a new and innovative technical effect because the heater device 13 receives information related to the amount of energy to be applied to the fuel with regard to the fuel gradient and performs this action of supplying or withdrawing this energy differential, according to the engine's dynamic load at that instant, before engine 1 has received the air mass corresponding to the fuel gradient and created the air-fuel mixture, responsible for the explosion.

[0059] Thus, the present invention describes, in one of its embodiments, a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, wherein the vehicle parameter 10 comprises at least one parameter sent from at least one associated device to an airflow control device. This device comprises, preferably, a throttle body (also known as “throttle body”), responsible for controlling the air flow (air mass) and/or pressure to be used during fuel injection, causing the explosion that moves the engine 1.

[0060] Therefore, the present invention contemplates a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, so that the vehicle parameter 10 comprises at least one air flow parameter. This parameter may comprise one or more signals that detect the air mass being admitted by the throttle body.

[0061] In an alternative embodiment, the present invention discloses a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, wherein the vehicle parameter 10 comprises at least one parameter sent from a device that performs vehicle acceleration. Preferably, this device comprises an accelerator pedal, lever or any other means whereby the driver informs engine 1 of the need to accelerate, decelerate or maintain constant vehicle speed.

[0062] Also alternatively, the present invention describes a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, so that the vehicle parameter 10 comprises at least one vehicle acceleration parameter. This parameter can be collected from an acceleration sensor (accelerometer or G-sensor) installed somewhere in the vehicle.

[0063] The present invention also describes a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, so that the vehicle parameter 10 comprises at least one vehicle speed parameter, already available.

[0064] In yet another alternative embodiment, the invention describes a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, so that the vehicle parameter 10 comprises at least one parameter sent from at least one device associated with the yaw movement. The present invention also contemplates a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, so that the parameter of the vehicle 10 comprises at least one parameter sent from at least one device associated with the pitching movement.

[0065] These devices responsible for detecting yaw (steering, curve) and pitch (climbing and descending) comprise, preferably, sensors that can be installed separately on the vehicle and can operate individually or in combination, in order to bring greater accuracy in terms of to the dynamic load of engine 1, transferring the minimum electrical energy necessary to heat the fuel, according to the pre-established target temperature.

[0066] In addition, the present invention contemplates a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, so that the vehicle parameter 10 comprises at least one parameter sent from at least one device associated with the overall position of the vehicle. This device comprises, preferably, a GPS (Global Positioning System), capable of identifying the exact location of the vehicle and knowing whether it is in an uphill or downhill region.

[0067] In yet another alternative embodiment, the present invention discloses a method of temperature management of injected fuel in internal combustion engines, wherein the step of performing an action comprises an action between remaining providing energy, remaining withdrawing energy and stopping the supply power.

[0068] All the devices listed above to capture and read at least one parameter of the vehicle 10 can be assembled and used individually, or they can be installed in combination two by two or multiple ways, with no limitation foreseen in the individual quantity or in the possible combinations between them, always with the objective of transferring the minimum electrical energy necessary to heat the fuel, according to the pre-established target temperature.

[0069] Thus, it should be noted that, as described above, the present invention achieves the objective of providing a method for managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines applicable to said system, which takes into consideration the measurement of fuel flow to be injected and one or more dynamic data of the engine demand level in an immediate current instant, providing accuracy in the transformation of electrical energy into heat by controlling the fuel heating temperature and, consequently, great precision in reducing pollutant gases, without deteriorating the energy balance of the vehicle (battery).

[0070] Therefore, the present invention also fulfills the role of enabling the increase of power extracted from the engine associated with lower fuel consumption and consequent reduction of pollutant gases by the engines.