SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING THE TEMPERATURE OF INJECTED FUEL IN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES FROM A MIXTURE OF AIR FLOW AND FUEL APPLICABLE TO A VEHICLE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines from a mixture of an air flow and fuel applicable to a vehicle that uses an injection system with high pressures.

Claims

1. A fuel temperature management system for fuel injected into an internal combustion engine based on a mixture of air and fuel flow applicable to a vehicle, said engine being equipped with 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); at least one fuel heating control device (3) associated with at least one fuel heating device (13); at least one high pressure pump associated with the fuel transport line (11); at least one fuel distribution device (12) associated with the fuel transport line (11), provided with at least one main duct and at least one branch; so that said system performs the steps of performing a fuel heating action; applying an amount of pressure to the fuel at an initial temperature which is carried by the fuel transport line (11); wherein the fuel heater device (13) is positioned upstream of the high pressure pump (2) and the fuel heating action reaches a target injection temperature determined by the fuel heating control device (3) based on vehicle parameter processing associated with an amount of total thermal resistance downstream of the fuel heater device (13).

2. A method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into an internal combustion engine from a mixture of an air flow and fuel applicable to a vehicle, said engine 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); at least one fuel heating control device (3) associated with at least one fuel heating device (13); at least one high pressure pump associated with the fuel transport line (11); at least one fuel distribution device (12) associated with the fuel transport line (11), provided with at least one main duct and at least one branch; said method comprising performing a fuel heating action based on processing vehicle parameters; applying an amount of pressure to the fuel at an initial temperature which is conveyed by the fuel transport line (11).

3. The method of managing the injected fuel temperature in an internal combustion engine, according to claim 2, wherein the step of performing a fuel heating action comprises the steps of determining an amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel injection temperature value according to a fuel flow value at a current instant; performing an action to provide an amount of energy necessary for the injected fuel to reach the injection target temperature; performing actions of comparing the heated fuel temperature in relation to the current injection target temperature; heating the fuel until the current temperature of the fuel being heated is greater than or equal to the current fuel injection target temperature, or stop heating the fuel.

4. The method of managing the injected fuel temperature in an internal combustion engine, according to claim 3, wherein the step of determining an amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel temperature value is associated an amount of total thermal resistance downstream of the fuel heater device (13).

5. The method of managing the injected fuel temperature in an internal combustion engine, according to claim 3, wherein the step to determine an amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel injection temperature value is associated with the amount of pressure applied to the fuel at the current instant.

6. The method of managing injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, according to claim 2, wherein the internal combustion engine comprises an engine with direct injection.

7. The method of managing injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, according to claim 2, wherein the amount of pressure comprises a predetermined value.

8. The method of managing injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, according to claim 2, wherein the amount of pressure is associated with the fuel flow.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE

[0045] FIG. 1Schematic of an embodiment of the fuel temperature management system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] Engines that employ direct injection (DI engines) at high pressure (from 500 BAR to 750 BAR, for example) are more likely to further reduce pollutant gas emissions, as high pressure provides greater efficiency in fuel spraying, making this type of system achieve a reduction in emissions. However, submitting a DI direct injection system that works with pressures around 200 BAR to extremely high pressures (500 BAR, for example) drastically affects the durability of the internal components of the injection system, as well as significantly increases fuel consumption.

[0047] In this regard, the present invention enables the use of a DI direct injection system that works with pressures around 200 BAR to obtain results similar to systems that use extremely high pressures (750 BAR, for example), maintaining the durability of the injection system's internal components, as well as preserving fuel consumption through direct injection of heated fuel.

[0048] The fuel heating and heating management system is responsible for heating the fuel that will be injected into the engine to a predetermined temperature. The purpose of heating the fuel is 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 lead to a reduction in the amount of fuel injected and thus reducing the amount of gases and particulates emitted.

[0049] 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.

[0050] Therefore, as can be seen in FIG. 1, the present invention discloses a system and respective method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into an internal combustion engine from a mixture of an air and fuel flow applicable to a vehicle, such as a car.

[0051] In more detail, the present invention describes a fuel temperature management system injected into an internal combustion engine from a mixture of an air flow and fuel applicable to a vehicle, said engine being equipped with [0052] at least one line for transporting fuel 11 that carries a quantity of at least one fuel to be injected; [0053] at least one fuel heater device 13; [0054] at least one fuel heating control device 3 associated with at least one fuel heating device 13; [0055] at least one high pressure pump 2 associated with the fuel transport line 11; [0056] at least one fuel distribution device 12 associated with the fuel transport line 11, provided with at least one main duct and at least one branch;
so that said system performs the steps of [0057] applying an amount of pressure to the fuel at an initial temperature which is carried by the fuel transport line 11; [0058] performing a fuel heating action;
the fuel heater device 13 being positioned downstream of the high pressure pump 2.

[0059] This preferred configuration described above is new and inventive, as the positioning and installation of the heater device 13 downstream of the high-pressure pump 2 (responsible for pressurizing the fuel to 200 BAR, this value being able to vary upwards) is extremely simple and allows the pressurized fuel to be heated directly to a target injection temperature in the combustion chamber 5, in order to consider possible thermal load losses due to the thermal resistance of the high pressure pump 2, of the transport line itself of fuel 11 and the fuel distribution device 12 (also known as distribution gallery), without compromising the performance of the system.

[0060] 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 pressure gradient at the current instant, must be performed by a device or unit of vehicle parameter processing control 3, which is primarily responsible for the intelligence of the engine as a whole. This control unit 3 can comprise both the ECU (Electronic Control Unitresponsible for electronically managing the entire engine operation) already present in the vehicle, as well as an exclusive and dedicated unit 31 just for the fuel heating system.

[0061] Additionally, the present invention also describes a method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into an internal combustion engine from a mixture of an air flow and fuel applicable to a vehicle, said engine being equipped with [0062] at least one line for transporting fuel 11 that carries a quantity of at least one fuel to be injected; [0063] at least one fuel heater device 13; [0064] at least one fuel heating control device 3 associated with at least one fuel heating device 13; [0065] at least one high pressure pump 2 associated with the fuel transport line 11; [0066] at least one fuel distribution device 12 associated with the fuel transport line 11, provided with at least one main duct and at least one branch;
in a way so that said system performs the steps of [0067] performing a fuel heating action; [0068] applying an amount of pressure to the fuel at an initial temperature which is carried by the fuel transport line 11.
This preferential method configuration brings a new and innovative technical effect, since heating the fuel before passing through the high pressure pump 2, which is responsible for pressurizing the fuel to 200 BAR (this value can be varied upwards), is extremely simple , the installation of the fuel heater device 13 is simple and allows the pressurized fuel to be heated directly to a target injection temperature in the combustion chamber 5, considering possible thermal load losses due to thermal resistance of the high pressure pump 2, the fuel transport line 11 and the fuel distribution device 12 (distribution gallery), without compromising the performance of the heating system.

[0069] Thus, in an alternative embodiment, the present invention describes a method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into an internal combustion engine, so that the step of performing a fuel heating action comprises the steps of [0070] determining an amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel temperature value according to a fuel flow value at the current instant; [0071] performing an action to provide the amount of energy necessary for the injected fuel to reach the target temperature; [0072] performing a second action.

[0073] In a particular embodiment, this invention describes a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in an internal combustion engine, where the step of performing a second action comprises the steps of [0074] comparing heated fuel temperature against current target temperature; [0075] performing an action between heating the fuel until the current fuel temperature is greater than or equal to the current target fuel temperature and stop heating the fuel.

[0076] Preferably, this check or comparison can be carried out by means of a temperature test or any other device, algorithm or means that is capable of allowing this information to be obtained. Stop heating means any action that interrupts the action of providing heat to heat the fuel.

[0077] Also in yet another alternative embodiment, the present invention also describes a method of managing the temperature of injected fuel in an internal combustion engine, where the step of determining an amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target temperature value of the fuel is associated with an amount of total thermal resistance downstream of the fuel heater device 13.

[0078] In an alternative embodiment, the present invention describes a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in an internal combustion engine, where the step of determining an amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel temperature value is associated to the amount of pressure applied to the fuel at the current instant.

[0079] The method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines is preferably applicable to an internal combustion engine comprising an engine with DI direct injection. However, it can be applicable to any engine that has a high pressure fuel line.

[0080] In yet another alternative embodiment, the present invention discloses a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, where the amount of pressure comprises a predetermined value. The value referring to the amount of pressure can be fixed or vary according to an operating envelope or according to the engine load.

[0081] Alternatively, the present invention describes a method of managing the injected fuel temperature in internal combustion engines, where the amount of pressure is associated with the fuel flow.

[0082] The determination of the amount of pressure applied to the fuel, as well as the amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel temperature value at the current instant, according to the fuel pressure gradient at the current instant must be performed by a vehicle parameter processing device or control unit 3, which is preferably responsible for the intelligence of the engine as a whole. This control unit 3 can comprise both the ECU (Electronic Control Unit responsible for electronically managing all engine operation) already present in the vehicle, and it can also comprise an exclusive and dedicated unit 31 just for the fuel heating system.

[0083] Thus, it should be noted that, as described above, the present invention achieves the objective of providing a system and a method of managing the temperature of injected fuel in internal combustion engines from a mixture of an air flow and fuel applicable to a vehicle, in order to enable the use of a DI direct injection system that works with pressures around 200 BAR to obtain similar results to systems that use extremely high pressures (750 BAR, for example), maintaining the durability of the internal components of the injection system, as well as preserving fuel consumption, through the direct injection of heated fuel.

[0084] Therefore, the present invention also fulfills the role of enabling the increase in power extracted from the engine associated with lower fuel consumption and consequent reduction of polluting gases by the engines.