System and method for improving performance of combustion engines employing primary and secondary fuels
First Claim
1. A method for operating an internal combustion engine under dynamically varying conditions, comprising:
- injecting a liquid primary fuel into the engine;
monitoring a magnitude of an engine characteristic with a sensor positioned to measure magnitudes of a first dependent variable associated with combustion of the primary fuel in the presence of a secondary fuel, the dependent variable taken from the group consisting of exhaust gas temperature, NOx content and SOx content;
injecting into the engine a combustible, gaseous product comprising reactive hydrogen as the secondary fuel while injecting the primary fuel into the engine; and
while the primary fuel is being delivered into the engine, continually adjusting a rate of delivery of the reactive hydrogen into the engine as operation of the engine is changed under the dynamically varying conditions, said adjusting including, over a range of sixty percent to one hundred percent of engine power, continually increasing the rate of delivery of the reactive hydrogen into the engine while continually increasing a rate at which the primary fuel is delivered into the engine to change the magnitude of the engine characteristic.
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Abstract
An engine system and method for operating an internal combustion engine in dynamically varying conditions. An exemplary system comprises an internal combustion engine configured to receive both a primary fuel and a secondary fuel into one or more chambers in which a combustion process occurs, a fuel injection system, an air intake manifold and a fuel manifold; an electronic system which controls timing and metering of the primary fuel and/or the secondary fuel in the combustion process; and a plurality of sensors positioned to measure one or more variables associated with combustion of the primary fuel in the presence of the secondary fuel. The electronic system is configured to apply a control signal to adjust an engine setting to reduce NOx emissions based in part on the magnitude of the variable.
55 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for operating an internal combustion engine under dynamically varying conditions, comprising:
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injecting a liquid primary fuel into the engine; monitoring a magnitude of an engine characteristic with a sensor positioned to measure magnitudes of a first dependent variable associated with combustion of the primary fuel in the presence of a secondary fuel, the dependent variable taken from the group consisting of exhaust gas temperature, NOx content and SOx content; injecting into the engine a combustible, gaseous product comprising reactive hydrogen as the secondary fuel while injecting the primary fuel into the engine; and while the primary fuel is being delivered into the engine, continually adjusting a rate of delivery of the reactive hydrogen into the engine as operation of the engine is changed under the dynamically varying conditions, said adjusting including, over a range of sixty percent to one hundred percent of engine power, continually increasing the rate of delivery of the reactive hydrogen into the engine while continually increasing a rate at which the primary fuel is delivered into the engine to change the magnitude of the engine characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An engine system comprising:
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an internal combustion engine configured to receive both a primary fuel and a secondary fuel comprising reactive hydrogen into one or more chambers in which a combustion process occurs, including a fuel injection system, an air intake manifold and a fuel manifold; electronic control circuitry configured to control timing and metering of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel in the combustion process so that, while the primary fuel is being delivered into the engine, a rate of delivery of the reactive hydrogen into the engine is continually adjusted as operation of the engine is changed, said adjusting including, over a range of sixty percent to one hundred percent of engine power, continually increasing the rate of delivery of the reactive hydrogen into the engine while continually increasing a rate at which the primary fuel is delivered into the engine to change a magnitude of an engine characteristic; and a sensor positioned to measure magnitudes of a dependent variable associated with combustion of the primary fuel in the presence of the secondary fuel, the dependent variable taken from the group consisting of exhaust gas temperature, NOx content and SOx content. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. In an electronic system which controls timing and metering of a primary fuel delivered for combustion in an internal combustion engine, the system including one or more sensors for measuring engine operating parameters, and a processor unit configured to provide outputs based on sensor measurements to control settings for engine operation, an electronic subsystem for connection between a sensor and the processor unit, comprising:
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first circuitry configured to receive from a sensor a first signal having a first magnitude and generate a second signal having a second magnitude different from the first signal magnitude, the second signal provided for input to the processor unit, the difference between the first magnitude and the second magnitude configured to provide an adjustment to an output from the processor unit to improve engine fuel efficiency and reduce NOx emissions while a gaseous product comprising reactive hydrogen is input to a combustion chamber of the engine wherein; when the second signal is provided to the processor the primary fuel flow rate is adjusted, and the first circuitry is configured to provide a third signal for control of the flow rate of the gaseous product comprising reactive hydrogen into the engine.
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Specification