Device for Dispensing a Liquid Additive Into a Fuel Circulation Circuit for an Internal Combustion Engine, Vehicle Comprising Such a Device, And Method For Using Said Device

• US 20140238349A1
• Filed: 07/24/2012
• Published: 08/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Filtrauto (CIR SpA - Cie Industriali Riunite), Rhodia Operations (Solvac SA)
• Original Assignee: Filtrauto (CIR SpA - Cie Industriali Riunite), Rhodia Operations (Solvac SA)
• Inventors: Harle, Virginie, Monsallier, Guy, Lallemand, Michael, Seguelong, Thierry
• Granted Patent: US 9,938,943 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 123/444
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 19/12 peculiar to engines working with non-fuel substances or with anti-knock agents, e.g. with anti-knock fuel
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/0611 Fuel type, fuel composition or fuel quality
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/0025 Controlling engines characterised by use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures
• CPC Class Codes: F02M 25/10 adding acetylene, non-waterborne hydrogen, non-airborne oxygen, or ozone
• CPC Class Codes: F02M 37/0047 Layout or arrangement of systems for feeding fuel fuel injection apparatus characterised by their conduits and venting means F02M55/00; fuel injection apparatus having a common rail F02M63/0225; arrangement of fuel conduits of low pressure fuel injection apparatus F02M69/462
• CPC Class Codes: F02M 37/0082 Devices inside the fuel tank other than fuel pumps or filters electrical pumps submerged in fuel tanks F02M37/10, jet pumps F02M37/025

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for dispensing a liquid additive into a fuel circulation circuit (2) for an internal combustion engine, in particular for an engine equipping a vehicle, said device comprising:

a tank (26) containing the additive,

an enclosure (24) communicating with the fuel circulation circuit (2) and inside which the tank (26) containing the additive is inserted,

means for injecting additive connected to the tank (26) and the fuel circulation circuit (2) and making it possible to dispense the additive in the fuel circulation circuit (2), and

control means for controlling the injection means.

Claims

1. A device for dispensing a liquid additive in a fuel circulation circuit for an internal combustion engine, in particular for an engine equipping a vehicle, said device comprising:

a tank containing the additive,

an enclosure communicating with the fuel circulation circuit and inside which the tank containing the additive is inserted, at least one movable sealing wall between said enclosure and said tank providing a sealing separation on the one hand and maintaining an identical pressure between the additive in the tank and the fuel in the enclosure on the other hand,

means for injecting the additive connected to the tank and the fuel circulation circuit and making it possible to dispense the additive in the fuel circulation circuit, said means including a dispensing channel connecting the tank and the fuel circulation circuit, and

means for controlling the injection means, characterized in that the control means are associated with;

means for analyzing at least one parameter representative of the use of the vehicle; and

/or

means for analyzing the travel conditions of vehicle, and/or

means for analyzing the evolution of the quantity of fuel contained in a fuel tank, said tank being accessible to a user so as to add fuel, and/or

means for analyzing the quality of the fuel, and/or

means for analyzing the polluting emissions resulting from the combustion of the fuel in the engine and/or

means for analyzing the quality of the regeneration of a particle filter positioned in the exhaust line of the engine, and/or

means for analyzing the type of additive used, and/or

means for analyzing the evolution of the additive flow rate dispensed in the fuel circulation circuit, and/or

means for analyzing climate conditions,

to monitor the operation of the injection means.

2. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the injection means include means for closing off the dispensing channel, the closing off means being suitable for completely or partially closing off the dispensing channel, the closing off means in particular being of the valve or solenoid valve type.

3. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes a temperature sensor intended to indicate the temperature of the fuel in the fuel circulation circuit, in particular near the dispensing channel, and/or of the additive, the temperature of the additive and/or the fuel constituting a parameter representative of the evolution of the additive flow rate and/or the use of the vehicle and/or climate conditions.

4. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes a temperature sensor outside the vehicle, the outside temperature constituting a parameter representative the climate conditions.

5. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes a sensor detecting the turning on of the vehicle and/or an element belonging to the fuel circulation circuit, in particular a fuel filter, the turning on constituting a parameter representative of the use of the vehicle.

6. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes pressure sensors measuring the pressure at an additive dispensing orifice positioned at one end of the dispensing channel situated at the fuel circulation circuit, and at an inlet orifice for the fuel positioned upstream from the dispensing orifice in the circulation circuit, a pressure difference between the orifices constituting a parameter representative of the use of the vehicle and/or the evolution of the additive flow rate and/or the travel conditions.

7. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes a noise sensor positioned preferably near the engine, the detection of noise by the sensor constituting a parameter representative of the use of the vehicle.

8. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes location means of the GPS type or a movement sensor, the detection of movement by the location means or the movement sensor constituting a parameter representative of the use of the vehicle and/or the travel conditions of the vehicle.

9. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the average speed and/or instantaneous speed of the vehicle constitutes a parameter representative of the travel conditions of the vehicle.

10. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the temperature of the exhaust gases constitutes a parameter representative of the travel conditions of the vehicle.

11. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the evolution of the pressure in the circulation circuit, in particular in a high-pressure circuit of the vehicle made up of a high-pressure pump and a shared injection ramp, constitutes a parameter representative of the travel conditions of the vehicle.

12. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the evolution of the air flow rate supplying the combustion chamber of the engine constitutes a parameter representative of the travel conditions of the vehicle.

13. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the evolution of the fuel flow rate in the circulation circuit constitutes a parameter representative of the evolution of the additive flow rate.

14. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the evolution of the emissions of NOx, soot or other carbon particles or the NOx/soot and/or NOx/particle ratios constitute parameters representative of the polluting emissions resulting from the combustion of the fuel.

15. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the evolution of the quality and/or quantity of oil allowing lubrication of the engine constitutes a parameter representative of the evolution of the quality of the regeneration of the particle filter positioned in the exhaust line of the engine.

16. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes a location means of the GPS type indicating the geographical area in which the vehicle is located, the location of the vehicle provided by the means constituting a parameter representative of the quality of the fuel marketed in the geographical area.

17. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that parameters representative of the combustion of the fuel in the cylinders of the engine constitute a parameter representative of the quality of the fuel.

18. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the fuel consumption of the engine constitutes a parameter representative of the travel conditions of the vehicle.

19. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the additive may be a particle filter regenerating additive with a base of a rare earth and/or a metal chosen from groups IIA, IVA, VITA, VIII, IB, IIB, IIIB and IVB of the periodic table.

20. The dispensing device according to claim 19, characterized in that the additive assumes the form of a colloidal dispersion.

21. The dispensing device according to claim 20, characterized in that the particles of the colloidal dispersion have a base of cerium and/or iron.

22. The dispensing device according to claim 19, characterized in that the additive is a combination of a colloidal particle dispersion that includes an organic phase and at least one amphiphilic agent and a detergent.

23. The dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the additive is an additive allowing the improvement of the dispensing of fuel in the engine and/or the improvement of the running performance of the engine and/or the improvement of the running stability of the engine.

24. The dispensing device according to claim 23, characterized in that the additive is a combination of a detergent additive and a lubrication additive.

25. A motor vehicle comprising:

a fuel circulation circuit for an internal combustion engine of the vehicle,

a tank containing a liquid additive,

an enclosure communicating with the fuel circulation circuit and inside which the tank containing the additive is inserted, at least one moving sealing wall between said enclosure and said tank ensuring sealed separation on the one hand and maintaining an identical pressure between the additive in the tank (26) and fuel in the enclosure on the other hand,

means for injecting the additive that are connected to the tank and the fuel circulation circuit and that make it possible to dispense the additive in the fuel circulation circuit, said means comprising a dispensing channel connecting the tank and the fuel circulation circuit,

characterized in that the additive is injected using a dispensing device according claim 1.

26. A method for using a dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that dispensing of the additive is stopped when the engine of the vehicle is no longer running or when the vehicle is stopped.

27. A method for using a dispensing device according to claim 2, characterized in that the additive dispensing is activated when the closing off means is powered on.

28. A method for using a dispensing device according to claim 6, characterized in that the dispensing of additive is activated when a pressure difference greater than 2 mbar is measured between the additive dispensing orifice positioned at one end of the dispensing channel and the fuel inlet orifice positioned upstream in the circulation circuit on the other hand.

29. A method for using a dispensing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the additive dispensing is activated when the temperature of the fuel circulating in the circulation circuit and/or of the additive is above a threshold value representative of a running engine, for example greater than 15°

C.

30. A method for using a dispensing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the additive dispensing is stopped when the outside temperature and/or the temperature of the additive and/or the temperature of the fuel in the fuel circulation circuit are below a minimum threshold temperature or above a maximum threshold temperature, said minimum and maximum threshold temperatures being defined for a given additive, the minimum threshold temperature being able to correspond to a value for which the viscosity of the additive reaches a threshold value and the maximum threshold temperature being able to correspond to the vaporization value of the additive.

31. A method for using a dispensing device according to claim 2, characterized in that the injection is discontinuous and in that the frequency and/or opening time of the closing off means depend on information collected by the control means, the dispensing of additive being done so as to preserve a constant additive concentration in the fuel or to inject the additive in the fuel circulation circuit only when necessary.

32. The method according to claim 31, characterized in that the dispensing frequency and/or the dispensing duration of the additives depend either on the usage time of the vehicle and/or on the number of kilometers traveled by the vehicle and/or the fuel consumption of the vehicle.

33. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the frequency and/or duration of additive dispensing depend on the temperature of the fuel and/or the additive, and/or on the pressure between the additive dispensing orifice positioned at one end of the dispensing channel and the fuel inlet orifice positioned upstream in the circulation circuit.

34. A method for using a dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the additive is injected each time fuel is added in the fuel tank, the volume of said additive being able to be fixed or variable, the variable volume being determined based on the quantity of fuel added.

35. A method for using a dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the additive is injected when the analysis of the polluting emissions resulting from the combustion of the fuel indicates that the gases and/or particles emitted diverge from the theoretical expected value.

36. A method for using a dispensing device according to claim 1, for which the additive is injected before regenerating the particle filter.

37. A method for using a dispensing device according to claim 1, characterized in that an additional quantity of additive is injected before the regeneration of the particle filter when the previous regeneration was not of good quality.