Automatic exhaust gas analyzer for an internal combustion engine

• US 5,591,406 A
• Filed: 09/13/1995
• Issued: 01/07/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company), Shimadzu Corporation
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company), Shimadzu Corporation
• Inventors: Matsumoto, Hirokazu, Hirai, Kenji, Yamashita, Yuji, Tsuneda, Shinya, Shiina, Takanori, Kaburagi, Haruko, Tanaka, Hisayoshi, Aono, Akira
• Primary Examiner(s): BHAT, NINA NMN
• Application Number:
  US08/527,434
• Time in Patent Office: 482 Days
• Field of Search: 422/78, 422/80, 422/89, 422/93, 422/94, 422/107, 422/108, 374/36, 374/497, 73/23.22, 73/23.26, 73/23.41, 73/23.42
• US Class Current: 422/80
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2030/025 Gas chromatography
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2030/626 calibration, baseline
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2030/8804 automated systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2030/8886 Analysis of industrial production processes
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/38 Flow patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/467 all columns being identical
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0031 comprising two or more sensors, e.g. a sensor array electrochemical electrode arrays G01N27/27

Abstract

An automatic exhaust gas analyzer for analyzing an exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine. The analyzer includes: a) plural analyzing units; b) two independent gas lines provided in each of the plural analyzing units; c) a gas-chromatographic column provided in each of the gas lines; d) a gas-chromatographic detector connected with the column in each of the gas lines; and e) a signal communication network interconnecting the gas-chromatographic detectors. Exhaust gas and the background gas are sampled at each stage of a predetermined run cycle, and are provided immediately to the two independent gas lines of the plurality of analyzing units respectively. Then the exhaust gas and background gas are analyzed in parallel in each of the plurality of analyzing units, which facilitates equalizing the measurement conditions of the two gases and the background correction of the measurement results of the exhaust gas can be made at high precision.

Claims

1. An automatic exhaust gas analyzer for analyzing both an exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine and a background gas simultaneously, the analyzer comprising:

a) a plurality of analyzing units;

b) two independent gas lines provided in each of the plurality of analyzing units for analyzing the exhaust gas and the background gas;

c) a gas-chromatographic column provided in each of the independent gas lines;

d) a gas-chromatographic detector connected with the column in each of the independent gas lines;

e) signal communication network means for interconnecting and conveying signals between each of the gas-chromatographic detectors;

f) analysis control means for sampling the exhaust gas and the background gas at the same time, the analysis control means supplies the sampled exhaust gas and the sampled background gas to the two independent gas lines respectively and for analyzing the exhaust gas and the background gas independently using the gas-chromatographic columns and the gas-chromatographic detectors under same analyzing conditions set by the signal communication network means; and

g) a separator provided in each of the two gas lines for separating a first gas including hydrocarbon components of C12 and less and a second gas including hydrocarbon components of C6 and less respectively from the exhaust gas and the background gas.

2. The automatic exhaust gas analyzer according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of analyzing units further comprises:

f) a signal analyzer for analyzing a signal from the gas-chromatographic detectors comprised in the analyzing unit and for producing measurement data; and

g) a data processor for processing the measurement data and for producing predetermined parameters of the exhaust gas.

3. The automatic exhaust gas analyzer according to claim 2, wherein the signal communication network means conveys signals from a first of the plurality of analyzing units which produces a predetermined parameter to the others of the plurality of analyzing units.

4. The automatic exhaust gas analyzer according to claim 3, wherein a pre-concentrator is provided in each of the two gas lines for concentrating the exhaust gas and the background gas using liquid nitrogen.

5. The automatic exhaust gas analyzer according to claim 1, wherein a gas-chromatographic column and a gas-chromatographic detector are provided for the first gas and the second gas respectively after the separator in each of the gas lines.