Fumigation system for a diesel engine
First Claim
1. A gaseous-fuel fumigation system for interconnection to a diesel engine, comprising:
- a first valve disposed in a flow path between a gaseous-fuel supply and an air intake stream of a diesel engine, the first valve being operative to regulate a flow volume of a gaseous-fuel through the flow path based on a load level associated with the engine;
a second valve, disposed in series with the first valve in the flow path, the second valve being operative to regulate the flow volume of the gaseous-fuel through the flow path based at least in part on an oxygen content of exhaust gases in an exhaust stream of the engine.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method is provided to reduce particulate and NOx emissions from diesel engines through the use of a duel-fuel fumigation system. The system injects a gaseous-fuel flow into the air intake stream of a diesel engine. This results in more complete combustion within the engine as well as reduced diesel fuel usage, which each work to reduce emission outputs of the engine. As presented, the system is operative to meter the gaseous-fuel flow into the diesel engine based on one or more engine parameters such as, for example, exhaust gas temperature, exhaust oxygen levels, engine speed and/or engine load. Monitoring one or more engine parameters allows fine-tuning the flow of gaseous fuel into the engine and thereby prevents loss of engine power at high-end loads while maintaining favorable emission outputs over substantially the entire operating range of the engine.
-
Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A gaseous-fuel fumigation system for interconnection to a diesel engine, comprising:
-
a first valve disposed in a flow path between a gaseous-fuel supply and an air intake stream of a diesel engine, the first valve being operative to regulate a flow volume of a gaseous-fuel through the flow path based on a load level associated with the engine;
a second valve, disposed in series with the first valve in the flow path, the second valve being operative to regulate the flow volume of the gaseous-fuel through the flow path based at least in part on an oxygen content of exhaust gases in an exhaust stream of the engine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A gaseous-fuel fumigation system for interconnection to a diesel engine, comprising:
-
a first valve disposed in a flow path between a gaseous-fuel supply and an air intake stream of a diesel engine, the valve being operative to regulate a flow volume of a gaseous-fuel through the flow path;
an oxygen sensor operative to generate a first signal indicative of an oxygen content of an exhaust stream of the engine;
an engine load sensor operative to generate a second signal indicative of an engine load level;
a controller operative to receive the first and second signals and adjust the first valve based on the first and second signals to maintain a predetermined minimum oxygen content in the exhaust stream. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A gaseous-fuel fumigation system for interconnection to a diesel engine, comprising:
-
a first valve disposed in a flow path between a gaseous-fuel supply and an air intake stream of a diesel engine, the first valve being operative to move from a closed position to an at least partially open position in response to a predetermined minimum boost pressure from a turbocharger associated with the engine;
a second valve, disposed in series with the first valve in the flow path, the second valve being operative to further regulate the flow volume of the gaseous-fuel through the flow path based at least in part on an oxygen content of exhaust gases in an exhaust stream of the engine; and
a by-pass port passing through the first valve for maintaining a predetermined minimum flow volume of gaseous-fuel across the first valve while first valve is in a closed position. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
-
-
26. A method for operating a gaseous-fuel fumigation system interconnected to a diesel engine, comprising:
-
establishing a first flow volume of a gaseous-fuel for a diesel engine based on a load level of the diesel engine;
identifying an oxygen content of an exhaust stream of the engine;
based on the oxygen content, regulating the first flow volume to establish a second flow volume, wherein the second flow volume is between zero and one hundred percent of the first flow volume; and
injecting the second flow volume into an air intake stream of the engine. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
-
Specification