Adaptive variable fuel internal combustion engine

• US 6,947,830 B1
• Filed: 08/31/2004
• Issued: 09/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kenneth C. Miller, Walt Froloff
• Original Assignee: Kenneth C. Miller, Walt Froloff
• Inventors: Miller, Kenneth C., Froloff, Walt
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Hieu T.
• Application Number:
  US10/930,926
• Time in Patent Office: 385 Days
• Field of Search: 701/111, 701/110, 701/114, 701/104, 701/107
• US Class Current: 701/111
• CPC Class Codes: F02B 1/12 with compression ignition with fuel-air charge ignited by compression ignition of an additional fuel F02B7/00
• CPC Class Codes: F02B 3/06 with compression ignition compression ignition engines using air or gas for blowing fuel into compressed air in cylinder F02B13/02
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 19/061 by controlling fuel injectors
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 19/0644 the gaseous fuel being hydrogen, ammonia or carbon monoxide
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 19/0649 Liquid fuels having different boiling temperatures, volatilities, densities, viscosities, cetane or octane numbers
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 19/085 Control based on the fuel type or composition
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 35/023 by determining the cylinder pressure
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 35/027 using knock sensors
• 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: F02D 41/1402 Adaptive control
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/3035 a mode being the premixed charge compression-ignition mode
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/3076 with special conditions for selecting a mode of combustion, e.g. for starting, for diagnosing
• CPC Class Codes: F02P 5/152 dependent on pinking detecting or indicating knocks in internal-combustion engines G01L23/22
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/12 Improving ICE efficiencies
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/30 Use of alternative fuels, e.g. biofuels
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/40 Engine management systems

Abstract

A programmable internal combustion engine, comprising programmable computer processor controlled engine components including electronically controllable valves, fuel injection and air fuel mixture ignition cylinder components, is programmed to dynamically reconfigure an internal combustion engine to run on a range of combustible fuels. Cylinder independent ignition test modes using Spark Ignition, Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition and Compression Ignition are performed to determine the best ignition mode and cylinder component states for combusting a given fuel. In situ real-time testing of a given fuel yield results for a dynamic reconfiguration of individual component states providing an engine which can run on a range of combustible fuels and fuel blends.

Claims

1. A programmable internal combustion engine re-configurable to operate with a given fuel from a range of combustible fuels comprising:

one or more cylinder units each with expanding and contracting cylinder volume and associated stroke sequences;

each cylinder unit having an intake port and an electronically controllable intake valve component having multiple states under computer control;

each cylinder unit having an exhaust port and an electronically controllable exhaust valve component having multiple states under computer control;

each cylinder unit having an electronic fuel injector component having multiple states under computer control;

each cylinder unit having computer controlled means for igniting an air-fuel mixture in the cylinder volume, ignition means chosen from a group consisting essentially of;

spark ignition, homogeneous charge compression ignition and compression ignition;

a computer usable medium;

a computer control system comprising computer readable program logic embodied in the computer usable medium for controlling individual cylinder units by actuation of cylinder components through programmed sequences of states and strokes providing detonation signal from fuel combustion;

one or more sensors for sensing detonation signal;

detonation signal computationally processed for identified parameters which are stored in computer usable media;

identified parameters compared for power developed from combustion, whereby identified parameter results determine ignition method and cylinder component state sequences in re-configuring cylinder units for engine power operation using the given fuel.

2. A programmable internal combustion engine re-configurable to operate with a variable fuel from a range of combustible fuels comprising:

one or more cylinder units each with expanding and contracting cylinder volume and associated stroke sequences;

each cylinder unit having an intake port and an electronically controllable intake valve component having multiple states under computer control;

each cylinder unit having an exhaust port and an electronically controllable exhaust valve component having multiple states under computer control;

each cylinder unit having an electronic fuel injector component having multiple states under computer control;

each cylinder unit having selectable computer controlled means for igniting an air-fuel mixture in the cylinder volume;

a computer usable medium;

a computer control system comprising computer readable program logic embodied in the computer usable medium for controlling individual cylinder units by actuation of cylinder components through programmed sequences of states and strokes providing detonation signals from fuel combustion;

one or more sensors for sensing detonation signals;

detonation signals computationally processed for identified parameters which are stored in computer usable media;

identified parameters compared for power developed from combustion,

whereby identified parameter results determine ignition method and cylinder component state sequences in re-configuring cylinder units for engine power operation combusting a given fuel.

3. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising programmably selectable fuel ignition means chosen from a group consisting essentially of;

spark ignition, homogeneous charge compression ignition and compression ignition.

4. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising processing detonation signals from a plurality of programmed cylinder combustion events, selecting the event signal with identified parameters of maximum peak pressure and associated knock transient intensity which are less than set allowable limits.

5. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising processing detonation signals from a plurality of programmed cylinder combustion events, selecting the signal with identifiable parameters representing cylinder unit power developed from the event, parameter values extracted through mathematical integration of the detonation signal.

6. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising processing detonation signals from a plurality of programmed cylinder combustion events, selecting the signal with identifiable parameter values representative of fuel characteristic rate of burn, parameters extracted through mathematical differentiation of detonation signal.

7. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising a spark ignition test suite wherein control system executes program logic controlling cylinder unit component state sequences in concert with the cylinder unit piston position, performing a series of combustion cycle events varying spark ignition timing, each ignition event combusting controlled fuel quantity generating a detonation signal from which identified parameters representative of power and knock transient intensity are computationally extracted, storing parameter results and associated event settings in computer media for determining re-configuration of component settings and state sequences.

8. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising a homogeneous charge compression ignition test suite wherein the control system executes program logic controlling cylinder unit component state sequences responsive to the cylinder unit piston position, performing an intake and compression-exhaust stroke sequence to establish an initial compression ratio from combustion time and associated piston position, with established compression ratio determining subsequent cylinder unit components states and strokes, performing a series of combustion events, by electronically controlling the intake valve open state period on intake stroke proportionate to the time necessary for piston to achieve spontaneous combustion for given cylinder dimensions on the following compression stroke substantially near piston top dead center with selected offset, a following power stroke, compression and power strokes with intake and exhaust valves closed, followed by an exhaust stroke wherein the exhaust valve is opened, varying selected offset for each combustion event, each event generating a detonation signal for computationally extracting identified parameters representative of power and knock transient intensity, storing parameter results and associated event configuration settings in computer media.

9. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising a compression ignition test suite wherein the control system executes program logic controlling cylinder unit component state sequences responsive to the cylinder unit piston position, performing a series of combustion events from intake, compression, power and exhaust stroke sequence, varying fuel injection time in each event generating a detonation signal for computationally extracting identified parameters representative of power and knock transient intensity, storing parameter results and associated test configuration settings in computer media.

10. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising execution of program logic controlling cylinder unit component states in accordance with defined cylinder unit states sequentially performed in concert with the cylinder unit piston position to create a combustion event from an intake, compression, power and exhaust stroke sequence, selected ignition means used to combust fuel mixture at programmed times, generating detonation signals, each of which are computationally processed extracting identified parameters representative of power and knock transient phenomenon from each detonation signal, selecting the events producing parameters with the maximum power representative value and associated transient pressure intensity value which are less than the selected allowable limit.

11. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising selecting ignition mode for testing fuel combustion characteristics through a series of combustion events each series of events using an alternate ignition method, computer system controlling programmed execution of fuel ignition for each event in each suite, providing detonation signal from each event which is computationally processed for representative combustion power, knock transient and frequency content identified parameters to determine the ignition mode by comparison of signal power, knock intensity and frequency content parameters, determining event having highest power representative parameter value not in excess of set limits and within set resonance correlation between detonation signal frequency content and associated cylinder component natural frequencies.

12. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising mixed combustion ignition mode wherein one or more cylinder units operate in a mode different from but in concert with, one or more alternate engine cylinder units operating in a different combustion ignition mode, ignition modes chosen from a group consisting essentially of;

spark ignition, homogeneous charge compression ignition, and compression ignition, by programmable logic electronically controlling cylinder unit component states and strokes sequences.

13. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising digital signal processing of detonation signals, extracting signal peak pressure and associated time of occurrence, signal frequency content, extracting correlation parameters between signal frequency content in resonance with cylinder unit natural frequencies, selecting the event providing the highest peak pressure and intensity transient not exceeding allowable pressure limits and with allowable frequency content natural frequency resonance correlation limits.

14. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising high speed analog circuitry to process detonation signal using analog signal processing components from the group of analog circuit components performing integration, differentiation, convolution, discrete or continuous transforms, transfer functions and general mathematical manipulation, to process detonation signal for identified parameters to provide resultant values in real-time, values are compared with other detonation signals computationally processed providing results used in determining the combustion event yielding characteristics for establishing power mode engine component settings.

15. A programmable internal combustion engine as in claim 2 further comprising the computational use of stored engine temperature profiles with sensed temperature references to extrapolate temperatures from specific engine locations lacking temperature sensors.

16. A method of configuring an internal combustion engine to run on any fuel from a range of combustible fuels, engine operating with one or more cylinders, each cylinder containing a reciprocating piston and having a known volume at each position of said piston, said pistons being connected to a crank shaft, the engine further comprising means for introducing air and fuel into said cylinders to form a combustible mixture, means for electronically controlling ignition of said combustible mixtures, means for exhausting combustion gases from said cylinders, means for obtaining crank shaft position, at least one sensor for providing detonation signal with respect to piston position, the engine comprising a programmable computer control system for electronically controlling cylinder intake and exhaust valve states, fuel delivery quantity and ignition method and timing, and signal detection, acquisition, processing and storing of signal processed identified parameter results into computer usable storage medium, and signals received from programmably controlled cylinder combustion events, engine configuration steps comprising,

retrieving duty cycles defining cylinder component state sequences as functions of piston stroke positions, from computer usable storage medium;

configuring cylinder components in conformance with retrieved component state sequences and fuel ignition means;

igniting the air-fuel mixture in accordance with configured components and fuel ignition means producing a combustion event;

receiving sensor detonation signal from cylinder combustion event;

computationally processing detonation signal for identified parameter values representative of combustion induced work done on piston during power stroke, knock transients intensity, and associated parameter times with reference to piston position;

storing values in computer memory;

comparing processed signal identified parameter values from previous combustion event signal parameter values;

choosing determinative fuel combustion characteristic results by selecting the processed signal values with the highest representative piston work parameter values and associated knock transient parameter values below a settable cylinder pressure limit criteria;

configuring the engine with cylinder component states and state sequences associated with the determinative combustion results, and

operating the engine combusting the given fuel with the configured component states, sequences and ignition mode responsive to engine power demands.

17. A method as recited in claim 16 further comprising fuel ignition means from a group of ignition methods consisting essentially of;

time controlled spontaneous combustion from compression of fuel mixture in cylinder through electronic control of intake valve open state period on intake stroke for homogenous charge compression ignition, time controlled fuel injection into cylinder state conditions above mixture spontaneous ignition conditions for compression ignition, and time controlled spark admission into mixture in cylinder for spark ignition.

18. A method as recited in claim 16 further comprising estimating start of ignition time by extracting time of peak pressure from detonation signal locus, and using empirical analytical or numerical correlation to estimate start of ignition time from actual detonation locus of peak pressure time, accounting for signal reception latencies and computational processing latencies correlating actual peak pressure to an estimated start of ignition time.

19. A method as recited in claim 16 further comprising varying the selected cylinder combustion spark time in a series of combustion events, computationally processing detonation signal for identified parameter values and comparing to prior combustion event signal processed parameter values for determining governing spark ignition event results.

20. A method as recited in claim 16 further comprising varying the selected cylinder combustion fuel injection time in a series of combustion events, computationally processing signal identified parameter values and comparing to prior combustion event signal processed parameter values for determining governing compression ignition event results.

21. A method as recited in claim 16 further comprising varying the cylinder mixture spontaneous start of combustion time in a series of combustion events, computationally processing signal for identified parameter values and comparing to previous combustion event signal processed parameter values in determining the governing homogeneous charge compression ignition event results, reconfiguring and operating the engine with the given fuel under the determined governing combustion result configuration.