System and method for operating a turbo-charged engine

• US 7,296,555 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2005
• Issued: 11/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Global Sourcing LLC (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Primus, Roy James, Cueman, Michael Kent, Tamma, Bhaskar
• Primary Examiner(s): HUYNH, HAI H
• Application Number:
  US11/211,981
• Publication Number:
  US 20070044752A1
• Time in Patent Office: 817 Days
• Field of Search: 123/299, 123/300, 123/304, 123/305, 701103-105
• US Class Current: 123/304
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/0602 Fuel pressure
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/101 Engine speed
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2250/36 Control for minimising NOx emissions
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/403 with pilot injections
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/40 Engine management systems

Abstract

In certain embodiments, there is provided a method of operating a turbocharged system including injecting a first quantity of fuel into an engine cylinder at a first predetermined time during a second half of a compression stroke before a piston of the engine cylinder reaches top dead center of the compression stroke. The method further includes injecting a second quantity of fuel into the engine cylinder at a second predetermined time after the first predetermined time when the piston is advanced by a predetermined advance value before the piston reaches the top dead center of the compression stroke.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

injecting a first quantity of fuel into an engine cylinder at a first predetermined time during a second half of a compression stroke before a piston of the engine cylinder reaches top dead center of the compression stroke, wherein injecting the first quantity of fuel comprises injecting a pilot fuel quantity of about 1 to 5 percent of a fuel quantity; and

injecting a second quantity of fuel into the engine cylinder at a second predetermined time after the first predetermined time when the piston is advanced by a predetermined advance value before the piston reaches the top dead center of the compression stroke, wherein injecting the second quantity of fuel comprises injecting a majority fuel quantity of about 95 to 99 percent of the fuel quantity.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising entraining combustion products from combustion of the first quantity of fuel into the second quantity of fuel.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first predetermined time corresponds with a crank angle of about 20 to 90 degrees before top dead center of the compression stroke, and the second predetermined time corresponds with a crank angle less than about 5 degrees before top dead center of the compression stroke.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising fueling a diesel engine comprising the engine cylinder.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising powering a locomotive comprising the diesel engine.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising modifying a fuel injection system of the diesel engine to reduce specific fuel consumption without increasing emission level.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein modifying the fuel injection system comprises providing a high pressure common rail having a plurality of fuel injectors.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein injecting the first and second quantity of fuel comprises reducing specific fuel consumption without increasing a pollutant emissions level of nitrogen oxides.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising modifying a fuel injection scheme of an emissions compliant engine to reduce specific fuel consumption without increasing a pollutant emissions level.

10. A method, comprising:

advancing fuel injection by a predetermined advance value to reduce specific fuel consumption in a compression-ignition engine of a locomotive; and

splitting the fuel injection of a predetermined quantity of fuel into a pilot fuel quantity and a majority fuel quantity during a second half of a compression stroke and before top dead center of the compression stroke of the compression-ignition engine to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions associated with advancing the fuel injection;

wherein advancing and splitting comprises modifying a fuel injection system of the compression-ignition engine to reduce the specific fuel consumption without increasing a pollutant emissions level.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein advancing fuel injection comprises injecting the pilot fuel quantity at a crank angle of about 20 to 90 degrees before top dead center of the compression stroke and injecting the majority fuel quantity at a crank angle less than about 5 degrees before top dead center of the compression stroke.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein modifying the fuel injection system comprises providing a high pressure common rail having a plurality of fuel injectors.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein splitting comprises providing about 1 to 5 percent of the predetermined quantity of fuel as the pilot fuel quantity, and providing about 95 to 99 percent of the predetermined quantity of fuel as the majority fuel quantity.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein modifying the fuel injection system comprises modifying fuel injection of an emissions compliant configuration of the compression-ignition engine to reduce the specific fuel consumption without increasing the pollutant emissions level of at least nitrogen oxides.

15. A system, comprising:

a controller configured to inject a first quantity of fuel into an engine cylinder at a first predetermined time during a second half of a compression stroke before a piston of the engine cylinder reaches top dead center of the compression stroke, and configured to inject a second quantity of fuel into the engine cylinder at a second predetermined time after the first predetermined time when the piston is advanced by a predetermined advance value before the piston reaches the top dead center of the compression stroke;

wherein the controller is configured to inject the first quantity of fuel at the first predetermined time and the second quantity of fuel at the second predetermined time into the engine cylinder to reduce specific fuel consumption without increasing a pollutant emissions level.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a crank angle sensor and an engine speed sensor coupled to the controller and configured to detect crank angle and engine speed, respectively.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to control injection of the first quantity of fuel and the second quantity of fuel into the engine cylinder based on the respective values of the crank angle and the engine speed.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a diesel engine having the controller.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising a vehicle having the diesel engine and the controller coupled to the diesel engine.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the diesel engine include a plurality of specifications comprising a maximum in-cylinder pressure in the range of 80 to 240 bars, four stroke, stepped operation, speed in the range of 300 to 1500 revolutions per minute, displacement in the range of 5 to 20 liters per cylinder, and a common rail fuel injection system.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to control a plurality of fuel injectors to adjust quantity and timing of fuel injection based on crank angle and engine speed.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to inject about 1 to 5 percent of a fuel quantity as the first quantity of fuel, and about 95 to 99 percent of the fuel quantity as the second quantity of fuel.

23. The system of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to modify fuel injection of an emissions compliant engine to inject the first and second quantities of fuel at the first and second predetermined times, respectively, to reduce the specific fuel consumption without increasing the pollutant emissions level of at least nitrogen oxides.

24. A locomotive, comprising:

a turbocharger;

a compression-ignition engine include a plurality of specifications comprising a maximum in-cylinder pressure in the range of 80 to 240 bars, four stroke, stepped operation, speed in the range of 300 to 1500 revolutions per minute, displacement in the range of 5 to 20 liters per cylinder, and a common rail fuel injection system; and

a controller coupled to the compression-ignition engine and configured to inject a first quantity of fuel into an engine cylinder at a first predetermined time during a second half of a compression stroke before a piston of the engine cylinder reaches top dead center of the compression stroke, and configured to inject a second quantity of fuel into the engine cylinder at a second predetermined time after the first predetermined time when the piston is advanced by a predetermined advance value before the piston reaches the top dead center of the compression stroke.

25. The locomotive of claim 24, further comprising a crank angle sensor and an engine speed sensor coupled to the controller and configured to detect crank angle and engine speed, respectively.

26. The locomotive of claim 25, wherein the controller is configured to control injection of the first quantity of fuel and the second quantity of fuel into the engine cylinder based on the respective values of the crank angle and the engine speed.

27. The locomotive of claim 24, wherein the controller is configured to inject about 1 to 5 percent of a fuel quantity as the first quantity of fuel, and about 95 to 99 percent of the fuel quantity as the second quantity of fuel.

28. The locomotive of claim 24, wherein the controller is configured to modify fuel injection of an emissions compliant configuration of the compression-ignition engine to inject the first and second quantities of fuel at the first and second predetermined times, respectively, to reduce specific fuel consumption without increasing a pollutant emissions level.

29. A method, comprising:

providing a controller configured to inject a first quantity of fuel into an engine cylinder at a first predetermined time during a second half of a compression stroke before a piston of the engine cylinder reaches top dead center of the compression stroke, and configured to inject a second quantity of fuel into the engine cylinder at a second predetermined time after the first predetermined time when the piston is advanced by a predetermined advance value before the piston reaches the top dead center of the compression stroke;

wherein the controller is configured to inject the first quantity of fuel at the first predetermined time and the second quantity of fuel at the second predetermined time into the engine cylinder to reduce specific fuel consumption without increasing a pollutant emissions level.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising providing a compression-ignition engine having the controller.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising providing a vehicle having the compression-ignition engine and the controller coupled to the compression-ignition engine.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein providing the vehicle comprises providing a locomotive.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the controller is configured to inject about 1 to 5 percent of a fuel quantity as the first quantity of fuel, and about 95 to 99 percent of the fuel quantity as the second quantity of fuel.

34. A tangible medium having a computer program, comprising:

programming instructions disposed on the tangible medium, wherein the programming instructions include instructions to inject a first quantity of fuel into an engine cylinder at a first predetermined time during a second half of a compression stroke before a piston of the engine cylinder reaches top dead center of the compression stroke, and instructions to inject a second quantity of fuel into the engine cylinder at a second predetermined time after the first predetermined time when the piston is advanced by a predetermined advance value before the piston reaches the top dead center of the compression stroke;

wherein the programming instructions are configured to inject the first quantity of fuel at the first predetermined time and the second quantity of fuel at the second predetermined time into the engine cylinder to reduce specific fuel consumption without increasing a pollutant emissions level.

35. The tangible medium of claim 34, wherein the instructions to inject the first quantity of fuel comprise instructions to inject a pilot fuel quantity of about 1 to 5 percent of a fuel quantity, and instructions to inject the second quantity of fuel comprise instructions to inject a majority fuel quantity of about 95 to 99 percent of the fuel quantity.