METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MOBILE CARBON DIOXIDE MONITORING

• US 20090125180A1
• Filed: 10/09/2008
• Published: 05/14/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: HTI IP LLC (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Goldman, Erik, Berkobin, Eric
• Granted Patent: US 8,265,855 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/35
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/12 related to parameters of the vehicle itself , e.g. tyre models

Abstract

A telematics device coupled to vehicle onboard computer system calculates carbon dioxide output of the vehicle. The device uses inputs from existing vehicle performance and parameter sensors, such as speed, fuel efficiency, mass air flow and oxygen present in the vehicle'"'"'s exhaust, to calculate carbon dioxide output. Speed divided by fuel efficiency results in gallons per hour. An emmission factor, EF, multiplied by the gallons per hour results in weight of carbon dioxide produced by the vehicle per hour. Dividing EF by the efficiency results in pounds per mile. Using input from the mass air flow and oxygen sensors, with an approximation of gasoline molecular weight may produce more accurate results without using EF. If the sensors do not provide values in the units needed, a calibration curve for the mass air flow sensor and oxygen sensor may be used. The telematics device can display the results or upload them.

Claims

1. A method for mobile CO₂ monitoring, comprising:

determining fuel efficiency;

determining vehicle speed;

determining CO₂ consumption based on the fuel efficiency and the vehicle speed; and

transmitting the CO₂ consumption to a central monitoring station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein fuel efficiency is miles per gallon (mi/gal), vehicle speed is miles per hour (mi/hr), and determining CO₂ consumption includes performing the calculation (mi/hr)/(mi/gal)*EF, wherein EF is an emissions factor in lbs/gal.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the CO₂ consumption in a vehicle as lbs/hour.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating an average CO₂ consumption over a predetermined time period and storing the average CO₂ to a memory.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a distance traveled; and

averaging the CO₂ consumption over the distance traveled.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the distance traveled comprises one of retrieving distance traveled from an odometer, a GPS, or time traveled at the vehicle speed.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining location related data utilizing a GPS; and

tagging the CO₂ consumption with the location related data prior to transmission.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining CO₂ consumption for a geographic region.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the value of EF is obtained from a third party.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

monitoring pollution readiness monitors for the presence of gases other than CO₂ in an exhaust stream; and

setting EF<

the third party value if the pollution readiness monitors indicate a failure.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining a fuel mixture;

setting EF<

the third party value if the fuel mixture is rich; and

setting EF<

the third party value if the fuel mixture is lean.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the value of EF is determined by a vehicle telematics unit (VTU) of a vehicle.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

programming a first baseline EF for a first fuel into the VTU;

programming a second baseline EF for a second fuel into the VTU;

determining a fuel composition, wherein the fuel is composed of a percentage of the first fuel and a percentage of the second fuel; and

determining the EF based on the first baseline EF, second baseline EF, and the fuel composition.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the vehicle telematics unit downloads a value for EF from a fuel pump device as a user fills the vehicle'"'"'s fuel tank.

15. An apparatus for mobile CO₂ monitoring, comprising:

a memory configured for storing vehicle operating data, wherein the vehicle operating data comprises fuel efficiency, vehicle speed, and CO₂ consumption;

an interface for obtaining vehicle operating data from an on board computer system of a vehicle;

a processor, coupled to the memory and the vehicle interface, configured for performing steps comprising

determining fuel efficiency,

determining vehicle speed, and

determining CO₂ consumption based on the fuel efficiency and the vehicle speed; and

a transceiver, coupled to the processor, configured for transmitting the CO₂ consumption to a central monitoring station.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is configured to perform the steps comprising:

determining fuel efficiency in miles per gallon (mi/gal);

determining vehicle speed in miles per hour (mi/hr); and

determining CO₂ consumption by performing the calculation (mi/hr)/(mi/gal)*EF, wherein EF is an emissions factor in lbs/gal.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a display device configured for displaying the CO₂ consumption to a vehicle occupant as lbs/hour.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to perform the step comprising averaging the CO₂ consumption over a predetermined time period.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to perform the steps comprising:

determining a distance traveled; and

averaging the CO₂ consumption over the distance traveled.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the step of determining the distance traveled comprises one of retrieving distance traveled from an odometer, a GPS, or time traveled at the vehicle speed.

21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to perform the steps comprising:

determining location related data utilizing a GPS; and

tagging the CO₂ consumption with the location related data prior to transmission.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to perform the step comprising determining CO₂ consumption for a geographic region.

23. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the value of EF is obtained from a third party.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to perform the steps comprising:

monitoring pollution readiness monitors for the presence of gases other than CO₂ in an exhaust stream; and

setting EF<

the third party value if the pollution readiness monitors indicate a failure.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to perform the steps comprising:

determining a fuel mixture;

setting EF<

the third party value if the fuel mixture is rich; and

setting EF<

the third party value if the fuel mixture is lean.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the processor is further configured to perform the step comprising adjusting the fuel mixture to maximize CO₂ production, wherein combustion is stoichiometric.

27. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the value of EF.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the processor is configured for performing the steps comprising:

retrieving a first baseline EF for a first fuel;

retrieving a second baseline EF for a second fuel;

determining a fuel composition, wherein the fuel is composed of a percentage of the first fuel and a percentage of the second fuel; and

determining the EF based on the first baseline EF, second baseline EF, and the fuel composition.

29. A system for mobile CO₂ monitoring, comprising:

a vehicle telematics unit configured to determine CO₂ consumption and wirelessly transmit the determined CO₂ consumption; and

a central monitoring station configured to receive the determined CO₂ consumption from the vehicle telematics unit.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to determine CO₂ consumption by performing steps comprising:

determining fuel efficiency;

determining vehicle speed;

determining CO₂ consumption based on the fuel efficiency and the vehicle speed; and

transmitting the CO₂ consumption to a central monitoring station.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to perform the steps comprising:

determining fuel efficiency in miles per gallon (mi/gal);

determining vehicle speed in miles per hour (mi/hr); and

determining CO₂ consumption as (mi/hr)/(mi/gal)*EF, wherein EF is an emissions factor in lbs/gal.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to perform the step comprising displaying the CO₂ consumption to a vehicle occupant as lbs/hour.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to perform the step comprising averaging the CO₂ consumption over a predetermined time period.

34. The system of claim 29, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to perform the steps comprising:

determining a distance traveled; and

averaging the CO₂ consumption over the distance traveled.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to determine the distance traveled by performing the step comprising one of retrieving distance traveled from an odometer, a GPS, or time traveled at the vehicle speed.

36. The system of claim 29, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to perform the steps comprising:

determining location related data utilizing a GPS; and

tagging the CO₂ consumption with the location related data prior to transmission.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to perform the step comprising determining CO₂ consumption for a geographic region.

38. The system of claim 31, wherein the value of EF is obtained from a third party.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to perform the steps comprising:

monitoring pollution readiness monitors for the presence of gases other than CO₂ in an exhaust stream; and

setting EF<

the third party value if the pollution readiness monitors indicate a failure.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to perform the steps comprising:

determining a fuel mixture;

setting EF<

the third party value if the fuel mixture is rich; and

setting EF<

the third party value if the fuel mixture is lean.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to perform the step comprising adjusting the fuel mixture to maximize CO₂ production, wherein combustion is stoichiometric.

42. The system of claim 29, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured to wirelessly transmit the determined CO₂ consumption through a cellular connection.

43. The system of claim 31, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is further configured to determine the value of EF.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the vehicle telematics unit is configured for performing the steps comprising:

retrieving a first baseline EF for a first fuel;

retrieving a second baseline EF for a second fuel;

determining a fuel composition, wherein the fuel is composed of a percentage of the first fuel and a percentage of the second fuel; and

determining the EF based on the first baseline EF, second baseline EF, and the fuel composition.

45. A method for determining the weight of carbon dioxide produced by burning a mixture of air and fuel in an internal combustion engine using a value sampled from a mass air flow sensor signal and using a value sampled from an oxygen sensor signal, comprising:

A. dividing the value sampled from the mass air flow sensor signal by the value sampled from the oxygen sensor signal;

B. multiplying the quotient that results from performing step A by a chemical conversion factor; and

C. processing the product that results from performing step B by a computer processor.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein the value sampled from the oxygen sensor signal is converted to an O₂ value that is used to lookup a corresponding air to fuel ratio in a table, and the value sampled from the mass air flow sensor signal is divided by the air fuel ratio from the table corresponding to the value sampled from the O₂ sensor when performing step A.

47. The method of claim 45 wherein the calculation of the chemical conversion factor assumes a particular fuel and a corresponding molecular composition thereof.

48. The method of claim 47 wherein the calculation of the chemical conversion factor assumes the particular fuel is Octane

49. The method of claim 45 wherein the chemical conversion factor is the molecular weight of carbon dioxide divided by the atomic weight of carbon times the atomic weight of the carbon atoms in a molecule of the fuel divided by the molecular weight of the fuel.

50. The method of claim 45 wherein the step of processing includes storing the product that results from performing step B to a memory.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein the step of processing includes displaying the product stored in memory with a display device.

52. The method of claim 47 wherein the calculation of the chemical conversion factor assumes that the engine burns Octane and that the chemical conversion factor is (44/12)×

(96/114), or 3.0877.