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US 10,458,327 B2Granted
Fuel injection strategies in opposed-piston engines with multiple fuel injectors
AssigneeAchates Power, Inc.
InventorsClark A. Klyza, Fabien G. Redon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In an opposed-piston engine, two or more fuel injectors are mounted to a cylinder for direct side injection into the cylinder. The injectors are controlled so as to inject either a single fuel pulse or a plurality of fuel pulses per cycle of engine operation in order to initiate combustion during varying engine speeds and operating conditions.
Claims7
A fuel injection means for injecting fuel into a cylinder of an opposed-piston engine, including:
- two fuel injectors disposed for direct side injection of fuel into a combustion chamber defined between end surfaces of a pair of opposed pistons as the pair of opposed pistons approach top dead center locations in the cylinder;
- engine control means responsive to engine operating conditions for generating output control signals;
- and,
- an injector driver responsive to the output control signals for generating first fuel injector actuation signals operative to cause a first fuel injector of the two fuel injectors to emit a first split injection including a pilot injection followed by a main injection and second fuel injector actuation signals operative to cause a second fuel injector of the two fuel injectors to emit a second split injection including a pilot injection followed by a main injection independently of the first fuel injector;
- wherein the first fuel injector actuation signals are constrained by a minimum time interval occurring between successive first fuel injector actuation signals;
- wherein the second fuel injector actuation signals are constrained by the minimum time interval occurring between successive second fuel injector actuation signals;
- wherein the fuel injector actuation signals impose a time interval separating each pilot injection from its following main injection.
4 more elements
A fuel injection system for an opposed-piston engine, comprising:
- a first fuel injector and a second fuel injector, each disposed for direct side injection of fuel through a sidewall of a cylinder of the opposed-piston engine into a combustion chamber defined in the cylinder between end surfaces of a pair of opposed pistons as the pair of opposed pistons approach top dead center locations in the cylinder;
- an engine control unit responsive to engine operating conditions for generating output control signals;
- and,
- an injector driver responsive to the output control signals for generating fuel injector actuation signals operative to cause the first fuel injector to emit a first split injection and to cause the second fuel injector to emit a second split injection independently of the first fuel injector;
- wherein each of the first and second split injections comprises a pilot injection followed by a main injection;
- wherein the fuel injector actuation signals impose a minimum time interval separating each pilot injection from its following main injection.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.