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US 10,480,439 B2Granted
System and method for mitigating wet-fouling of spark plugs
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorAed M. Dudar
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and systems are provided for mitigating spark plug wet-fouling in an engine system. In one example, a method may include, after spark plug wet-fouling has been detected prior to an engine start, selecting between drying one or more of the wet-fouled spark plugs by routing a heated gas through one or more engine cylinders and by routing a compressed gas through the one or more engine cylinders. In this way, on-demand airflow may be provided to expedite spark plug drying.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- in response to flooding a combustion chamber of a spark ignition engine with fuel during an engine start attempt, shutting off fuel delivery to the combustion chamber and directing compressed air from an electrically driven compressor through the combustion chamber under predetermined conditions prior to a subsequent engine start attempt.
A method, comprising:
- prior to start of an engine having multiple cylinders, each coupled to a spark plug, and during conditions of spark plug wet-fouling, performing each of drying the spark plugs by flowing a gas through a selected one of the engine cylinders while the engine is at rest and drying the spark plugs by flowing the gas through each of the engine cylinders while the engine is spinning under different operating conditions.
A system, comprising:
- an engine having a plurality of cylinders, each cylinder including a spark plug, an intake valve, and an exhaust valve;
- a variable camshaft timing (VCT) system configured to adjust a timing of the intake valve and a timing of the exhaust valve of each cylinder;
- an evaporative emissions system in fluidic communication with an intake of the engine via a purge line, the evaporative emissions system including a fuel vapor storage canister;
- a canister heating element coupled to the fuel vapor storage canister;
- a canister vent valve positioned in a vent of the evaporative emissions system;
- a canister purge valve positioned in the purge line;
- a pump coupled to a vent between the fuel vapor storage canister and atmosphere;
- a first electric motor coupled to a crankshaft of the engine receiving electrical power from a system battery;
- a supercharger compressor coupled to the intake of the engine and driven by a second electric motor receiving electrical power from the system battery;
- and
- a controller storing instructions in non-transitory memory that, when executed, cause the controller to:
- during an indication of engine flooding and prior to an engine start,
- actuate the VCT system to retard the timing of the exhaust valve and advance the timing of the intake valve of each cylinder;
- dry each cylinder one-by-one by providing a first airflow in response to a load of the fuel vapor storage canister being less than a threshold load and a state of charge of the system battery being less than a threshold state of charge;
- dry each cylinder simultaneously by providing the first airflow in response to the load of the fuel vapor storage canister being less than the threshold load and the state of charge of the system battery being greater than or equal to the threshold state of charge;
- dry each cylinder one-by-one by providing a second airflow, different from the first airflow, in response to the load of the fuel vapor storage canister being greater than or equal to the threshold load and the state of charge of the system battery being less than the threshold state of charge;
- and
- dry each cylinder simultaneously by providing the second airflow in response to the load of the fuel vapor storage canister being greater than or equal to the threshold load and the state of charge of the system battery being greater than or equal to the threshold state of charge.
15 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.