Methods and systems for pre-chamber operation during catalyst heating
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsBrad VanDerWege, Joseph Basmaji
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and systems are provided for operating a pre-chamber to provide ignition to a cylinder during catalyst heating. In one example, a method may include injecting fuel and air into a pre-chamber of an engine cylinder during an expansion stroke of the engine cylinder responsive to a temperature of a catalyst being less than a threshold temperature, and injecting the fuel and the air into the pre-chamber during a compression stroke of the engine cylinder responsive to the temperature of the catalyst being greater than or equal to the threshold temperature. In this way, the pre-chamber may provide robust ignition to the cylinder during a variety of operating conditions.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- injecting fuel and air into a pre-chamber of an engine cylinder during an expansion stroke of the engine cylinder responsive to a desired spark timing being after top dead center of a compression stroke of the engine cylinder;
- and
- injecting the fuel and the air into the pre-chamber during the compression stroke of the engine cylinder responsive to the desired spark timing being before top dead center of the compression stroke.
A method, comprising:
- during a cold start of an engine:
- purging a pre-chamber coupled to a cylinder of the engine during an expansion stroke of the cylinder;
- and
- actuating a spark plug of the pre-chamber during the expansion stroke of the cylinder, after the purging, at a first spark timing determined based on a temperature of an emission control device coupled to the engine.
A system, comprising:
- an engine including a plurality of cylinders, each cylinder including a pre-chamber of a pre-chamber ignition system, the pre-chamber fluidically coupled to the corresponding cylinder via an orifice;
- and
- a controller storing executable instructions in non-transitory memory that, when executed, cause the controller to:
- purge gases from the pre-chamber to the corresponding cylinder during an expansion stroke of the corresponding cylinder when an emission control device heating condition is present and during a compression stroke of the corresponding cylinder when the emission control device heating condition is not present;
- and
- initiate combustion in the pre-chamber after purging the gases from the pre-chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.