Fuel reform apparatus
AssigneeHonda Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorsKohtaro Hashimoto, Tomohide Kudo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Fuel reform apparatus includes: internal combustion engine including injector and configured so that compression-ignition combustion is carried out in combustion chamber; reform unit interposed in fuel supply path from fuel tank to injector and including reformer reforming fuel stored in fuel tank by oxidation reaction; and controller including CPU and memory. Controller performs: estimating progress level of oxidation reaction in reformer; and controlling operation of reform unit based on progress level of oxidation reaction estimated.
Claims5
A fuel reform apparatus, comprising:
- an internal combustion engine including an injector configured to inject fuel supplied from a fuel tank into a combustion chamber and configured so that compression-ignition combustion is carried out in the combustion chamber;
- a reform unit interposed in a fuel supply path from the fuel tank to the injector and including a reformer configured to reform fuel stored in the fuel tank by oxidation reaction;
- a cylinder pressure sensor configured to detect a cylinder pressure in the combustion chamber;
- and
- a controller including a CPU and a memory connected to the CPU, wherein
- the controller is configured to perform:
- estimating a progress level of the oxidation reaction in the reformer;
- and
- controlling operation of the reform unit based on the progress level of the oxidation reaction estimated;
- wherein the controller is configured to perform:
- calculating an ignition delay time from a time point when fuel is injected into the combustion chamber to a time point when the compression-ignition combustion is started based on the cylinder pressure detected by the cylinder pressure sensor;
- and
- determining that the progress level of the oxidation reaction in the reformer is within an appropriate range when the ignition delay time calculated is smaller than a predetermined time period, while determining that the progress level of the oxidation reaction in the reformer is out of the appropriate range when the ignition delay time calculated is equal to or greater than the predetermined time period.
A fuel reform apparatus, comprising:
- an internal combustion engine including an injector configured to inject fuel supplied from a fuel tank into a combustion chamber and configured so that compression-ignition combustion is carried out in the combustion chamber;
- a reform unit interposed in a fuel supply path from the fuel tank to the injector and including a reformer configured to reform fuel stored in the fuel tank by oxidation reaction;
- a concentration sensor configured to detect a concentration of peroxide in fuel reformed by the reformer;
- and
- a controller including a CPU and a memory connected to the CPU, wherein
- the controller is configured to perform:
- estimating a progress level of the oxidation reaction in the reformer;
- and
- controlling operation of the reform unit based on the progress level of the oxidation reaction estimated;
- wherein the controller is configured to perform:
- determining that the progress level of the oxidation reaction in the reformer is within an appropriate range when the concentration of peroxide detected by the concentration sensor is equal to or greater than a predetermined concentration, while determining that the progress level of the oxidation reaction in the reformer is out of the appropriate range when the concentration of peroxide detected by the concentration sensor is smaller than the predetermined concentration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.