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US 11,898,506 B1Granted
Two stage mixed fuel sensing system
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsMichael David Gerstner, Daniel Raymond Baldwin, Robert Graumüller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An internal combustion engine system is described herein. The internal combustion engine system uses one or more fuels that may be hydrophilic. The system uses a water measuring sensor to determine the concentration of water in the hydrophilic fuel. To meet power demands, the system uses the measured water concentration to modify data stored in a fuel map. The fuel map provides a controller the pump speeds and mixing ratio of the fuels for a given power level. The system receives that data and modifies it based on the measured concentration of water.
Claims20
An internal combustion engine, comprising:
- a combustion cylinder;
- an injector fluidly connected to the combustion cylinder, the injector being configured to receive a fuel mixture via a fuel line, the fuel mixture comprising a first fuel and a second fuel;
- a first fuel pump fluidly connected to a first fuel tank, the first fuel pump being configured to direct the first fuel from the first fuel tank to a mixing valve fluidly connected to the fuel line;
- a second fuel pump fluidly connected to a second fuel tank, the second fuel pump being configured to direct the second fuel from the second fuel tank to the mixing valve;
- a first water sensor configured to detect a volume of water in the second fuel stored in the second fuel tank and output a first water volume signal;
- a second water sensor configured to detect a volume of water in an output of the mixing valve and output a second water volume signal;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- receive a power signal indicating a desired power level of the internal combustion engine;
- determine, based on the desired power level, a default ratio of the second fuel to the first fuel, a flowrate of the first fuel, and a flowrate of the second fuel;
- determine a concentration of water in the second fuel stored in the second fuel tank based on the first water volume signal;
- modify the default ratio, the flowrate of the first fuel, and the flowrate of the second fuel based on the concentration of the water in the second fuel;
- determine a concentration of water in the output of the mixing valve;
- and
- modify the flowrate of the first fuel and the second fuel based on the determination of the concentration of water in the output of the mixing valve.
12 more elements
A controller for controlling an internal combustion engine, the controller comprising:
- a memory storing computer-executable instructions;
- and
- a processor in communication with the memory, the computer-executable instructions causing the processor to perform acts comprising:
- receiving a power signal indicating a desired power level of the internal combustion engine;
- accessing a fuel map to calculate a default ratio of a second fuel to a first fuel and a flowrate of the first fuel and the second fuel, wherein the fuel map is a table indicating that for a power level, an amount of the first fuel and an amount of the second fuel for the power level;
- calculating a concentration of water absorbed by the second fuel stored in a second fuel tank based on a water volume signal received from a water sensor;
- modifying the default ratio, the flowrate of the first fuel, and the flowrate of the second fuel based on the concentration of the water in the second fuel;
- outputting a mixing signal to modify a position of a mixing valve based on modifying the default ratio;
- and
- outputting a first pump signal to change the flowrate of the first fuel pump and a second pump signal to change the flowrate of the second fuel pump based on modifying the flowrate of the second fuel and the first fuel based on the concentration of the water in the second fuel.
7 more elements
A method of operating an internal combustion engine, comprising:
- receiving a power signal indicating a desired power level of the internal combustion engine;
- accessing a fuel map to calculate a default ratio of a second fuel to a first fuel and a flowrate of the first fuel and the second fuel, wherein the fuel map is a table indicating that for a power level, an amount of the first fuel and an amount of the second fuel for the power level;
- calculating a concentration of water absorbed by the second fuel stored in a second fuel tank based on a water volume signal received from a water sensor;
- modifying the default ratio, the flowrate of the first fuel, and the flowrate of the second fuel based on the concentration of the water in the second fuel;
- outputting a mixing signal to modify a position of a mixing valve based on modifying the default ratio;
- and
- outputting a first pump signal to change the flowrate of the first fuel pump and a second pump signal to change the flowrate of the second fuel pump based on modifying the flowrate of the second fuel and the first fuel based on the concentration of the water in the second fuel.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.