System and method for management of multiple exhaust gas recirculation coolers

A system, comprising:

• a controller communicatively coupled to an industrial combustion engine and an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system, wherein the EGR system is configured to route exhaust gas generated by the industrial combustion engine from at least one exhaust system to at least one intake system, the EGR system comprises a plurality of EGR circuits, each EGR circuit of the plurality of EGR circuits comprises an EGR cooler unit including at least two of a high temperature non-condensing cooler, a low temperature condensing cooler, an adiabatic gas/liquid separator, and a reheater, and wherein the controller comprises a processor and a non-transitory memory encoding one or more processor-executable routines, wherein the one or more routines, when executed by the processor, cause the controller, via control signals sent to actuators, to manage flow of the exhaust gas to the industrial combustion engine by completely opening respective EGR valves disposed along the plurality of EGR circuits and modulating a shared EGR valve shared by the plurality of EGR circuits downstream of the respective EGR valves to adjust the flow of the exhaust gas to the industrial combustion engine, by completely opening the shared EGR valve and modulating the respective EGR valves to adjust the flow of the exhaust gas to the industrial combustion engine, or partially open the respective EGR valves and the shared EGR valve to adjust the flow of the exhaust gas to the industrial combustion engine, and wherein the one or more routines, when executed by the processor, cause the controller, via the control signals, to adjust a respective amount of the exhaust gas utilized from the plurality of EGR circuits based on a respective amount of fouling, detected by the controller based on feedback from sensors, in each EGR circuit of the plurality of EGR circuits.

A method, comprising:

• utilizing a controller communicatively coupled to an industrial combustion engine and an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system and comprising a non-transitory memory and a processor to:
• initially activate, via control signals, only one EGR circuit of a plurality of EGR circuits of the EGR system during a first cold start of the industrial combustion engine and then subsequently activate each EGR circuit of the plurality of EGR circuits when the controller detects, based on feedback received from sensors, that an operating parameter of the industrial combustion engine is approaching an outer limit of a specified range;
• and
• initially activate, via the control signals, whichever of the plurality of EGR circuits was not activated during the first cold start of the industrial combustion engine during a second cold start of the industrial combustion engine and initially activate the EGR circuit that was initially activated during the first cold start during a subsequent hot start of the industrial combustion engine, wherein the second cold start or the subsequent hot start is the next start after the first cold start, and wherein each EGR circuit of the plurality of EGR circuits comprises an EGR cooler unit that includes multiple functional sections.