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US 2019/0293016 A1Published application
Methods and systems for determining fuel quality
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsBrien Fulton, Eric Kurtz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and systems are provided for calculating a fuel aging of fuel in a fuel tank. In one example, a method may include alerting a vehicle operator and/or adjusting engine operating parameters in response to a fuel aging being greater than a threshold aging.
Claims20
A method for a vehicle, comprising:
- alerting a vehicle operator to adjust driving behavior, and adjusting engine operating parameters in response to an estimated fuel aging being greater than a threshold fuel aging.
A system, comprising:
- an engine comprising a fuel rail fluidly coupled to a fuel tank via a fuel passage;
- and
- a controller with computer-readable instructions stored on non-transitory memory thereof that when executed enable the controller to:
- estimate a circulation percentage of fuel in the fuel tank;
- and
- calculate a fuel aging of uncirculated fuel in the fuel tank based on the circulation percentage, temperature, and time elapsed since a previous fuel tank fill-up.
3 more elements
A method, comprising:
- estimating a fuel recirculation factor based on a time elapsed since a previous fuel tank fill-up and a fuel circulation percentage;
- calculating a fuel aging based on the fuel recirculation factor, a current fuel quality, and a temperature of uncirculated fuel;
- and
- alerting a vehicle operator in response to the current fuel quality being less than a threshold quality of fuel.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.