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US 2022/0170423 A1Published application
Adaptive any-fuel camless reciprocating engine
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsRaymond Mitchell Spearrin, Tsu-Chin Tsao, Peter Sinsheimer
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Abstract
An adaptive, any-fuel reciprocating engine using sensor feedback integration of high-speed optical sensors with real-time control loops to adaptively manage the electronic actuation schemes over a range of engine loads and fuels. The engine uses one or more optical sensors to collect specific types of gas property data via a spectroscopic technique to adaptively control various components within the engine.
Claims33
An adaptive camless reciprocating engine, the engine comprising:
- a cylinder housing a reciprocating piston;
- a valve coupled to the cylinder;
- at least one electronically-controllable actuator coupled to the valve, the actuator configured to control operation of the valve;
- a plurality of optical sensors disposed at or near the cylinder and configured to acquire optical data within the cylinder or at a location upstream or downstream from the cylinder;
- and
- a controller coupled to the one or more optical sensors and electronically-controllable actuator in a closed control loop;
- wherein the controller is configured to receive data from the one or more optical sensors and process said data to actively manage actuation of the electronically-controllable actuator according to one or more parameters calculated from the acquired optical data.
4 more elements
(canceled)
An adaptive camless reciprocating engine, the engine comprising:
- (a) a cylinder housing a reciprocating piston;
- (b) a valve coupled to the cylinder;
- (c) at least one electronically-controllable actuator coupled to the valve, the at least one electronically-controllable actuator configured to control operation of the valve;
- (d) a plurality of optical sensors disposed at or near the cylinder and configured to acquire optical data within the cylinder or at a location upstream or downstream from the cylinder;
- (e) a processor coupled to said optical sensors and the at least one electronically-controllable actuator;
- and
- (f) a non-transitory memory storing instructions executable by the processor;
- (g) wherein said instructions, when executed by the processor, perform one or more steps comprising:
- (i) receiving data from the one or more optical sensors;
- (ii) calculating one or more parameters;
- and
- (iii) sending one or more control signals to actively manage actuation of the at least one electronically-controllable actuator according to the one or more calculated parameters.
9 more elements
(canceled)
In a camless reciprocating engine, the improvement comprising:
- (a) a plurality of electronically-controllable actuators configured to manage one or more parameters selected from the group consisting of cylinder intake/exhaust valve timing, compression ratio, spark ignition, and fuel injection;
- (b) a plurality of optical sensors, wherein an optical sensor of said plurality of optical sensors is positioned in-cylinder, an optical sensor of said plurality of optical sensors is positioned upstream of the cylinder, and an optical sensor of said plurality of optical sensors is positioned down-stream of the cylinder, and wherein said plurality of optical sensors measure fluid properties;
- and
- (c) a digital or analog controller circuit configured in a closed control loop wherein the controller circuit receives data from the optical sensors and processes said data to actively manage actuation of engine components selected from the group consisting of intake valves, exhaust valves, spark plugs, fuel injectors, and variable compression mechanisms.
1 more element
(canceled)
A method of generating energy, the method comprising:
- (a) providing an adaptive camless reciprocating engine, the engine comprising:
- (i) a cylinder housing a reciprocating piston;
- (ii) a valve coupled to the cylinder;
- (iii) at least one electronically-controllable actuator coupled to the valve, the actuator configured to control operation of the valve;
- (iv) one or more optical sensors disposed at or near the cylinder and configured to acquire optical data within the cylinder or at a location upstream or downstream from the cylinder;
- and
- (v) a controller coupled to the one or more optical sensors and electronically-controllable actuator in a closed control loop;
- (vi) wherein the controller is configured to receive data from the one or more optical sensors and process said data to actively manage actuation of the electronically-controllable actuator according to one or more parameters calculated from the acquired optical data;
- (b) operating the engine;
- and
- (c) using energy produced by operating the engine to generate power.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.