# US 8,464,513 B2 · Contamination detection in fuel system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,464,513 B2 - Document ID: US8464513B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 12/845,606 - Filed: 2010-07-28 - Published: 2012-02-02 - Granted: 2013-06-18 - Earliest claimed: 2010-07-28 - Assignees: Ford Global Technologies, LLC - Applicants: Scott Donald Cooper; Carlos Armesto; Dwayne Pollitt; Scott Szymusiak - Inventors: Scott Donald Cooper; Carlos Armesto; Dwayne Pollitt; Scott Szymusiak - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8464513B2 ## CPC - F02M 37/0076: {Details of the fuel feeding system related to the fuel tank (vehicle fuel tanks B60K15/03)} - F01N 3/2066: {Selective catalytic reduction [SCR]} - F01N 2610/02: the substance being ammonia or urea - F02D 41/0025: {Controlling engines characterised by use of non-liquid fuels, pluralities of fuels, or non-fuel substances added to the combustible mixtures} - F02D 41/0275: {the exhaust gas treating apparatus being a NOx trap or adsorbent} - F02D 2200/0611: Fuel type, fuel composition or fuel quality - Y02A 50/20: Air quality improvement or preservation, e.g. vehicle emission control or emission reduction by using catalytic converters - F02M: SUPPLYING COMBUSTION ENGINES IN GENERAL WITH COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURES OR CONSTITUENTS THEREOF - F01N: GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES (arrangements in connection with gas exhaust of propulsion units in vehicles B60K13/00; combustion-air intake silencers specially adapted for, or arranged on, internal-combustion engines F02M35/00; protecting against, or damping, noise in general G10K11/16) - F02D: CONTROLLING COMBUSTION ENGINES (vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed B60K31/00; conjoint control of vehicle sub-units of different type or different function, road vehicle drive control systems for purposes other than the control of a single sub-unit B60W) - Y02A: TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE ## Abstract A system comprises a fuel system for delivering fuel to an engine for combustion and a reductant storage system for delivering reductant to the exhaust stream for an SCR catalyst for NOx reduction. The fuel system further comprises a water separator for separating water-based fluid from fuel in the fuel tank, and a separation reservoir to collect the separated water-based fluid. Based on readings of a water-in-fuel sensor positioned within the reservoir, a type of degradation (e.g., water build-up, high-water-content fuel, mis-filling of the reductant, etc.) may be determined and indicated. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system, comprising: a reductant storage system including a reductant reservoir for holding a water-based reductant, and an exhaust delivery system to deliver the water-based reductant to exhaust; a fuel system including a fuel tank, a water separator for separating water-based fluid from fuel in the fuel tank, and a separation reservoir to collect separated water-based fluid; a controller including instructions to indicate mis-filling of the water-based reductant into the fuel tank in response to an amount of separated water-based fluid, and a water-in-fuel sensor to detect the amount of water-based fluid in the separation reservoir or a rate of change of water content. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the controller includes instructions to indicate the mis-filling in response to the amount of separated water-based fluid being greater than a threshold amount and increasing at a rate greater than a threshold rate. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the controller further includes instructions to indicate the mis-filling in response to a rate of change of a fluid level of separated water-based fluid. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the water-based reductant is urea. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the system further includes a reductant refill port and a fuel refill port, the fuel refill port located in direct proximity to the reductant refill port and in a common vehicle body panel, the vehicle body panel being an exterior rear-side body panel. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions to indicate the mis-filling include instructions to generate a human-readable warning signal to a driver. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the separation reservoir is drainable such that separated water-based fluid may be drained from the separation reservoir. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the controller further includes instructions to indicate the mis-filling in response to the amount of separated water-based fluid after a fuel tank refill event. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein the controller further includes instructions to indicate the mis-filling in response to a change in a reductant reservoir level being less than a threshold amount after the fuel tank refill event. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the controller further includes instructions to take a default action in response to indication of the mis-filling, the default action including limiting maximum vehicle speed to a lower threshold vehicle speed, and disabling reductant injection into engine exhaust. ### Claim 11 A method for an engine, comprising: storing a water-based urea solution in a urea reservoir and delivering the urea solution to an SCR catalyst; storing fuel in a fuel tank and delivering the fuel to the engine for combustion; separating water-based fluid from fuel in the fuel tank via a separator into a separation reservoir; and indicating mis-filling of the urea solution into the fuel tank in response to water content of the separated fluid and a rate of change of a fluid level of the separated fluid being greater than a threshold amount. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein indicating mis-filling includes indicating a presence of urea solution in the fuel tank. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising indicating the mis-filling further in response to a refill event prior to an increase in an amount of the separated fluid. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the refill event includes a fuel refill event and excludes a urea solution refill event. ### Claim 15 A fuel system, comprising: a fuel tank for fuel; a fuel tank fluid level sensor coupled to the fuel tank; a reductant tank for water-based reductant; a water-based fluid separator coupled to the fuel tank; a reservoir coupled to the water-based fluid separator receiving separated water-based fluid from the fuel tank; a water-in-fuel sensor coupled to the reservoir; and a control system comprising a computer readable storage medium, the medium comprising instructions for: in response to a fuel refill event with no reductant refill event, indicating a first type of fuel contamination via the water-in-fuel sensor if an amount of separated water-based fluid exceeds a first threshold value and a rate of change of a fluid level of the separated water-based fluid exceeds a first threshold rate; and in response to the fuel refill event with a reductant refill event, indicating a second type of less-intensive fuel contamination via the water-in-fuel sensor if the amount of separated water-based fluid exceeds a second, lower, threshold value but not the first threshold value, and the rate of change of the fluid level of the separated water-based fluid exceeds a second, lower, threshold rate, but does not exceed the first threshold rate. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The fuel system of claim 15, wherein the first type of contamination includes a mis-filling of water-based reductant into the fuel tank during the fuel refill event. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The fuel system of claim 15, further comprising a reductant refill port for filling the reductant tank with water-based reductant and a fuel refill port for filling the fuel tank with fuel, the fuel refill port located in direct proximity to the reductant refill port. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The fuel system of claim 15, further comprising an SCR catalyst.