Claims
- 1. A bi-fuel control system for modifying diesel engines so as to be operated either in a full diesel fuel mode or a bi-fuel mode, at substantially equivalent operating efficiencies, said system comprising:
(a) a gas control sub-system structured to control an amount of gas supplied to the diesel engine while being operated in the bi-fuel mode; (b) an electronic control sub-system structured to regulate operation of pre-determined components of said gas control sub-system; (c) said gas control sub-system and said electronic control sub-system being cooperatively disposed with one another to achieve a change of operation of the diesel engine between the full diesel fuel mode and the bi-fuel mode without engine output being interrupted; and (d) said gas control sub-system further structured to determine the amount of gas supplied to the diesel engine in response to the load requirements of the diesel engine and independently from a governor of the diesel engine.
- 2. The control system recited in claim 1 wherein said electronic control sub-system is further structured to determine engine load requirements through the monitoring of engine intake manifold air pressure.
- 3. The control system recited in claim 1 wherein said electronic control sub-system is further structured to determine engine load requirements through the monitoring of electric generator kilowatt output level.
- 4. The control system as in claim 2 wherein said change of operation between the bi-fuel mode and the full diesel fuel mode is accomplished automatically.
- 5. The control system as in claim 2 wherein said change of operation between the bi-fuel mode and the full diesel fuel mode is accomplished manually.
- 6. The control system as in claim 2 wherein the operation in the bi-fuel mode is at least partially defined by operation at a predetermined mixture of gas and diesel fuel.
- 7. The control system as recited in claim 6 wherein said amount of gas supplied to the diesel engine for operation in the bi-fuel mode is generally between about 40 percent and 90 percent of the total fuel consumed during operation in the bi-fuel mode.
- 8. The control system as recited in claim 2 wherein said gas control sub-system is structured to provide a manually adjustable flow of gas from a gas supply under a predetermined positive gas supply pressure.
- 9. The control system as recited in claim 8 wherein the predetermined positive gas supply pressure is generally between about 1 psi and 5 psi.
- 10. The control system as recited in claim 2 wherein said gas control sub-system is further structured to stop gas flow to the diesel engine during the bi-fuel mode in the event of a system shut down.
- 11. The control system as recited in claim 2 wherein said gas control sub-system is further structured to stop gas flow to the diesel engine during the bi-fuel mode in the event of a shut down of the diesel engine.
- 12. The control system as recited in claim 2 wherein said gas control sub-system is structured to stop gas flow to the diesel engine at an isolated location structured to prevent gas flow from reaching the diesel engine during a period of operation in the full diesel fuel mode.
- 13. The control system as recited in claim 2 wherein said gas control sub-system is programmable so as to achieve a plurality of gas flow rates for scalable operation over a wide spectrum of diesel engine load levels.
- 14. The control system as recited in claim 2 wherein said gas control sub-system is further structured to mix engine intake air and said gas upstream of the diesel engine intake manifold without requiring an air throttling function.
- 15. The control system as recited in claim 2 wherein said electronic control sub-system is further structured to monitor and display predetermined operating parameters of said gas control sub-system and the diesel engine.
- 16. The control system as recited in claim 15 wherein said electronic control system is further structured to cause a stoppage of operation in the bi-fuel mode upon an indication of low gas pressure.
- 17. The control system as recited in claim 15 wherein said electronic control sub-system is further structured to automatically cease operation in the bi-fuel mode and initiate operation in the full diesel fuel mode upon an indication of operation outside the boundary of a critical set point.
- 18. The control system as recited in claim 17 wherein said electronic control sub-system is structured to be manually adjustable to set an exhaust gas temperature as said critical set point.
- 19. The control system as recited in claim 17 wherein said electronic control sub-system is structured to independently monitor an exhaust gas temperature of each exhaust of an engine having a dual exhaust system.
- 20. The control system as recited in claim 15 wherein said electronic control sub-system is further structured to permit a resumption of operation in the bi-fuel mode, subsequent to automatically ceased operation, only upon manual reset subsequent to a monitored display of the predetermined operating parameters of the gas control sub-system and the diesel engine within a predetermined acceptable range.
- 21. The control system as recited in claim 15 wherein said electronic control sub-system is further includes an adjustable time delay function structured to allow short duration generator load deviations to be ignored and thereby preventing unnecessary on-off cycling of the operation between the bi-fuel mode and the full diesel fuel mode.
- 22. The control system as recited in claim 2 further comprising a master time delay structured to delay initiation of operation in the bi-fuel mode for an adjustable, pre-set time period so as to accommodate paralleling operations with one or more additional generators or an electric utility grid.
- 23. A digital bi-fuel control assembly structured to modify a diesel engine so as to achieve operation thereof in either a full diesel fuel mode or a bi-fuel mode at comparable operating efficiencies, said control assembly comprising:
(a) a gas control sub-assembly structured to control the amount of gas supplied to the diesel engine during operation in said bi-fuel mode, (b) an electronic control sub-assembly structured to at least partially regulate operation of said gas control sub-assembly, (c) said gas control sub-assembly and said electronic control sub-assembly being cooperatively structured to provide both automatic and manual transfer of operation of the diesel engine between said full diesel fuel mode and said bi-fuel mode without disruption of engine output, and (d) said gas control sub-assembly further structured to operate independently from a governor of the diesel engine, and to determine the amount of gas to be supplied to the diesel engine in response to a load requirement of the diesel engine.
- 24. A control assembly as recited in claim 23 wherein said electronic control sub-assembly is further structured to determine said load requirement from an engine intake manifold air pressure measured at the diesel engine intake manifold.
- 25. A control as recited in claim 24 wherein said engine intake manifold air pressure is measured by an engine intake manifold air pressure sensor.
- 26. A control assembly as recited in claim 24 wherein said gas control sub-assembly is structured to further determine the amount of gas to be supplied to the diesel engine based upon a predetermined gas and diesel fuel ratio parameter set for operation of the engine in said bi-fuel mode.
- 27. A control assembly as recited in claim 26 wherein said predetermined ratio parameter includes the gas comprising generally about 40 percent to 90 percent of the total fuel consumed during operation in said bi-fuel mode.
- 28. An assembly as recited in claim 27 wherein said gas control sub-assembly comprises a main shut-off valve disposed to regulate gas flow under positive pressure from a gas supply.
- 29. An assembly as recited in claim 28 wherein said gas control sub-assembly further comprises a gas pressure sensor and switch disposed down stream of said main shut-off valve and structured to initiate a transfer of operation from said bi-fuel mode to said full diesel fuel mode when the gas pressure drops below a predetermined pressure, and to initiate an automatic transfer of operation back to said bi-fuel mode upon restoration of the gas pressure to at least said predetermined pressure.
- 30. A control assembly as recited in claim 29 wherein said gas control sub-assembly further comprises a solenoid valve disposed down stream of said gas pressure sensor and switch and structured to automatically stop gas flow to the diesel engine upon shut down of the control assembly or the diesel engine.
- 31. A control assembly as recited in claim 30 wherein said solenoid valve is disposed and structured to ensure stoppage of positive pressure gas flow to the diesel engine.
- 32. A control assembly as recited in claim 30 wherein said gas control sub-assembly further comprises a gas pressure regulator disposed down stream of said solenoid valve and structured to reduce positive gas pressure to the diesel engine.
- 33. A control assembly as recited in claim 32 wherein said gas control sub-assembly further comprises a gas control valve located down stream of said gas pressure regulator and structured to control gas flow dependent on the diesel engine load.
- 34. A control assembly as recited in claim 33 wherein said gas control valve comprises a throttle body structured to assume a substantially fully open position during heavy diesel engine load demand and a partially open position during light diesel engine load demand.
- 35. A control assembly as recited in claim 33 wherein said gas control valve is adjustably positionable into a plurality of orientations.
- 36. A control assembly as recited in claim 33 wherein said gas control sub-assembly further comprises an air-gas mixing device located in fluid communication with the gas flow, down stream of said gas control valve and up stream of the diesel engine intake manifold, said air-gas mixing device further disposed and structured to funnel all incoming air therethrough prior to reaching the diesel engine intake manifold.
- 37. A control assembly as recited in claim 33 wherein said electronic control sub-assembly is structured to monitor an actual position of said gas control valve and determine if said actual position is within a predetermined tolerance of a position determined by said electronic control sub-assembly, and to shut said gas control valve upon a deviation in said actual position beyond said predetermined tolerance.
- 38. A control assembly as recited in claim 25 wherein said electronic control sub-assembly is further structured to monitor predetermined engine parameters and display system data to a user.
- 39. A control assembly as recited in claim 38 wherein said electronic control sub-assembly further comprises a gas pressure sensor and switch structured to automatically stop a gas flow upon a detection of a predetermined low gas pressure and thereby cease operation in said bi-fuel mode.
- 40. A control assembly as recited in claim 39 wherein said electronic control sub-assembly further comprises an engine exhaust gas temperature monitor and is structured to automatically cease operation in said bi-fuel mode and begin operation in said full diesel fuel mode upon the engine exhaust gas temperature exceeding a predetermined temperature.
- 41. A control assembly as recited in claim 40 wherein said electronic control sub-assembly comprises a manual reset switch structured to transfer operation from said full diesel fuel mode to said bi-fuel mode upon a monitored indication of the engine exhaust gas temperature within a predetermined acceptable level.
- 42. A control assembly as recited in claim 41 further comprising an adjustable time delay structured to prevent switching between said bi-fuel mode and said full diesel fuel mode as a result of short duration generator load deviations thereby preventing unnecessary on-off cycling between said bi-fuel mode and said full diesel fuel mode.
- 43. A control assembly as recited in claim 25 further comprising a master time relay structured to automatically delay initiation of operation in said bi-fuel mode for a predetermined time period until the generator operating in said full diesel fuel mode has completed paralleling functions.
- 44. A control system recited in claim 23 wherein said electronic control sub-system is further structured to determine engine load requirements through the monitoring of electric generator kilowatt output level.
- 45. A digital bi-fuel control assembly structured to modify a diesel engine so as to be operable in either a bi-fuel mode or a full diesel fuel mode at comparable operating efficiencies, said control assembly comprising:
(a) a gas control sub-assembly structured to control the amount of gas supplied to a diesel engine during operation in said bi-fuel mode, (b) an electronic control sub-assembly structured to at least partially regulate operation of said gas control sub-assembly, (c) said gas control sub-assembly and said electronic control sub-assembly being cooperatively structured to provide both automatic and manual transfer of operation of the engine between said full diesel fuel mode and said bi-fuel mode without disruption of output, and (d) said electronic control sub-assembly further including an engine intake manifold air pressure sensor disposed in operative proximity with the diesel engine intake manifold and structured to measure an engine intake manifold air pressure which is utilized to determine a required gas flow rate.
- 46. A control assembly as recited in claim 45 wherein said required gas flow rate is based on a predetermined table including said required gas flow rate at each engine intake manifold air pressure level.
- 47. A control assembly as recited in claim 45 wherein said gas control sub-assembly further comprises a positive pressure gas regulator.
- 48. A control assembly as recited in claim 47 wherein said gas control sub-assembly includes a gas control valve; said gas control valve further comprising a throttle body adjustably positionable into a plurality of orientations between a maximum open orientation to a substantially fully closed orientation.
- 49. A control assembly as recited in claim 47 wherein said gas control sub-assembly is structured to permit an amount of gas supplied to the diesel engine to be determined in response to a load requirement of the diesel engine.
- 50. A control assembly as recited in claim 46 wherein said electronic control sub-assembly is further structured to recalculate said predetermined table based upon detection of an operational parameter outside of the boundary of a non-critical set point, wherein said gas flow rate is subsequently based on said recalculated table.
- 51. A control assembly as recited in claim 46 further comprising a master time delay structured to delay initiation of operation in said bi-fuel mode for an adjustable, pre-set time period to accommodate paralleling operations with one or more additional diesel engines.
- 52. A control assembly as recited in claim 51 further comprising a data logging and output device structured to store and user selected operation data and to output said operational data selected to be retained.
- 53. A digital bi-fuel control system for modifying diesel engines so as to be operated either in a full diesel fuel mode or a bi-fuel mode, at substantially equivalent operating efficiencies, said control system comprising:
(a) a gas control sub-system structured to control the amount of gas supplied to the diesel engine while being operated in the bi-fuel mode, (b) an electronic control sub-system structured to regulate operation of pre-determined components of said gas control sub-system, (c) said gas control sub-system and said electronic control sub-system being cooperatively structured to provide both automatic and manual changes of operation of the diesel engine between the full diesel fuel mode and the bi-fuel mode without disruption of output, and (d) said electronic control sub-assembly further including an engine intake manifold air pressure sensor disposed in operative proximity the diesel engine intake manifold and structured to measure an engine intake manifold air pressure, said electronic control sub-assembly structured to utilize said measured to determine a required gas flow rate.
- 54. A control system as recited in claim 53 wherein said electronic control sub-system is further structured to cease operation in the bi-fuel mode upon a monitored indication that an actual throttle position is not within a predetermined tolerance determined by said electronic control sub-system for the throttle position.
- 55. A control system as recited in claim 53 wherein said electronic control sub-system is further structured to include an adjustable time delay function allowing short duration engine load deviations to be ignored and thereby preventing unnecessary cycling between operation in the bi-fuel mode and the full diesel fuel mode.
- 56. A control system as recited in claim 53 wherein said gas control sub-system is structured to permit regulation of the amount of gas supplied to the diesel engine in response to the load requirements of the diesel engine.
- 57. A control system as recited in claim 55 further comprising a master time delay structured to delay initiation of operation in the bi-fuel mode for an adjustable, pre-set time period to accommodate paralleling operations with one or more additional diesel engines.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This is a continuation in part application of presently pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/170,700 filed on Oct. 13, 1998, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09170700 |
Oct 1998 |
US |
Child |
09878761 |
Jun 2001 |
US |