Patent Application
20090199790
This invention relates to engine control strategies for internal combustion engines. In certain applications, the invention may be applicable to an engine system capable of operating in either two-stroke or four-stroke combustion cycles and switching between the two-stroke and four-stroke combustion cycles.
A reciprocating internal combustion engine operating with a two-stroke combustion cycle may be piston ported or alternatively may have valves controlling the induction and exhaust processes. In the case of piston ported designs, port operation is typically symmetrical about the bottom-dead-centre (BDC) position of the piston; that is, the timing of opening of the inlet port before BDC position is approximately equal to the timing of closing of the inlet port after BDC, and the timing of opening of the exhaust port before BDC is also approximately equal to the timing of opening of the exhaust port after BDC. Typically, there is some overlap whereby the inlet and exhaust ports are open simultaneously so that the inducted air can assist in clearing (scavenging) the combustion chamber of exhaust gas.
A further problem with an engine operating under the two-stroke cycle is the short-circuiting of fresh charge from the intake port to the exhaust port which increases fuel consumption and emissions of unburned hydrocarbons.
Gasoline engines for automotive applications almost exclusively use four-stroke combustion cycles due to the favourable combination of good engine efficiency over a wide range of operating conditions, low emissions, high levels of refinement (noise and vibration) and high reliability. The two-stroke combustion cycle can offer some advantages in specific areas of operation compared to a four-stroke combustion cycle, including low engine speed performance; reduced vibration at low engine speeds and, when coupled with control over the inlet and exhaust phases, potential for reduced fuel consumption for an engine that can switch between two-stroke and four-stroke operation.
The challenge for most of the world's automobile manufacturers, faced predominantly in Europe, is to reduce the vehicle fuel consumption, not only during the legislated test procedure, but also for real world customer driving. Many of the current technologies address only one of these areas (that is either legislated test procedure or real world driving).
Gasoline engine lean burn technology is one area where much development has occurred in the last 10 years, and offers the largest reduction in fuel consumption for a given engine displacement. Lean burn engines, however, have not penetrated successfully into the market place, and in fact output volumes are reducing, with many manufacturers replacing their current lean-burn engines with engines that operate at stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. This is primarily due to the very high cost associated with the after-treatment of the emissions during lean operation. As well, lean operation has been found to be limited, leading to reduced or even no benefit achieved for many driving conditions, this offering little advantage over the stoichiometric combustion systems currently in production.
Currently more focus is being placed on stoichiometric operation combustion systems, due to simplicity and low cost of the after-treatment systems. New techniques for fuel consumption reduction are being investigated including downsizing and turbo-charging (adopting a smaller engine with higher specific output) in order to maintain a stoichiometric combustion system, and increase the engine operating efficiency. As well, adopting a combustion system which utilises existing three-way catalyst technologies (application for stoichiometic operation), the technology is suitable for all of the advanced vehicle markets, including USA, Japan and China. In order to further improve the engine efficiency of a stoichiometric combustion system for greater reduction in fuel consumption, the inlet pumping work (work required to draw the inlet air into the cylinder past a throttle) at part load operation needs to be reduced. Currently, the introduction of EGR (exhaust gas residuals) is used to increase the charge dilution at part load operation in order to increase the volume of cylinder charge, and therefore reducing inlet pumping losses. This technique typically leads to reductions in the order of 2 to 5% In fuel consumption for typical vehicle driving conditions.
It Is against this background that the present invention has been developed.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating an internal combustion engine, the engine having at least one combustion chamber adapted to undergo expansion and contraction between maximum and minimum volume conditions, an inlet means for admitting an intake fluid into the combustion chamber, and an exhaust means for discharging fluid from the combustion chamber, the method comprising opening the exhaust means as the combustion chamber expands to permit fluid to discharge from the combustion chamber, opening the inlet means as the combustion chamber continues to expand to admit the intake fluid into the combustion chamber, closing the exhaust means as the combustion chamber still continues to expand to interrupt discharge of fluid from the combustion chamber, and closing the inlet means to interrupt admission of the intake fluid into the combustion chamber.
Preferably, the intake means is closed after the combustion chamber has reached its maximum volume condition and during subsequent contraction thereof.
Preferably, the intake fluid comprises a gas and the gas comprises an oxidant.
The intake fluid may comprise either air or an air-fuel mixture.
Where the intake fluid comprises an air-fuel mixture, the fuel may be introduced into the air in any appropriate way, such as for example conventional manifold or port fuel injection.
Preferably, a stoichiometric ratio of oxidant to fuel exists in the combustion chamber at the time of combustion.
Preferably, the engine comprises a 3-way exhaust gas catalyst for the simultaneous treatment of NOx and HC's
The method may further comprise direct injection of fuel into the combustion chamber. This is necessary in the case where the intake fluid comprises air without fuel entrained therein.
Preferably, the fuel Is delivered during contraction of the combustion chamber such that no unburnt fuel escapes through the exhaust means.
Preferably, the fuel is delivered after closing of the exhaust means.
The fuel may be delivered using a dual fluid injection system.
In the case that the dual fluid injection system utilises air as the propellant to deliver the fuel to the engine, preferably the fuel injection event is timed so that unburnt oxygen in the air does not escape through the exhaust means. Typically this would entail timing the fuel delivery event to be close to, or after, the exhaust means is closed. Preferably, the fuel injection system comprises a fuel metering injector and a mixture delivery injector, the mixture delivery injector having a holding chamber into which the fuel metering injector delivers the fuel, the holding chamber being exposed to pressurised gas for delivery of an gas-fuel mixture to the combustion chamber.
Typically, the engine comprises a reciprocating engine comprising a cylinder within which the combustion chamber is defined and which accommodates a reciprocating piston, the maximum volume condition of the combustion chamber corresponding to the bottom-dead-centre (BDC) position of the piston and the minimum volume condition corresponding to the top-dead-centre (TDC) position of the piston.
The inlet means typically comprises at least one inlet port and an inlet valve for opening and closing the inlet port. Further, the outlet means typically comprises at least one exhaust port and an exhaust valve for opening and closing the exhaust port.
The valves may be controlled for movement between their respective open and closed conditions In any appropriate way. The valves may, for example, be operated mechanically, electro-mechanically, hydro-mechanically, electro-hydraulically or pneumatically.
With operation of the engine by the method according to the invention, the exhaust port Is opened and closed while the combustion chamber undergoes volume expansion, with fluid pressure within the combustion chamber being utilised to effect discharge of exhaust gas therefrom. In this way, there are no pumping losses associated with the exhaust process.
In prior art applications it has been known to allow a significant degree of overlap between the intake valve open phase and the exhaust valve open phase (commonly referred to as valve overlap). In such prior art cases this overlap can provide benefits in terms of better scavenging and volumetric efficiency as it allows for fluid dynamic effects. Such significant valve overlap can cause some short circuiting of the intake air directly to the exhaust.
For the present Invention, it is desirable to eliminate, or at least minimise, any short circuiting of the Intake charge to the exhaust. This can be done by ensuring zero overlap between the intake valve open phase and the exhaust valve open phase.
It has been found that a more preferable arrangement is for there to be a small degree of overlap so that there is no stage during the expansion stroke of the piston that the combustion chamber is completely sealed as this would lead to pumping losses as the piston would continue its expansion stroke against a closed combustion chamber thus creating a negative pressure (also known as “over-expansion”). In such case the degree of valve overlap is controlled to minimise pumping losses.
Because there is deliberately little opportunity for clearing the exhaust gas from the combustion chamber some exhaust gas is consequently retained in the combustion chamber. Furthermore, less time is available for the fresh intake charge to cool the combustion chamber.
The presence of retained exhaust gas in the combustion chamber can prove to be useful, as it establishes a higher initial temperature within the combustion chamber at the point of ignition. The retained exhaust gases may also contribute to a reduction in pumping and throttling losses in the induction process, as a reduced volume of air is inducted. The retained exhaust gases also dilute the inducted air, which may assist in operation of the combustion process at stoichiometric conditions.
It is desirable to operate the engine such that it is only necessary to use a conventional catalytic converter, such as a three-way catalytic converter. This requires that there be stoichiometric operation (which is typically associated with a homogeneous fuel-air charge), avoiding the need for a lean NOx trap (which is required to absorb NOx gases emitted from an engine operating with excess oxygen present in the exhaust gas, as typically arises in cases where a lean fuel-air mixture is employed).
The engine may be operated in accordance with a two-stroke combustion cycle or a four-stroke combustion cycle.
The method according to the invention may further comprise switching the combustion cycle of the engine between the two-stroke cycle to the four-stroke cycle.
The method may comprise operating the engine with spark ignition. Alternatively, the method may comprise operating the engine with homogenous charged compression ignition (HCCI).
In addition to switching operation of the engine selectively between two and four-stroke operation, the method may involve switching operation of the engine selectively between spark Ignition and HCCI.
Operating an engine by the method according to the invention may possibly address some of the difficulties associated with downsizing of engines in order to meet certain emission targets while providing acceptable driveability.
An engine operated by the method in accordance with the invention may also be suitable for integration in a hybrid system.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a control system for an internal combustion engine having at least one combustion chamber adapted to undergo expansion and contraction between maximum and minimum volume conditions, an inlet means for admitting an intake fluid into the combustion chamber and an exhaust means for discharging fluid from the combustion chamber, the control system being adapted to operate the engine with a combustion cycle comprising opening the exhaust means as the combustion chamber expands to permit fluid to discharge from the combustion chamber, opening the inlet means as the combustion chamber continues to expand to admit intake fluid into the combustion chamber, closing the exhaust means as the combustion chamber still continues to expand to interrupt discharge of fluid from the combustion chamber, and closing the inlet means after closing the exhaust means to interrupt admission of intake fluid into the combustion chamber.
Preferably, the control system Is adapted to switch operation of the engine from a two-stroke combustion cycle to a four-stroke combustion cycle, and to selectively switch between the two-stroke and four-stroke combustion cycles.
The switch between the two-stroke and four-stroke combustions cycles may be achieved by varying valve timing and duration of valve opening.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided an engine comprising at least one combustion chamber adapted to undergo expansion and contraction between maximum and minimum volume conditions, an inlet means for admitting an intake fluid into the combustion chamber, an exhaust means for discharging fluid from the combustion chamber, and a control system for controlling operation of the inlet means and the exhaust means, the control system being adapted in one mode of operation to open the exhaust means as the combustion chamber expands to permit fluid to discharge from the combustion chamber, open the inlet means as the combustion chamber continues to expand to admit Intake fluid into the combustion chamber; close the exhaust means as the combustion chamber still continues to expand to interrupt discharge of fluid from the combustion chamber, and close the inlet means after closing of the exhaust means.
The engine may operate in a two-stroke combustion cycle or a four-stroke combustion cycle. Further, the engine may be switched selectively between the two-stroke and the four-stroke combustion cycles.
The engine may further comprise an exhaust system comprising a three-way catalytic converter.
Preferably the exhaust system does not comprise a catalyst capable of absorbing or otherwise treating NOx in an oxygen rich (ie lean) environment.
The invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of one specific embodiment thereof as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:
The embodiment is directed to a reciprocating internal combustion engine 10 which is capable of operating in either two-stroke or four-stroke cycles of operation, with selective switching therebetween.
The engine 10 comprises a cylinder 11 and a piston 13 accommodated in the cylinder. The cylinder 11 and piston 13 cooperate to define a combustion chamber 15. The combustion chamber 15 undergoes volume expansion and contraction upon reciprocatory movement of the piston 13 within the cylinder 11 between top-dead-centre (TDC) and bottom-dead-centre (BDC) positions.
An inlet means 20 is provided for introducing an air charge into the combustion chamber and an outlet means 30 is provided for discharging exhaust gas fro in the combustion chamber.
The inlet means 20 comprises an inlet port 21 opening onto the combustion chamber 15 at the terminal end of a delivery duct 23, and an inlet valve 25 for opening and closing the inlet port 21. A control means 27 is provided for controlling operation of the inlet valve 25 to cause opening and closing thereof.
The exhaust means 30 comprises an exhaust port 31 opening onto the combustion chamber 15 at the entry end of a discharge duct 33 and exhaust valve 35 for opening and closing the exhaust port. A control means 37 Is provided for controlling operation of the exhaust valve 35 to cause opening and closing thereof.
The control means 27, 37 for controlling opening and closing of the inlet and exhaust valves may take any appropriate form. The valve control means 27, 37 may, for example, comprise mechanical control mechanisms such as cams on a camshaft.
A fuel injection system 40 is provided for direct injection of fuel into the combustion chamber. In this embodiment the fuel Injection system comprises a dual fluid fuel injection system of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. RE 36768 and International Application WO 99128621, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by way of reference. The use of an oxygenated gas, such as air, to deliver fuel to a combustion chamber can have particularly beneficial effects when high internal EGR amounts are used, such as can occur in the present embodiment.
An ignition device (not shown), such as a spark plug, is provided for Igniting a combustion mixture charge in the combustion chamber 15 at appropriate timings.
The exhaust duct 33 communicates with an exhaust system (not shown) incorporating a catalytic converter in the form of a conventional three-way catalytic converter.
The engine can be operated In a two-stroke combustion cycle or a four-stroke combustion cycle, and can be switched therebetween according to the operational demand on the engine.
Operation of the engine in the four-stroke cycle can offer the favourable combination of good engine efficiency over a wide range of operating conditions, low emissions, high level of refinement (noise and vibration) and high reliability.
The two-stroke combustion cycle can offer some advantages in specific areas of operation compared to a four-stroke engine, including low speed engine performance, reduced vibration at low engine speeds, and when coupled with control over the inlet and exhaust phases, potential for reduced fuel consumption. In order to exploit the benefits of both four-stroke and two-stroke combustion cycles, the engine Is capable of switching between these two modes of operation. Switching is controlled in such a way as to be transparent to an operator or user of such engine.
The determining factor as to whether the engine operates in the two-stroke cycle or the four-stroke cycle is the timing of operation of the intake and exhaust valves 25, 35 as well as the duration of opening of the valves.
The inlet and exhaust valves 25, 35 operate at double the frequency of actuation in the two-stroke cycle as compared to the four-stroke cycle. Specifically, the inlet and exhaust valves 25, 35 acuate once for each rotation of the engine crankshaft (i.e. each 360°) in the two-stroke cycle, whereas they actuate once for each two rotations (i.e. each 720°) of the engine crankshaft in the four-stroke cycle, as is evident from
Further, it may be that the engine 10, when operating in a two-stroke combustion cycle, does not perform combustion stoke on every engine cycle. The engine 10 may, for example, perform a combustion stroke at intervals (such as on alternate cycles) in order to afford improved fuel consumption in certain operating conditions. Similarly, it may be that the engine 10, when operating in a four-stroke combustion cycle, does not perform combustion stoke on every alternate engine cycle.
In addition to switching between two-stroke and four-stroke cycles of operation, the engine according to the embodiment can operate under a particular control strategy in the two-stroke cycle for low engine speed and load conditions. The particular control strategy is illustrated in
The strategy involves:
With this control strategy, the exhaust port 31 opens and closes before BDC, and the pressure differential between the combustion chamber 15 and the exhaust system is utilised to effect discharge of exhaust gas from within the chamber (commonly referred to as “blow-down”). Because of little or no overlap in opening of the inlet port 21 and the exhaust port 31 (being the interval between IVO and EVC in the cycle diagrams), there is little or no scavenging of the remaining exhaust gas. As such, there is little short-circuiting of the intake air between the open intake port 21 and the open exhaust port 31.
Because of the limited period of valve opening overlap, scavenging of the combustion chamber 15 is incomplete and so there is a relatively large residual exhaust gas within the combustion chamber. The presence of residual exhaust gas in the combustion chamber 15 can prove to be useful, as it establishes a higher initial temperature within the combustion chamber at the point of ignition. The residual exhaust gases may also contribute to a reduction in pumping and throttling losses in the induction process, as a reduced volume of air is inducted through the Inlet means 20. The residual exhaust gases also dilute the inducted air, which may assist in operation of the combustion process at stoichiometric conditions. The stoichiometric operation allows use of the three-way catalytic converter without the need for a lean NOx trap (which would otherwise be required to absorb NOx gases emitted from an engine operating with excess oxygen present in the exhaust gas).
Additionally, because of the higher temperature of the retained EGR there is a higher temperature during the initial combustion phase. This is evident from the graph of
Because of the high temperatures and high dilution levels during operation of the engine 10 in the two-stroke cycle, stratified charge Ignition systems, pre-chamber ignition systems and homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) may have particular applicability to ensure proper ignition of the charge.
The relatively high bulk cylinder temperature at ignition in the two-stroke cycle may create conditions which are favourable to implementation of HCCI at certain operating conditions of the engine.
The time at which the inlet valve 25 is closed can be used to control certain operating characteristics of the engine 10. By way of example, early closing of the inlet valve 25 as depicted in the cycle diagram of
From the foregoing, it is evident that the present embodiment provides a simple yet highly-effective strategy for operating an engine in a two-stroke combustion cycle in certain load conditions in order to reduce pumping losses while at the same time extracting certain benefits arising from operation in a two-stroke cycle. The embodiment also allows switching of the combustion process between the two-stroke and four-stroke cycles. Accordingly, the embodiment addresses some of the difficulties associated with downsizing of engines in order to meet certain emission targets while providing acceptable driveability.
Modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
Throughout the specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005904654 | Aug 2005 | AU | national |
| 205904691 | Aug 2005 | AU | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/AU2006/001250 | 8/28/2006 | WO | 00 | 3/25/2009 |
