Patent Grant
12366213
The present disclosure relates generally to dynamic gas blending for dual fuel engines, and more particularly, to fuel management when disabling the dynamic gas blending.
Some internal combustion engines, known as dual fuel engines, are configured to run on two different fuels. For example, such engines may operate on a mixture of diesel fuel and natural gas where diesel fuel is supplied through a diesel fuel supply system and natural gas is supplied through a natural gas supply system, where a ratio of diesel fuel to natural gas mixture may vary. In a port injected dual fuel system, such as a dynamic gas blending (DGB) system, diesel injectors of the diesel fuel supply system, which inject diesel fuel directly into a combustion chamber, have a shorter reload angle than corresponding gas admission valves of the natural gas supply system, which inject natural gas into an intake port. In other words, when the fuel mixture change is initiated, for example, disabling blending and operating on diesel fuel alone, the diesel fuel supply system is able to react to the fuel mixture change faster than the gas admission valves of the natural gas supply system. If the DGB is disabled and the diesel injectors are switched to fueling full diesel shots, some cylinders, having already loaded with natural gas outside the intake valves, may be over-fueled. If the DGB is disabled and the diesel injectors are delayed switching to fueling full diesel shots, some cylinders may then be under-fueled.
One example of adjusting blending of fuel mixture is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,752,515, issued to Stroup on Sep. 5, 2017 (“the '515 patent”). In particular, the '515 patent describes determining a maximum amount of secondary fuel that can be injected into a cylinder during a cycle based upon the rotational speed (RPM) of the engine and an amount of heat energy provided by primary fuel in the previous cycle to meet a desired heat energy to be produced in the next cycle. Secondary fuel is then injected into the intake port of the cylinder after the exhaust valve closes in an amount that is calculated based upon the maximum that can be injected.
Although useful in calculating a desired amount of secondary fuel for the next cycle to supplement primary fuel for producing desired heat energy, the device of the '515 patent may be limited. In particular, the '515 patent describes limited situations regarding providing secondary fuel for a next cycle based on a previous injection of primary fuel.
The systems and methods described herein are directed to addressing one or more of the drawbacks set forth above.
According to a first aspect, a method in a dynamic gas blending (DGB) system for adjusting primary fuel, when blending of primary fuel and secondary fuel is disabled, is provided. The method includes disabling, at a blend disabling angle, blending of primary fuel and secondary fuel for the DGB; determining whether the secondary fuel has been injected for a current cycle for a cylinder prior to the blend disabling angle; in response to determining that the secondary fuel has been injected for the current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting a pilot shot of the primary fuel for the current cycle; and in response to determining that the secondary fuel has not been injected for the current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting a full shot of the primary fuel for the current cycle. Disabling the blending of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel includes disabling injection of the secondary fuel and disabling the blending of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel in response to detecting a command for disabling the blending. Where the cylinder is a first cylinder of a plurality of cylinders of an engine having a firing order, the method additionally includes, for each cylinder of the plurality of cylinders, determining whether the secondary fuel has been injected for a respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle; in response to determining that the secondary fuel has been injected for the respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting the pilot shot of the primary fuel for the respective current cycle; and in response to determining that the secondary fuel has not been injected for the respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting a full shot of the primary fuel for the respective current cycle.
According to another aspect, a dynamic gas blending (DGB) system for adjusting primary fuel, when blending of primary fuel and secondary fuel is disabled, is provided. The DGB includes an electronic control module (ECM); a primary fuel delivery system coupled to the ECM and a cylinder, the primary fuel delivery system configured to deliver primary fuel; and a secondary fuel delivery system coupled to the ECM and the cylinder, the secondary fuel delivery system configured to secondary primary fuel, wherein the ECM comprises: a processor; and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory storing thereon processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: disable, at a blend disabling angle, blending of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel for the DGB; determine whether the secondary fuel has been injected for a current cycle for the cylinder prior to the blend disabling angle; inject a pilot shot of the primary fuel for the current cycle in response to determining that the secondary fuel has been injected for the current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, and inject a full shot of the primary fuel for the current cycle in response to determining that the secondary fuel has not been injected for the current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle. The processor-executable instructions further cause the processor to disable injection of the secondary fuel to disable the blending of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel and disable the blending in response to detecting a command for disabling the blending. For an engine with a plurality of cylinders having a firing order, the processor-executable instructions further cause the processor to, based at least in part of the firing order: determine whether the secondary fuel has been injected for a respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle; inject the pilot shot of the primary fuel for the respective current cycle in response to determining that the secondary fuel has been injected for the respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle; and inject a full shot of the primary fuel for the respective current cycle in response to determining that the secondary fuel has not been injected for the respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle.
According to yet another aspect, non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided that stores thereon processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a dynamic gas blending (DGB) system, cause the processor to perform certain operations for adjusting primary fuel when blending of primary fuel and secondary fuel is disabled. The operations include disabling, at a blend disabling angle, blending of primary fuel and secondary fuel for the DGB system; determining whether the secondary fuel has been injected for a current cycle for a cylinder prior to the blend disabling angle; in response to determining that the secondary fuel has been injected for the current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting a pilot shot of the primary fuel for the current cycle; and in response to determining that the secondary fuel has not been injected for the current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting a full shot of the primary fuel for the current cycle. Disabling the blending of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel includes disabling injection of the secondary fuel and disabling the blending of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel in response to detecting a command for disabling the blending. For an engine with a plurality of cylinders having a firing order, the operations additionally include, based at least in part of the firing order: determining whether the secondary fuel has been injected for a respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle; injecting the pilot shot of the primary fuel for the respective current cycle in response to determining that the secondary fuel has been injected for the respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle; and injecting a full shot of the primary fuel for the respective current cycle in response to determining that the secondary fuel has not been injected for the respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle.
According to yet another aspect, non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided that stores thereon processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a dynamic gas blending (DGB) system, cause the processor to perform certain operations for adjusting primary fuel when blending of primary fuel and secondary fuel is disabled. The operations include disabling, at a blend disabling angle, blending of primary fuel and secondary fuel for the DGB system; determining whether the secondary fuel has been injected for a current cycle for a cylinder prior to the blend disabling angle; in response to determining that the secondary fuel has been injected for the current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting a pilot shot of the primary fuel for the current cycle; and in response to determining that the secondary fuel has not been injected for the current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting a full shot of the primary fuel for the current cycle. Disabling the blending of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel includes disabling injection of the secondary fuel and disabling the blending of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel in response to detecting a command for disabling the blending. For an engine with a plurality of cylinders having a firing order, the operations additionally include, based at least in part of the firing order: determining whether the secondary fuel has been injected for a respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle; injecting the pilot shot of the primary fuel for the respective current cycle in response to determining that the secondary fuel has been injected for the respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle; and injecting a full shot of the primary fuel for the respective current cycle in response to determining that the secondary fuel has not been injected for the respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle.
The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same reference numbers in different figures indicate similar or identical items.
Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the features, as claimed. As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has,” “having,” “includes,” “including,” or other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. For the purpose of this disclosure, the term “ground surface” is broadly used to refer to all types of surfaces or materials that may be worked in material moving procedures (e.g., gravel, clay, sand, dirt, etc.) and/or can be cut, spread, sculpted, smoothed, leveled, graded, or otherwise treated. In this disclosure, unless stated otherwise, relative terms, such as, for example, “about,” “substantially,” and “approximately” are used to indicate a possible variation of ±10% in the stated value.
The machine 100 includes a chassis or frame 102 to which an internal combustion engine, or “engine,” 104 as a prime mover is attached. The engine 104 is configured to supply power for operation of the machine 100, including, for example, operating work implements, electronics, and steering, and/or for supplying torque to drive members to propel the machine 100 across the terrain. For example, the machine 100 shown in
Although the machine 100 includes the tracks 106, it is contemplated that the machine 100 may include one or more wheels in addition to the tracks 106. The machine 100 also includes a cab 110 operationally connected to the frame 102 for protecting and/or providing comfort for an operator 112 of the machine 100, and/or for protecting control-related devices of the machine 100. In some examples, the machine 100 may be semi-autonomous or fully autonomous, and able to operate without an onboard or remote operator, and may not include the cab 110. In examples where the machine 100 is semi-autonomous or fully-autonomous, the machine 100 is prevented from, or avoids, accidentally colliding with or maneuvering undesirably close to other machines, personnel, and/or objects.
In the example shown in
The machine 100 may include a battery 120 to power various electrical equipment in the machine 100 including an electronic control module (ECM) 122. The ECM 122 houses one or more processors 124, which may execute any modules, components, or systems associated with the machine 100, some of which may be housed in the ECM 122 as shown as modules 126. In some examples, the processors 124 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), both CPU and GPU, or other processing units or components known in the art. Additionally, each of the processors 124 may possess its own local memory, which also may store program modules, program data, and/or one or more operating systems.
Computer-readable media, such as memory 128, associated with the machine 100 may include volatile memory (e.g., RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM, flash memory, miniature hard drive, memory card, or the like), or some combination thereof. The computer-readable media may be non-transitory computer-readable media. The computer-readable media may include or be associated with the one or more of the above-noted modules, which perform various operations associated with the machine 100. In some examples, one or more of the modules may include or be associated with computer-executable instructions that are stored by the computer-readable media and that are executable by one or more processors to perform such operations.
As shown in
The diesel fuel delivery system 202 may include a diesel fuel supply 224, such as a diesel fuel tank, fuel pump, fuel rail, and a diesel fuel supply line 226 for supplying diesel fuel from the diesel fuel supply 224 to each of the plurality of cylinder 208. For example, diesel fuel may be supplied to the cylinder 208 via a diesel fuel injector 228. It is understood that the diesel fuel delivery system 202 may include any number and/or combination of valves or other components known in the art.
The gaseous fuel delivery system 204 may include a gaseous fuel supply 230, such as a gas tank, and a gaseous fuel supply line 232 for supplying the gaseous fuel from the gaseous fuel supply 230 to the cylinder 208. For example, the gaseous fuel may be supplied to the cylinder 108 via a gaseous fuel injector 234, such as a solenoid operated gas admission valve (GAV), through the air intake system 206. Accordingly, the gaseous fuel may flow from the gaseous fuel supply 230 through the gaseous fuel supply line 232 and into the air intake system 206. The gaseous fuel delivery system 204 may also include a filter 236, a gas shut off valve (GSOV) 238, a regulator 240, a gaseous fuel rail 242, and a check valve 244.
The filter 236 may remove suspended liquids, dirt, and/or other particulates from the gaseous fuel to prevent the suspended liquids, dirt, and/or other particulates from clogging or damaging components of the gaseous fuel delivery system 204. The GSOV 238 may be disposed in the gaseous fuel supply line 232 downstream of the gaseous fuel supply 230. The GSOV 238 may include a closed state (shown in
The air intake system 206 may include an air intake manifold 246 and may supply intake air to the cylinder 208. In some embodiments, the gaseous fuel supply line 232 may be connected to the air intake manifold 246 (e.g., via the gaseous fuel injector 234) for providing the gaseous fuel to the air intake manifold 246. Accordingly, the air intake manifold 246 may supply a gaseous fuel and air mixture to the cylinder 208 (e.g., via the intake port 218).
Because the combustion cycle spans two revolutions of the crankshaft 214, i.e., 720°, angles of the crankshaft, or crankshaft angles, may be represented from −360° to 360° to emphasize that, for example, −270° is different from 90° in context of this disclosure. Configurations of the cylinder 208 with the piston 210 at various crankshaft angles are represented as 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 314, 316, and 318. In this example, a combustion cycle begins at a crankshaft angle A0, where the piston 210, shown at 302, at the bottom dead center (BDC) of an exhaust stroke having the intake port 218 closed and the exhaust port 220 beginning to open as described above with referenced to
As an intake stroke begins at the crankshaft angle A2, the exhaust port 220 is closed and the intake port 218 begins to open. As shown at 308 with an arrow 324, the piston 210 moves downwards and draws the gaseous fuel into the combustion chamber 212 via the intake port 218 over crankshaft angles A3 to A4, where the piston 210, shown at 310, reaches the BDC and begins a compression stroke with the intake port 218 closed. As shown at 312 with an arrow 326, the piston 210 moves upwards and compresses the gaseous fuel in the combustion chamber 212 over crank angles A5 to A6, where the piston 210, shown at 314, reaches the TDC. Between crankshaft angles A4 and A6, diesel fuel may be injected via the diesel fuel injector 228 directly into the combustion chamber 212 at a diesel fuel injection angle, ADIESEL, the crankshaft 214, as shown with an arrow 328. Because, in this example, energy is also partially provided by the gaseous fuel, a pilot shot of diesel fuel is injected at the ADIESEL, where the pilot shot is an amount of diesel fuel that, with the injected gaseous fuel, provides a proper amount of total fuel for this cycle. At the crankshaft angle A6, a mixture of gaseous fuel and diesel fuel in the combustion chamber 212 may be ignited to start a power stroke. As the mixture is ignited and expands in the combustion chamber, the piston 210 moves downwards, as shown at 316 with an arrow 330, over crankshaft angles A7 to A0 and transfers power to the flywheel of the engine 104. The piston 210 at the crankshaft angle A0, shown at 318, is equivalent to the piston 210 at the crankshaft angle A0, shown at 302, and the combustion cycle repeats the process described above.
When the fuel mixture change is initiated, for example, disabling blending and operating on diesel fuel alone, the diesel fuel delivery system 202 is able to react to the fuel mixture change faster than the gaseous fuel delivery system 204. For example, if the blending were disabled, i.e., to run the engine 104 on diesel fuel only, at a blend disabling angle, ADISABLED, of the crankshaft 214, as shown with an arrow 332, between the AGAS and ADIESEL, the diesel fuel delivery system 202 would be able to react to the change and be able to provide a full shot of diesel fuel at the ADIESEL, where the full shot of diesel fuel is an amount of diesel fuel alone for proper combustion. However, because the gaseous fuel is already injected into the air intake manifold 246 at the AGAS, providing a full shot of diesel fuel for this cycle would result in over-fueling the cylinder 208.
To avoid over-fueling, the ECM 122 may monitor and operate the diesel fuel delivery system 202 and the gaseous fuel delivery system 204 based on the AGAS and ADIESEL. For example, at block 502, the ECM 122 may detect, or receive, a command to disable blending of the primary fuel, such as diesel fuel, and the secondary fuel, such as gaseous fuel, at the ADISABLED and may disable the blending to operate solely on diesel fuel at block 504. At block 506, the ECM 122 may determine whether the gaseous fuel has been injected for a current cycle for a cylinder, such as the cylinder 208, prior to the ADISABLED. In response to determining that the gaseous fuel has been injected prior to the ADISABLED (“YES” branch), the ECM 122 may operate the diesel fuel delivery system 202 to inject a pilot shot of diesel fuel at the ADIESEL at block 508. For example, with reference to
The cylinder 208 may be a first cylinder of a plurality of cylinders of an engine, where the plurality of cylinders have a specific firing order. Because in a multi-cylinder engine, firing and fuel injection, is staggered, each cylinder may be at a different stage of combustion cycle when the blending is disabled. Therefore, the ECM 122 may determine whether the gaseous fuel has been injected for a current cycle for each cylinder of the engine prior to the ADISABLED at block 506 at least in part on the firing order of the plurality of cylinders. Depending on the results for each cylinder at block 506, one or more cylinders may receive pilot shots of diesel fuel while other cylinders may receive full shots of diesel fuel.
The ECM 122 may also be hosted by a single server or distributedly hosted by a plurality of servers in a cloud environment. The ECM 122 may comprise the processors 124, a memory 128 communicatively coupled to the processors 124, and the modules 126 communicatively coupled to the processors 124. The modules 126 may include a communication module 602 and an interface 604, such as a user interface and input/output (I/O) module capable of receiving inputs and providing outputs. The inputs and outputs may be communicated to and from the communication module 602 via a communication network (not shown), which may be a cellular network, Wi-Fi® network, or any other type of network.
In some examples, the processors 124 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), both CPU and GPU, or other processing units or components known in the art. Additionally, the processors 124 may possess its own local memory, which also may store program modules, program data, and/or one or more operating systems. The memory 128 may comprise computer-readable media, which may include volatile memory (e.g., RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM, flash memory, miniature hard drive, memory card, or the like), or some combination thereof. The computer-readable media may be non-transitory computer-readable media. The computer-readable media may include or be associated with the one or more of the above-noted modules, which perform various operations associated with the ECM 122. In some examples, one or more of the modules may include, or be associated with, computer-executable instructions that are stored by the computer-readable media and that are executable by one or more processors to perform such operations. For example, the memory 128 may store processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processors 124 of the ECM 122, cause the processors 124 to perform operations for monitoring and operating the DGB system 200 as described above with reference to
The software and or functionality of the system(s), component(s), algorithms, cloud(s), platform(s), etc., discussed above with reference to
The ECM 122 may be configured to use artificial intelligence for maintaining synchronization between centralized (cloud-based) and distributed models. The ECM 122 may include a centralized or cloud-based computer processing system located in one or more of a back-office server or a plurality of remote servers, one or more distributed, edge-based computer processing systems separately located with each of the distributed computer processing systems communicatively connected to the centralized computer processing system.
A machine learning engine may be included in at least one of the centralized and distributed computer processing systems, such as the ECM 122. The machine learning engine may train a learning system using the training data to enable the machine learning engine to safely mitigate a divergence discovered between first and second sets of output control commands using a learning function including at least one learning parameter. Training the learning system may include providing the training data as an input to the learning function. The learning function may be configured to use the at least one learning parameter to generate an output based on the input, cause the learning function to generate the output based on the input, and compare the output to one or more of the first and second sets of output control commands to determine a difference between the output and the one or more of the first and second sets of output control commands. The learning function may modify the at least one learning parameter and the output of the learning function to decrease the difference responsive to the difference being greater than a threshold difference and under a variety of different conditions.
The example systems and methods of the present disclosure are applicable for adjusting primary fuel when blending of primary fuel and secondary fuel is disabled for duel fuel engines to prevent over-fueling and under-fueling of cylinders.
In a port injected dual fuel system, such as a dynamic gas blending (DGB) system, diesel injectors of the diesel fuel supply system, which inject diesel fuel directly into a combustion chamber of a cylinder, have a shorter reload angle than corresponding gas admission valves of the natural gas supply system, which inject natural gas into an intake port. If the DGB is disabled and the diesel injectors are switched to fueling full diesel shots, some cylinders, having already loaded with natural gas outside the intake valves, may be over-fueled. If the DGB is disabled and the diesel injectors are delayed switching to fueling full diesel shots, some cylinders may then be under-fueled. The method to prevent the over-fueling and under-fueling of the cylinders includes, for example, disabling, at a blend disabling angle, blending of primary fuel and secondary fuel for the DGB; determining whether the secondary fuel has been injected for a current cycle for a cylinder prior to the blend disabling angle; in response to determining that the secondary fuel has been injected for the current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting a pilot shot of the primary fuel for the current cycle; and in response to determining that the secondary fuel has not been injected for the current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting a full shot of the primary fuel for the current cycle. Disabling the blending of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel includes disabling injection of the secondary fuel and disabling the blending of the primary fuel and the secondary fuel in response to detecting a command for disabling the blending. Where the cylinder is a first cylinder of a plurality of cylinders of an engine having a firing order, the method additionally includes, for each cylinder of the plurality of cylinders, determining whether the secondary fuel has been injected for a respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle; in response to determining that the secondary fuel has been injected for the respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting the pilot shot of the primary fuel for the respective current cycle; and in response to determining that the secondary fuel has not been injected for the respective current cycle prior to the blend disabling angle, injecting a full shot of the primary fuel for the respective current cycle.
Unless explicitly excluded, the use of the singular to describe a component, structure, or operation does not exclude the use of plural such components, structures, or operations or their equivalents. The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and “at least one” or the term “one or more,” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The use of the term “at least one” followed by a list of one or more items (for example, “at least one of A and B” or one or more of A and B″) is to be construed to mean one item selected from the listed items (A or B) or any combination of two or more of the listed items (A and B; A, A and B; A, B and B), unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. Similarly, as used herein, the word “or” refers to any possible permutation of a set of items. For example, the phrase “A, B, or C” refers to at least one of A, B, C, or any combination thereof, such as any of: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B, and C; or multiple of any item such as A and A; B, B, and C; A, A, B, C, and C; etc.
While aspects of the present disclosure have been particularly shown and described with reference to the examples above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various additional embodiments may be contemplated by the modification of the disclosed devices, systems, and methods without departing from the spirit and scope of what is disclosed. Such embodiments should be understood to fall within the scope of the present disclosure as determined based upon the claims and any equivalents thereof.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5598825 | Neumann | Feb 1997 | A |
| 5622053 | Freen | Apr 1997 | A |
| 7222015 | Davis et al. | May 2007 | B2 |
| 9752515 | Stroup | Sep 2017 | B1 |
| 9828954 | Majors et al. | Nov 2017 | B2 |
| 20050161017 | Warlick | Jul 2005 | A1 |
| 20070000456 | Wong | Jan 2007 | A1 |
| 20080103676 | Ancimer | May 2008 | A1 |
| 20230415791 | Pedder | Dec 2023 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 108167102 | Jun 2018 | CN |
