Patent Application
20160265450
The present invention relates to a fuel supply apparatus for a multi-fuel engine capable of switching the operation mode of an engine, when the engine is in operation, between a liquid fuel operation mode for supplying fuel by injecting liquid fuel into an intake passage and a gas fuel operation mode for supply fuel by injecting gas fuel into intake air.
Conventionally, the engine described in Patent Document 1 is known as a multi-fuel engine capable of using a plurality of types of fuels. In the multi-fuel engine described in Patent Document 1, while the engine is maintained in operation, the operation mode of the engine is switchable, either manually or automatically, between a liquid fuel operation mode for injecting liquid fuel into an intake passage and a gas fuel operation mode for injecting gas fuel into intake air.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-342689
When liquid fuel is injected into an intake passage, some of the injected liquid fuel adheres to the wall surface of the intake passage. Then, the liquid fuel adhered to the wall surface of the intake passage gradually evaporates. That is, in a period immediately after switching from the liquid fuel operation mode to the gas fuel operation mode, the liquid fuel adhered to the wall surface of the intake passage remains from the liquid fuel operation mode. Therefore, in the period immediately after such switching of the operation modes, the liquid fuel evaporating from the wall surface of the intake passage is supplied to the combustion chamber in addition to the gas fuel supplied to the intake air. The amount of the fuel supplied to be burned thus becomes greater than the target amount. As a result, the air-fuel ratio becomes enriched temporarily and may destabilize combustion.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a fuel supply apparatus for a multi-fuel engine that is capable of restraining destabilized combustion when the engine operation mode is switched from the liquid fuel operation mode to the gas fuel operation mode.
To achieve the foregoing objective and in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a fuel supply apparatus for a multi-fuel engine is provided, in which the multi-fuel engine is configured to be capable of switching an operation mode of an engine, when the engine is in operation, between a liquid fuel operation mode for supplying fuel by injecting a liquid fuel into an intake passage and a gas fuel operation mode for supplying fuel by injecting a gas fuel into intake air. The fuel supply apparatus includes a control device, which performs a decreasing correction on an injection amount of the gas fuel when the engine operation mode is switched from the liquid fuel operation mode to the gas fuel operation mode.
A fuel supply apparatus for a multi-fuel engine according to one embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
As shown in
A gasoline injector 17, which injects gasoline serving as liquid fuel, is arranged in the intake port 14 of each cylinder. Gasoline is supplied to each of the gasoline injectors 17 after having been pumped out of a gasoline tank 18 storing gasoline by a fuel pump 19.
The vehicle, in which the multi-fuel engine is installed, includes a CNG cylinder 20 for storing CNG, which is gas fuel, in a high-pressure state. A manual valve 21, which is manually operated to block outflow of CNG, is arranged in the CNG cylinder 20. A high-pressure CNG pipe 22 is connected to the CNG cylinder 20 via the manual valve 21. The CNG cylinder 20 is joined to a CNG regulator 23, which depressurizes the CNG that has been delivered from the CNG cylinder 20 to a required pressure through the high-pressure CNG pipe 22. An oil separator, which separates oil elements from CNG, is incorporated in the CNG regulator 23.
The high-pressure CNG pipe 22 includes shutoff valves 24, 25, each of which blocks CNG communication, at positions between the CNG cylinder 20 and the CNG regulator 23. The shutoff valves 24, 25 become open at the start of the CNG operation mode and closed at the end of the CNG operation mode. The high-pressure CNG pipe 22 includes a high-pressure-side fuel pressure sensor 26, which detects the pressure of the CNG flowing in the high-pressure-side fuel pressure sensor 26, at a position between the shutoff valves 24, 25.
A low-pressure CNG pipe 27 is connected to a CNG outlet port of the CNG regulator 23. The CNG regulator 23 is joined to a CNG delivery pipe 28 via the low-pressure CNG pipe 27. The CNG delivery pipe 28 retains the low-pressure CNG that has been depressurized by the CNG regulator 23. The CNG delivery pipe 28 includes a low-pressure-side fuel pressure sensor 29, which detects the pressure of the CNG in the low-pressure-side fuel pressure sensor 29, and a low-pressure-side fuel temperature sensor 30, which detects the temperature of the CNG in the low-pressure-side fuel temperature sensor 30. CNG injectors 31, the number of which corresponds to the number of cylinders of the multi-fuel engine, are attached to the CNG delivery pipe 28. A CNG hose 32 is connected to each of the CNG injectors 31. CNG nozzles 33, which are arranged in the intake manifold 13, are connected to the corresponding CNG hoses 32.
The fuel supply apparatus of the present embodiment includes a control device, which is an electronic control unit (ECU) 40 that controls the multi-fuel engine. The electronic control unit 40 includes two central processing units (CPUs), which perform computation procedures for engine control, which are a main CPU 41 and a sub CPU 42. The sub CPU 42 performs computation procedures necessary for executing the CNG operation mode and computation procedures for controlling the CNG supply system. The main CPU 41 performs computation procedures other than the aforementioned computation procedures. The electronic control unit 40 includes drive circuits that drive the throttle motor 12, the spark plugs 16, the gasoline injectors 17, the shutoff valves 24, 25, the CNG injectors 31, and the like.
Detection signals are input to the electronic control unit 40 separately from various types of sensors, which are arranged in corresponding portions of the vehicle. The detection signals input to the electronic control unit 40 include detection signals from the high-pressure-side fuel pressure sensor 26, the low-pressure-side fuel pressure sensor 29, and the low-pressure-side fuel temperature sensor 30. The detection signals input to the electronic control unit 40 also include detection signals from a vehicle speed sensor 43, which detects the vehicle speed, an accelerator pedal sensor 44, which detects the depression amount of the accelerator pedal, an airflow meter 45, which detects the intake air amount, a crank angle sensor 46, which detects the crank angle, and a coolant temperature sensor 47, which detects the coolant temperature of the engine. A CNG switch 48, with which the user manually switches the operation mode of the multi-fuel engine between the gasoline operation mode and the CNG operation mode, is connected to the electronic control unit 40.
The multi-fuel engine, which is configured in the above-described manner, is started at the gasoline operation mode. When the gasoline operation mode is in execution, the main CPU 41 computes a gasoline injection amount based on an operating state of the multi-fuel engine, which includes, for example, the engine speed and/or the intake load factor. The main CPU 41 then drives the gasoline injectors 17 to inject gasoline by the amount corresponding to the computed gasoline injection amount. Also, when computing the gasoline injection amount, the main CPU 41 performs various types of correction on the gasoline injection amount, including wall-wetting correction of the gasoline injection amount.
Some of the gasoline injected from the gasoline injectors 17 does not mix with intake air and, while remaining in the liquid state, adheres to the wall surface of the intake ports 14 (hereinafter, referred to as the port wall surface). That is, some of the gasoline injected from the gasoline injectors 17 is not burned immediately. The gasoline that adheres to the port wall surface gradually evaporates and flows into each combustion chamber 15 together with the intake air. As a result, the gasoline that evaporates from the port wall surface is burned in the combustion chambers 15, in addition to the gasoline injected by the gasoline injectors 17. This causes a difference between the gasoline injection amount of the gasoline injector 17 and the amount of the gasoline that is actually burned. The wall-wetting correction of the gasoline injection amount is performed to correct this difference.
For the wall-wetting correction of the gasoline injection amount, the main CPU 41 estimates the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface and the evaporation rate of the gasoline from the port wall surface based on the engine speed and the intake load factor and/or the coolant temperature of the multi-fuel engine. Also, the main CPU 41 computes a correction amount of the gasoline injection amount, which is a gasoline wall-wetting correction amount, based on the estimates. The main CPU 41 then reflects the computed gasoline wall-wetting correction amount on the actual gasoline injection amount. This restrains deviation of the air-fuel ratio caused by the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface and the gasoline evaporating from the port wall surface when air-fuel mixture containing gasoline is burned in the combustion chambers 15. The same logic as the logic employed for the gasoline engine that is used as the base is employed without being modified for the wall-wetting correction of the gasoline injection amount.
When a specified switching condition is satisfied and the CNG switch 48 is turned on, the operation mode of the multi-fuel engine is switched from the gasoline operation mode to the CNG operation mode. That is, gasoline injection by the gasoline injectors 17 is stopped and CNG injection by the CNG injectors 31 into the intake air in the intake manifold 13 is started. A switching condition for switching from the gasoline operation mode to the CNG operation mode includes a condition that the amount of the CNG remaining in the CNG cylinder 20 is greater than or equal to a certain amount and warm-up of the multi-fuel engine is complete with the engine speed greater than or equal to a certain speed.
When the CNG operation mode is in execution, the CNG injection by the CNG injectors 31 is controlled by the sub CPU 42. That is, the sub CPU 42 computes the CNG injection amount based on the operating state of the multi-fuel engine and drives the CNG injectors 31 to inject CNG by the amount corresponding to the computed CNG injection amount.
If the CNG switch 48 is turned off or the aforementioned switching condition becomes unsatisfied when the CNG operation mode is in operation, the operation mode of the multi-fuel engine is switched to the gasoline operation mode. That is, the CNG injection by the CNG injectors 31 into the intake air in the intake manifold 13 is stopped and the gasoline injection by the gasoline injectors 17 is resumed.
To restrain destabilized combustion caused by switching of the engine operation mode, the fuel supply apparatus of the present embodiment executes a wall-wetting correction adapting procedure when the engine operation mode is switched. The adapting procedure is executed by the sub CPU 42.
The procedure is started by Step S100, in which it is determined whether the gasoline operation mode will be switched to the CNG operation mode. If a positive determination is made at step 100, Step S101 is carried out.
At step S101, the current amount of the gasoline adhered to the port surface is calculated based on the coolant temperature, the intake air load factor, and the engine speed of the multi-fuel engine.
Then, at step S102, the CNG injection amount corresponding to the amount of the adhering gasoline calculated at step 101 is determined as a total correction amount of decreasing correction. The total correction amount is computed by multiplying the amount of the adhering gasoline by a specific coefficient α. The proportion (Sg/Sc) of the gasoline stoichiometric air-fuel ratio Sg to the CNG stoichiometric air-fuel ratio Sc is set as the coefficient α.
Subsequently, at step S103, the total correction amount determined at step S102 is divided into CNG wall-wetting correction amounts, which are employed for a number of times of CNG injection after switching to the CNG operation mode.
After the division of the total correction amount is completed, the subsequent step, step S104, is carried out to execute the wall-wetting correction on the CNG injection amount based on the CNG wall-wetting correction amounts divided at step S103. The decreasing correction is thus performed on the CNG injection amount. Then, the current adapting procedure is ended.
In contrast, if a negative determination is made at step S101, step 105 of the procedure is carried out. At step S105, it is determined whether the CNG operation mode will be switched to the gasoline operation mode. If a negative determination is made, the current adapting procedure is ended. If a positive determination is made, step 106 of the procedure is carried out.
At step S106, the estimate of the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface, which is computed by the main CPU 41, is reset to 0. Then, the current adapting procedure is ended.
Switching from Gasoline Operation Mode to CNG Operation Mode
Referring to section (a) of
In the case in which the wall-wetting correction adapting procedure is not executed, the CNG injection amount after switching to the CNG operation mode is set regardless of the gasoline evaporating from the port wall surface. In this case, after switching to the CNG operation mode, the gasoline evaporating from the port wall surface flows into the combustion chambers 15 and the amount of fuel to be burned becomes excessive. Therefore, as represented by the broken line in section (d) of
In the fuel supply apparatus of the present embodiment, the total correction amount corresponding to the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface at the time of switching to the CNG operation mode is divided into the CNG wall-wetting correction amounts, which are employed for a number of times of CNG injection. With reference to section (b) of
After switching to the CNG operation mode, the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface evaporates and is gradually reduced. Correspondingly, the evaporation rate of the gasoline gradually decreases. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the amount of the decreasing correction of the CNG injection amount is gradually reduced in correspondence with the time elapsed from switching to the CNG operation mode, or, in other words, increase of the number of times of injection.
The sum of the gasoline flowing into the combustion chambers 15 since switching to the CNG operation mode is the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface at the time of switching to the CNG operation mode. To correct the deviation of the air-fuel ratio caused by the gasoline flowing into the combustion chambers 15, the decreasing correction amount of the CNG injection amount must be calculated taking into account the proportion of the gasoline stoichiometric air-fuel ratio Sg to the CNG stoichiometric air-fuel ratio Sc. In this regard, in the present embodiment, to correct such deviation of the air-fuel ratio, decreasing correction is performed on the CNG injection amount using, as the total correction amount, the value obtained by multiplying the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface at the time of switching to the CNG operation mode by the aforementioned proportion (Sg/Sc) of the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio.
Switching from CNG Operation Mode to Gasoline Operation Mode
In the CNG operation mode, gasoline injection into the intake ports 14 is suspended and the gasoline that adhered to the port wall surface due to the gasoline injection before the suspension has already evaporated. Therefore, as represented by the long dashed short dashed line in section (a) of
As has been described, the main CPU 41 performs the wall-wetting correction of the gasoline injection amount employing, without modification, the same logic as the logic employed for the gasoline engine used as the base. However, the logic for the wall-wetting correction of the gasoline injection amount does not include a case in which the gasoline injection is suspended due to the CNG operation mode. Therefore, as represented by the broken line in section (a) of
In the fuel supply apparatus of the present embodiment, as represented by the solid line in section (a) of
In the present embodiment, by resetting the estimate of the amount of gasoline adhered to the port wall surface to 0 at the time of switching to the gasoline operation mode, the increasing correction of the gasoline injection amount by the wall-wetting correction is performed after switching to the gasoline operation mode. The amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface after switching to the gasoline operation mode gradually increases to a certain extent as the gasoline injection progresses. Therefore, the amount of the increasing correction of the gasoline injection amount is gradually reduced in correspondence with the time elapsed from switching to the gasoline operation mode, or, in other words, in correspondence with increase of the number of times of injection.
The above described embodiment achieves the following advantages.
(1) The fuel supply apparatus for a multi-fuel engine of the present embodiment performs the wall-wetting correction adapting procedure to carry out decreasing correction on the CNG injection amount when the gasoline operation mode is switched to the CNG operation mode. This restrains enrichment of the air-fuel ratio after switching to the CNG operation mode and destabilization of combustion caused by the enrichment of the air-fuel ratio.
(2) The amount of the decreasing correction of the CNG injection amount through the wall-wetting correction is gradually reduced in correspondence with the time elapsed from switching to the CNG operation mode, or, in other words, in correspondence with increase of the number of times of injection. This enables appropriate decreasing correction corresponding to the actual change of the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface after switching to the CNG operation mode.
(3) The total correction amount of the decreasing correction after switching to the CNG operation mode is calculated by multiplying the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface at the time of switching to the CNG operation mode by the proportion of the gasoline stoichiometric air-fuel ratio Sg to the CNG stoichiometric air-fuel ratio Sc. This enables appropriate decreasing correction corresponding to the actual amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface.
(4) By resetting the estimate of the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface to 0 at the time of switching from the CNG operation mode to the gasoline operation mode, the wall-wetting correction adapting procedure is executed after switching to the gasoline operation mode and thus increasing correction is performed on the gasoline injection amount. This restrains reduction of the gasoline to be burned and restrains destabilized combustion caused by leaning of the air-fuel ratio after switching to the gasoline operation mode. As a result of the aforementioned resetting of the estimate of the amount of the adhering gasoline, the amount of the increasing correction of the gasoline injection amount through the wall-wetting correction is gradually reduced in correspondence with the time elapsed from switching to the gasoline operation mode, or, in other words, in correspondence with increase of the number of times of injection. This enables appropriate increasing correction corresponding to the actual change of the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface after switching to the gasoline operation mode.
The above illustrated embodiment may be modified as follows.
In the illustrated embodiment, by resetting the estimate of the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface to 0 at the time of switching to the gasoline operation mode, the wall-wetting correction adapting procedure is performed and thus the increasing correction is performed on the gasoline injection amount. However, without performing the wall-wetting correction adapting procedure, increasing correction different from the wall-wetting correction may be performed on the gasoline injection amount to restrain leaning of the air-fuel ratio after switching to the gasoline operation mode. Also in this case, by gradually reducing the amount of the increasing correction in correspondence with the time elapsed from switching to the gasoline operation mode, appropriate increasing correction of the gasoline injection amount corresponding to actual change of the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface may be performed.
In the illustrated embodiment, the amount of the increasing correction of the gasoline injection amount through the wall-wetting correction is gradually reduced in correspondence with the time elapsed from switching to the gasoline operation mode. However, regardless of the time elapsed from switching to the gasoline operation mode, the amount of the increasing correction on the gasoline injection amount may be maintained constant. Also in this case, leaning of the air-fuel ratio after switching to the gasoline operation mode is limited.
Only decreasing correction of the CNG injection amount after switching to the CNG operation mode may be performed without performing increasing correction of the gasoline injection amount after switching to the gasoline operation mode. In this case, enrichment of the air-fuel ratio after switching to the CNG operation mode is restrained.
In the illustrated embodiment, the total correction amount is divided for the CNG wall-wetting correction amounts employed for a number of times of CNG injection, which are performed after switching to the CNG operation mode. However, such division may be performed in a manner different from the manner of the illustrated embodiment.
In the illustrated embodiment, the total correction amount of the decreasing correction is calculated as the CNG injection amount corresponding to the amount of the gasoline adhered to the port wall surface at the time of switching to the CNG operation mode. However, the total correction amount may be calculated as a different value.
In the illustrated embodiment, by determining the total correction amount of the decreasing correction and dividing the determined total correction amount for a number of times of CNG injection after switching to the CNG operation mode, the CNG wall-wetting correction amounts employed for the respective CNG injections are set. However, without determining the total correction amount, the CNG wall-wetting correction amounts employed for the respective CNG injections may be set independently from one another. Alternatively, the CNG wall-wetting correction amounts may be set collectively.
In the illustrated embodiment, the amount of the decreasing correction of the CNG injection amount through the wall-wetting correction is gradually reduced in correspondence with the time elapsed from switching to the CNG operation mode. However, regardless of the time elapsed from switching to the CNG operation mode, the amount of the decreasing correction on the CNG injection amount may be maintained constant. Also in this case, enrichment of the air-fuel ratio after switching to the CNG operation mode is limited.
The fuel supply apparatus of the illustrated embodiment may be employed in a multi-fuel engine that uses a liquid fuel other than gasoline or a gas fuel other than CNG in the same manner as the illustrated embodiment or a manner similar to the manner of the embodiment.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-246593 | Nov 2013 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2014/080986 | 11/24/2014 | WO | 00 |
