Method for controlling an operating condition of a vehicle engine

1. A method for controlling an operating condition of a vehicle engine comprising:

calculating mole fractions of residual exhaust gas and air in a selected cylinder at the end of an intake stroke of a piston associated with a select cylinder;

calculating gas pressure in the selected cylinder upon closure of an intake valve of the selected cylinder;

calculating mixed intake air and residual exhaust gas temperature in the selected cylinder upon the closure of the intake valve;

calculating mass airflow at an intake port of the engine using the calculated gas pressure and the calculated gas temperature and the mole fraction of air in the selected cylinder; and

estimating, using the calculated mass airflow, an operating parameter of the vehicle engine to achieve a preselected vehicle operating condition.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the operating parameter comprises air/fuel ratio.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the operating parameter comprises spark timing for the selected cylinder.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the operating parameter comprises engine output torque.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

prior to calculating mixed intake air and residual exhaust gas temperature in the selected cylinder at closure of the intake valve, deriving an exhaust system back pressure drop from calculated exhaust gas volume flow and adding the back pressure drop to calculated exhaust absolute pressure.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating mole fractions of residual exhaust gas and air in a selected cylinder comprises:

measuring vehicle engine speed;

measuring manifold absolute pressure of the vehicle engine;

measuring barometric pressure;

determining residual exhaust partial pressure ratio in the selected cylinder based on measured engine speed;

calculating a pressure ratio by dividing measured manifold absolute pressure by measured barometric pressure;

calculating a mole fraction of residual exhaust gas for the selected cylinder by dividing the residual exhaust partial pressure ratio by the pressure ratio; and

calculating the mole fraction of air as one (1.0) minus the mole fraction of residual exhaust gas.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

measuring intake cam position for the selected cylinder;

measuring exhaust cam position for the selected cylinder;

determining a valve overlap modifier using the intake and exhaust cam positions; and

modifying the mole fraction of residual exhaust gas with the valve overlap modifier.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating gas pressure in the selected cylinder upon closure of the intake valve of the selected cylinder comprises;

measuring manifold absolute pressure of the vehicle engine;

measuring vehicle engine speed;

determining engine intake port gas temperature;

calculating gas density in the intake port by dividing the manifold absolute pressure by the product of the ideal gas constant for air and the intake port gas temperature;

determining dynamic pressure in the selected cylinder as a function of engine speed and the gas density in the intake port; and

calculating the gas pressure in the selected cylinder as the sum of the dynamic pressure and the manifold absolute pressure.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

measuring exhaust cam position of the selected cylinder;

measuring intake cam position of the selected cylinder;

determining a cam position modifier as a function of exhaust and intake cam positions; and

modifying the calculated gas pressure in the selected cylinder with the cam position modifier.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

measuring position of a variable charge motion device adjacent the intake valve;

measuring vehicle engine speed;

determining a variable charge motion device modifier as a function of vehicle engine speed in variable charge motion device positions; and

modifying the calculated gas pressure in the selected cylinder with the variable charge motion device modifier.

11. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

determining a state of a manifold tuning valve;

determining a state of a short runner valve; and

determining dynamic pressure in the selected cylinder as a function of engine speed, gas density in the intake port, and the determined states of the manifold tuning and short runner valve.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating mixed intake air and residual exhaust gas temperature in the selected cylinder upon the closure of the intake valve comprises:

measuring vehicle engine speed;

measuring barometric pressure;

measuring manifold absolute pressure;

determining gas temperature in an exhaust port of the engine;

determining exhaust gas back pressure;

determining residual exhaust gas temperature in the selected cylinder at intake valve opening;

determining a polytropic exponent as a function of engine speed;

calculating an exhaust absolute pressure as the sum of the barometric pressure and the exhaust back pressure;

determining unmixed residual exhaust gas temperature in the intake port as a function of the residual exhaust gas temperature in the selected cylinder at intake valve closing, the exhaust absolute pressure, the polytropic exponent and the manifold absolute pressure; and

calculating mixed intake air and residual exhaust gas temperature as a function of the mole fraction of air in the selected cylinder, the mole fraction of the residual exhaust gas in the selected cylinder, specific heat of air, specific heat of the residual exhaust gas, gas temperature in the intake port, and the unmixed residual exhaust gas temperature in the intake port.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein determining exhaust gas pressure comprises:

determining exhaust gas temperature;

determining exhaust gas absolute pressure;

determining exhaust gas density as a function of exhaust gas temperature and absolute pressure;

calculating exhaust gas volume flow by dividing exhaust gas mass by the exhaust gas density; and

determining exhaust system back pressure as a function of exhaust gas volume flow.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein calculating mass airflow comprises:

measuring vehicle engine speed;

measuring an intake cam position for the selected cylinder;

calculating gas density in the selected cylinder at intake valve closing as a function of gas pressure and the mixed intake air and residual exhaust gas temperature in the selected cylinder at intake valve closing;

determining a volume of the selected cylinder at intake valve closing as a function of the intake cam position;

calculating mass of air in the selected cylinder at intake valve closing as a function of the mole fraction of air in the selected cylinder at intake valve closing, the volume of the selected cylinder and the gas density in the selected cylinder at intake valve closing; and

calculating intake port mass airflow as a function of the mass air in the selected cylinder, the engine speed and the number of cylinders in the engine.