System and method for determining and adjusting fuel injection control parameters

1. An apparatus for controlling operation of an engine system including a fuel injection system including at least one fuel injector, the apparatus comprising a non-transitory controller-readable memory medium storing instructions executable by a controller to perform the acts of:

energizing the fuel injector to perform a zero-fueling injector operation during operation of the engine, the zero-fueling injector operation including a non-zero injector on-time resulting in operation of the injector but zero fueling by the injector;

determining an injection system pressure drop resulting from the zero-fueling injector operation;

modifying at least one fuel injection control parameter in response to the injection system pressure drop; and

using the modified fuel injection control parameter to control injection of fuel by the fuel injector during operation of the engine.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the injection system pressure drop comprises a fuel rail pressure drop.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one fuel injection control parameter comprises a maximum injector on-time which will produce zero fueling at a given injection system pressure.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the fuel injection system includes a plurality of injectors and the electronic control system is configured to perform the acts of energizing, determining, and modifying are performed separately for each of the plurality of fuel injectors.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the electronic control system is configured to perform acts of energizing, determining, and modifying repeatedly during operation of the engine effective to adapt the at least one fuel injection control parameter to changes in the performance of the fuel injector.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the electronic control system is configured to perform the act of energizing the fuel injector multiple times for each act of determining the injection system pressure drop.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the electronic control system is configured to perform the act of determining the at least one injection system pressure drop by:

performing a first injection system pressure measurement after a first engine crank angle range defining a first fuel pumping event and before a second engine crank angle range in which the act of energizing the fuel injector is performed, and

performing a second injection system pressure measurement after the second engine crank angle range and before a third engine crank angle range defining a second fuel pumping event.

8. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the electronic control system is configured to perform the act of modifying at least one fuel injection control parameter by modifying one or more coefficients of a model defining the maximum injector on-time.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the model defining the maximum injector on-time includes at least a first coefficient of a first term which is independent of injection system pressure and a second coefficient of a second term which is dependent on injection system pressure.

10. A method for controlling operation of an engine system including a fuel injection system including at least one fuel injector, the method comprising:

energizing the fuel injector to perform a zero-fueling injector operation during operation of the engine, the zero-fueling injector operation including a non-zero injector on-time resulting in operation of the injector but zero fueling by the injector;

determining an injection system pressure drop caused by the zero-fueling injector operation;

modifying at least one fuel injection control parameter in response to the injection system pressure drop; and

using the modified fuel injection control parameter to control injection of fuel by the fuel injector during operation of the engine.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the determining the injection system pressure drop comprises determining a fuel rail pressure drop.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the at least one fuel injection control parameter comprises a maximum injector on-time which will produce zero fueling at a given injection system pressure.

13. The method of claim 10 comprising performing the acts of energizing, determining, and modifying separately for each of a plurality of fuel injectors.

14. The method of claim 10 comprising performing the acts of energizing, determining, and modifying repeatedly during operation of the engine effective to adapt the at least one fuel injection control parameter to changes in the performance of the fuel injector.

15. The method of claim 10 comprising performing the act of energizing the fuel injector multiple times for each act of determining the injection system pressure drop.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein the act of determining the at least one injection system pressure drop comprises:

performing a first injection system pressure measurement after a first engine crank angle range defining a first fuel pumping event and before a second engine crank angle range in which the act of energizing the fuel injector is performed, and

performing a second injection system pressure measurement after the second engine crank angle range and before a third engine crank angle range defining a second fuel pumping event.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein the act of modifying at least one fuel injection control parameter comprises modifying one or more coefficients of a model defining the maximum injector on-time.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the act of modifying one or more coefficients of the includes modifying at least one of a first coefficient of a first term which is independent of injection system pressure and a second coefficient of a second term which is dependent on injection system pressure.