Granted Patent B2

US 7,367,290 · App. 11/466,902 · Granted May 6, 2008

Abstract

Claims (42)

1. A combustion mode switching control system for diesel engines, comprising:

a switch determination module that initiates a switch request to switch between at least one of a premixed compression ignition (PCI) mode and a diesel combustion mode based on engine speed and at least one of fuel quantity and torque;

a transition module that commands the at least one of the PCI mode and the diesel combustion mode based on the switch request;

a control module that controls at least one of target airflow, desired fuel quantity, and desired fuel injection timing based on the command; and

an air estimation module that determines a current status of air flowing into the engine and wherein the transition module commands the at least one of the PCI mode and the diesel combustion mode based on the status.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the air estimation module determines the current status of the airflow based on whether a percentage of air flowing from exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is sufficient to allow a switch to occur.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the air estimation module determines the current status of the airflow based on at least one of fuel quantity, torque, engine speed, mass airflow, boost pressure in the intake manifold, temperature in the intake manifold, and exhaust pressure.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the transition module commands at least one of a diesel combustion to PCI transition mode and a PCI to diesel combustion transition mode after receiving the switch request and until at least one of the status indicates that the airflow is sufficient to accommodate the switch request and a subsequent switch request is received indicating to switch back to a previous mode.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the control module controls target airflow, desired fuel injection quantity, and desired fuel injection timing based on the mode, engine speed, and at least one of actual fuel injection quantity and torque.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the control module controls target airflow, desired fuel injection quantity, and desired fuel injection timing during the PCI mode and the diesel combustion mode based on separate target airflow, desired fuel injection quantity, and desired fuel injection timing lookup tables for each of the PCI mode and the diesel combustion mode, and wherein the lookup tables are indexed by engine speed and at least one of actual fuel injection quantity and torque.

7. The system of claim 4 wherein the control module controls target airflow and fuel injection timing during the diesel combustion to PCI transition mode and the PCI to diesel combustion transition mode based on separate target airflow and fuel injection timing lookup tables for each of the diesel combustion to PCI transition mode and the PCI to diesel combustion transition mode, and wherein the lookup tables are indexed by engine speed and at least one of actual fuel injection quantity and torque.

8. The system of claim 4 wherein the control module controls the desired fuel quantity during the diesel combustion to PCI transition mode and the PCI to diesel combustion transition mode based on desired torque, actual fuel quantity, engine speed, mass airflow, and injection timing.

9. The system of claim 4 wherein the control module controls the target airflow, desired fuel injection quantity, and desired fuel injection timing during the diesel combustion to PCI transition mode and the PCI to diesel combustion transition mode based on at least one of a separate target airflow, desired fuel injection quantity, and desired fuel injection timing lookup tables for each of the diesel combustion to PCI transition mode and the PCI to diesel combustion transition mode, and wherein the lookup tables are indexed by engine speed and at least one of actual fuel injection quantity and torque.

10. The system of claim 4 wherein the control module controls the target airflow, desired fuel injection quantity, and desired fuel injection timing during the diesel combustion to PCI transition mode and the PCI to diesel combustion transition mode based on desired torque, actual fuel quantity, engine speed, mass airflow, and injection timing.

11. A method of switching between a premixed compression ignition mode (PCI) and a diesel combustion mode for diesel engines, comprising;

initiating a switch request to switch between at least one of a premixed compression ignition (PCI) mode and a diesel combustion mode based on engine speed and at least one of fuel quantity and torque;

determining an airflow status based on airflow operating conditions of the engine;

commanding at least one of the PCI mode and the diesel combustion mode based on the switch request and the airflow status; and

controlling at least one of target airflow, desired fuel quantity, and desired fuel injection timing based on the commanded mode.

12. The method of claim 11 comprising commanding at least one of a diesel combustion to PCI transition mode and a PCI to diesel combustion transition mode after initiating the switch request.

13. The method of claim 11 comprising:

determining the target airflow based on the mode, engine speed, and at least one of actual fuel quantity and torque; and

determining the fuel injection timing based on the mode, engine speed, and at least one of actual fuel quantity and torque.

14. The method of claim 12 comprising determining the desired fuel quantity based on desired torque, engine speed, mass airflow, injection timing, and at least one of actual fuel quantity and torque when the mode is commanded to the diesel combustion to PCI transition mode and the PCI to diesel combustion transition mode.

15. The method of claim 12 comprising determining the desired fuel quantity during the diesel combustion to PCI transition mode and the PCI to diesel combustion transition mode, wherein the determining comprises:

estimating a torque value based on the current combustion mode, actual fuel quantity, mass airflow, injection time, and engine speed;

determining a difference between the estimated torque and a desired torque;

determining a fuel adjustment value based on the difference and engine operation parameters; and

adding the fuel adjustment value to the actual fuel quantity to achieve the desired fuel quantity.

16. The method of claim 11 , the determining the airflow status is further based on at least one of engine speed, fuel quantity, torque, mass airflow, boost pressure in an intake manifold of the engine, temperature in the intake manifold, and exhaust pressure.

17. The method of claim 11 , the determining of airflow status comprising:

estimating a percentage of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) flowing into an intake manifold of the diesel engine;

estimating a percentage of oxygen in the intake manifold;

computing a target exhaust gas recirculation level for the intake manifold;

computing a target of oxygen level for the intake manifold; and

setting the airflow status based on a comparison of the estimated percentage of EGR and the target EGR and a comparison of the estimated percentage of oxygen and the target oxygen.

18. The method of claim 11 comprising:

determining the target airflow based on the mode, engine speed, and at least one of actual fuel quantity and torque; and

determining the desired fuel quantity based on the mode, engine speed, and at least one of actual fuel quantity and torque.

19. The method of claim 11 comprising:

determining the desired fuel quantity based on the mode, engine speed, and at least one of actual fuel quantity and torque; and

determining the desired fuel injection timing based on the mode, engine speed, and at least one of actual fuel quantity and torque.

Assignments (12)