Granted Patent B2

US 12,366,193 · App. 18/378,381 · Granted Jul 22, 2025

Inventors: Tom Leroy (Dagenham, GB); Owen Lineham (Grays, GB); Mike Rowland (Wickham Bishops, GB)

Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC

F01N9/00F01N3/2013F01N2900/08F01N2900/1402F01N2900/1404F01N2900/1406

Abstract

Claims (61)

1. A method for model-based determination of heat transfer in an exhaust aftertreatment system of a vehicle, the method comprising:

measuring a power demand from a first component of the aftertreatment system;

calculating a heat transfer into the first component of the aftertreatment system based on power demand of the first component and a configurable emissivity value of the exhaust gas, wherein the emissivity value of the exhaust gas is configured in response to determining that an internal combustion engine, ICE, of the vehicle is on and a secondary airflow is on;

determining if the ICE of the vehicle is on and a secondary airflow is off; and

in response to determining that the ICE is on and secondary airflow is off, configuring the emissivity value of the exhaust gas based on an air-fuel ratio, corrected for a pressure and a temperature of the aftertreatment system.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

estimating a volumetric flow rate of exhaust gas through the aftertreatment system; and

wherein the calculation of the heat transfer into a first component of the aftertreatment system is based on the volumetric flow rate of the exhaust gas.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising configuring the emissivity value of the exhaust gas based on at least one of:

air-mass ratio;

fuel type; or

emissions output.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

determining if an internal combustion engine, ICE, of the vehicle is on and a secondary airflow is on; and

wherein the emissivity value of the exhaust gas is further configured based on air-mass ratio, air-fuel ratio, corrected for pressure and temperature of the aftertreatment system.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

wherein the first component of the aftertreatment system is an electrically heated catalyst, eCAT;

determining if the eCAT is on or off; and

in response to determining the eCAT is on, selecting a first radiation heat transfer equation.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

in response to determining the eCAT is off, selecting a convection heat transfer equation, a second radiation heat transfer equation, or a combination of the convection heat transfer equation and second radiation heat transfer equations.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring an ambient temperature of the vehicle; and

wherein the calculation of the heat transfer is further based on the ambient temperature of the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

wherein the aftertreatment system is divided into segments in an axial direction and the first component is located in a first segment;

calculating the temperature of a second segment, disposed upstream of the first segment, wherein the calculation of the heat transfer is further based on an input heat from the second segment; and

calculating the temperature of a third segment, disposed downstream of the first segment, wherein the calculation of the heat transfer is further based on an output heat to the third segment.

9. A vehicle comprising the after treatment system of claim 1 .

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions encoded thereon for model-based determination of heat transfer in an exhaust aftertreatment system of a vehicle which, when executed, carry out the method of claim 1 .

11. An after-treatment system of a vehicle comprising:

an electrically heated catalyst, eCAT, electrically coupled to a power source; and

a controller, communicatively coupled to the eCAT and the power source, the controller configured to:

measure a power demand of the eCAT from the power source;

monitor an ambient temperature of the vehicle;

calculate a heat transfer into the eCAT of the aftertreatment system based on the power demand of the eCAT, the ambient temperature of the vehicle, and a configurable emissivity value of the exhaust gas, wherein the emissivity value of the exhaust gas is configured in response to determining that an internal combustion engine, ICE, of the vehicle is on and a secondary airflow is on;

determine if the ICE of the vehicle is on and a secondary airflow is off; and

in response to determining that the ICE is on and secondary airflow is off, configure the emissivity value of the exhaust gas based on an air-fuel ratio, corrected for a pressure and a temperature of the aftertreatment system.

12. The aftertreatment system of claim 11 , the controller further configured to:

estimate a volumetric flow rate of exhaust gas through the aftertreatment system; and

wherein the calculation of the heat transfer into the eCAT of the aftertreatment system is based on the volumetric flow rate of the exhaust gas.

13. The aftertreatment system of claim 11 , wherein the controller is adapted to configure the emissivity value of the exhaust gas based on at least one of:

air-mass ratio;

fuel type; or

emissions output.

14. The aftertreatment system of claim 13 , the controller further configured to:

determining if an internal combustion engine, ICE, of the vehicle is on and a secondary airflow is on; and

wherein the emissivity value of the exhaust gas is further configured based on air-mass ratio, air-fuel ratio, corrected for pressure and temperature of the aftertreatment system.

15. The aftertreatment system of claim 11 , the controller further configured to:

determine if the eCAT is on or off; and

in response to determining the eCAT is on, select a first radiation heat transfer equation.

16. The aftertreatment system of claim 15 , the controller further configured to:

in response to determining the eCAT is off, select a convection heat transfer equation, a second radiation heat transfer equation, or a combination of the convection heat transfer equation and second radiation heat transfer equations.

17. A method for model-based determination of heat transfer of an exhaust aftertreatment system of a vehicle, the method comprising:

measuring a power demand from a first component of the aftertreatment system; and

calculating a heat transfer into the first component of the aftertreatment system based on power demand of the first component and a configurable emissivity value of the exhaust gas, wherein the emissivity value of the exhaust gas is configured in response to determining that an internal combustion engine, ICE, of the vehicle is on and a secondary airflow is off.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

estimating a volumetric flow rate of exhaust gas through the aftertreatment system;

wherein the calculation of the heat transfer into a first component of the aftertreatment system is based on the volumetric flow rate of the exhaust gas;

determining if an internal combustion engine, ICE, of the vehicle is on and a secondary airflow is off; and

wherein the emissivity value of the exhaust gas is configured based on air-fuel ratio, corrected for pressure and temperature of the aftertreatment system.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (12)