Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ford Motor Company Limited

University of Michigan

Low Emissions Technologies Research and Development Partnership

Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation

John W Hoard

Daniel Joseph Styles

Robert Walter McCabe

Lifeng Xu

Karen Marie Adams

Gopichandra Surnilla

William Charles Ruona

David Karl Bidner

Michael John Cullen

Francis Thomas Connolly

Robert F Novak

Leighton Ira Davis, Jr

Paul Matthew Laing

Lee Albert Feldkamp

Robert Hornblower Meyer

Charles Stuart Daw

Fumin Yuan

Richard R Tuttle

Amin Reihani

Maneet Raj Singh

Julia Giuliano

Methods are provided for controlling a vehicle engine to improve engine efficiency utilizing onboard water condensate. In one example, condensate is collected from cooling air routed into an engine, and injected into one of a plurality of locations based on engine operating conditions to keep NOx in combustion gases below desired amounts and to avoid ignition knock in said engine. In this way, condensate build-up in the CAC is advantageously utilized, engine performance and efficiency may be improved, and harmful emissions may be reduced.

Method for utilizing condensate to improve engine efficiency

Methods and systems are provided for controlling a condensate level in a charge air cooler. In one example, a method may include adjusting an air flow to a membrane in response to a condensate level in the charge air cooler.

Method and system for charge air cooler condensate control

The reduction of a NOx trap upon engine shutdown is disclosed. One disclosed embodiment comprises adjusting a timing of creating a reductive environment in the exhaust conduit upstream of the lean NOx trap based upon the determined engine stop position. The creation of a reductive environment in the exhaust conduit upstream of the lean NOx trap may help to at least partially reactivate the lean NOx trap during engine shutoff.

Reduction of NOx trap at engine shutoff

A method to supply fuel to an engine of a vehicle is provided. The method includes adjusting a direct injection of fuel into a cylinder of the engine based on whether the vehicle is in a pre-delivery state. In one example, the method includes reducing an amount of fuel in a post injection to reduce cylinder bore wetting effects and lubricant dilution during the engine cold start. After pre-delivery, a normal post injection schedule may be used to reduce emissions.

Pre-delivery strategy for diesel-engine vehicles

A system and method may be provided for operating a system having an engine with an emission control system, the emission control system including a lean NOx trap and a particulate filter, where after lean exhaust gas air-fuel ratio regeneration of the particulate filter at an elevated regeneration temperature, a rich or intermittently rich exhaust air-fuel ratio is provided for a duration lasting until LNT temperature falls to a minimum threshold, where said rich or intermittently rich operation reactivates catalysts in the LNT and reverses deactivation caused by the elevated temperature lean operation associated with previous particulate filter regeneration.

Particulate filter regeneration and NOx catalyst re-activation

A vehicle includes an engine, a booster, an exhaust gas sensor and a self-calibration arrangement for the exhaust gas sensor. When sensor calibration check is desired, a controlling unit opens a valve in order to subject a sensing element of the sensor to a supply of gas having a known gas concentration. Gas concentration signals from the sensor are compared with known concentration values, with the results being used to re-calibrate the sensor. The supply of gas can be received directly from the booster or from an optional reservoir. The invention is particularly applicable for use with a universal exhaust gas oxygen sensor in a vehicle powered by a diesel engine.

Sensor self-calibration system and method

An EGR cooling system is provided. The EGR cooling system comprising a plurality of EGR coolers configured to cool the EGR to a plurality of successively lower temperatures, where at least one of the plurality of EGR coolers includes a finned EGR cooler that comprises a plurality of channels for dissipating heat in the EGR, the plurality of channels increasing heat transfer surface area while having sufficient fin spacing to avoid clogging. The EGR cooling system may further comprise a catalyst configured to remove particle matters and/or hydrocarbons from the EGR, the catalyst positioned upstream of at least one of the plurality of EGR coolers.

EGR Cooling System with Multiple EGR Coolers

The invention is a method for diagnosing operation of a nonthermal plasma discharge device and a lean NOx trap disposed in the exhaust of an internal combustion engine. The method further includes reducing power to the nonthermal plasma discharge device and determining that the nonthermal plasma discharge device is operating properly when a concentration of NOx of exhaust gases exiting the lean NOx trap increases in response to reducing power to the nonthermal plasma discharge device. Additionally, the nonthermal plasma discharge device is found not to be operating when the NOx concentration remains substantially constant in response to a decrease in power supplied to the nonthermal plasma discharge device.

Diagnosing an aftertreatment system with a nonthermal plasma discharge device coupled to a lean burn engine

In an exhaust aftertreatment system, which includes a nonthermal plasma discharge device followed by a NOx storage device followed by a precious metal catalyst, a method is disclosed for operating the engine at a lean air-fuel ratio when the NOx storage device is not full and for operating the engine rich when the NOx storage device is substantially full. Electrical energy supplied to the nonthermal plasma discharge device during lean operation is discontinued during rich operation of the engine.

Method for operating a lean burn engine with an aftertreatment system including nonthermal plasma discharge device

A system and method of controlling J/L specific energy deposition in accordance with either measured or estimated values of engine or vehicle operational parameters in order to optimize emission reduction versus energy cost over a driving cycle. A typical strategy varies the J/L specific energy deposition in relation to a measured or estimated value of a relevant parameter such as engine-out NO concentration to improve energy cost versus emission performance over a driving cycle.

Plasma-catalyst control system

A method of driving the electrodes of a dielectric barrier discharge device. The driving signal is a pulsed signal where the pulses have alternating polarities. In one embodiment, the pulse signal includes groups of opposite polarity pulses where a second pulse in each group immediately follows a first pulse and where the group of pulses are spaced from each other. This allows the charge trapped on the surface of the dielectric barrier of the device to be added power to the electric field generated by the following, opposite polarity pulse.

Power supply for dielectric barrier discharge plasma

Cyclic variation in combustion of a lean burning engine is reduced by detecting an engine combustion event output such as torsional acceleration in a cylinder (i) at a combustion event (k), using the detected acceleration to predict a target acceleration for the cylinder at the next combustion event (k+1), modifying the target output by a correction term that is inversely proportional to the average phase of the combustion event output of cylinder (i) and calculating a control output such as fuel pulse width or spark timing necessary to achieve the target acceleration for cylinder (i) at combustion event (k+1) based on anti-correlation with the detected acceleration and spill-over effects from fueling.

Method of controlling cyclic variation in engine combustion

An exhaust system for a combustion system, comprising a storage device for collecting NO.sub.x, hydrocarbon, or particulate emissions, or mixture of these emissions, and a plasma reactor for destroying the collected emissions is described. After the emission is collected in by the storage device for a period of time, the emission is then destroyed in a non-thermal plasma generated by the plasma reactor. With respect to the direction of flow of the exhaust stream, the storage device must be located before the terminus of the plasma reactor, and it may be located wholly before, overlap with, or be contained within the plasma reactor.

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Livonia, MI, United States of America

John W Hoard