Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Nippon Soken, Inc.

Kaori Yoshida

Satoshi Taniguchi

Noriyasu Amano

Rie Osaki

Yukihiro Tsukasaki

Naoyo Kato

A transmittance sensor that detects the optical transmittance of biofuel is provided on a fuel tank that stores biofuel to be supplied to an internal combustion engine. An ECU periodically acquires the optical transmittance detected by the transmittance sensor, and calculates the amount of change from the previous value. In addition, the ECU calculates a degradation index value indicating the degree of degradation of the biofuel by accumulating the amount of change.

Device and method for detecting degradation of fuel for internal combustion engine

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel property detection apparatus that excels in durability and reliability and is capable of accurately detecting the biofuel concentration in a mixture of hydrocarbon fuel and biofuel with a compact and simple configuration. A fuel property sensorincludes a light-emitting deviceand a light-receiving device, which detect the optical transmittance of a fuel in a fuel path; and a light-emitting deviceand a position sensitive device, which detect the refractive index of the fuel. As the optical transmittance correlates with the RME concentration of the fuel, the RME concentration can be calculated from the detected optical transmittance. As the refractive index correlates with the cetane number of the fuel, the cetane number can be calculated from the detected refractive index. The optical transmittance is detected through the use of light within a wavelength range of 640 nm to 680 nm.

Fuel property detection apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Susono, Japan

Kaori Yoshida