Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Kohtaro Hashimoto

Takahiro Gunji

Kohjiroh Aimoto

Fumiaki Ikegawa

Takashi Kondo

Tomohide Kudo

Hiroshi Hanabusa

Katsuya Matsuura

Hiroshi Sono

Ryogo Sakamoto

Engine control apparatus includes: an engine including an injector and ignition plug, and a controller configured to control the injector and ignition plug to switch combustion mode to a second homogenous charge compression ignition combustion of reformed fuel with ignition at required torque less than a first predetermined value, to a first homogenous charge compression ignition combustion of reformed fuel, obtained by reforming a portion of gasoline fuel into peroxide, without ignition at required torque more than the first predetermined value and less than a second predetermined value, to spark ignition combustion of gasoline with ignition at required torque more than the second predetermined value and less than a third predetermined value, and to diffusion combustion of reformed fuel without ignition at required torque more than the third predetermined value.

Engine control apparatus

Engine control apparatus includes: engine including injector configured to inject fuel into combustion chamber and ignition plug configured to ignite air-fuel mixture of fuel and air in combustion chamber; temperature sensor configured to detect temperature of engine; and controller configured to control injector based on temperature detected by temperature sensor. Fuel injected by injector is at least one of gasoline fuel and reformed fuel obtained by reforming part of gasoline fuel into peroxide. Controller controls injector so as to inject gasoline fuel at first target injection timing when temperature detected by temperature sensor exceeds predetermined temperature at starting of engine, and controls injector so as to inject reformed fuel at second target injection timing retarded from first target injection timing when temperature detected by temperature sensor is equal to or lower than predetermined temperature.

Production apparatus of triptane includes: carbon dioxide recovery unit configured to recover carbon dioxide from air; hydrogen generation unit configured to electrolyze water by renewable electricity to generate hydrogen; carbon monoxide generation unit configured to generate carbon monoxide from recovered carbon dioxide and hydrogen generated; methanol generation unit configured to generate methanol from carbon monoxide generated and hydrogen generated; acetic acid generation unit configured to generate acetic acid by reacting methanol generated with recovered carbon dioxide or with carbon monoxide generated; acetone generation unit configured to generate acetone and carbon dioxide from acetic acid generated; pinacolone generation unit configured to generate pinacolone from acetone generated; Grignard reagent generation unit configured to generate Grignard reagent from methanol generated; trimethyl butanol generation unit configured to generate 2,3,3-trimethyl-2-butanol by reacting pinacolone generated with Grignard reagent generated; and triptane generation unit configured to generate 2,2,3-trimethylbutane from 2,3,3-trimethyl-2-butanol generated.

Production apparatus and production method of triptane

Fuel reform apparatus includes: internal combustion engine including injector and configured so that compression-ignition combustion is carried out in combustion chamber; reform unit interposed in fuel supply path from fuel tank to injector and including reformer reforming fuel stored in fuel tank by oxidation reaction; and controller including CPU and memory. Controller performs: estimating progress level of oxidation reaction in reformer; and controlling operation of reform unit based on progress level of oxidation reaction estimated.

Fuel reform apparatus

Fuel reform apparatus includes: internal combustion engine including injector and configured so that compression-ignition combustion is carried out in combustion chamber; reform unit interposed in fuel supply path from fuel tank to injector and including reformer reforming fuel stored in fuel tank by oxidation reaction; ignition timing detector detecting ignition timing of fuel in combustion chamber; and controller including CPU and memory. Controller performs: determining whether fuel has been supplied into fuel tank; determining whether reforming is needed based on ignition timing when it is determined that fuel has been supplied; controlling operation of reform unit so as to reform fuel stored in fuel tank to supply to injector when it is determined that reforming is needed; and controlling operation of reform unit so as to supply fuel stored in fuel tank to injector without reforming when it is determined that reforming is not needed.

A combustion control apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes a spark plug for performing spark ignition of an air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber, a plurality of coil pairs for generating spark discharge in the spark plug, and a fuel injection valve capable of injecting atomized fuel. Atomized fuel is injected into the intake passage, and a homogeneous lean air-fuel mixture is formed in the combustion chamber. The air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber is controlled to be leaner than a predetermined lean air-fuel ratio. A spark discharge start timing and a spark discharge continuation time period are controlled using the plurality of coil pairs. The spark discharge start timing is set to a timing advanced from the spark discharge start timing for igniting a stratified lean mixture, such that the air-fuel ratio in the vicinity of the spark plug is relatively small.

Combustion control apparatus for internal combustion engine

Provided is a fuel reforming system that can convert gasoline into alcohol in a vehicle. Provided is a fuel reforming system () equipped with a reformer () having a reforming catalyst () that uses air to reform gasoline to produce alcohol, a mixer () which mixes gasoline and air and supplies the mixture to the reformer (), and a condenser () which separates the gas produced in the reformer () into a gas phase and a condensed phase of which reformed fuel is the primary constituent; wherein the fuel reforming system () is characterized in that the reforming catalyst () is configured including a main catalyst for extracting hydrogen atoms from the hydrocarbons in the gasoline to produce alkyl radicals, and a catalytic promoter for reducing alkyl hydroperoxides produced from the alkyl radicals to produce alcohol.

Fuel reforming system

A combustion control device for an engine capable of operation over a wide range and in which the NOx discharged amount is small is provided, as well as a combustion method for a homogeneous lean air/fuel mixture. The combustion method for a homogeneous lean air/fuel mixture of the present invention forms a homogeneous lean air/fuel mixture inside of the cylinder of the engine, and then causes this homogeneous lean air/fuel mixture to combust by way of spark ignition. A temperature at which a steep rise in a laminar burning velocity occurs when changing a cylinder temperature under a pressure condition corresponding to compression top dead center is defined as an inflection-point temperature. With the combustion method of the present invention, the cylinder temperature at compression top dead center inside of the cylinder is raised to higher than the inflection-point temperature upon combusting the homogeneous lean air/fuel mixture.

Combustion control device for internal combustion engine and combustion method for homogeneous lean air/fuel mixture

The present invention provides an internal combustion engine which can produce several types of fuels from a single fuel as needed. The internal combustion engine comprises reforming meansfor reforming a first fuel to be used in homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion into a second fuel having high ignitability, by making the first fuel contact with a catalyst formed from N-hydroxyphthalimide. The engine uses the second fuel when conducting diesel combustion. The engine can switch between the homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion with the use of the first fuel and the diesel combustion with the use of the second fuel. The engine conducts the homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion when a load is low, and conducts the diesel combustion when the load is high. The internal combustion engine further comprises a first fuel injectorwhich injects the first fuel to an air intake port when the homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion is conducted, and a second fuel injectorwhich directly injects the second fuel to a combustion chamber when the diesel combustion is conducted. The engine further comprises fuel injection timing control meansfor switching between the homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion and the diesel combustion, by changing the injection timing of the fuel. The first fuel is at least one of gasoline, kerosene, light oil and alcohol.

Internal combustion engine

There is provided a control method of a compression-ignition internal combustion engine capable of easily coping with a wide range of required loads by a single fuel. A compression-ignition internal combustion engine includes a first tank () for storing a blended fuel that contains alcohol and liquid hydrocarbon at predetermined percentages and a second tank () for mixing the blended fuel supplied from the first tank () with water and storing a liquid mixture of the water and the alcohol mixed with each other and the liquid hydrocarbon with the liquid mixture and the liquid hydrocarbon separated from each other, and a supply of the blended fuel stored in the first tank () and a supply of the liquid hydrocarbon stored in the second tank () are varied according to a required load of the compression-ignition internal combustion engine ().

Method of controlling compression-ignition internal combustion engine

An internal combustion engine is provided which can operate by either the homogeneous charge compression ignition system or the spark ignition system using a single fuel. In the internal combustion engine using a fuel containing a hydrocarbon, the fuel contains o-xylene of 10 to 70 wt. % of the total weight, and the engine operates by either homogeneous charge compression ignition or spark ignition depending on the load. The fuel contains o-xylene of 30 to 50 wt. % of the total weight. The fuel contains, for example, n-heptane as the base fuel, and o-xylene of 10 to 70 wt. %, preferably 30 to 50 wt. %, of the total base fuel. The internal combustion engine operates by homogeneous charge compression ignition at low or medium load and by spark ignition at high load.

An object is to provide a method for operating a compression ignition internal combustion engine which, using a single fuel, can produce diesel combustion when the load is high, or homogeneous-charged compression ignition combustion when the load is low. The operating method includes: employing a fuel containing 95 to 99.5 wt. % of a base fuel made of one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of a hydrocarbon, an alcohol, an ether and a fatty ester, and 0.1 to 5 wt. % of an additive made of one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of an organic peroxide, a nitric ester, a nitrite ester and an azo compound; and producing diesel combustion when the load is high, or homogeneous-charged compression ignition combustion when the load is low. The organic peroxide is di-tert-butyl peroxide. The nitric ester is n-pentyl nitrate. The nitrite ester is n-pentyl nitrite. The azo compound is 2,2-azobis(2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile).

Method for operating compression ignition internal combustion engine

The present invention provides a method for controlling a compression ignition internal combustion engine, which can easily cope with a wide range of demand loads. The compression ignition internal combustion enginehas a first fuelcontaining ethanol, and reforming meansfor reforming the first fuel into a second fuel having higher ignitability than the first fuel, by converting at least one part of ethanol contained in the first fuelto diethyl ether, and each amount of the first fuel and the second fuel to be supplied to the compression ignition internal combustion engine is varied, in accordance with the change of a load required to the compression ignition internal combustion engineThus, the proportion of the first fuel to the total fuels supplied to the internal combustion engineis increased, with the increase of the demand load, while the proportion of the second fuel to the total fuels supplied to the internal combustion engineis increased, with the decrease of the demand load. The first fuelcontains ethanol and a hydrocarbon which is liquid at room temperature.

Method for controlling compression ignition internal combustion engine

The present invention provides a method for controlling a compression ignition internal combustion engine, which can easily cope with a wide range of demand load with the use of a single fuel. The method includes: providing fuelcontaining an ignition enhancer for the compression ignition internal combustion engine; thermally decomposing a part of the ignition enhancer included in the fuelto make the fuelless ignitable as the compression ignition internal combustion engine has a higher demand load; and supplying the fuel having the a lower ignitability to the compression ignition internal combustion engine. The fuel capable of compression self-ignition is a hydrocarbon-based fuel. The ignition enhancer is one selected from the group consisting of an organic peroxide, a nitric ester, a nitrite ester and an azo compound. The organic peroxide is di-tert-butyl peroxide. The nitric ester is 2-ethylhexyl nitrate. The nitrite ester is n-pentyl nitrite. The azo compound is 2,2-azobis(2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile). The ignition enhancer is thermally decomposed in an electric furnace.

The invention provides a method for controlling a compression ignition internal combustion engine, which can easily deal with a wide range of demand loads with a single fuel. The compression ignition internal combustion engine includes a fuel containing an ignition improver, and as the demand load increases, part of the ignition improver contained in the fuel is changed into a material having a reduced ignitability improvement capability, and the fuel having reduced ignitability is supplied to the compression ignition internal combustion engine. A fuel having part of the ignition improver changed into a material having a reduced ignitability improvement capability, and thus having reduced ignitability, and a fuel with the ignitability improvement capability of the ignition improver maintained are mixed together in any ratio, and supplied to the compression ignition internal combustion engine.

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Wako, Japan

Kohtaro Hashimoto