Method and apparatus for controlling fuel/air mixture in a lean burn engine

Patent · Tue Apr 07 04:00:00 EDT 1998

OSTI ID:871453

Kubesh, John Thomas ^[1]; Dodge, Lee Gene ^[1]; Podnar, Daniel James ^[1]

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1. San Antonio, TX

The system for controlling the fuel/air mixture supplied to a lean burn engine when operating on natural gas, gasoline, hydrogen, alcohol, propane, butane, diesel or any other fuel as desired. As specific humidity of air supplied to the lean burn engine increases, the oxygen concentration of exhaust gas discharged by the engine for a given equivalence ratio will decrease. Closed loop fuel control systems typically attempt to maintain a constant exhaust gas oxygen concentration. Therefore, the decrease in the exhaust gas oxygen concentration resulting from increased specific humidity will often be improperly attributed to an excessive supply of fuel and the control system will incorrectly reduce the amount of fuel supplied to the engine. Also, the minimum fuel/air equivalence ratio for a lean burn engine to avoid misfiring will increase as specific humidity increases. A relative humidity sensor to allow the control system to provide a more enriched fuel/air mixture at high specific humidity levels. The level of specific humidity may be used to compensate an output signal from a universal exhaust gas oxygen sensor for changing oxygen concentrations at a desired equivalence ratio due to variation in specific humidity specific humidity. As a result, the control system will maintain the desired efficiency, low exhaust emissions and power level for the associated lean burn engine regardless of the specific humidity level of intake air supplied to the lean burn engine.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Assignee: Southwest Research Institute (San Antonio, TX)
• Patent Number(s): US 5735245
• Application Number: 08/735,105
• OSTI ID: 871453
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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