Method and system for water usage on-board a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10569728-B2
Application number	US-201815933035-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 22, 2018
Priority date	Mar 22, 2018
Publication date	Feb 25, 2020
Grant date	Feb 25, 2020

Abstract

Methods are provided for optimizing generation of water on-board a vehicle with reduced impact on fuel economy. Regenerative braking energy, and/or solar energy, in excess of what is required for charging a system battery, is used to operate a water extractor and save the captured energy as stored water. A proportion of the braking energy used to charge the battery versus operate the water extractor is adjusted as a function of operating conditions including a water level in a water reservoir on-board the vehicle.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
selectively operating a water generator on-board a vehicle using excess electrical energy, generated at the vehicle, to harvest water from ambient air, the selectively operating based on a water level in a reservoir storing the harvested water and a state of charge of a system battery, wherein the selectively operating includes operating the water generator using the excess electrical energy when the water level in the reservoir is above a lower threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, when the water level in the reservoir is below the lower threshold, operating the water generator using electrical energy drawn from the system battery.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the water generator is selectively operated using the excess electrical energy until the water level in the reservoir is higher than an upper threshold, the upper threshold larger than the lower threshold, and then increasing water usage on-board the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein increasing water usage includes one or more of spraying water onto a cylinder head, spraying water onto a tire, spraying water onto a brake rotor, injecting water into a vehicle engine, increasing usage of a windshield wiper, and topping off a coolant and/or a windshield wiper reservoir.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selectively operating includes operating the water generator using the excess electrical energy after charging the system battery to a threshold state of charge using the excess electrical energy.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selectively operating includes using a first portion of the excess electrical energy to charge the system battery while concurrently using a second, remaining portion of the excess electrical energy to operate a water extractor, a ratio of the first portion to the second portion adjusted based on the water level and the state of charge.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the second portion is increased relative to the first portion as the water level in the reservoir decreases or as the state of charge of the system battery increases.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the ratio is further adjusted as a function of predicted water usage over a drive cycle, the second portion increased relative to the first portion as the predicted water usage increases.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the excess electrical energy includes regenerative braking energy from a vehicle deceleration event, the regenerative braking energy captured via an electric motor.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the excess electrical energy includes solar energy from solar loading of the vehicle, the solar energy captured via solar cells coupled to an outer surface of the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the excess electrical energy includes engine compression braking energy from a vehicle deceleration event, the compression braking energy captured via an alternator of the vehicle.

12. A method for a hybrid vehicle, comprising:
selectively operating an electrically actuated water extractor using electrical energy drawn from a system battery based on a water level in a water storage tank of the vehicle; and
responsive to a vehicle braking event, operating the electrically actuated water extractor using electrical energy generated from regenerative braking independent of the water level, wherein operating the electrically actuated water extractor using electrical energy generated from regenerative braking includes:
reducing a vehicle speed to a first level during the braking event by applying a negative torque from an electric motor on a driveline of the vehicle while charging the system battery at or below a threshold rate of charging; and
reducing the vehicle speed to a second level, lower than the first level, during the braking event by applying a negative torque from an electric machine coupled to the water extractor on the driveline while generating water.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
reducing the vehicle speed from the second level to a third level by applying friction brakes or via compression engine braking.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the negative torque from the electric machine is increased relative to the negative torque from the electric motor as the water level in a water reservoir decreases.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising, responsive to the water level in the water reservoir exceeding a threshold while applying the negative torque from the electric machine, maintaining the negative torque while increasing water usage on-board the vehicle.

16. A vehicle system, comprising:
vehicle wheels propelled using torque from one or more of an engine and an electric motor;
a water generation system including a water extractor driven by an electric machine, the water extractor extracting water from ambient air, and a water reservoir for storing the extracted water;
a system battery electrically coupled to each of the electric motor and the electric machine;
a solar energy system including solar cells for capturing incident radiation, the captured incident radiation stored as charge in the system battery;
a water level sensor coupled to the water reservoir;
a nozzle for spraying water onto a vehicle component;
a vehicle speed sensor;
a pedal for receiving an operator input; and
a controller with computer readable instructions that when executed causes the controller to:
operate the water extractor using electrical energy drawn at the electric machine from the battery when a water level in the water reservoir is below a threshold; and
operate the water extractor using electrical energy generated via the electric motor during vehicle deceleration, and via the solar cells during solar loading.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein operating the water extractor using electrical energy generated via the electric motor and the solar cells includes:
during a first condition, charging the system battery until a threshold state of charge is reached while operating the water extractor at a lower flow rate; and
during a second condition, operating the water extractor at a higher flow rate while charging the system battery to below the threshold state of charge.

18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising a navigation system, wherein the controller includes further instructions that when executed cause the controller to:
during the second condition,
predict a water usage rate of the nozzle over a drive cycle based on navigational input from the navigation system; and
increase water flow from the nozzle while operating the water extractor at the higher flow rate when the water level in the water reservoir is above the threshold.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Martin Douglas

Classifications

• B60L2240/423

  Torque · CPC title

• B60L2240/12

  Speed · CPC title

• B60L58/12

  responding to state of charge [SoC] · CPC title

• B60L50/61

  by batteries charged by engine-driven generators, e.g. series hybrid electric vehicles · CPC title

• B60L8/003

  Converting light into electric energy, e.g. by using photo-voltaic systems · CPC title