Dual fuel engine operating strategy for optimized hydrogen and hydrocarbon fueling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12129807-B2
Application number	US-202217737528-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 5, 2022
Priority date	May 5, 2022
Publication date	Oct 29, 2024
Grant date	Oct 29, 2024

Abstract

Operating an engine system includes combusting a gaseous hydrogen fuel (H2) and a gaseous hydrocarbon fuel (HC) at a first substitution ratio in a cylinder in an engine, determining at least one of an H2 fueling command or an HC fueling command based on an H2 availability input and an H2 cost, and outputting the H2 fueling command and the HC fueling command to an H2 injector and an HC admission valve, respectively. Operating the engine system further includes combusting H2 and HC at a varied substitution ratio based on the H2 fueling command and the HC fueling command. At least one of the H2 fueling command or the HC fueling command may be based on a monitored CO2 exhaust level which may be used to populate a stored history of CO2 output.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating an internal combustion engine system comprising:
combusting a gaseous hydrogen fuel (H2) and a gaseous hydrocarbon fuel (HC) at a first substitution ratio in a cylinder in an engine;
receiving an H2 availability input;
determining at least one of an H2 fueling command or an HC fueling command based on the H2 availability input and a history of CO2 output of the engine, wherein the history of CO2 output of the engine is indicative of a relative proportion of a CO2 output target reached that is less than the CO2 output target and cumulative of CO2 output of the engine over a time duration;
outputting the H2 fueling command and the HC fueling command to an H2 injector and an HC admission valve, respectively, each coupled to an intake system for the engine; and
combusting H2 and HC at a varied substitution ratio in the cylinder that is based on the H2 fueling command and the HC fueling command and less than a highest H2 to HC substitution ratio, for combustion of both H2 and HC in the cylinder, that is based on an H2 availability indicated by the H2 availability input.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising monitoring a CO2 exhaust level of the engine, and wherein the determining at least one of the H2 fueling command or the HC fueling command is based on the monitored CO2 exhaust level.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the history of CO2 output includes a stored history, and further comprising populating the stored history of CO2 output based on the monitoring the CO2 exhaust level of the engine.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising receiving an operator request for H2/CO2 optimization, and wherein the determining at least one of the H2 fueling command or the HC fueling command is based on the operator request for H2/CO2 optimization.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the HC admission valve is fluidly connected to the intake system upon a suction side of a compressor of a turbocharger.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the H2 injector includes an H2 port injector.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining at least one of the H2 fueling command or the HC fueling command further includes:
determining each of the H2 fueling command and the HC fueling command based on the H2 availability input, the history of CO2 output, and an H2 cost; and
establishing fuel flow rates of the H2 and the HC via the respective H2 fueling command and HC fueling command based on lower heating values of H2 and HC, respectively.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the H2 availability input is indicative of at least one of an H2 feed rate or an H2 storage amount.

9. An internal combustion engine system comprising:
an engine having a plurality of cylinders formed therein, and a plurality of pistons each reciprocable in one of the plurality of cylinders;
a gaseous hydrogen fuel (H2) injector;
a gaseous hydrocarbon fuel (HC) admission valve;
an intake system structured to convey a mixture containing the H2, the HC, and air, to the plurality of cylinders;
a fueling control system including at least one electronic control unit, in control communication with the H2 injector and the HC admission valve, and structured to:
determine at least one of an H2 fueling command or an HC fueling command based on at least one of a feed rate of H2 or a storage amount of H2, and a history of CO2 output of the engine indicative of a relative proportion of a CO2 output target reached that is less than the CO2 output target and cumulative of CO2 output of the engine over a time duration;
output the H2 fueling command and the HC fueling command to the H2 injector and the HC admission valve, respectively, to vary a substitution ratio of H2 to HC combusted in the plurality of cylinders; and
limit the substitution ratio of H2 to HC combusted in the plurality of cylinders based on the history of CO2 output of the engine.

10. The internal combustion engine system of claim 9 wherein the at least one electronic control unit is further structured to receive an H2 availability input indicative of the at least one of the feed rate of H2 or the storage amount of H2.

11. The internal combustion engine system of claim 10 wherein the at least one electronic control unit is further structured to determine the at least one of the H2 fueling command or the HC fueling command based on a CO2 exhaust level of the engine.

12. The internal combustion engine system of claim 11 further comprising a computer readable memory storing the history of CO2 output of the engine.

13. The internal combustion engine system of claim 12 further comprising an operator input interface, and wherein the at least one electronic control unit is further structured to receive an operator request for H2/CO2 optimization from the operator input interface, and to determine the at least one of the H2 fueling command or the HC fueling command based on the operator request for H2/CO2 optimization.

14. The internal combustion engine system of claim 10 wherein the H2 availability input is indicative of a max H2 availability.

15. The internal combustion engine system of claim 14 wherein the at least one electronic control unit is further structured to limit the H2 to HC substitution ratio based on an H2 cost.

16. The internal combustion engine system of claim 9 wherein the intake system further includes a turbocharger compressor, and the HC admission valve is fluidly connected to the intake system upon a suction side of the turbocharger compressor, and wherein the H2 injector includes an H2 port injector.

17. The internal combustion engine system of claim 16 wherein the at least one electronic control unit is further structured to determine each of the H2 fueling command and the HC fueling command to establish fuel flow rates into the intake system based on lower heating values of H2 and HC, respectively.

18. A fueling control system for a dual gaseous hydrogen fuel (H2) and gaseous hydrocarbon fuel (HC) engine comprising:
at least one electronic control unit structured to:
receive an H2 availability input indicative of at least one of an H2 feed rate or an H2 storage amount;
receive an H2 cost input indicative of an H2 cost;
determine each of an H2 fueling command and an HC fueling command based on the H2 availability input, the H2 cost input and a history of CO2 output of the engine over a time duration, wherein the history of CO2 output of the engine is indicative of a relative proportion of a CO2 output target reached that is less than the CO2 output target and cumulative of CO2 output of the engine over a time duration;
output the H2 fueling command and the HC fueling command to an H2 injector and an HC admission valve, respectively;
vary a substitution ratio of H2 to HC combusted in a plurality of cylinders in the engine based on the H2 fueling command and the HC fueling command; and
limit the substitution ratio of H2 to HC below a highest available H2 to HC substitution ratio for combustion of both H2 and HC in the plurality of cylinders, based on the history of CO2 output over the time duration.

19. The fueling control system of claim 18 wherein the H2 availability input is indicative of a max H2 availability, and the at least one electronic control unit is further structured to limit the substitution ratio based on the H2 cost.

20. The fueling control system of claim 19 further comprising an exhaust sensor structured to monitor a CO2 exhaust level of the engine, and the at least one electronic control unit is further struc

Assignees

• Caterpillar Inc

Inventors

• Schroeder Eric Lee
• Graziano Jr Michael Todd
• Singh Jaswinder
• Montgomery David Todd

Classifications

• F02D19/081 Primary

  Adjusting the fuel composition or mixing ratio; Transitioning from one fuel to the other · CPC title

• F02D19/0644

  the gaseous fuel being hydrogen, ammonia or carbon monoxide · CPC title

• F02D41/1406

  with use of a optimisation method, e.g. iteration · CPC title

• F02D41/1452

  the characteristics being a COx content or concentration · CPC title

• Y02T10/30

  Use of alternative fuels, e.g. biofuels · CPC title