Internal combustion engine system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12546263-B2
Application number	US-202118719671-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2021
Priority date	Dec 17, 2021
Publication date	Feb 10, 2026
Grant date	Feb 10, 2026

Abstract

An internal combustion engine system includes an internal combustion engine for combustion of gaseous fuel and has a combustion chamber at least partially delimited by a cylinder; a reciprocating piston moveable within said cylinder between a bottom dead centre and a top dead centre, said reciprocating piston having a piston top end comprising a piston bowl intended to form part of the combustion chamber The piston bowl has a plurality of spaced-apart protrusions circumferentially distributed around a centre axis on a bottom section of the piston bowl, each one of the spaced-apart protrusions extending a substantial part in a radial direction towards the centre axis; a controllable fuel injector injects gaseous fuel with a low injection pressure into the combustion chamber and toward the piston bowl; and a controller controls the controllable fuel injector to inject at least one gaseous fuel jet towards the bottom section of the piston bowl during a fuel injection period occurring prior to an ignition event of the gaseous fuel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . An internal combustion engine (“ICE”) system comprising:
an internal combustion engine for combustion of gaseous fuel and having a combustion chamber at least partially delimited by a cylinder, wherein the internal combustion engine is a hydrogen internal combustion engine operating on hydrogen gas as the only fuel;
a reciprocating piston moveable within said cylinder between a bottom dead centre (“BDC”) and a top dead centre (“TDC”), said reciprocating piston having a piston top end comprising a piston bowl intended to form part of the combustion chamber, said piston bowl further comprising a plurality of spaced-apart protrusions circumferentially distributed around a centre axis on a bottom section of the piston bowl, each one of the spaced-apart protrusions extending a substantial part in a radial direction towards the centre axis;
a controllable fuel injector arranged to inject gaseous fuel into the combustion chamber and toward the piston bowl; and
a controller configured to control the controllable fuel injector to inject at least one gaseous fuel jet towards the bottom section of the piston bowl during a fuel injection period occurring prior to an ignition event of the gaseous fuel, and wherein the protrusions are configured to improve the mixing of hydrogen gas and compressed air prior to the ignition event.

2 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein the spaced-apart protrusions are uniformly circumferentially distributed on the bottom section.

3 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein the spaced-apart protrusions are non-uniformly circumferentially distributed on the bottom section.

4 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein each one of the spaced-apart protrusions extends in an axial direction between the bottom section and an upper surface of said piston top end.

5 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , said piston bowl being at least partly defined by a circumferential side section and an intermediate section, said circumferential side section extending in said axial direction from said bottom section, wherein each one of the spaced-apart protrusions extends in the radial direction from the circumferential side section to at least the intermediate section.

6 . The ICE system according to claim 5 , wherein each one of the spaced-apart protrusions extends in the radial direction from said circumferential side section to a central apex of the bottom section.

7 . The ICE system according to claim 6 , wherein each one of the spaced-apart protrusions extends in the radial direction from said circumferential side section to the centre axis of the bottom section.

8 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein a central apex of the bottom section is free from any spaced-apart protrusions.

9 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein each one of the spaced-apart protrusions only extends in the radial direction over a central apex of the bottom section.

10 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein said fuel injector is controllable by the controller to inject the at least one gaseous fuel jet towards one or more spaced-apart protrusions, whereby the one or more spaced-apart protrusions being capable of dividing the jet into side-vortices.

11 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein said fuel injector is controllable by the controller to inject a number of gaseous fuel jets towards a region located between adjacent spaced-apart protrusions, whereby the adjacent spaced-apart protrusions being capable of creating a jet-jet interaction between two adjacent jets.

12 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein said controller is configured to control the controllable fuel injector to inject at least one gaseous fuel jet towards the bottom section of the piston bowl during the fuel injection period when said reciprocating piston moves from BDC to TDC during a compression stroke.

13 . The ICE system according to claim 12 , wherein said controller is configured to control the controllable fuel injector to inject at least one gaseous fuel jet during the compression stroke when the reciprocating piston travels from BDC to a piston position corresponding to 90 crank angle degrees (“CAD”) before the TDC.

14 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein said fuel injection period is initiated by the controllable fuel injector when the piston is at any one of a position being a piston position before BDC during an intake stroke, a piston position at the BDC and a piston position after the BDC during the compression stroke.

15 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the controllable fuel injector in response to a control signal.

16 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein said internal combustion engine further comprises an ignition source having a spark plug for igniting the gaseous fuel.

17 . The ICE system according to claim 16 , wherein said fuel injection period is terminated by the controllable fuel injector prior to ignition of the fuel by the ignition source.

18 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein the controllable fuel injector comprises a nozzle device configured to form the at least one gaseous fuel jet from a gaseous fuel delivered to the fuel injector from a fluid conduit.

19 . The ICE system according to claim 18 , wherein the nozzle device comprises a cap device arranged at an end of the nozzle device, said cap device having at least one orifice for directing the gaseous fuel jet towards the piston bowl.

20 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein said internal combustion engine is a low pressure direct injection fuel gas ICE.

21 . The ICE system according to claim 20 , wherein said controllable fuel injector is controllable by the controller to inject gaseous fuel into the combustion chamber with a low injection pressure of not more than about 60 bar.

22 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein said controllable fuel injector is controllable by the controller to inject gaseous fuel into the combustion chamber with a velocity of up to about 1600 m/s.

23 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein the fuel is hydrogen.

24 . A vehicle comprising an internal engine combustion system according to claim 1 .

25 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more spaced-apart protrusions are positioned to divide a hydrogen gas jet into side vortices.

26 . The ICE system according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more spaced-apart protrusions are positioned to create a jet-jet interaction between two adjacent hydrogen gas jets.

27 . A method for controlling an internal combustion engine (ICE) system, said ICE system comprising:
an internal combustion engine for combustion of gaseous fuel and having a combustion chamber at least partially delimited by a cylinder, wherein the internal combustion engine is a hydrogen internal combustion engine operating on hydrogen gas as the only fuel, a reciprocating piston moveable within said cylinder between a bottom dead centre (BDC) and a top dead centre (TDC), said reciprocating piston having a piston top end comprising a piston bowl intended to form part of the combustion chamber, said piston bowl further comprising a plurality of spaced-apart protrusions circumferentially distributed around a centre axis on a bottom section of the pi

Assignees

• Volvo Truck Corp

Inventors

• Eismark Jan
• Ehleskog Rickard
• Simonsson Tommy
• Hindi Gustavo

Classifications

• Y02T10/30

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

• F02D41/40

  with means for controlling injection timing or duration · CPC title

• F02D41/0027

  the fuel being gaseous (non-electrical control F02D19/02) · CPC title

• Y02T10/12

  Improving ICE efficiencies · CPC title

• F02B23/101

  the injector being placed on or close to the cylinder centre axis, e.g. with mixture formation using spray guided concepts · CPC title