System and method for vehicle gas fuel management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018120282-A1
Application number	US-201615338828-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 31, 2016
Priority date	Oct 31, 2016
Publication date	May 3, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A vehicle gas fuel management system includes an ambient temperature sensor that detects a first ambient temperature at a first time and a second ambient temperature at a second time, a pressure sensor that detects a pressure for a volume of gas at the first time, and a controller. The controller is programmed to determine a first enthalpy and density for the volume of gas based upon the detected first ambient temperature and detected pressure, and estimate a second enthalpy for the volume of gas based upon the second ambient temperature and the first energy state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A vehicle gas fuel management system, comprising:
an ambient temperature sensor that detects a first ambient temperature at a first time and a second ambient temperature at a second time; a pressure sensor that detects a pressure for a volume of gas at the first time; and a controller that is programmed to:
determine a first enthalpy and density for the volume of gas based upon the detected first ambient temperature and detected pressure; and
estimate a second enthalpy for the volume of gas based upon the second ambient temperature and the first energy state.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to estimate the second enthalpy by estimating an amount of heat transfer between the volume of gas and an ambient environment.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further programmed to estimate the amount of heat transfer based upon a speed of a vehicle that includes the vehicle gas fuel management system.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to estimate a transfer of mass between the volume of gas and another volume of gas within the vehicle fuel system.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to receive a mass flow signal representing a change of mass for the volume of gas.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the controller is programmed to estimate the second enthalpy based upon the mass flow signal.

7 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the mass flow signal represents a mass flow from the volume of gas consumed by an internal combustion engine in the vehicle.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to estimate the temperature for the volume of gas at the second time based upon the estimated second enthalpy.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to estimate a pressure for the volume of gas at the second time based upon the estimated second enthalpy.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further programmed to estimate a density for the volume of gas at the second time based upon the estimated second enthalpy.

11 . A method for estimating a condition of a fuel system for a vehicle comprising:
detecting a first ambient temperature at a first time by an ambient temperature sensor in the vehicle; detecting a pressure for a volume of gas at the first time by a pressure sensor in the vehicle; determining a first enthalpy and density for the volume of gas based upon the detected first ambient temperature and detected pressure with a controller in the vehicle; detecting a second ambient temperature at a second time by the ambient temperature sensor; and estimating a second enthalpy for the volume of gas based upon the second ambient temperature and the first energy state with the controller in the vehicle.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein estimating the second enthalpy comprises estimating an amount of heat transfer between the volume of gas and an ambient environment.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein estimating the amount of heat transfer is based upon a speed of a vehicle that includes the vehicle gas fuel management system.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising estimating a transfer of mass between the volume of gas and another volume of gas within the fuel system.

15 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising receiving a mass flow value representing a change of mass for the volume of gas.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein estimating the second enthalpy is based upon the mass flow value.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the mass flow value represents a mass flow from the volume of gas consumed by an internal combustion engine in the vehicle.

18 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising estimating temperature for the volume of gas at the second time based upon the estimated second enthalpy.

19 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising estimating a pressure for the volume of gas at the second time based upon the estimated second enthalpy.

20 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising estimating a density for the volume of gas at the second time based upon the estimated second enthalpy.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Booher Remington C

Classifications

• G01N25/00

  Investigating or analyzing materials by the use of thermal means (G01N3/00 - G01N23/00 take precedence) · CPC title

• B60K2015/03144

  Fluid connections between the tanks · CPC title

• F02M37/0088

  Multiple separate fuel tanks or tanks being at least partially partitioned · CPC title

• G01N33/225 Primary

  Gaseous fuels, e.g. natural gas · CPC title

• G01N25/22

  on combustion or catalytic oxidation, e.g. of components of gas mixtures · CPC title