Vehicle fuel maintenance systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9688270-B2
Application number	US-201514866415-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 25, 2015
Priority date	Sep 25, 2015
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A method comprises on board a hybrid vehicle and executed by a vehicle controller on board the hybrid vehicle, determining a pH based on a pH sensor positioned in a fuel system; and in response to a first condition comprising the pH being less than a first threshold pH, disabling an electric motor and propelling the hybrid vehicle with an engine. In this way, a risk of engine degradation due to fuel degradation can be reduced.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
on board a hybrid vehicle and executed by a vehicle controller on board the hybrid vehicle,
measuring a pH of fuel by a pH sensor positioned in a fuel supply system supplying fuel to an engine of the hybrid vehicle; and
in response to a first condition comprising the pH being less than a first threshold pH, disabling an electric motor and propelling the hybrid vehicle with the engine.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first condition further comprises the pH being less than the first threshold pH for a first threshold time.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising, in response to the pH being greater than a second threshold pH, enabling the electric motor and propelling the hybrid vehicle with one or more of the electric motor and the engine.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising, in response to a fuel volume decreasing below a first threshold volume, enabling the electric motor and propelling the hybrid vehicle with one or more of the electric motor and the engine.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising, in response to the pH being less than the first threshold pH and the first condition being satisfied for a duration greater than a second threshold time, disabling the engine and propelling the hybrid vehicle with the electric motor.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising, in response to a second condition including a fuel age being greater than a threshold age, disabling the electric motor and propelling the hybrid vehicle with the engine.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining the fuel age based on an elapsed time from a last fuel refill.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the second condition further includes a pH sensor malfunctioning.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising, in response to the second condition and the fuel volume decreasing below a second threshold volume, enabling the electric motor and propelling the hybrid vehicle with one or more of the electric motor and the engine.

10. A method for a hybrid vehicle having a controller, comprising providing the controller with executable instructions to:
measure a fuel pH by a fuel pH sensor positioned in a fuel system supplying fuel to an engine of the hybrid vehicle; and
execute a first fuel maintenance mode in response to the fuel pH being less than a first threshold pH for a first threshold time.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein executing the first fuel maintenance mode comprises disabling an electric motor and propelling the hybrid vehicle with the engine.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising deactivating the first fuel maintenance mode in response to the fuel pH increasing above a second threshold pH.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising deactivating the first fuel maintenance mode in response to a fuel volume decreasing below a first threshold volume.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising disabling the engine and propelling the hybrid vehicle with the electric motor in response to executing the first fuel maintenance mode for a duration exceeding a second threshold time and the fuel pH being below the first threshold pH.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising executing a second fuel maintenance mode in response to a malfunction of the fuel pH sensor.

16. A hybrid vehicle, comprising:
an engine;
an electric motor;
a fuel system fluidically coupled to the engine;
a pH sensor positioned in the fuel system; and
a controller, with executable instructions to:
measure a fuel pH by a fuel pH sensor, and
execute a first fuel maintenance mode in response to the fuel pH being less than a first threshold pH for a first threshold time.

17. The hybrid vehicle of claim 16 , wherein executing the first fuel maintenance mode comprises disabling the electric motor and propelling the hybrid vehicle with the engine.

18. The hybrid vehicle of claim 17 , further comprising executable instructions at the controller to deactivate the first fuel maintenance mode in response to the fuel pH increasing above a second threshold pH.

19. The hybrid vehicle of claim 18 , further comprising executable instructions at the controller to deactivate the first fuel maintenance mode in response to a fuel volume being less than a first threshold volume.

20. The hybrid vehicle of claim 19 , further comprising disabling the engine and propelling the hybrid vehicle with the electric motor in response to executing the first fuel maintenance mode for a duration beyond a threshold duration.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Amin Md Shahnoor

Classifications

• B60W2530/211

  Fuel quality, e.g. water content due to age of fuel · CPC title

• B60W10/08

  including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators · CPC title

• B60W10/06 Primary

  including control of combustion engines · CPC title

• B60W20/18

  for avoiding ageing of fuel · CPC title

• Y10S903/902

  Prime movers comprising electrical and internal combustion motors · CPC title