Patent ID: 11898507
Assignee: VITESCO TECHNOLOGIES GMBH
Field: Engines, pumps, turbines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 7:
8. An internal combustion engine, comprising:
a fuel evaporation retention system comprising:
a fuel storage tank for storing fuel;
a fuel vapor retention filter;
a connecting line, which couples the fuel storage tank to the fuel vapor retention filter;
a regeneration line, which couples the fuel vapor retention filter to an intake tract of the internal combustion engine, and in which an electrically activatable flow control valve is arranged;
a venting line, which couples the fuel vapor retention filter to the atmosphere;
an electrically activatable purge air pump arranged in the regeneration line, such that purge air can be conducted through the fuel vapor retention filter and supplied to an intake tract of the internal combustion engine for regenerating the fuel vapor retention filter; and
a pressure sensor arrangement for determining pressure values upstream and downstream of the purge air pump; and

a control device for determining a loading of the fuel vapor retention filter, the control device configured to execute a method comprising:
switching on the purge air pump with the flow control valve closed;
upon reaching a constant rotational speed of an impeller of the purge air pump conveying the purge air:
detecting a value for the pressure in the regeneration line upstream of the purge air pump, and
detecting a value for the pressure in the regeneration line downstream of the purge air pump;

determining a value for a differential pressure across the purge air pump based on the pressure values; and
assigning a value for a degree of loading of the fuel vapor retention filter to the value for the differential pressure;

wherein the method is carried out during one or more predetermined periods of time and/or one or more predetermined operating phases of the internal combustion engine and the respectively determined degrees of loading of the fuel vapor retention filter are taken into account in the injection calculation of the internal combustion engine,
wherein at least one of the periods of time is a heating phase of the fuel storage tank or a cooling-down phase of the fuel storage tank.