Patent ID: 8073638
Filing Date: 2011-12-06
Classification: F02D,Y02T

Abstract:
1. A method of determining the ignitability of a fuel of an unknown quality for use in an internal combustion engine, wherein the fuel is particularly a diesel fuel, a biodiesel fuel, a gas-to-liquid fuel, or a biomass-to-liquid fuel, the method comprising: on a control unit connected to the internal combustion engine, determining a mass of fuel injected into at least one of a plurality of cylinders of the internal combustion engine from a mass of fresh air delivered for combustion into the at least one cylinder and from a combustion-air ratio in a combustion exhaust gas discharged from the at least one cylinder; determining a volume of the fuel injected into the at least one cylinder; calculating a density of the fuel from the determined mass of the injected fuel and the determined volume of the fuel injected; and deriving the ignitability of the fuel from the fuel density.