Patent ID: 8402939

Claim:
A method for optimizing combustion of diesel fuels with different cetane numbers in a diesel internal combustion engine, the method comprising: measuring cylinder pressures in at least one cylinder of the internal combustion engine during the combustion period; evaluating at least one part of the measured cylinder pressure; deriving a characteristic value for the diesel fuel that is fed into the cylinder of the internal combustion engine; comparing the measured cylinder pressures or the characteristic values derived therefrom to a reference value that has been determined for a diesel fuel with a defined cetane number under corresponding operating conditions and has been stored in a characteristic diagram; and changing at least one of the parameters that determine the combustion in the cylinders of the internal combustion engine when the characteristic value deviates from the reference value, wherein said parameters include: the amount of fuel injected into the cylinder for a plurality of pre-injections; the timing of the beginning of the pre-injections; the interval between the pre-injections or between the pre-injections and the main injection.