Patent ID: 8166942

Claim:
An electric power generation system, comprising: an electric power generator; an internal combustion engine including a crankshaft rotatably coupled to the generator and a number of fuel injectors each operable to fuel a corresponding one of a number of combustion chambers of the engine; an engine temperature sensor; an engine rotation sensor; and a controller operatively coupled to the injectors, the engine temperature sensor, and the engine rotation sensor, the controller being operable to: control the injectors to provide a desired an amount of fuel to start the engine as a function of engine temperature determined with the engine temperature sensor, determine an initial engine operating state as a function of rotational engine speed determined with the engine rotation sensor, regulate engine acceleration from the initial engine operating state to reach a target engine speed in a target time by adjusting fueling with the injectors, and regulate engine speed after reaching the target speed to drive the electric power generator.