Patent ID: 7984612

Claim:
A method for determining an air mass flowing to an internal combustion engine including an exhaust-gas turbocharger comprising an exhaust-gas turbine ( 16 ) arranged in an exhaust strand ( 14 ) of the internal combustion engine ( 10 ) and a compressor ( 20 ) arranged in an intake tract ( 18 ) of the internal combustion engine ( 10 ) and connected to the exhaust gas turbine ( 16 ) so as to be driven thereby, the compressor ( 20 ) including a compressor wheel ( 30 ) and a compressor housing ( 28 ) surrounding the compressor wheel ( 30 ) and having an inlet duct ( 32 ), a single dynamic pressure probe ( 38 ) provided upstream of a compressor wheel ( 30 ) in the inlet duct ( 32 ) having an intake air pressure sensor structure ( 40 a ) for measuring a total pressure and a static pressure sensor structure ( 42 b ) for sensing the static pressure, and a control unit ( 27 ), said method comprising the steps of: measuring a total pressure and a static pressure in the inlet duct of the compressor ( 20 ), determining from the measured total pressure and from the measured static pressure a differential pressure in the inlet duct of the compressor which represents the pressure component generated by the speed of the air flow into the compressor; and determining from the determined differential pressure the air mass supplied to the internal combustion engine ( 10 ).