Airborne engine additive delivery system

摘要

A method of introducing additives to an air intake system of an engine in order to overcome one or more of the various problems created by formulation of additives in fuels. The method controls at least one of the amount, aerosol particle size and timing of introduction of additives based on information relevant to operation of the engine. The introduced additives form an air-additive mixture and are carried by the airflow in the air-intake system to the combustion chamber of the engine. Another aspect of the invention is an additive introduction system that includes one or more containers for additives, a control system for determining at least one of the amount, aerosol particle size and timing of introduction of the additives, and a device to introduce the additives into the air intake system under the control of the control system.

主权项

1. A method for introducing at least one additive to a combustion chamber of a fuel injection gasoline engine through an air-intake system of the fuel injection gasoline engine in order to improve fuel economy of the fuel injection gasoline engine, said method comprising steps of:
determining an amount, an aerosol particle size and/or a timing of addition of said at least one additive selected from the group consisting of combustion improvers and friction modifiers, based on information selected from type of fuel, upcoming road conditions, octane number, air-fuel ratio, elevation, engine load, oil pressure, wheel speed, oxygen content of air, manifold vacuum pressure, driver characteristics, valve timing, particulate trap light-off, hybrid powertrain strategy, technician input and any combination thereof; introducing said at least one additive into said air-intake system of said fuel injection gasoline engine to produce an air-additive mixture, wherein said amount of said at least one additive, said aerosol particle size and/or said timing of said introducing step is determined in said determining step; combining said air-additive mixture with fuel in the combustion chamber to provide a fuel/air-additive mixture; and combusting said fuel/air-additive mixture; wherein said method provides an improvement in the fuel economy of the fuel injection gasoline engine.