Ethanol preheater for engine

摘要

An engine system and method for preheating a fuel for a cold startup of an IC engine are provided. The engine system may include an IC engine coupled to a source of fuel and configured to receive and combust a fuel from the source to rotate a shaft. The engine system may also include a heat exchanger fluidly coupled to the source of fuel and disposed upstream of the IC engine, and a preheat circuit. The preheat circuit may include a pump in fluid communication with the heat exchanger, a motor coupled to the pump and configured to drive the pump, and a preheater in fluid communication with the pump. The pump may be configured to pressurize a heat transfer medium and the preheater may be configured to preheat the heat transfer medium, the heat transfer medium being introduced to the heat exchanger to warm the fuel.

主权项

1. A preheat circuit for an IC engine, comprising:
a pump fluidly coupled to a source of a heat transfer medium; a preheater disposed downstream from and fluidly coupled to the pump, the preheater being configured to warm the heat transfer medium received from the pump when a temperature of the heat transfer medium upstream from the preheater is indicative of a temperature of the IC engine being below a minimum engine temperature; and a heat exchanger comprising a fuel conduit extending therethrough and configured to transport fuel from a fuel source to the IC engine, the heat exchanger in fluid communication with the preheater and configured to receive the heat transfer medium from the preheater and transfer heat therefrom to the fuel in the fuel conduit.