DETECTING ETHANOL AND WATER CONCENTRATIONS IN FUEL

摘要

A device comprises a fuel line that carries a combustible fuel including gasoline, a first optical channel that evaluates a degree of absorption at a first wavelength spectrum of light transmitted through the combustible fuel within the fuel line, and a second optical channel that evaluates a degree of absorption at a second wavelength spectrum. The first and second wavelength spectrums consists of wavelengths of between about 800 nanometers (nm) and about 1200 nm. The device further comprises a controller configured to receive inputs from the first and second optical channels representing the degrees of absorption at the first and second wavelength spectrums, correlate the degrees of absorption with proportions of ethanol and water in the combustible fuel, and output data corresponding to the proportions of ethanol and water to a controller of a combustion engine fed with the combustible fuel.