Scavenging Vacuum Pressure Provisioning with Exhaust Treatment
In one embodiment, a method that includes collecting particles from an intake flow of air for a diesel engine; removing the particles collected using scavenging vacuum pressure and without adding exhaust restriction; and treating combustion products of the diesel engine.
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This application claims priority to copending U.S. provisional application entitled, “Air Filter Aspiration and Exhaust Treatment and Aspiration Fan Drive,” having Ser. No. 61/372,780, filed Aug. 11, 2010, which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present disclosure is generally related to diesel engines and, more particularly, is related to a system and method for aspirating an air filter assembly of a diesel engine, which uses exhaust treatment.
BACKGROUNDUtility vehicles, such as agricultural tractors, and plant machinery are often required to work in dusty environments. In order to avoid dust entering the air intake of an internal combustion engine of such a vehicle or machine, it is known to filter intake air upstream of the engine.
A typical air intake system includes, in airflow order, a pre-filter and a main filter. The pre-filter removes larger dust particles from the intake air, and then the main filter removes smaller particles. Without the pre-filter, the main filter tends to clog in an unacceptably short time.
The particles collected by the pre-filter are typically removed by scavenging vacuum pressure that is created from engine exhaust. However, reliance on an engine exhaust system to provide such vacuum pressure can be problematic due to various factors, such as structural complexity and back pressure being too high to accommodate additional requirements.
Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
In one embodiment, a method that includes collecting particles from an intake flow of air for a diesel engine; removing the particles collected using scavenging vacuum pressure and without adding exhaust restriction; and treating combustion products of the diesel engine.
Detailed DescriptionAs will be described in more detail below, scavenging vacuum pressure can be provided for aspirating an air filter of a diesel engine that implements exhaust treatment (e.g., Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)). In various embodiments, this is accomplished by an idler pulley that engages a drive belt of the engine, and which imparts rotational speed to a fan that produces the scavenging vacuum pressure. Notably, rotational speeds of the fan in excess of 8,000 RPM can be achieved.
The use of various exhaust treatment technologies limit the ability to use exhaust pressure to provide various functions, such as scavenging vacuum pressure. In contrast to the prior art, the use of an engine driven idler pulley to produce scavenging vacuum pressure enables the use of exhaust treatment with an aspirated air filter since the idler pulley does not draw from or rely on exhaust pressure to function. Though certain embodiments described herein achieve these and/or other benefits, it should be understood in the context of the present disclosure that all of these benefits may not necessarily be provided through a single embodiment or realized in all embodiments described herein.
As shown in
Intake treatment system 112 is positioned along the flow path of intake 118, which provides a flow of air to engine 114. Exhaust treatment system 116 is positioned along the flow path of exhaust 120, which directs combustion products from engine 114.
In operation, intake treatment system 112 removes particles (e.g., dust) from a flow of air that is provided to engine 114 via intake 118 to facilitate combustion. Thereafter, combustion products are directed to exhaust treatment system 116, which performs a catalytic reaction with the combustion products to reduce undesirable emissions.
In
An injector 128 is fluidicly coupled to supply 126. Injector 128 selectively dispenses additives (e.g., DEF) into exhaust 120, with the dispensed additives being represented by arrow B. Notably, the additives are dispensed within exhaust 120 and upstream of catalyst 122 to stimulate a reaction that is known to reduce various emissions such as NOx. Dispensing of the additives is performed responsive to signals from controller 124, which monitors various system parameters. By way of example, controller 124 can monitor exhaust temperature via sensor 130. Remaining products, represented by arrow C, are directed to atmosphere with exhaust 120.
It should be noted that use of exhaust treatment system 116 increases the backpressure on diesel engine assembly 110 to such an extent that exploitation of the flow of combustion products to produce vacuum pressure may not be practicable. Notably, such vacuum pressure can be used for scavenging particles from an air filter assembly that, if not removed, could reduce the ability of the assembly to provide an appropriate volume of clean air for combustion. In this regard,
As shown in
An aspiration fan assembly 134 also is depicted in
An example embodiment of a method for operating a diesel engine is depicted in
Intake treatment system 112 of
Main filter 148 receives pre-filtered air from pre-filter 146 and removes smaller particles from the air flow. Air filter assembly 132 then provides a flow of filtered air to engine 114 via intake 118. Thus, main filter 148 functions as means for filtering the flow of air.
Aspiration fan assembly 134 incorporates a fan (not shown in
A more detailed view of diesel engine assembly 110 is provided by
As shown in
As shown most clearly in
Also depicted in
The assembly view of
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.
Claims
1. A method comprising:
- collecting particles from an intake flow of air for a diesel engine;
- removing the particles collected using scavenging vacuum pressure and without adding exhaust restriction; and
- treating combustion products of the diesel engine.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the particles collected using scavenging vacuum pressure further comprises mechanically driving a fan to produce the scavenging vacuum pressure.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the particles collected using scavenging vacuum pressure further comprises converting rotational motion used for driving engine accessories to higher speed rotational motion to produce the scavenging vacuum pressure.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein converting rotational motion further comprises:
- driving a component at a first speed of rotational motion; and
- using the component to generate the higher speed rotational motion.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the component is a belt-driven component.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the converting rotational motion further comprises:
- driving a component at the first speed of rotational motion at a first location of the component, the first location exhibiting a first radius; and
- generating the higher speed rotational motion at a second location of the component exhibiting a second radius, the second radius being longer than the first radius.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein collecting particles from an intake flow of air further comprises pre-filtering the air to remove larger particles, and then filtering the air to remove smaller particles.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein, in removing the particles collected using scavenging vacuum pressure, the scavenging vacuum pressure is directed to particles removed by the pre-filtering.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein treating combustion products further comprises performing Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR).
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 10, 2011
Publication Date: Feb 16, 2012
Applicant: AGCO CORPORATION (Duluth, GA)
Inventors: Rex Schertz (Hesston, KS), John D. Anderson (Wichita, KS)
Application Number: 13/206,799