System for Controlling Urea Injection Quantity of Vehicle and Method Thereof
In a vehicle that is equipped with a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) device, the ammonia consumption amount is accurately predicted in the SCR catalytic convertor based on the ammonia amount consumed by NOx, and the absorbed ammonia amount is controlled to improve the purification performance of the NOx and responsiveness to a rapid variation of driving conditions such that the purification efficiency is enhanced. A method for controlling the urea injection amount of a vehicle may include calculating an entire consumption amount of ammonia that is necessary in an SCR catalytic convertor by applying an ammonia amount consumed by the NOx exhaust amount, an absorbed ammonia amount, an ammonia reaction ratio, an absorbed HC amount, and an deterioration, calculating a necessary urea amount by calculating a necessary ammonia amount corresponding to the calculated entire ammonia consumption amount, and injecting the necessary urea amount when the temperature of the SCR catalytic convertor is in a predetermined range.
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The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0113489 filed on Nov. 14, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle that is fitted with a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for controlling urea injection quantity of a vehicle, and the method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Post-processing devices includes a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) that is disposed at a downstream side of an engine to transform non-methane hydro-carbons (NMHC), a catalyzed particulate filter (CPF) that filters particulate matter (PM), and an SCR catalytic convertor that reduces NOx through a reduction reaction.
The selective catalyst reduction (SCR) system uses ammonia (NH3) as a reducing agent so as to purify NOx. The NOx of an exhaust gas reacts with the NH3, the ammonia that is absorbed in the catalyst. The ammonia has good selectiveness to the NOx, and even when oxygen exists, the ammonia reacts with well the NOx.
A dosing module that is disposed in the front of the SCR catalytic convertor injects a urea solution so as to sustain the purification performance of the SCR catalytic convertor, and the injected urea is transformed to ammonia such that the SCR system maintains a uniform amount of the ammonia.
The urea injection controlling method according to the conventional art calculates a necessary ammonia amount corresponding to the NH3/NOx ratio, calculates a necessary urea solution corresponding to the necessary ammonia, and operates an injector of a dosing module to inject the calculated urea solution.
In another method thereof, the necessary ammonia is calculated according to the ammonia amount that is stored or attached in the SCR catalytic convertor, the necessary urea is calculated according to the necessary ammonia amount, and the injector of the dosing module is operated to inject the necessary urea solution.
However, there is a problem in effectively correspondence in a case in which the exhaust condition of the vehicle is abruptly varied.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONVarious aspects of the present invention are directed to provide a urea injection amount control apparatus of a vehicle having advantages of accurately calculating an entire ammonia consumption amount that is affected by an ammonia amount only consumed by NOx, an accumulative absorbed ammonia amount, an absorbed and detached amount of HC, an oxidized amount of ammonia, an deterioration, and so on in a SCR catalytic convertor to control a necessary absorbed ammonia amount such that purification efficiency and purification performance thereof can be improved.
In an aspect of the present invention, the urea injection amount control apparatus of a vehicle, may include an engine, an SCR catalytic convertor that is configured to purify NOx through a reduction reaction of the NOx and NH3 that is included in exhaust gas, a dosing module that is configured to inject a urea solution at the front of the SCR catalytic convertor, and a control portion that is configured to estimate a necessary ammonia amount by predicting an entire ammonia consumption amount that is necessary in the SCR catalytic convertor so as to estimate an injection amount of a urea according to the necessary ammonia amount.
The control portion may apply an ammonia amount consumed by the NOx, an absorbed ammonia amount, an ammonia reaction rate, an absorbed HC amount, and a deterioration according to exposure time to a predetermined temperature so as to predict the entire necessary ammonia consumption amount, and controls an absorbed ammonia amount according to the predicted entire necessary ammonia consumption amount.
The control portion may apply a function of “NOx exhaust amount×stoichiometric ratio (NH3/NOx)×the ammonia reaction rate” to estimate the ammonia amount consumed by the NOx.
The control portion may apply a function of “a present absorbed ammonia amount+an ammonia inflow amount−an ammonia amount consumed by the NOx (a reacted ammonia amount+a detached ammonia amount)” to estimate the absorbed ammonia amount.
The control portion may divide a reacted amount of an ammonia into a reacted amount with the NOx and a reacted amount with oxygen, and applies a NOx purification ratio, in which a specific gravity of a reaction route is applied according to a variation of an exhaust condition and the stoichiometric ratio to estimate the reacted amount with the NOx.
In another aspect of the present invention, the method for controlling the urea injection amount of a vehicle, may include calculating an entire consumption amount of an ammonia that is necessary in an SCR catalytic convertor by applying an ammonia consumption amount according to a NOx exhaust amount, an absorbed ammonia amount, an ammonia reaction rate, an absorbed HC amount, and an deterioration, calculating a necessary urea amount by calculating a necessary ammonia amount corresponding to the calculated entire ammonia consumption amount, and injecting the necessary urea amount when a temperature of the SCR catalytic convertor is in a predetermined range.
The ammonia reaction rate may include a reaction rate with NOx and a reaction rate with oxygen.
The absorbed ammonia amount may be “an accumulatively absorbed amount that is absorbed in the SCR catalytic convertor plus a new inflow amount minus a reacted amount and a detached amount.”
In the present invention by the above composition, the ammonia consumption amount is accurately predicted in the SCR catalytic convertor based on the ammonia consumption amount, and the absorbed ammonia amount is controlled to improve the purification performance of the NOx and the responsiveness to the rapid variation of the driving condition, such that the purification efficiency is enhanced.
The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other features and advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and the following Detailed Description of the Invention, which together serve to explain certain principles of the present invention.
It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment.
In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONReference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. While the invention(s) will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will be understood that present description is not intended to limit the invention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, the invention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention, and the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.
The present invention includes an engine 2 as a power source, an exhaust pipe 6 for exhausting exhaust gas from the engine 2, an SCR catalytic convertor (or filter) 10, a first NOx sensor 12, a second NOx sensor 14, a temperature sensor 16, a control portion 18, a dosing module 20, a mixer 22, a urea tank 30, a pump 32, a urea supply line 34, and a pressure sensor 36.
The SCR catalytic convertor 10 is made up of V2O5/TiO2, Pt/Al2O3, or zeolite, an is disposed in a position of the exhaust pipe 6 that is connected to the engine 2 as a power source to purify the NOx through a reduction reaction of the NOx and ammonia that is formed from the urea that is injected from the dosing module 20.
The first NOx sensor 12 is disposed in the inlet side of the SCR catalytic convertor 10 to detect the NOx amount that is included in the exhaust gas flowing into the SCR catalytic convertor 10, and transmits the related information to the control portion 18.
The second NOx sensor 14 is disposed in the outlet side of the SCR catalytic convertor 10 to detect the NOx amount that is included in the exhaust gas that is processed through the reduction reaction of the SCR catalytic convertor 10, and transmits the related information to the control portion 18.
The temperature sensor 16 detects the temperature of the SCR catalytic convertor 10 that is activated by the exhaust gas temperature, and transmits the information thereof to the control portion 18.
The control portion 18 analyzes the driving condition of the engine 2, the exhaust gas temperature, and the information of the first and second NOx sensors 12 and 14 to calculate a entire necessary ammonia amount that is to be process in the exhaust system, and decides a urea injection amount according to the necessary ammonia amount to control the dosing module 20 to inject the urea.
The control portion 18 applies an ammonia amount only consumed by the NOx, the absorbed ammonia amount, the reacted ammonia amount, the absorbed HC amount, and the aging rate according to the exposure time at a predetermined temperature so as to predict the entire ammonia consumption amount, and injects the urea solution according to the predicted entire ammonia consumption amount to control the absorbed ammonia amount.
The ammonia amount only consumed by the NOx is calculated from the equation of “the NOx exhaust amount×stoichiometric ratio (NH3/NOx)×the ammonia reaction rate,” and the absorbed ammonia amount is calculated from the equation of “the present absorbed ammonia amount+the ammonia inflow amount−the ammonia amount consumed by the NOx (the reacted ammonia amount+the desorbed ammonia amount.)”
The reacted ammonia amount is divided into the reacted amount with the NOx and the reacted amount with the oxygen, and the NOx purification rate, in which the specific gravity variation of the reaction route is reflected according to the variation of the exhaust condition, and the stoichiometric ratio are applied to calculate the reacted amount with the NOx.
The absorbed HC amount is the accumulatively absorbed amount plus the HC inflow amount minus the desorbed HC amount minus the reacted HC amount.
According to the control of the control portion 18, the dosing module 20 has the injector to inject the urea solution that is estimated in the temperature condition.
The pressure sensor 36 detects the pressure that is formed in the urea supply line 34 to transmit the related information to the control portion 18 such that the predetermined pressure thereof is continued during the operation of the engine 2.
First, the characteristics of the SCR catalytic convertor are explained as follows.
As shown in the
A greater ammonia amount than a predetermined amount is to be absorbed inside the SCR catalytic convertor 10 for effective reaction with the NOx, and it takes a time to stabilize the reaction thereof. More specifically, it takes a long time to stabilize at a low temperature due to the high absorbed ammonia amount, and it takes a short time to stabilize at a high temperature due to the low absorbed ammonia amount.
Further, the responsiveness for the NOx purification can be enhanced in a vehicle in which the driving condition thereof varies irregularly, in a case in which the greater amount of ammonia than a predetermined amount is previously absorbed.
As shown in the graph, as the temperature of the SCR catalytic convertor 10 increases, the absorbed ammonia amount abruptly decreases, and it is sustained at a predetermined level at a temperature higher than 260° C.
However, in a low temperature condition in which the temperature of the SCR catalytic convertor 10 is lower than 220° C., the ammonia is absorbed to the maximum, and if the temperature of the SCR catalytic convertor 10 is abruptly increased to a high temperature of higher than 260° C., the ammonia absorption capacity of the SCR catalytic convertor 10 is lowered, that is, the absorbed ammonia amount exceeds the ammonia storage capacity thereof, such that the ammonia is detached therefrom to cause “ammonia-slip.”
Although the ammonia is previously absorbed, it is necessary to decrease the maximum absorption capacity considering variations of possible conditions, it is also necessary to accurately detect the absorption amount at specific timing so as to control the absorption amount, and it is also necessary to detect the reacted amount thereof.
A variety of reactions inside the SCR catalytic convertor 10 are shown in Table 1 below. It can be known that there are many kinds of ammonia NH3 consumption routes in addition to the NOx reaction, and the ammonia can be actively oxidized at a high temperature such that calculation of the necessary ammonia amount has to be considered.
As the ratio of the NO2/NOx is low, the purification rate suddenly increases according to the temperature increase of the SCR catalytic convertor 10, and as the ratio of the NO2/NOx is high, the purification rate suddenly increases at a low temperature and sustains its maximum purification rate at a predetermined temperature of about 200° C.
It can be known that the NO2/NOx ratio and the temperature are important factors for the stoichiometric ratio, the reaction speed, and the purification rate, and in a case in which the HC is absorbed in the SCR catalytic convertor 10, the reaction with the NOx can be prevented such that the absorption and detachment of the HC and the oxidization thereof need to be considered.
In addition, it is necessary to consider the flow velocity (space speed) and the performance variation according to the deterioration of the filter (catalyst).
The above descriptions are arranged to obtain the following results.
It is necessary to obtain rapid responsiveness at a low temperature by previously attaching the ammonia in the SCR catalytic convertor 10, it is necessary to accurately detect the reacted amount of the ammonia so as to control the absorbed ammonia amount, and in addition to the purification reaction with the NOx, the ammonia oxidization, the attachment and detachment of the HC, and the oxidization of the ammonia need to be considered.
Also, the flow velocity (space speed) and the deterioration of the catalyst need to be considered, and the NO2/NOx ratio, the stoichiometric ratio, the reaction speed, and so on are also important factors for determining the purification rate of the NOx.
The ammonia consumption amount is accurately calculated according to a variety of conditions of the SCR catalytic convertor as stated above, and accordingly the method for controlling the absorbed ammonia amount will be hereinafter specifically described as follows.
When the engine of the vehicle is started, the control portion 18 detects the operation conditions including the temperature of the SCR catalytic convertor 10, the exhaust gas flow velocity, the NOx concentration, the accumulatively absorbed ammonia amount, the NO2/NOx ratio, the deterioration, etc., to calculate the ammonia stoichiometric ratio equivalent by multiplying the mass flow velocity of the NOx by the stoichiometric ratio (NH3/NOx) in S101.
The above stoichiometric ratio (NH3/NOx) is estimated as a function of the catalyst temperature, the NO2/NOx ratio, and the deterioration.
As stated above, if the ammonia stoichiometric ratio equivalent is calculated, the ammonia equivalent that is calculated in S101 is multiplied by the ammonia reaction rate to calculate the ammonia amount only consumed by the NOx in S102.
Further, the absorbed ammonia amount is added to the ammonia amount consumed by the NOx of the exhaust gas, which is calculated in S102, to calculate the necessary ammonia amount in S103, the molecular weight ratio (urea/NH3) is multiplied by the necessary ammonia amount that is calculated in S103, and then the result thereof is divided by the urea mass ratio inside the urea solution to calculate the necessary urea amount in a S104.
When the necessary urea amount for the necessary ammonia is calculated according to the above procedures, the temperature of the SCR catalytic convertor 10 is detected through the temperature sensor 14 in S105 to estimate whether the temperature of the SCR catalytic convertor 10 is higher than a predetermined value, for example 200° C., at which the NOx can be purified, in S106.
If the temperature is lower than the predetermined value, that is, the temperature is not at an injection-able condition temperature in S106, the control portion 18 closes the injector of the dosing module 20 so as to not inject the urea in S111, and if the temperature is at in an injection-able condition temperature, it is estimated that the necessary urea amount is larger than a minimum amount that can be injected in S107.
If the necessary urea amount is less than the injection-able minimum amount in S107, the control portion 18 stops injecting the urea in S111, and if the necessary urea amount is larger than the injection-able minimum amount, it is estimated that the necessary urea amount is less than an injection-able maximum amount in S108.
If the necessary urea amount is less than the injection-able maximum in the S108, the control portion 18 controls the dosing module 20 to inject the necessary urea amount, which is calculated in S104, in S109.
However, if the necessary urea amount is larger than the injection-able maximum in S108, the control portion 18 controls the injector of the dosing module 20 to inject the urea at a predetermined injection-able maximum in S110.
The injection-able maximum is set according to the hardware specifications of the dosing module 20, the temperature and flow velocity of the exhaust gas, and the temperature of the catalyst inside the SCR, and the set value thereof is varied corresponding to the deviation.
In S102 of the
The reaction rate of the ammonia with the NOx is calculated from a function including the catalyst temperature and the exhaust gas flow velocity, the NOx concentration, the accumulatively absorbed ammonia amount, the NO2/NOx ratio, the deterioration corresponding to the exposure to a high temperature, and the absorbed HC amount in S201, and the reaction rate of the ammonia with the oxygen is calculated from the function including the catalyst temperature and the exhaust gas flow velocity, the oxygen concentration, the accumulatively absorbed ammonia amount, the NO2/NOx ratio, the deterioration corresponding to the exposure to a high temperature, and the absorbed HC amount in S202.
Further, the reaction rate of the ammonia with the NOx that is calculated from S201 is added to the reaction rate of the ammonia with the oxygen that is calculated from S202 to calculate the ammonia reaction rate in S203.
The control value of absorbed ammonia amount, which is applied so as to calculate the necessary ammonia amount in S103 of the
The objective value of the absorbed ammonia amount is calculated from a function including the catalyst temperature, the exhaust gas flow velocity, the deterioration, and the absorbed HC amount in S301, and the difference value of the absorbed ammonia amount is calculated by subtracting the calculated objective valve of the absorbed ammonia amount from the present accumulatively absorbed amount in S302.
Next, the control value of the absorbed ammonia amount is calculated from the function including the difference value of the absorbed ammonia amount that is calculated in S302, the exhaust gas temperature, the exhaust gas flow velocity, and the catalyst temperature in S303.
The reacted ammonia amount, which is consumed according to the present driving condition, is calculated by the absorbed ammonia amount that is accumulated in the SCR catalytic convertor 10.
That is, the ammonia amount consumed by the NOx exhaust amount and the reaction rate of the ammonia with the oxygen are applied to calculate the reacted ammonia amount.
The reacted ammonia amount, which is calculated in S401, is subtracted from the accumulatively absorbed ammonia amount to calculate the absorbed amount that is absorbed in the SCR catalytic convertor (catalyst) 10 in S402.
In addition, a new inflow amount, which is formed by injecting the urea through the dosing module 20, is calculated in S403.
The result value, which is calculated by multiplying the urea injection amount by the mass ratio of the urea, is divided by the molecular weight so as to calculate the new inflow amount.
Thereafter, the absorbed maximum amount that the SCR catalytic convertor 10 can store is calculated from a function including the catalyst temperature, the exhaust gas flow velocity, and the deterioration in S404, and the saturation degree of the SCR catalytic convertor 10 is calculated through the absorption amount/maximum absorption amount in S405.
The ammonia detached amount is calculated in the SCR catalytic convertor in a S406, and the actual absorbed ammonia amount is calculated in S407.
The accumulatively absorbed ammonia amount, which is calculated in S402, plus the new inflow amount, which is calculated in S403, minus the detached amount, which is calculated in S406, is the actual absorbed ammonia amount that is calculated in S407.
Further, it is estimated whether the actual absorbed ammonia amount ranges from “0” to the maximum in S408, and in a case that the actual absorbed ammonia amount is out of the range, it is estimated as “0” or the maximum, and if it is larger than zero or smaller than the maximum, the calculated actual absorbed ammonia amount is applied in S409.
A function including the catalyst temperature, the exhaust gas temperature, and the deterioration is applied to the accumulatively absorbed HC amount in the SCR catalytic convertor 10 to calculate the reacted HC amount in S501, and the accumulatively absorbed HC amount, which is accumulated in the SCR catalytic convertor 10, minus the reacted HC amount, which is calculated in S501, is an actual absorbed HC amount that is substantially absorbed in the SCR catalytic convertor 10 in S502.
Further, a function including the catalyst temperature, the exhaust gas flow velocity, and the saturation degree is applied to the HC inflow amount to calculate the absorbed HC amount that is absorbed new in the SCR catalytic convertor 10 in S503, and a function including the catalyst temperature, the exhaust gas flow velocity, and the deterioration is applied to calculate the absorbed HC maximum amount in S504.
Thereafter, the HC saturation degree of the SCR catalytic convertor 10 is calculated in S505 from the accumulatively absorbed amount that is calculated from S502 and the absorbed maximum that is calculated from S504, and a function including the catalyst temperature, the exhaust gas temperature, and the saturation degree is applied to the accumulatively absorbed amount that is calculated in S502 to calculate the detached HC amount from the SCR catalytic convertor 10 in S506.
The accumulatively absorbed HC amount, which is calculated in S502, plus the new absorbed HC amount, which is calculated in S503, is the actual absorbed HC amount that is calculated in S507.
It is estimated whether the actual absorbed HC amount ranges from “0” to the maximum in S508, and in a case that the actual absorbed HC amount is out of the range, it is estimated as “0” or the maximum, and if it is larger than zero or smaller than the maximum, the calculated actual absorbed HC amount is applied in S509.
The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain certain principles of the invention and their practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to make and utilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as well as various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A urea injection amount control apparatus of a vehicle, comprising;
- an engine;
- an SCR catalytic convertor that is configured to purify NOx through a reduction reaction of the NOx and NH3 that is included in exhaust gas;
- a dosing module that is configured to inject a urea solution at the front of the SCR catalytic convertor; and
- a control portion that is configured to estimate a necessary ammonia amount by predicting an entire ammonia consumption amount that is necessary in the SCR catalytic convertor so as to estimate an injection amount of a urea according to the necessary ammonia amount.
2. The urea injection amount control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control portion applies an ammonia amount consumed by the NOx, an absorbed ammonia amount, an ammonia reaction rate, an absorbed HC amount, and an deterioration according to exposure time to a predetermined temperature so as to predict the entire necessary ammonia consumption amount, and controls an absorbed ammonia amount according to the predicted entire necessary ammonia consumption amount.
3. The urea injection amount control apparatus of claim 2, wherein the control portion applies a function of “NOx exhaust amount×stoichiometric ratio (NH3/NOx)×the ammonia reaction rate” to estimate the ammonia amount consumed by the NOx.
4. The urea injection amount control apparatus of claim 2, wherein the control portion applies a function of “a present absorbed ammonia amount+an ammonia inflow amount−an ammonia amount consumed by the NOx (a reacted ammonia amount+a detached ammonia amount)” to estimate the absorbed ammonia amount.
5. The urea injection amount control apparatus of claim 2, wherein the control portion divides a reacted amount of an ammonia into a reacted amount with the NOx and a reacted amount with oxygen, and applies a NOx purification ratio, in which a specific gravity of a reaction route is applied according to a variation of an exhaust condition and the stoichiometric ratio to estimate the reacted amount with the NOx.
6. A method for controlling the urea injection amount of a vehicle, comprising:
- calculating an entire consumption amount of an ammonia that is necessary in an SCR catalytic convertor by applying an ammonia consumption amount according to a NOx exhaust amount, an absorbed ammonia amount, an ammonia reaction rate, an absorbed HC amount, and an deterioration;
- calculating a necessary urea amount by calculating a necessary ammonia amount corresponding to the calculated entire ammonia consumption amount; and
- injecting the necessary urea amount when a temperature of the SCR catalytic convertor is in a predetermined range.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the ammonia reaction rate includes a reaction rate with NOx and a reaction rate with oxygen.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the absorbed ammonia amount is “an accumulatively absorbed amount that is absorbed in the SCR catalytic convertor plus a new inflow amount minus a reacted amount and a detached amount.”
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 29, 2009
Publication Date: May 20, 2010
Applicant: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY (Seoul)
Inventor: Pyung Hyun Han (Seoul)
Application Number: 12/511,757
International Classification: F01N 3/20 (20060101); F01N 9/00 (20060101);
