U.S. patent application number 13/206758 was filed with the patent office on 2012-02-16 for air filter aspiration and aspiration fan drive for use with exhaust treatment.
This patent application is currently assigned to AGCO CORPORATION. Invention is credited to John D. Anderson, Rex Schertz.
Application Number | 20120036843 13/206758 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44511586 |
Filed Date | 2012-02-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120036843 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Schertz; Rex ; et
al. |
February 16, 2012 |
AIR FILTER ASPIRATION AND ASPIRATION FAN DRIVE FOR USE WITH EXHAUST
TREATMENT
Abstract
In one embodiment, a system includes: a diesel engine having an
intake and an exhaust; an exhaust treatment system communicating
with the exhaust and operative to treat combustion products of the
engine; an intake treatment system communicating with the intake
and having an air filter assembly operative to remove particles
from a flow of air and to provide the flow of air to the engine;
and an aspiration fan assembly having a fan mechanically driven by
the engine to produce scavenging vacuum pressure, the aspiration
fan assembly being operative to apply the scavenging vacuum
pressure to the air filter assembly to remove particles collected
in the air filter assembly.
Inventors: |
Schertz; Rex; (Hesston,
KS) ; Anderson; John D.; (Wichita, KS) |
Assignee: |
AGCO CORPORATION
Duluth
GA
|
Family ID: |
44511586 |
Appl. No.: |
13/206758 |
Filed: |
August 10, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61372780 |
Aug 11, 2010 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
60/301 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02T 10/24 20130101;
F02M 35/08 20130101; F01N 2590/08 20130101; Y02T 10/12 20130101;
F01N 2610/02 20130101; F01N 3/208 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
60/301 |
International
Class: |
F01N 3/10 20060101
F01N003/10 |
Claims
1. A system comprising: a diesel engine having an intake and an
exhaust; an exhaust treatment system communicating with the exhaust
and operative to treat combustion products of the engine; an intake
treatment system communicating with the intake and having an air
filter assembly operative to remove particles from a flow of air
and to provide the flow of air to the engine; and an aspiration fan
assembly having a fan mechanically driven by the engine to produce
scavenging vacuum pressure, the aspiration fan assembly being
operative to apply the scavenging vacuum pressure to the air filter
assembly to remove particles collected in the air filter
assembly.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the exhaust treatment system has
a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the fan produces the scavenging
vacuum pressure without adding exhaust restriction to the
system.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the aspiration fan assembly
further comprises an aspiration drive belt operative to drive the
fan.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the aspiration fan assembly
further comprises an idler pulley engaging the aspiration drive
belt and operative to drive the aspiration drive belt.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein: the engine further comprises an
engine drive belt, a first pulley and a second pulley, the engine
drive belt engaging about and extending between the first pulley
and the second pulley; and the aspiration fan assembly further
comprises a compound idler pulley having a first pulley stage and a
second pulley stage, the first pulley stage being operative to
engage the engine drive belt such that the compound idler pulley
rotates, the second pulley stage being operative to drive the fan
responsive to rotation of the first pulley stage.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the first pulley stage and the
second pulley stage are coaxial and the second pulley stage has a
longer radius than that of the first pulley stage.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the aspiration fan assembly
further comprises a fan pulley and an aspiration drive belt, the
aspiration drive belt engaging about and extending between the fan
pulley and the second pulley stage of the compound idler
pulley.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the aspiration fan assembly is
operative to drive the fan at speeds in excess of 8,000 RPM.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein: the air filter assembly has a
pre-filter and a main filter, the pre-filter being upstream of the
main filter and operative to remove particles from air drawn into
the air filter assembly and to collect the particles; and the
aspiration fan assembly has an aspiration conduit operative to
apply the scavenging vacuum pressure to the pre-filter such that
the particles collected by the pre-filter are drawn into the
aspiration conduit.
11. A system comprising: means for performing Selective Catalytic
Reduction (SCR) on combustion products of a diesel engine; means
for collecting particles from an intake flow of air for the diesel
engine; and means for removing the particles collected using
scavenging vacuum pressure and without adding exhaust restriction
to the system.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the means for collecting
particles comprises means for pre-filtering the flow of air and
means for filtering the flow of air.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the means for removing the
particles removes the particles from the means for pre-filtering
the flow of air.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein the means for removing the
particles comprises means for converting rotational motion to
higher speed rotational motion.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] 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 FIELD
[0002] The 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.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Utility 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.
[0004] 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.
[0005] 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.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] 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.
[0007] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example embodiment of a
tractor with a diesel engine assembly.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example embodiment of an
exhaust treatment system.
[0009] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an example embodiment of an
intake treatment system.
[0010] FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting an example embodiment of a
method for operating a diesel engine.
[0011] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another example embodiment
of a diesel engine assembly.
[0012] FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing detail of an example
embodiment of an aspiration fan drive.
[0013] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of selected components of an
example embodiment of an aspiration fan drive.
[0014] FIG. 8 is an assembly view of an example embodiment of an
aspiration fan drive.
[0015] FIG. 9 is a flow chart depicting another example embodiment
of a method for operating a diesel engine.
DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS
Overview
[0016] An example embodiment of a system includes a diesel engine
with an intake and an exhaust. An exhaust treatment system
communicates with the exhaust and treats combustion products of the
engine. An intake treatment system communicates with the intake and
includes an air filter assembly that removes particles from a flow
of air that is provided to the engine. An aspiration fan assembly
includes a fan mechanically driven by the engine to produce
scavenging vacuum pressure, which is applied to the air filter
assembly to remove particles collected in the air filter
assembly.
Detailed Description
[0017] As 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.
[0018] 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.
[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, a tractor 100 includes an engine
compartment 102, a cab 104 and wheels, of which wheels 106 and 108
are depicted. A diesel engine assembly 110 is housed within engine
compartment 102, and includes intake treatment system 112, engine
114 and exhaust treatment system 116.
[0020] 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.
[0021] 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.
[0022] In FIG. 2, exhaust treatment system 116 is shown to
incorporate a catalyst 122, a controller 124 and a supply 126 of
additives. Specifically, catalyst 122 includes an SCR catalyst
positioned within exhaust 120 along the flow path of the combustion
products. The combustion products are represented by arrow A.
Notably, exhaust treatment system 116 functions as means for
performing SCR on combustion products of a diesel engine.
[0023] 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.
[0024] 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, FIG. 3 depicts intake treatment system
112 (in greater detail), which does not rely on engine exhaust for
producing scavenging vacuum pressure.
[0025] As shown in FIG. 3, intake treatment system 112 communicates
with intake 118. Specifically, intake treatment system 112 includes
an air filter assembly 132 that removes particles from an intake
flow of air represented by arrow D. Air filter assembly 132 then
provides a flow of filtered air (represented by arrow E) to engine
114 via intake 118. As such, air filter assembly 132 functions as
means for collecting particles from an intake flow of air for the
diesel engine.
[0026] An aspiration fan assembly 134 also is depicted in FIG. 3.
Aspiration fan assembly 134 incorporates a fan 136 that is
mechanically driven by engine 114 (not shown in FIG. 3) to produce
scavenging vacuum pressure. The scavenging vacuum pressure is
applied to air filter assembly 132 by aspiration conduit 138 to
remove particles collected in air filter assembly 132 from the
intake flow of air. That is, the particles are drawn away from air
filter assembly 132, through aspiration conduit 138, and toward fan
136. Thus, aspiration fan assembly 134 functions as means for
removing the particles collected using scavenging vacuum pressure
and without adding exhaust restriction to the system.
[0027] An example embodiment of a method for operating a diesel
engine is depicted in FIG. 4 that includes collecting particles
from an intake flow of air (block 140). In block 142, the particles
that were collected are removed using scavenging vacuum pressure
and without adding exhaust restriction. Then, as shown in block
144, combustion products of the diesel engine are treated. By way
of example, SCR can be used.
[0028] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another example embodiment
of a diesel engine assembly 110 that includes an intake treatment
system 112, an engine 114 and an exhaust treatment system 116.
Intake treatment system 112 is positioned along the flow path of an
intake 118. Exhaust treatment system 116 is positioned along the
flow path of exhaust 120 and includes an SCR catalyst 122 for
reacting with combustion products.
[0029] Intake treatment system 112 of FIG. 5 incorporates an air
filter assembly 132 that removes particles from an intake flow of
air. Specifically, air filter assembly 132 includes a pre-filter
146 positioned upstream of a main filter 148. Pre-filter 146
removes particles that are drawn into air filter assembly 132.
Pre-filter 146 collects these particles until scavenged as will be
described later. As such, pre-filter 146 functions as means for
pre-filtering the flow of air.
[0030] 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.
[0031] Aspiration fan assembly 134 incorporates a fan (not shown in
FIG. 5) that is mechanically driven by engine 114 to produce
scavenging vacuum pressure. The scavenging vacuum pressure is
applied to air filter assembly 132 by aspiration conduit 138 to
remove particles collected in air filter assembly 132. In
particular, aspiration conduit 138 applies the scavenging vacuum
pressure to pre-filter 146 to draw particles collected by the
pre-filter into the aspiration conduit such that efficiency of air
filter assembly 132 is maintained.
[0032] A more detailed view of diesel engine assembly 110 is
provided by FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6, engine 114 includes various
accessories, such as an alternator 150 that is driven by an engine
drive belt 152. Notably, engine drive belt 152 engages about and
extends between a first pulley 154, which is coupled to alternator
150, and a second pulley 156, which is a drive pulley. Aspiration
fan assembly 134 includes a compound idler pulley 158, an outer
surface of which engages an outer surface of engine drive belt 152
to rotate compound idler pulley 158.
[0033] As shown in FIGS. 6-8, compound idler pulley 158 includes a
first pulley stage 160 and a second pulley stage 162, with the
first pulley stage being positioned to engage engine drive belt
152. Second pulley stage 162 drives a fan 164 (FIG. 7) of
aspiration fan assembly 134 responsive to rotation of first pulley
stage 160.
[0034] As shown most clearly in FIG. 7, first pulley stage 160 and
second pulley stage 162 are coaxial and form an integral component.
So configured, rotation of first pulley stage 160 results in
rotation of second pulley stage 162. Additionally, second pulley
stage 162 exhibits a longer radius (R.sub.2) than the radius
(R.sub.1) of first pulley stage 160 such that R.sub.2>R.sub.1.
Thus, compound idler pulley 160 functions as a means for converting
rotational motion to higher speed rotational motion.
[0035] Also depicted in FIG. 7 are fan pulley 166 and aspiration
drive belt 168. Aspiration drive belt 168 engages about and extends
between fan pulley 166 and second pulley stage 162. Notably, second
pulley stage 162 exhibits a longer radius (R.sub.2) than the radius
(R.sub.3) of fan pulley 166 such that R.sub.2>R.sub.3. In some
embodiments, second pulley stage 162 exhibits a longer radius
(R.sub.2) than the radius (R.sub.1) of first pulley stage 160,
which also exhibits a longer radius than the radius (R.sub.3) of
fan pulley 166 (i.e., R.sub.2>R.sub.1>R.sub.3). So
configured, aspiration fan assembly 134 is capable of driving fan
164 at speeds in excess of 8,000 RPM. Thus, fan pulley 166 is also
capable of functioning as a means for converting rotational motion
to higher speed rotational motion.
[0036] The assembly view of FIG. 8 depicts several components in
greater detail. In this regard, compound idler pulley 158 is
secured to an engine mount 170 by a bolt 172 that passes, in
sequence, through spacer 174, compound idler pulley 158, bearing
176, retaining ring 178 and spacer 180. Also depicted is fan
support 182 that mounts stator 184, which supports axle 186 (FIG.
7) of fan 164. Stator 184 also secures fan 164 to housing 188,
which surrounds fan 164 and serves as a connector for aspiration
conduit 138. An evacuation port 190 is located at base of
aspiration conduit 138 adjacent to housing 188 for expelling
particles scavenged from pre-filter 146.
[0037] FIG. 9 is a flow chart depicting another example embodiment
of a method for operating a diesel engine that includes
pre-filtering intake air to remove larger particles (block 190),
and then filtering the air to remove smaller particles (block 192).
In block 194, mechanically drive a fan to produce the scavenging
vacuum pressure, which is then applied to remove particles that
were collected during pre-filtering (block 196). Notably, the fan
is mechanically driven in a manner that does not add exhaust
restriction. Then, as shown in block 198, SCR is performed on
combustion products of the diesel engine.
[0038] 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.
* * * * *