ECU Software and System Design for NOx Control Driver Inducements

With evolution of emission norms in diesel engines, NOx emission limits became more stringent and can be met only with specific NOx emission control systems. The NOx control systems in heavy duty diesel engines are monitored for OBD regulations in on-highway applications. Additionally driver warning and inducement requirements for NOx emission control systems are to be complied in both on-highway and off-highway applications. The driver inducement requirements are defined with intent to enforce and ensure correct operation of NOx control system. The NOx control systems and inducement measures are implemented in engine Electronic Control Unit (ECU) software to be compliant to legislation.

The paper focuses on driver inducement requirements for NOx emission control systems. The paper summarizes the inducement requirements with a system overview and software design to meet driver inducement requirements for EUVI legislation and CARB/EPA compliance. Besides, the impact of the EPA legislation “Heavy-Duty Highway Program: Revisions for Emergency Vehicles and SCR Maintenance” on the software and system design is explained. The impact of this legislation on software design and possible approaches for short term relief measures using diagnostic tester, smart card and/or information from GPS systems are presented.