US 12,279,341 B2
Method for heating a tank
Sonny Borsoi, Toulouse (FR); and Sorour Bahja, Toulouse (FR)
Assigned to VITESCO TECHNOLOGIES GMBH, Hannover (DE)
Appl. No. 17/427,558
Filed by VITESCO TECHNOLOGIES GMBH, Hanover (DE)
PCT Filed Jan. 31, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/052412
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 31, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/157270, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 6, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 1900939 (FR), filed on Jan. 31, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2023/0189400 A1, Jun. 15, 2023
Int. Cl. H05B 1/02 (2006.01); F01N 11/00 (2006.01); F02M 31/125 (2006.01)
CPC H05B 1/0236 (2013.01) [F01N 11/00 (2013.01); F02M 31/125 (2013.01); H05B 1/0244 (2013.01); F01N 2610/02 (2013.01); F01N 2610/105 (2013.01); F01N 2610/1486 (2013.01); F01N 2900/1811 (2013.01); F01N 2900/1814 (2013.01); H05B 2203/02 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for heating liquid in a tank, the method comprising:
providing at least one Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heating element;
providing a pulse width modulation regulator;
measuring parameters including a temperature of the liquid and a voltage applied across terminals of each of the at least one PTC heating element;
heating the liquid without regulation, with a duty cycle of 1 or 100% of the pulse width modulation setting, insofar as the temperature of the liquid is below a first threshold temperature;
applying pulse width modulation regulation to an electrical supply to each of the at least one PTC heating element for which the supply voltage exceeds a predetermined threshold insofar as a measured temperature is above a second threshold temperature, said second threshold temperature being determined as a function of measured parameters; and
determining a modulation duty cycle for modulation of the electrical supply to each of the at least one PTC heating element and transitioning progressively from the duty cycle of 1 to the determined duty cycle.