A load balancing descending device for controlling the descent of a user descending on a rope carrying a load is provided. The rope has a decreasing rope free end as the user descends. The load balancing descending device comprises a first plate and a second plate. A first pin is positioned between the first plate and the second plate with the first pin spacing the first plate from and pivotally connecting the first plate to the second plate and the combined first plate and second plate having a first side and a second side. A second pin is positioned between the first plate and the second plate with the second pin spaced from the first pin. An attachment mechanism is formed in the first side of the combined first plate and second plate for attaching a user and/or load. The rope is wrapped in a serpentine manner about the first pin and the second pin between the first plate and the second plate with the rope free end exiting the combined first plate and second plate from the second side. As the user descends the rope, the length and weight of the rope free end decreases thereby causing the load balancing descending device to rotate moving the rope free end in a general direction from the first side toward the second side and automatically balancing the weight of the user and load against the weight of the rope free end in order to maintain a controlled rate of descent.

A descent control device for controlling rotational motion of an object includes: at least one drive assembly for rotationally engaging the rotating object; a first substantially planar ferromagnetic moving element in rotationally locked engagement with at least one drive assembly and comprising at least one recess formed in a surface thereof having at least one magnet fixedly disposed therein; a second substantially planar ferromagnetic moving element in rotationally locked engagement with at least one drive assembly, and comprising at least one recess formed in a surface thereof having at least one magnet fixedly disposed therein; and at least one conducting plate disposed proximate the first and second moving elements. A magnetic field may be induced by rotational movement of the first or second moving element relative to at least one conducting plate in a direction to oppose acceleration of at least one drive assembly as it rotationally engages the object.

A safety device comprising a foothold in association with a mounting assembly, wherein the position of the foothold relative to the mounting assembly is adjustable, thereby allowing the safety device to be used on a variety of sloped roofs. The safety device may further comprises a firefighter securing assembly which provides a means whereby an operator may secure himself to the safety device thereby preventing the operator from falling from the roof in the event the operator loses his balance.

Ladders, ladder components and related methods are provided including various embodiments of a combination ladder. In some embodiments, a platform is provided that is fixedly coupled with a rail assembly of a combination ladder. The platform may pivot between a useable position or state and a stowed or stored position or state. The platform may maintain a position relative to certain rungs of the rail assembly while being displaceable relative to other rungs of the rail assembly. A hand rail may be coupled to the rail assembly and a tray may be coupled with the hand rail. The tray and the platform may be configured to maintain a constant distance between one another while the rail assembly is adjusted for height.

This disclosure describes embodiments of novel line dispensing devices and methods for dispensing and retracting a line of a line dispensing device.

A ladder accessory that is used with a ladder that extends out from the side of the ladder to provide footing for a worker. The accessory comprises an elongated rectangular open box structure defining at least one set of two parallel ladder rail channels that are placed crosswise (perpendicular) to the length of the box structure and are spaced apart a distance such that one of said channels can engage one rail of a ladder and the other channel can engage the other rail and both channels engage a rung. The rectangular elongated box defines two side walls that contain single hook key slots that can be engaged with rungs of the ladder when the accessory is placed lengthwise parallel to the rails of the ladder and, with a rung lock mechanism, can be fastened to the ladder and carried with the ladder.

A retractable step assembly for a vehicle includes a track assembly mounted on a vehicle frame beneath a workbed, a step assembly, and a pivot assembly that engages the track and step assemblies together. The step assembly moves between a storage position where it is disposed between tracks of the track assembly, and an operational position where it extends outwardly from the tracks, through an aperture in the vehicle's wall panel, and angles downwardly toward the ground. A foldable handrail on the step assembly is selectively movable between a collapsed position and an extended position. The handrail is in the extended position when the step assembly is operational and folds to the collapsed position when the step assembly is stored. First and second supports are provided for the step assembly to rest upon when in either of the storage position and the operational position.

An upper body harness portion for converting a seat-style harness to a full body harness. The upper body harness portion includes a front lower component, a rear lower component, and an upper torso component having elongated first, second and third webbings. The ends of the first and second webbings are detachably securable to opposite sides of the front and rear or side portions of the seat-style harness waist belt, respectively. The third webbing forms a closed loop which, when worn, extends over a wearer's shoulders on opposite sides of the wearer's head. First and second connectors are slidably connected to the third webbing, with the first connector also being slidably connected to the first webbing adjacent the front of a wearer and the second connector being slidably connected to the second webbing adjacent the back of a wearer.

This maintenance trolley (17) for the air intake (9) of the nacelle of an aircraft turbojet engine is notable in that it comprises a base (19) and a platform (23) cantilever-mounted on this base (19) and designed to enter said air intake (9) without contact therewith.

Self-locking bi-foldable load bearing segments are disclosed that can be used in applications such as ladders or ramp. First and second sections of the segment are foldably coupled to transition between an open configuration and a folded configuration. The first and second sections can include rungs pivotally attached to rails that can be further transitioned from the folded configuration to a collapsed configuration, but not transitioned from the open configuration to the collapsed configuration. Openings in the side walls of the rails allow the rungs to pivot in one direction, but not an opposite direction. In the open configuration, the openings of the first and second sections may be oriented opposite, and the direction of allowed rotation of the rungs of the first section and second section are opposite, restricting compression of the rails together. In the folded configuration, the openings of the first and second sections can be oriented the same to allow rotation of the rungs and compression of the rails together.

An apparatus that provides selectively deployable worker access with fall protection to at least a portion of the top of a container disposed above the ground. A gangway and its associated fall protection cage are selectively deployable from an elevated platform over the top of the container. The gangway and its associated cage are slidably connected to the platform via a track carried along the side of the platform.

A ladder system is disclosed which allows for stabilizing a ladder on multiple surfaces without the need for a second person or a great deal of setup time. The collapsible ladder system includes a larger ladder section and a smaller ladder strut section which are pivotally connected at a point which is at or below the midpoint of the larger ladder section. The larger ladder section and smaller ladder strut section are connected by a rigid adjustable linkage, or spreader, at a point that is below the pivotable connection. The ladder further includes a means for stability on a variety of surfaces. At the ground contact point, the point where the ladder side rail ends and the ground meet, there are adjustable gripping feet, which can be independently or in combination vertically or angularly adjusted for maximum stability.

A fall protection system is provided providing all protection for all workers in building erection. The system involves an interior net, and a perimeter net if needed. The net system may be both horizontally and vertically mobile, allowing it to be easily moved as building erection continues.

A boom mountable robotic arm for temporarily supporting an elongate conductor includes a rigid member such as a beam or beam assembly adapted for mounting onto the upper end of a boom for example using a boom adaptor, at least one electrically insulated support post mounted to the rigid member, where each post temporarily supports an elongate electrical conductor, and at least two rotation devices for selectively controllable rotation of the rigid member and the electrically insulated support posts about at least two corresponding axes of rotation.

A debris passage for a cooling box of a work vehicle. Airflow is provided into the cooling box from the exterior environment. A plurality of heat exchangers transfer heat into the airflow. The debris passage is defined between opposing heat exchangers to permit debris to pass from the airflow to the exterior of the cooling box. In one embodiment, the debris passage is underneath an air mover and is substantially vertical.

A sensor signal processing device includes an AD conversion section, a filter section, a timing signal generation section, and an arithmetic section. The timing signal generation section generates a signal synchronized with a crank angle of an engine based on a signal indicating the crank angle and generates a data acquisition timing signal by compensating the signal synchronized with the crank angle with a delay time of the filter. The arithmetic section acquires a plurality of sensor signals, which is transmitted from a sensor, converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the AD conversion section, and filtered by the filter section, in a term before and after receiving the data acquisition timing signal and generates a data synchronized with the data acquisition timing signal.

A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine having a means for performing a model calculation to calculate, as an exhaust temperature calculation value, the temperature of exhaust gas in an exhaust branch tube at the time of starting an engine, using a model representing the temperature behavior of the exhaust gas in the exhaust branch tube during stop of an engine; and an exhaust temperature actual measurement value output means for detecting the temperature of exhaust gas in the exhaust branch tube, and outputting the detected temperature as an exhaust temperature actual measurement value, wherein the model includes at least one parameter.

The invention relates to a unit for simulating the pressure and temperature conditions of an air flow drawn in by a reciprocating internal combustion engine (1) at a height above sea level, corresponding to the operating height of said reciprocating internal combustion engine (1). According to the invention, the unit comprises at least: (a) a radial inward-flow turbine (2) for expanding an air flow towards the pressure and temperature of the air drawn in by the reciprocating internal combustion engine; (b) a first container (4) and (c) a second container (5) connected to the first container (4) by means of at least a connection pipe (7) in order to balance the pressure between the two containers; (d) a centrifugal compressor (3); and (e) a vacuum pump (6) for maintaining a pressure equal to the pressure of the air flow drawn in by the reciprocating internal combustion engine (1). The invention also relates to the use of said unit for simulating the pressure and temperature conditions of the air drawn in by a reciprocating internal combustion engine.

The present invention relates to a fuel cell-engine hybrid system formed to effectively utilize an exhaust gas discharged from a process for generating electricity. A fuel cell-engine hybrid system according to the present invention includes: an electricity generating unit including a cathode and an anode interposing an electrolyte membrane therebetween; and an engine unit connected to a rear end of the electricity generating unit and generating power by receiving the exhaust gas discharged from the anode.

Methods and systems are provided for enabling engine dilution control. One or more engine diluents are combined to provide a desired engine dilution, the various diluents selected based on their respective combustion stability limits. A ratio of the various diluents used is further adjusted based on engine operating limitations.

A linear alternator assembly is provided that includes a block defining a cylinder. The cylinder block has inlet ports at which fluid enters the cylinder, exhaust ports at which fluid is exhausted from the cylinder, and a fuel port. Energizable coils surround the cylinder. A first and a second magnetic or magnetizable piston are contained within the cylinder and are positionable within the cylinder in response to energization of selective ones of the coils and combustion of fuel within the cylinder to selectively establish a four-stroke working cycle having an intake stroke, a compression stroke, an expansion stroke, and an exhaust stroke, producing at least one of compressed gas and electrical energy. The four-stroke working cycle may be varied to adapt to changes in power demanded, thereby balancing required output power with efficiency considerations.

An internal combustion engine includes a first cylinder having an intake valve in fluid communication with an intake manifold, and a second cylinder having an exhaust valve in fluid communication with an exhaust manifold. A transfer passage fluidly connects the first cylinder with the second cylinder. A first fuel injector is configured to provide a first fuel to the first cylinder, and a second fuel injector is configured to provide a second fuel to the second cylinder. The first cylinder operates, at times, to push a first air/fuel mixture through the transfer passage into the second cylinder. The second fuel injector is configured to provide at least one fuel injection plume into the first air/fuel mixture.

In an internal combustion engine valve drive arrangement having cam elements which are supported on a camshaft so as to be axially displaceable and having switch gates which are coupled to the cam elements and have gate tracks with track segments and switching segments for displaceing the cam elements, the track segments and the switching segments are formed, at least in part, in partial areas of the switch gates.

A valve operating device for an engine is provided. The device includes a cam element formed with an end face cam in one end thereof, and a control member driven by an actuator to project to an actuated position at which the control member is projected to engage with the end face cam so as to move the cam element in one of the axial directions, and retreat to a non-actuated position at which the control member is retreated from the actuated position. The cam element has a slope inclining in a circumferential direction of the cam element and for, when the control member is at the actuated position, sliding in contact with a contact part provided at the control member so as to forcibly move the control member back to the non-actuated position after the movement of the cam element via the end face cam is finished.

A valve timing control apparatus includes: a drive-side rotor rotating in synchronization with a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine; a driven-side rotor arranged to have the same shaft center as the drive-side rotor, rotating in synchronization with a camshaft for opening and closing valves; a fluid pressure chamber formed between the drive-side driven-side rotors; a partitioning portion provided in at least one of the drive-side and driven-side rotors; a timing advance chamber and a timing delay chamber formed by partitioning the fluid pressure chamber by the partitioning portion; a lock mechanism including a lock member and a concave portion a lock release flow path through which operating fluid supplied and discharged to and from the concave portion is circulated; a valve arranged in the middle of the lock release flow path; and a control unit controlling the operation of the valve.

A variable valve lift apparatus may include a rocker arm coupled with a rocker arm shaft, a valve bridge disposed to be pressed by one end portion of the rocker arm, the valve bridge including a piston insertion hole and at least one pin insertion hole connecting to the piston insertion hole, a valve disposed to be pressed by the valve bridge, and a variable lift unit disposed in the valve bridge and variably controlling an amount that the rocker arm presses the valve bridge. The variable lift unit includes a variable piston of which the lower portion is inserted into the piston insertion hole, and a check pin disposed in the pin insertion hole to be selectively inserted into the pin groove formed on a side surface of the variable piston according to the hydraulic pressure supplied to the piston oil passage formed in the variable piston.

A continuously variable valve lift mechanism for an internal combustion engine includes a cam, a cam follower, a valve follower, a rocker shaft, and a rocker arm. The cam follower includes a first roller driven by the cam and a second roller. The valve follower includes a driven face in contact with the second roller of the cam follower and a driving face. The rocker shaft contacts the valve follower. Rotational movement of the rocker shaft about a rocker shaft rotational axis results in movement of the driven face with respect to the second roller. The rocker arm has a pivot axis and is in contact with the driving face of the valve follower.

A method of controlling a vehicle associated micro-hybrid system. The system includes a reversible rotary electrical machine that is connected to a thermal engine of a motor vehicle. The method includes: controlling a step of pre-fluxing of a rotor of the reversible rotary electrical machine when a control module receives an instruction to start the thermal engine via the reversible rotary electrical machine; measuring a speed of the rotor of the reversible rotary electrical machine; and, demanding stoppage of the pre-fluxing step when the speed of the rotor is greater than or equal to a predetermined speed threshold value. The method avoids the generation of overvoltages in an electrical distribution network formed by an onboard network of the vehicle and by an energy storage unit of the micro-hybrid system.

An intake control system for a multi-cylinder combustion engine with control valves positioned within intake passageways that can vary the cross-sectional area of the intake runners to increase air intake velocity at low engine speeds. The control system includes an inner frame that can be inserted into a lower manifold after manufacture. The inner frame includes a plurality of flapper valves that are actuated by a four-bar link design, which is driven by a hypoid gear-set. The control system controls an internal DC electric motor that actuates a worm-drive gear-set, which in turn drives the hypoid gear-set to either engage or retract the flapper valves within the intake passageways.

Disclosed is an engine that comprises an engine block, and the engine block comprises a cylinder. The engine further comprises a cylinder head mounted to the engine block, and the cylinder head comprises an intake valve seat and a shroud. Further yet, the engine comprises a combustion chamber formed at least partially by the cylinder and the cylinder head. The intake valve is configured to travel between a fully closed position seated against the intake valve seat and an opened position displaced from the intake valve seat, thus allowing intake flow through the intake valve seat into the combustion chamber. The shroud only partially surrounds a periphery of the valve and extends along at least a portion of the travel of the intake valve so as to restrict intake flow along only a portion of the intake valve.

A lubricating configuration in a two-stroke cycle, opposed-piston engine for a piston wristpin minimizes losses in oil pressure at the wristpin as the piston approaches bottom center and reduces the required oil supply pressure to the engine. The wristpin is constructed to absorb and store oil pressure energy when oil pressure at the wristpin is high, and to release that stored energy to pressurize the oil at the wristpin when connecting rod oil pressure is low.

A Wankel engine having an insert in the peripheral wall of the stator body, the insert being made of a material having a greater heat resistance than that of the peripheral wall, having a subchamber defined therein and having an inner surface bordering the cavity, the subchamber communicating with the cavity through at least one opening defined in the inner surface and having a shape forming a reduced cross-section adjacent the opening, a pilot fuel injector having a tip received in the subchamber, an ignition element having a tip received in the subchamber, and a main fuel injector extending through the housing and having a tip communicating with the cavity at a location spaced apart from the insert.

A carbon oxygen hydrogen motor comprises an enclosure, a combustion chamber, and a plurality of injectors. A rotational crank is positioned within the enclosure and connected with a piston. The piston is positioned within the combustion chamber and connected to the rotational crank by a rod. A stream of hydrogen gas, oxygen gas, and carbon dioxide gas enter into the combustion chamber through the plurality of injectors. A spark plug, which is connected to the combustion chamber, ignites hydrogen gas, oxygen gas, and carbon dioxide gas inside the combustion chamber causing a reaction. The reaction moves the piston upward. After the reaction has taken place, the piston moves downward. The downward motion of the piston ejects all of the byproducts from the reaction through a ejecting valve located in the combustion chamber. Since the piston is connected with the rotational crank, the rotational crank rotates in cycles creating mechanical energy.

Methods and systems are provided for addressing pre-ignition that may be induced in response to actions taken to mitigate a cylinder misfire. An amount of engine load limiting applied may be adjusted to reduce the likelihood pre-ignition while also addressing component over-temperature issues. By limiting an engine load while shutting off fuel in a misfiring cylinder, and while combusting a lean air-fuel mixture in the remaining cylinders, pre-ignition induced by the misfire-mitigating lean combustion conditions can be reduced.

An electronic throttle control apparatus has a construction which does not use a mechanical mechanism to restrict an operating angle of an electronic throttle valve, and continues motor control so as to prevent rapid opening and closing of the electronic throttle valve, even if an angle detection unit becomes abnormal. Upon detection of an abnormality, a control unit (1) controls, without using pieces of angle information (θ1, θ2) after the detection of the abnormality, a motor (2) for driving the electronic throttle valve (3) based on angle information (θb) before the angle detection unit (6) becomes abnormal, information of electric power supplied to the motor (2) before the angle detection unit (6) becomes abnormal, a period of time (Tbc) until the abnormality of the angle detection unit (6) is detected, and a preset rate of change of a throttle angle.

A vehicle is provided with an engine, an H2 and CO tank, a CO2 reclaimer, an electrolytic solution tank, an electrolyzer, a water tank and the like. During operation of the engine, an exhaust gas is introduced into an absorbing liquid in the CO2 reclaimer so as to recover CO2 in the exhaust gas and to store the same in the electrolytic solution tank. While supplying the absorbing liquid having absorbed CO2 and water to the electrolyzer from the electrolytic solution tank and the water tank, respectively, electric power is supplied to the electrolyzer. As a result, a mixed gas composed of CO and H2 from CO2 and water. The generated mixed gas is temporarily stored in the H2 and CO tank and is supplied to the engine.

A fuel injection adapter can include a primary cavity into which a primary fuel injector can be received and a secondary cavity into which a secondary fuel injector can be received. A channel can provide fluid communication between the primary and secondary cavity, and the primary cavity can be in fluid communication with an outlet of the fuel injection adapter.

A fuel feed device for attachment to a cylinder head of an internal combustion engine has at least one fuel distribution element extending along a longitudinal direction, and at least one connecting element extending transversely to the longitudinal direction, wherein the connecting element can be used to connect the fuel distribution element to the cylinder head. The fuel feed device further includes at least one reinforcing element which is connected, on one hand, to an outer surface of the fuel distribution element and, on the other hand, to the connecting element outside the fuel distribution element.

A flow limiter for a fuel system is provided. The flow limiter includes a self-contained portion that enables testing of the flow limiter prior to assembly into a fuel system. A housing of the flow limiter is arranged to provide reduced or no pressure differential across a wall of the housing, permitting the housing to be reduced in size and thickness and providing improved consistency of operation.

A device for injecting fuel over a cylinder head of an engine, including a tubular body, an injection nozzle forming an extension of the tubular body, a needle extending coaxially to the nozzle in a form of a rod, an end of which includes a head forming a valve on a seat supported by the injection nozzle, and an actuator configured to cause a movement of the head so as to open the valve, the needle configured to axially resonate when the same is subjected to axial pulses at a predetermined nominal frequency by the actuator. A system for mounting the device includes a spacer for bearing on the cylinder head, as well as on a front surface of the tubular body at the connection to the nozzle.

A fastening structure of a fuel delivery pipe and a cylinder head of an internal combustion engine includes three or more bosses provided on each of the cylinder head and the fuel delivery pipe, and fastening portions formed by bolting the bosses on the cylinder head to the bosses on the fuel delivery pipe. The fastening portions at both end portions of the fuel delivery pipe are less rigid than one or more fastening portions in a middle between the fastening portions positioned at both end portions of the fuel delivery pipe.

An electromagnetically actuable valve, e.g., a fuel injector for fuel-injection systems of internal combustion engines, includes an electromagnetically actuable actuating element having a solenoid coil, a fixed core, a valve jacket, and a movable armature for actuating a valve-closure element, which cooperates with a valve-seat surface provided on a valve-seat body. A sleeve-shaped guide element is introduced into an inner longitudinal bore of the armature and into an inner flow bore of the internal pole, the guide element being firmly fixed in place in the armature or the inner pole, and loosely guided in the respective other component.

A method of controlling fuel injection in a dual fuel engine system includes determining, with a first controller, a diesel injection pulse indicative of a first amount of diesel fuel to be injected into a combustion chamber of the engine and a first timing at which the first amount of diesel fuel is to be injected. The method also includes determining, with a second controller, a combined injection pulse based on the diesel injection pulse. The method further includes injecting the second amount of diesel fuel and the third amount of natural gas into the combustion chamber in accordance with the combined injection pulse. In such a method, injection in accordance with the combined injection pulse results in a combustion event characterized by a second combustion characteristic substantially equal to a first combustion characteristic associated with the diesel injection pulse.

An air cooler line is provided. The air cooler lines includes a first air cooler having a plurality of air flow conduits, each of the air flow conduits including an inlet, and a first air flow deflector extending across peripheral portions of the inlets and fixedly coupled to the air flow conduits and a second air cooler having a plurality of air flow conduits, each of the air flow conduits including an inlet, and a second air flow deflector extending across peripheral portions of the inlets and fixedly coupled to the air flow conduits, the second air flow deflector differing in at least one of size and geometry than the first air flow deflector.

Embodiments for an engine system are provided. One example internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder head and at least two cylinders, in which each cylinder has at least one inlet opening for the supply of combustion air into the cylinder, comprises an intake line leading to each inlet opening, an overall intake line where the intake lines of at least two cylinders merge, such that a distributor junction point is formed, and a heating device arranged in the overall intake line which has at least one strip-like heating element, a first narrow side of a cross section of which faces toward intake combustion air flow, wherein the heating device is arranged adjacent to the distributor junction point at which the intake lines merge to form the overall intake line, a spacing between the heating device and the distributor junction point being smaller than the diameter of a cylinder.

An air intake manifold for an engine includes an air inlet to receive a flow of compressed charge air, and multiple runners to deliver cooled compressed charge air to corresponding combustion cylinders of the engine. A charge air cooler is arranged within the intake manifold between the air inlet and the runners, and includes a first core section and a second core section. The first and second core sections are arranged fluidly in parallel with respect to the flow of compressed charge air, so that the charge air is divided into a first portion that is substantially directed through the first core section to a first subset of the runners, and a second portion that is substantially directed through the second core section to a second subset of the runners.

A charge air cooler includes a housing and a heat exchanger core positioned within the housing. The heat exchanger core includes a first core section, a second core section, and a centrally located section positioned between the first core section and the second core section. The charge air cooler also includes a plurality of coolant circuits. Each coolant circuit extends through at least one of the first and second core sections. The charge air cooler further includes a coolant inlet extending from the centrally located section to deliver coolant to the plurality of coolant circuits, and a coolant outlet extending from the centrally located section to receive coolant from the plurality of coolant circuits. The charge air cooler also includes a fastener extending through the centrally located section of the core to secure the core to the housing.

A method for controlling combustion in an engine is provided. The method comprises under a first condition, adjusting an EGR amount of a total cylinder charge in response to engine out NOx levels being below a first threshold. In this way, NOx levels may be used as feedback to control combustion stability.

An exhaust gas recirculation device is provided. The device recirculates, from an exhaust system to an intake system, a part of exhaust gas from a plurality of cylinders of a multi-cylinder engine as EGR gas. The device includes a single EGR pipe extending from the exhaust system toward the intake system, an EGR manifold branching from a downstream end portion of the EGR pipe toward each cylinder, and an EGR valve for adjusting an EGR gas amount. The EGR manifold has one or more common EGR passages having a single pipe portion and branched pipe portions, and one or more independent EGR passages. Each shape of the common and independent EGR passages is set so that a communicating path in the EGR manifold communicating an arbitrary cylinder with a cylinder where combustion is performed subsequently thereto has the same volume for any cylinder combination having the adjacent combustion order.

As one example, a fuel rail assembly for supplying pressurized fuel to a plurality of cylinders of an engine is provided. The fuel rail assembly includes a fuel rail housing defining an internal fuel rail volume having at least a first region and a second region; a fuel separation membrane element disposed within the fuel rail housing that segregates the first region from the second region. The membrane element can be configured to pass a first component of a fuel mixture such as an alcohol through the membrane element from the first region to the second region at a higher rate than a second component of the fuel mixture such as a hydrocarbon. The separated alcohol and hydrocarbon components can be provided to the engine in varying relative amounts based on operating conditions.