DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine having a throttle valve disposed in an intake passage of the engine is provided. A wide-open intake air amount, which is an intake air amount corresponding to a state where the throttle valve is fully opened, is calculated, and a theoretical intake air amount, which is an intake air amount corresponding to a state where no exhaust gas of the engine is recirculated to a combustion chamber of the engine, is calculated according to the wide-open intake air amount and the intake pressure. An air-fuel ratio correction amount and a learning value thereof are calculated according to the detected air-fuel ratio, and a reference intake air amount is calculated using the intake pressure, the engine rotational speed, the air-fuel ratio correction amount, and the learning value. A lower limit value of the detected intake air amount is set according to the reference intake air amount, and a limit process is peformed for limiting the detected intake air amount within a range of values which are equal to or greater than the lower limit value. An amount of the evaporative fuel/air mixture supplied to the intake passage is calculated, and the limit-processed intake air amount is corrected using the evaporative fuel/air mixture amount to calculate an intake gas amount. An exhaust gas recirculation ratio is calculated using the theoretical intake air amount and the intake gas amount.