Energy Management and Control of a Hybrid Electric Vehicle With an Integrated Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) Engine

Abstract

Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) provides a promising solution for clean energy-efficient engine technology which has not yet been utilized in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) engines. In this study, a variant of LTC engines, known as Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), is utilized for operation in a series HEV configuration. An experimentally validated dynamic HCCI model is used to develop required engine torque-fuel consumption data. Given the importance of Energy Management Control (EMC) on HEV fuel economy, three different types of EMCs are designed and implemented. The EMC strategies incorporate three different control schemes including thermostatic Rule-Based Control (RBC), Dynamic Programming (DP), and Model Predictive Control (MPC). The simulation results are used to examine the fuel economy advantage of a series HEV with an integrated HCCI engine, compared to a conventional HEV with a modern Spark Ignition (SI) engine. The results show 12.6% improvement in fuel economy by using a HCCI engine in a HEV compared to a conventional HEV using a SI engine. In addition, the selection of EMC strategy is found to have a strong impact on vehicle fuel economy. EMC based on DP controller provides 15.3% fuel economy advantage over the RBC in a HEV with a HCCI engine.