Fuel Control System Research Articles

STUDY OF HYDROGEN CONSUMPTION BY CONTROL SYSTEM IN PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL

Efficient operation results from a proper control strategy. In the operation and performance of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), the hydrogen gas flow rate is one of the most essential control parameter in addition to operating pressure, water management, temperature and humidity. This is because of the high cost and amount of energy are required to produce the purity hydrogen gas. In this paper, a Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) feedback control system is used to control the hydrogen flow rate. A strategy is adapted to balance the hydrogen use based on the loading requirements, especially during startups and sudden power demands. This system is implemented using National Instrument (NI) devices powered by the LabVIEW program. This is due to its simplicity and customization flexibility for measuring, processing and recording data. Designed structure allows the real-time implementation of a robust control law that is able to address the related nonlinearities and uncertainties without incurring a heavy computational load for the controller algorithm. While it facilitating a fast sampling rate according to the needs of the power system. Test results from the controller show that the new fuel control system provides good performance by reducing the amount of wasted hydrogen gas compared with that of the previous open loop system by 30 % to over 80 % saved by the varied load. This improvement is beneficial for any PEMFC that experiences fluctuating power demand, especially for vehicle applications.

Design of fuel control system using fuzzy logic for a pre-designed radial gas turbine driving directly high-speed permanent magnet alternator

Radial gas turbine of 50-kW power output coupled directly to a high-speed permanent magnet alternator could be a favourable option as an emergency power plant at areas suffering from severe disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and volcanoes. This study aims to use the results of the subtractive clustering algorithm and the least square estimation method to generate a fuzzy model of the pre-designed radial gas turbine system whereby the fuzzy model takes the fuel mass flow rate as an input, and gives the value of the gas turbine net work Wnet as an output. In addition, a suitable controller of the fuel mass flow rate is designed and analysed so that the speed of the gas turbine and the alternator is maintained at 42,000 rpm. A proportional derivative fuzzy controller was built and tested. Results illustrate that the proposed controller achieves the desired performance and stability, and showed the effectiveness of the approach. Conclusions of this study will constitute a base for further studies that could be made to enhance the performance of the proposed emergency power plant system.

Hardware-in-the-loop simulation of two-shaft gas turbine engine’s electronic control unit

An electronic control unit for a fuel control system of two-shaft gas turbine engines plays an undisputable role in providing the required fuel flow to the engine as well as satisfying engine’s operational characteristics. One of the main challenges in designing such unit is the accuracy of its performance and the control strategy implementation on an electronic hardware via repeatable and comprehensive tests. In this article, a hardware-in-the-loop simulation is presented for testing of the electronic control unit for a two-shaft gas turbine engine. For this purpose, the engine is first presented and modeled by the use of Wiener block structure method. The fuel controller with Min–Max structure is then explained. Finally, the controller is implemented on a PC/104 hardware and tested in an hardware-in-the-loop simulation in order to verify its correct performance. The results show that the fuel controller satisfies all of the engine’s physical constraints, confirming the controller competence and successful implementation of the engine control algorithm on the PC/104 hardware.

Anytime system level verification via parallel random exhaustive hardware in the loop simulation

System level verification of cyber-physical systems has the goal of verifying that the whole (i.e., software + hardware) system meets the given specifications. Model checkers for hybrid systems cannot handle system level verification of actual systems. Thus, Hardware In the Loop Simulation (HILS) is currently the main workhorse for system level verification. By using model checking driven exhaustive HILS, System Level Formal Verification (SLFV) can be effectively carried out for actual systems.We present a parallel random exhaustive HILS based model checker for hybrid systems that, by simulating all operational scenarios exactly once in a uniform random order, is able to provide, at any time during the verification process, an upper bound to the probability that the System Under Verification exhibits an error in a yet-to-be-simulated scenario (Omission Probability).We show effectiveness of the proposed approach by presenting experimental results on SLFV of the Inverted Pendulum on a Cart and the Fuel Control System examples in the Simulink distribution. To the best of our knowledge, no previously published model checker can exhaustively verify hybrid systems of such a size and provide at any time an upper bound to the Omission Probability.

Adaptive Fuzzy Sugeno Large of Maxima Optimization for Gas Turbine Biofuel Speed Controllers

Modern day gas turbines are important sources of electrical power generation, and are regarded as the prime movers in aerospace, marine propulsion. The depletion of fossil fuel resources has paved the way for the usage of biofuel and renewable energy. The challenge to this is the fact that biofuel has been considered as an alternative to fossil fuel for power generation to ensure the reliability and dependability of renewable fuels in a complex multi-domain systems such as gas turbines. The main objective of this study is to optimize the fuel control system parameters of the Rowen gas turbine model and the turbine speed controllers. Furthermore, to render the Rowen model simulation relevant for biofuel applications, real-time experimental data on speed and loads were obtained. Thus, this paper proposes micro turbines that run on biofuel-based tuned Fuzzy Sugeno Large of Maxima (FSLOM). Four controllers were used to track the speed and load data. The experimental results show that, fuzzy controllers with online gain tuning, result in the best speed controllers performance (2.0- 1.05 Sec) for the biofuel operation compared to other controllers.

Research on the performance and emission characteristics of the LNG-diesel marine engine

Based on the marine diesel engine using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative fuel, a control system for a dual fuel engine had been designed with the use of the model-based design (MBD) method to reduce the development time. Without changing the original engine structure, a LNG supply system and electronic control system were added to the engine. All of the performance experiments were carried out according to the propulsion characteristics and load characteristics. The fuel economy and emissions of the dual fuel diesel engine were investigated compared to the original diesel engine. The cost, Braked-specific fuel consumption (BSFC), and hydrocarbon (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) contents were tested. The results show that the dual fuel control system could work steadily over a long period of time. Compared to the original diesel engine, the maximum decrease of BSFC was 13.4% at 1300 r min−1. Thus, the maximum saved cost is 124 RMB h−1 according to Chinese prices of diesel fuel and LNG. The PM and NOx emissions decreased significantly, while the CO and HC emissions increased slightly.

Analysis on Failure of Alternate Control between Electronics and Hydraulic Adjustment System for a Type of Engine

This article briefly describes the main characteristics of a certain type of engine fuel control system, deeply researches the alternate control of electronics and mechanical hydraulic actuator in the throttle and the largest state of the high-pressure speed regulation aiming at the speed control system malfunction,and avoid the such failure of the engine.

Design of Fuel Cell Monitoring and Control System Based on LabVIEW and CAN Bus Communication

In order to realize monitor and control multiple fuel cell group, design a PEMFC monitoring and control system. The system uses LabVIEW as the computer software platform. By calling the USBCAN card’s driver, LabVIEW realize the communication with CAN bus; By connecting with each data acquisition and control module,the CAN bus can realize data acquisition and hardware control, so as to realize the monitoring and control of the fuel cell system by the computer.

ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ ПРИМЕНЕНИЯ ЭЛЕКТРОННОЙ СИСТЕМЫ РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЯ ТОПЛИВОПОДАЧИ ДЛЯ ОДНОВАЛЬНОГО ГАЗОТУРБИННОГО ЭНЕРГОАГРЕГАТА

ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ ПРИМЕНЕНИЯ ЭЛЕКТРОННОЙ СИСТЕМЫ РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЯ ТОПЛИВОПОДАЧИ ДЛЯ ОДНОВАЛЬНОГО ГАЗОТУРБИННОГО ЭНЕРГОАГРЕГАТА

Design of active stability control system of agricultural off-road vehicles

Part of active stability control system design of an agricultural technological vehicle designated for working in mountain and foothill areas is described. The principle of active control of angular velocities of the centre of gravity has been used. During the manoeuvre, active tipping axes are identified by orientation of the weight vector. From experimental tests of a machine MT8-222 based on the Standard STN 47 0170, the real records of angular velocities were obtained. Tests were executed on the slope with an average slope of 32 degrees. From computation critical angular velocities were gained, by which the machine could get into the position of labile stability during the manoeuvre. The regulator was simulated in Matlab<sup>®</sup> which controlled the actual value of angular velocity compared with the critical one. In case the boundary zone of critical angular velocity was reached, the regulator sends a signal to the fuel control system and then vehicle speed decreased. During experimental tests, the vehicle did not turn over. Therefore, the angular velocity was simulated by a generated function so that the functionality of the designed regulator was verified.

Progress in electronic fuel injection control systems for automotive diesel engines

The fuel injection timing and the fuel quantity are two of the major parameters to be precisely controlled to optimise diesel engine. This paper presents a new electronic injection timing control based on direct sensing of the start of combustion. Although the injection timing is usually optimised against engine rpm and load, it is also affected by the atmospheric pressure, coolant temperature, fuel properties and injection rate deterioration. By using a start–of–combustion sensor the influence of these parameters on injection timing can be compensated for and the engine performance can be recovered. A new fuel quantity control has been also developed. Instead of 'spill ring' control, an electronic magnetic valve with fast response has been adopted, which enables more precise control of the amount of fuel injected.

The compensation of actuator delay for hardware-in-the-loop simulation of a jet engine fuel control unit

Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) is a type of real-time simulation test that is different from a pure real-time simulation test due to a real component added to the loop. Since HIL includes numerical and physical components, a transfer system is required to link these parts. The transfer system typically consists of a set of actuators and sensors. In order to get accurate test results, the transfer system dynamic effects need to be mitigated. The fuel control unit (FCU) is an electro-hydraulic component of the fuel control system in gas turbine engines. Investigation of FCU performance through HIL technique requires the numerical model of other related parts, such as the jet engine and the designed electronic control unit. In addition, a transfer system is employed to link the FCU hardware and the numerical model. The objective of this study was to implement the HIL simulation of the FCU. To get accurate simulation results, the inverse and polynomial compensation techniques were proposed to compensate time delays resulting from inherent dynamics of the transfer system. Finally, the results obtained by applying both of the methods were compared.

Polynomial-based time-delay compensation for hardware-in-the-loop simulation of a jet engine fuel control unit

Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) is a simulation test different from pure real time simulation test because a real component is added to the loop. Since HIL includes a numerical and physical component, a transfer system (actuators and sensors) is required to link these parts. To have accurate test results, the transfer system dynamic effects need to be mitigated. The fuel control unit (FCU) is an electro-hydraulic component of fuel control system in gas turbine engines. Investigation on FCU performance through HIL technique requires the numerical model of other related parts such as the jet engine and the designed electronic control unit (ECU). In addition, a transfer system is employed to link the FCU hardware and the numerical model. The objective of this study is to implement the HIL simulation of FCU. To have accurate simulation results, a polynomial approach is proposed to compensate time delays resulting from inherent dynamics of the transfer system.

Design of New Ecological Combustion Engine with Double Potential Power Output

Internal combustion engine popularity has been won commercially by the four-stroke type engine surpassing the two-stroke and rotary wankel engines in the world market places. Commercial engines both gasoline and diesel fuels are mostly using the four-stroke principle and even the hybrid cars still rely on this type of engine as their backup source of power. Current research in this areas are optimizing the effectiveness of the four-stroke combustion engine related to fuel consumption, fuel-air mixture, reuse of exhaust energy to feed air inflow, fuel control system to feed exact volume of fuel, exact firing time using intelligent control unit and lower hydrocarbon emissions. However, the development in the engine power output generation is limited due to nearly satisfied expectation of the automotive users caused by limited road development; meanwhile, the short range aerospace engine technology has limited attention in the advanced countries but certainly not in the archipelago country such as Indonesia. This paper is classified to initiates first publication from series of research log book on a new engine design that promotes double power output principle called Double Power Ecological Engine (DPE) for power drive vehicles. The design of DPE engine is located in the firing order, which has direct influence to the new design configuration of crank shaft, air inlet, exhaust and the piston head geometry. The ultimate design of this combustion engine is secured under the firing orders, which are made to secure power output twice as much as it is in the four-stroke engine so that double potential power engine is promoted under ecological fuel ethanol. The design of DPE engine of this research is expected to generate 280 kW power output based on the 1.4 liter engine, which commercially generate around 141 kW. Further research will show the effectiveness of the DPE engine design leading to commercial application.

Electronic Returnless Fuel System Fault Diagnosis and Isolation: A Data-Driven Approach


 
 
 The Electronic Return-less Fuel System (ERFS) manages the delivery of fuel from the fuel tank to the engine. The pressure in the fuel line is electronically controlled by the fuel system control module by speeding up or slowing down the fuel pump. This allows the system to efficiently control the amount of fuel provided to the engine when compared to vehicles equipped with a standard fuel system wherein the fuel pump continuously runs at full speed. A failure in the fuel system that impacts the ability to deliver fuel to the engine will have an immediate effect on system performance. Consequently, improved reliability and availability, and reduction in the number of walk-home situations require efficient fault detection, isolation and prognosis of the ERFS system. This paper develops and implements data-driven fault detection, isolation and severity estimation algorithms for the ERFS. The HIL Fuel System Rig and a Chevrolet Silverado truck were used to collect and analyze the fuel system behavior under different fault conditions. Several data-driven classifiers, such as support vector machines, K- nearest Neighbor, Discriminant analysis, Bayes classifier, Partial- least squares, Quadratic and Linear classifiers, were implemented on a limited set of data for both training and testing. Regression techniques, such as Partial least squares regression and Principle component regression, are used to estimate the severity of faults. The resulting solution approach has the potential to be applicable to a wide variety of systems, ranging from automobiles to aerospace systems.
 
 

The Control of Fuel System for Combustion Piston Type Hopping Robot

Various hopping robots use the different methods to release energy for hop. The use of fuel with oxidant can provide enough potential energy for hopping by combustion. The fuel control system for combustion type hopping robot is presented. Maximum power of explosion can be obtained for high hop by mixing, fuel & oxidant in correct amount of ratio. The feedback fuel control system is presented which adjusts the ratio of fuel and oxidant to generate the desired pressure inside cylinder by controlling the fuel & oxidant pressures individually. The mixing process of fuel and oxidant takes place inside the cylinder. A simulation model of system in SIMULINK is established by using MATLAB software.

Bayesian statistical model checking with application to Stateflow/Simulink verification

We address the problem of model checking stochastic systems, i.e., checking whether a stochastic system satisfies a certain temporal property with a probability greater (or smaller) than a fixed threshold. In particular, we present a Statistical Model Checking (SMC) approach based on Bayesian statistics. We show that our approach is feasible for a certain class of hybrid systems with stochastic transitions, a generalization of Simulink/Stateflow models. Standard approaches to stochastic discrete systems require numerical solutions for large optimization problems and quickly become infeasible with larger state spaces. Generalizations of these techniques to hybrid systems with stochastic effects are even more challenging. The SMC approach was pioneered by Younes and Simmons in the discrete and non-Bayesian case. It solves the verification problem by combining randomized sampling of system traces (which is very efficient for Simulink/Stateflow) with hypothesis testing (i.e., testing against a probability threshold) or estimation (i.e., computing with high probability a value close to the true probability). We believe SMC is essential for scaling up to large Stateflow/Simulink models. While the answer to the verification problem is not guaranteed to be correct, we prove that Bayesian SMC can make the probability of giving a wrong answer arbitrarily small. The advantage is that answers can usually be obtained much faster than with standard, exhaustive model checking techniques. We apply our Bayesian SMC approach to a representative example of stochastic discrete-time hybrid system models in Stateflow/Simulink: a fuel control system featuring hybrid behavior and fault tolerance. We show that our technique enables faster verification than state-of-the-art statistical techniques. We emphasize that Bayesian SMC is by no means restricted to Stateflow/Simulink models. It is in principle applicable to a variety of stochastic models from other domains, e.g., systems biology.

Study And Optimization Of Ramjet Fuel System Control Rule Based On Fuzzy-IMC

Study And Optimization Of Ramjet Fuel System Control Rule Based On Fuzzy-IMC

Development of an air fuel control system for a domestic wood pellet boiler

Wood pellets are a kind of solid biomass energy and a renewable energy source. Made by compressing sawdust, wood pellets have a higher energy density than split firewood and wood chips. In 2007, the new and renewable energy (NRE) portion was 2.4% with respect to total primary energy in Korea. The Korean government wants to increase the new and renewable energy (NRE) portion up to 6.1% by 2020 [1]. To achieve this target, the government has been establishing some policies, such as incentive policy, NRE mandatory use for public building and renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and so on. To supply wood pellets as fuel for the combustion chamber of a wood pellet boiler, most domestic wood pellet boilers put a constant volume by using an auger type fuel feed system. In an auger system as fuel feeding, there is the possibility of changing energy input due to the different density of wood pellets even in a constant volume flow rate of wood pellets. If fuel input rate is changed without any correction of air flow rate for combustion, the condition of combustion in a wood pellet boiler can be deteriorated. We have developed an air-fuel control system for a domestic wood pellet boiler by using flue gas oxygen concentration measurement and a PID controller. To measure O2 concentration of flue gas, a wide band O2 sensor was adopted. We changed fuel input from 100% to 50% by artificial manipulation to confirm the control system. The O2 concentration in flue gas can be controlled to be 8.5% ± 1% without significant change of CO and NOx concentration.

Hardware-in-the-loop simulation for testing of electro-hydraulic fuel control unit in a jet engine application

A hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation framework for testing an experimental electro-hydraulic fuel control unit (FCU) within the numerical simulation of a turbojet engine is presented. The HIL simulator is used to create control signals, and hydraulic and mechanical loads to emulate the operating conditions with a state-of-the-art hydraulic test bench. In a real engine, the FCU contains a miniature gear-type liquid-fuel pump which is driven at a fraction of the engine rotor speed mechanically by a gear. In this study, the engine is simulated numerically and an electric motor is employed to drive the pump instead of the mechanical system. The real-time simulation of the turbojet engine thermodynamic model is implemented on an industrial personal computer with an input/output board in connection with the electro-hydraulic system. Comparison between the HIL simulation and software simulation of the whole system shows the propriety of the HIL simulation platform to test and evaluate a fuel control system.