Energy management for vehicular electric power systems

The electric energy consumption in passenger vehicles is rapidly increasing. To limit the associated increase in fuel consumption, an energy management system has been developed. This system exploits the fact that the losses in the internal combustion engine vary with the operating point, and uses the possibility to temporarily store electric energy in a battery, such that electric energy is only produced at moments when it is cheap to generate. To come to a practically applicable solution, a vehicle model is derived, containing only the component characteristics relevant for this application. The energy management problem is formulated as an optimization problem. The fuel consumption over a driving cycle is minimized, while respecting physical limitations of the components and maintaining an acceptable energy level of the battery. Several optimization methods are studied to come to a solution. The dynamic optimization problem is solved using Dynamic Programming. After rewriting it as a static optimization problem and approximating the cost function by a quadratic function, the problem is solved using Quadratic Programming, which requires less computation time. A real-time implementable strategy has been derived from the Quadratic Programming problem, that does not require a prediction of the future driving cycle. This strategy compares the current cost of producing electric energy with the estimated average cost. By adapting the average cost based on the energy level of the battery, it is ensured that the battery energy level will remain around the desired value. Simulations show that a fuel reduction up till 2% can be obtained on a conventional vehicle without major hardware changes. Higher reductions are possible on the exhaust emissions. To predict and explain the amount of fuel reduction that can be obtained with a given vehicle configuration, a set of engineering rules is derived based on typical component characteristics. Their results correspond reasonably well with the simulations. An advanced power net topology is studied which contains both a battery and an ultracapacitor that are connected by a DC-DC converter and a switch. Because of the increased complexity, this system is modeled using linear and piecewise linear approximations of the component characteristics, such that the energy management problem can be casted as a Linear Programming problem. The discrete switch makes it a Mixed Integer Linear Programming Problem. A realtime strategy, similar to the strategy for the conventional power net, has been derived. The addition fuel reduction that is obtained with the dual storage power net is small, because the maximum profit that can be obtained with an ideal lossless battery is not much higher than with a normal battery. Subsequently, hybrid electric vehicles are studied that use an Integrated Starter Generator which can be used for generating electric power and for vehicle propulsion. Several conSummary figurations are studied with respect to their potential fuel reduction. Configurations that enable start-stop operation of the engine obtain a much higher fuel reduction, up to 40%. The controllers are tested in real-time on a Hardware-in-the-Loop environment, where a vehicle simulation model is combined with existing electric components. It is shown that the electric power setpoints provided by an energy management strategy can be realized in practice

MIAM2000: Literature study on the use of additional sensors in controllers

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Fuel reduction of parallel hybrid electric vehicles

This paper compares the benefits of two parallel drivetrain configurations with an integrated starter generator (ISG): one with the ISG connected directly to the engine, and one with the ISG connected to the drivetrain, after the clutch. Both configurations include start-stop operation, but only the latter one can turn off the engine during propulsion. The effect on fuel economy is analyzed by simulations using optimization over a given driving cycle. Results show that with the latter configuration a much higher fuel reduction can be obtained

Online energy management for hybrid electric vehicles

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are equipped with multiple power sources for improving the efficiency and performance of their power supply system. An energy management (EM) strategy is needed to optimize the internal power flows and satisfy the driver's power demand. To achieve maximum fuel profits from EM, many solution methods have been presented. Optimal solution methods are typically not feasible in an online application due to their computational demand and their need to have a priori knowledge about future vehicle power demand. In this paper, an online EM strategy is presented with the ability to mimic the optimal solution but without using a priori road information. Rather than solving a mathematical optimization problem, the methodology concentrates on a physical explanation about when to produce, consume, and store electric power. This immediately reveals the vehicle characteristics that are important for EM. It is shown that this concept applies to many existing HEVs as well as possible future vehicle configurations. Since the method only focuses on typical vehicle characteristics, the underlying algorithm requires minor computational effort and can be executed in real time. Clear directions for online implementation are given in this paper. A parallel HEV with a 5-kW integrated starter/generator (ISG) is selected to demonstrate the performance of the EM strategy. Simulation results indicate that the proposed EM strategy exhibits similar behavior as an optimal solution obtained from dynamic programming. Profits in fuel economy primarily arise from engine stop/start and energy obtained during regenerative braking. This latter energy is preferably used for pure electric propulsion where the internal combustion engine is switched off. © 2008 IEEE

Fuel reduction potential of energy management for vehicular electric power systems

In the near future a significant increase in electric power consumption in vehicles is to be expected. To limit the associated increase in fuel consumption and exhaust emissions, smart strategies for the generation, storage/retrieval, distribution and consumption of the electric power can be used. This paper considers a vehicle configuration with a conventional drive train. Two energy management strategies that control the alternator power are analysed: a regenerative braking strategy and a more advanced strategy based on optimisation techniques. The potential behind these strategies is analysed by studying the typical characteristics of components that are directly related to the energy flow in the vehicle. It is shown that operating the internal combustion engine at the highest efficiency will not inherently lead to the lowest fuel consumption. Subsequently, engineering rules are presented to evaluate the performance that can be expected for each strategy. The component characteristics are included as input parameters to make the method generally applicable. To show the value of the engineering rules, the potential fuel reduction is computed for a specific vehicle configuration and driving cycle and compared with simulations results