Nonlinear air-path control of a heavy-duty diesel engine - a Receding Horizon Sliding Control approach

Precise air-path control of heavy-duty diesel engines contributes to emission regulation and high engine efficiency. The air path with VGT and EGR system is highly nonlinear with non-minimum-phase-system properties. The authors present a nonlinear control design - Receding Horizon Sliding Control (RHSC) to solve the tracking problem of the air-path. This control method handles the nonlinear dynamic of the air-path and takes into account for the system future behavior, the tracking reference are generated on basis of optimal engine-efficiency. The controller is validated in high-fidelity engine-model simulation.