Hydraulic Hybrid Propulsion for Heavy Vehicles: Combining the Simulation and Engine-In-the-Loop Techniques to Maximize the Fuel Economy and Emission Benefits

The global energy situation, the dependence of the transportation sector on fossil fuels, and a need for a rapid response to the global warming challenge, provide a strong impetus for development of fuel efficient vehicle propulsion. The task is particularly challenging in the case of trucks due to severe weight/size constraints. Hybridization is the only approach offering significant breakthroughs in near and mid-term. In particular, the series configuration decouples the engine from the wheels and allows full flexibility in controlling the engine operation, while the hydraulic energy conversion and storage provides exceptional power density and efficiency. The challenge stems from a relatively low energy density of the hydraulic accumulator. This places particular emphasis on development of the supervisory controller. The conventional wisdom is to operate the engine at the “sweet spot”, but the aggressive pursuit of engine efficiency as the sole objective can lead to frequent and rapid diesel engine transients, thus causing an adverse affect on the soot emissions and driver feel. Therefore, we propose a comprehensive methodology for considering a combined hybrid system fuel-economy and emissions objective. The fuel economy is addressed with the simulation-based approach, while investigating the impact of engine transients on particulate emission relies on the Engine-In-the-loop (EIL) capability. The EIL study confirms advantages of a modulated state-of-charge control over the thermostatic approach, and demonstrates the ability of the Series Hydraulic Hybrid to improve the fuel economy of the medium truck by 72%, while reducing the particulate emission by 74% compared to the conventional baseline over the city driving schedule.