DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Next-Cycle Optimal Dilute Combustion Control via Online Learning of Cycle-to-Cycle Variability Using Kernel Density Estimators

Journal Article · · IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology

Dilute combustion using exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) presents a cost-effective method for increasing the efficiency of spark-ignition (SI) engines. However, the maximum amount of EGR that can be used at a given condition is limited by a rapid increment of cycle-to-cycle variability (CCV). This study describes a methodology to design a model-based stochastic optimal controller to adjust the cycle-to-cycle fuel injection quantity in order to reduce CCV and further extend the dilute limit. Given the complexity and chaotic nature of combustion events, the controller was enhanced with online learning in order to identify the statistical properties of combustion efficiency, which are needed to generate predictions for next-cycle events. This study showed that a kernel density estimator (KDE) can be used to learn the combustion properties in real time and can be incorporated into the feedback policy in order to calculate the optimal control command. Experimental results suggested that the dilute limit can be extended from 18.5% to 21% EGR fraction at an operating condition relevant for highway cruising. Additionally, the proposed controller can achieve a large CCV reduction with less fuel enrichment compared to previous methods, overall contributing to an increase in 0.2% indicated fuel conversion efficiency.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1847545
Journal Information:
IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology Journal Issue: 0 Vol. 0; ISSN 1063-6536
Publisher:
IEEECopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (46)

The effect of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on combustion stability, engine performance and exhaust emissions in a gasoline engine journal October 2001
Cylinder pressure based combustion phase optimization and control in spark-ignited engines journal May 2017
Artificial-intelligence-based prediction and control of combustion instabilities in spark-ignition engines book January 2022
Synchronization of combustion variations in a multicylinder spark ignition engine journal January 2000
Combustion variation control strategy with thermal efficiency optimization for lean combustion in spark-ignition engines journal October 2019
Symbol-sequence statistics-based cylinder-to-cylinder variation control in spark-ignition engines journal March 2020
Self-tuning gross heat release computation for internal combustion engines journal April 2009
Combustion phasing for maximum efficiency for conventional and high efficiency engines journal January 2014
Linear Stochastic Modeling and Control of Diluted Combustion for SI Engines journal January 2018
Retard to the Limit: Closed-Loop COVIMEP Control for Aggressive Exhaust Heating journal January 2019
Cylinder charge composition observation based on in-cylinder pressure measurement journal January 2019
Controlling Cyclic Combustion Variations in Lean-Fueled Spark-Ignition Engines conference January 2002
Neuro emission controller for minimising cyclic dispersion in spark ignition engines with EGR levels1 journal January 2009
Observing and modeling nonlinear dynamics in an internal combustion engine journal March 1998
Low Size, Weight, and Power Neuromorphic Computing to Improve Combustion Engine Efficiency conference October 2020
Next-Cycle Optimal Fuel Control for Cycle-to-Cycle Variability Reduction in EGR-Diluted Combustion journal December 2021
Closed-Loop Ignition Timing Control for SI Engines Using Ionization Current Feedback journal May 2007
Output Feedback Controller for Operation of Spark Ignition Engines at Lean Conditions Using Neural Networks journal March 2008
Closed-Loop Control of Combustion Initiation and Combustion Duration journal May 2020
Neural Network Controller Development and Implementation for Spark Ignition Engines With High EGR Levels journal July 2007
A Comparison Between Combustion Phase Indicators for Optimal Spark Timing journal June 2008
Spark Ignition Feedback Control by Means of Combustion Phase Indicators on Steady and Transient Operation journal July 2014
Prediction of Flame Burning Velocity at Early Flame Development Time With High Exhaust Gas Recirculation and Spark Advance journal March 2017
Numerical Prediction of Cyclic Variability in a Spark Ignition Engine Using a Parallel Large Eddy Simulation Approach journal March 2018
Cycle-to-Cycle Feedback for Combustion Control of Spark Advance at the Misfire Limit journal July 2018
Control-Oriented Modeling of Cycle-to-Cycle Combustion Variability at the Misfire Limit in SI Engines
  • Maldonado, Bryan P.; Kaul, Brian C.
  • ASME 2020 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, Volume 2: Intelligent Transportation/Vehicles; Manufacturing; Mechatronics; Engine/After-Treatment Systems; Soft Actuators/Manipulators; Modeling/Validation; Motion/Vibration Control Applications; Multi-Agent/Networked Systems; Path Planning/Motion Control; Renewable/Smart Energy Systems; Security/Privacy of Cyber-Physical Systems; Sensors/Actuators; Tracking Control Systems; Unmanned Ground/Aerial Vehicles; Vehicle Dynamics, Estimation, Control; Vibration/Control Systems; Vibrations https://doi.org/10.1115/DSCC2020-3255
conference January 2021
Non-Equiprobable Statistical Analysis of Misfires and Partial Burns for Cycle-to-Cycle Control of Combustion Variability
  • Maldonado, Bryan P.; Stefanopoulou, Anna G.
  • ASME 2018 Internal Combustion Engine Division Fall Technical Conference, Volume 2: Emissions Control Systems; Instrumentation, Controls, and Hybrids; Numerical Simulation; Engine Design and Mechanical Development https://doi.org/10.1115/ICEF2018-9540
conference January 2019
Characteristics of Cycle-to-Cycle Combustion Variability at Partial-Burn Limited and Misfire Limited Spark Timing Under Highly Diluted Conditions conference December 2019
Cyclic dynamics of misfires and partial burns in a dilute spark-ignition engine
  • Stiffler, Rachel; Kaul, Brian; Drallmeier, James
  • Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, Vol. 235, Issue 2-3 https://doi.org/10.1177/0954407020964004
journal October 2020
Cooled exhaust-gas recirculation for fuel economy and emissions improvement in gasoline engines journal June 2011
Invited Review: A review of deterministic effects in cyclic variability of internal combustion engines journal February 2015
Learning reference governor for cycle-to-cycle combustion control with misfire avoidance in spark-ignition engines at high exhaust gas recirculation–diluted conditions journal June 2020
Evaluation of residual gas fraction estimation methods for cycle-to-cycle combustion variability analysis and modeling journal January 2021
Cross-Validation and the Estimation of Conditional Probability Densities journal December 2004
Chaos theory-based time series analysis of in-cylinder pressure and its application in combustion control of SI engines journal January 2020
Modelling and estimation of combustion variability for fast light-off of diesel aftertreatment journal January 2020
Stochastic Feedback Combustion Control at High Dilution Limit conference June 2018
Online Control of Process Variance Using Feedback conference July 2020
Statsmodels: Econometric and Statistical Modeling with Python conference January 2010
Low-Order Map Approximations of Lean Cyclic Dispersion in Premixed Spark Ignition Engines conference September 2001
Analysis of Cyclic Variability of Heat Release for High-EGR GDI Engine Operation with Observations on Implications for Effective Control journal April 2013
Model-Based Control-Oriented Combustion Phasing Feedback for Fast CA50 Estimation journal January 2015
Effects of Ignition and Injection Perturbation under Lean and Dilute GDI Engine Operation
  • Wallner, Thomas; Sevik, James M.; Scarcelli, Riccardo
  • JSAE/SAE 2015 International Powertrains, Fuels & Lubricants Meeting, SAE Technical Paper Series https://doi.org/10.4271/2015-01-1871
conference September 2015
Determination of SI Combustion Sensitivity to Fuel Perturbations as a Cyclic Control Input for Highly Dilute Operation journal March 2017
Portable In-Cylinder Pressure Measurement and Signal Processing System for Real-Time Combustion Analysis and Engine Control conference April 2020
Dilute Combustion Control Using Spiking Neural Networks conference April 2021