EFFICIENCY INCREASING SYSTEM IN AUTOMOBILE
Abstract
Fuel consumption reduction is one of the main challenges in the automotive industry due to its economical and environmental impacts as well as legal regulations. While fuel consumption reduction is important for all vehicles, it has larger benefits for commercial ones due to their long operational times and much higher fuel consumption. Optimal control of multiple energy buffers within the vehicle proves an effective approach for reducing energy consumption. Energy is temporarily stored in a buffer when its cost is small and released when it is relatively expensive. An example of an energy buffer is the vehicle body. Before going up a hill, the vehicle can accelerate to increase its kinetic energy, which can then be consumed on the uphill stretch to reduce the engine load. The simple strategy proves effective for reducing fuel consumption. The thesis generalizes the energy buffer concept to various vehicular components with distinct physical disciplines so that they share the same model structure reflecting energy flow. The thesis furthermore improves widely applied control methods and apply them to new applications.
Keywords
Energy Buffer, Optimal Control, Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Engine Cooling System