Analysis and control of a hybrid vehicle powered by free-piston energy converter

Abstract: The introduction of hybrid powertrains has made it possible to utilise unconventional engines as primary power units in vehicles. The free-piston energy converter (FPEC) is such an engine. It is a combination of a free-piston combustion engine and a linear electrical machine. The main features of this configuration are high efficiency and a rapid transient response.In this thesis the free-piston energy converter as part of a hybrid powertrain is studied. One issue of the FPEC is the generation of pulsating power due to the reciprocating motion of the translator. These pulsations affect the components in the powertrain. However, it is shown that these pulsations can be handled by a normal sized DC-link capacitor bank. In addition, two approaches to reduce these pulsations are suggested: the first approach is using generator force control and the second approach is based on phase-shifted operation of two FPEC units. The latter approach results in higher frequency and lower amplitude of the pulsations, which reduce the capacitor losses.The FPEC start-up requirements are analysed and by choosing the correct amplitude of the generator force during start-up the energy consumption can be minimised.The performance gain of utilising the FPEC in a medium sized series hybrid electric vehicle (SHEV) is also studied. An FPEC model suitable for vehicle simulation is developed and a series hybrid powertrain, with the same performance as the Toyota Prius, is dimensioned and modelled.Optimisation is utilised to find a lower limit on the SHEV's fuel consumption for a given drivecycle. In addition, three power management control strategies for the FPEC system are investigated: two load-following strategies using one and two FPEC units respectively and one strategy based on the ideas of an equivalent consumption minimisation (ECM) proposed earlier in the literature.The results show a significant decrease in fuel consumption, compared to a diesel-generator powered SHEV, just by replacing the diesel-generator with an FPEC. This result is improved even more by using two FPEC units to generate the propulsion power, as this increases the efficiency at low loads. The ECM control strategy does not reduce the fuel consumption compared to the load-following strategies but gives a better utilisation of the available power sources.