Controlling an Electric Turbo Compound System

for Exhaust Gas Energy Recovery in a Diesel Engine Marcelo C. Algrain,

Principal Marcelo Algrain, Caterpillar Inc.nical Services Division, Caterpillar Inc.
William

Abstract
This paper describes control system developments for an
electric turbocompound system on heavy-duty diesel engines.
The system consists of a turbocharger with an electric
generator integrated into the turbocharger shaft, and an
electric motor integrated into the engine crankshaft. The
generator extracts surplus power at the exhaust air turbine,
and the electricity it produces is used to run the motor
mounted on the engine crankshaft, recovering otherwise
wasted energy in exhaust gases. The ultimate goal of this
system is to improve the overall fuel efficiency of the engine.
The electric turbocompound system provides added control
flexibility because it is capable of varying the amount of
power extracted from exhaust gases. This allows for control
of engine boost, and thus air/fuel ratio. The system
configuration, turbocharger features, and the development of
a system control strategy are presented.

1. Background Figure 1. Electric Turbocompound System Diagram

The principle of turbo compounding is not new to the diesel
engine industry. It is a known technology for reducing fuel
consumption. Research projects for truck size diesel engines
revealed a potential of 5% bsfc improvement [1,2]. Diesel
engines for ship propulsion and stationary power generation
have shown bsfc improvement in the same order [3,4].
However, those systems consisted of a turbocharger plus an
additional power turbine, which was mechanically connected
to the crankshaft. The system presented in this paper
describes the development of an electrical turbocompound
(ETC) system that does not require mechanical connection
between the high-speed turbine and the engine crankshaft.
Instead, recovery of energy from the diesel engine exhaust is
done electrically. A schematic of the system is shown in
Figure 1. Figure 2. Compressor and turbine power in engine

In this system, when the power produced by the turbocharger
turbine exceeds the power requirement of the compressor, the
surplus mechanical power is converted into electrical power
by a generator mounted on the turbocharger shaft. Figure 2
shows the surplus power of the system as a function of engine
power. This surplus power, converted into electricity, is used
to power an electric motor, mounted on the crankshaft, which
assists the engine. The result of this process is an increase in
system efficiency. In the case where the power requirement
of the compressor cannot be met, the first electrical machine
can be used as a motor to accelerate the turbocharger shaft.
Then, the electricity needed to operate it as a motor would be
generated by a second electric machine, mounted on the
crankshaft, or it could be supplied by an on-board electrical
energy storage device (battery.)
Including energy storage in the ETC system adds flexibility
in how the system can be operated in the short term.
However, longer term operation would require a balance in
how much energy would be transferred in and out of the
storage device, and how much mechanical energy could be
transferred to the engine crankshaft, and how much electrical
energy would be consumed by on-board loads. Furthermore,
since the goal is to improve overall system efficiency, the
engine itself would need to operate at its peak efficiency
point (for a given load and speed) to maximize gains in
efficiency. Other considerations may also came into play,
such as mechanical, thermal, and emissions constraints. Aside
from these limiting factors, the turbocharger operating
envelope is very wide. This is illustrated in Figure 3.
 The curves shown in Figure 4 corresponds to four different
Turbocom pound engine loading conditions representing 25, 50, 75 and 100 %
0.70 EN GINE RATING PO INT
PR (com p) = 3.0 at 80% eff of the maximum available torque at the given engine speed
Turbine Inlet Tem p = 1200F
0.65
O verall Turbine Eff = 80% (1,500 rpm in this case). It is seen from the figure that BSFC
BP/Boost = 1.24
0.60
1.1 @ 100% engine rated speed improves as more and more power is recovered from exhaust
0.55
gases and put into the crankshaft. For each fueling condition,
fueling ratio = 1.0
0.50 there is a maximum point beyond which additional power
0.45 0.9 recovery deteriorates BSFC. Thus, to maximize fuel
0.40 rating point economy, the ETC control systems must keep the engine
net exhaust power ratio

0.35
0.8
operating at the optimum point for each condition. The

P
primary variables associated with optimum engine are given
TC
0.7

turbo speed limit

l
0.30

ica in Figure 4 for nine different conditions. In each case, the

an
1
1.

ch
=

0.25 0.6
it

efficiency improvement, exhaust power recovered, intake

Me
lim
T
TI

0.20
0.5 manifold pressure, exhaust temperature, and turbo speed are
0.15
TIT <1.1
0.4
listed. The method for regulating engine operation at the
0.10
optimum points is presented next.
0.05

0.00

-0.05
-0.10
0.2
The vertical dashed line on the right of Figure 3 represents
the maximum allowable speed for the turbocharger. The
diagonal dashed line on the left represents the maximum
allowable turbine inlet temperature. The parallel arches
represent lines of constant fueling ratio. By controlling the
amount of electricity generated (for a given fueling condition)
the ETC system can be made to run anywhere between the
two dashed lines. The system can be programmed for
maximum air handling efficiency, or maximum turbo
response, or lower NOx, or maximum fuel economy. To
demonstrate this capability, a method for maximizing fuel
economy is presented next. Figure 4 illustrates the
improvement in brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) that
could be achieved by recovering power from the exhaust
gases. In this case, the entire generator output is used to
power the electric motor assisting the engine (no other
electrical loads are present from Figure 1).
Engine Speed = 1500 rpm, Motor Efficiency = 92% for Single Machine
12
Percent BSFC Improvement vs. Production Engine
2. Control System Strategy
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
There are several possible control strategies that could be
air flow ratio
used to maintain the ETC system at the desired operating
Figure 3 Turbocharger Operation conditions. Of them, three main approached have shown to be
particularly effective (a patent application for this method has
been filed with the US Patent Office.) They are:
1. Control of engine exhaust temperature
2. Control of turbocharger speed
3. Control of engine boost pressure
These strategies are not independent of each other. In fact, for
a given engine steady state operating condition, there is a
unique set of values for the variables defining the optimum
operating point, as per Figure 5. Thus, if one of these
variables is controlled, the others will result. However, the
transient behavior associated with each control strategy varies
considerably. As a first example, consider the response of the
ETC system when exhaust temperature is the controlled
variable. Figure 6 shows the time response to a 10% step
change in engine demand (see top trace in Figure 6). This
command translates into a request to increase engine torque.
For simplicity, the engine speed is kept at a constant value
(assumes very large inertia). The control objective is to
maintain exhaust temperature at a fix value (760 K in this
example). To respond to the requested increase in engine
output,, additional fuel is injected into the engine. This leads
to a quick rise in exhaust gas temperature (see middle trace in

Demand=1
10
Demand=0.75 Figure 6). To bring the exhaust temperature down, more air
8
Demand=0.5 needs to be pumped into the engine. This requires an increase
Demand=0.25 in turbocharger speed. In order to speed up the turbocharger,
6 Fig. 5. Water Pump Hardware the braking torque applied by the generator should be
reduced. Thus, the generator would produce less electrical
A plot
4 of the power consumed by the water pump to power, or in extreme conditions it may need to provide
motoring action. If less electrical power is available to the
2
crankshaft motor, the amount of torque assisting the engine
0
decreases. This is evident from the sudden drop on crankshaft
torque (see bottom trace in Figure 6). As soon as the exhaust
-2 temperature begins to decrease, additional power can be
Improvement
0 10 20 30 40 50
Turbo Mechanical Power (kW)
60 70
recovered from exhaust gases, and put into the crankshaft to
assist the engine. Also note that ultimately, the engine is
Figure 4. BSFC improvement with recovered power working at a higher torque level due to the increase in
fueling. The undesirable characteristic of this strategy is that
 when an increase in engine torque is desired, the initial is introduced into the crankshaft further aiding torque
response is an actual decrease in torque at the crankshaft. production. Likewise, when the engine load steps down, the
This is highly undesirable from a vehicle drivability boost decreases along with the amount of engine assistance.
perspective. This is very desirable from the vehicle drivability standpoint,
since the control actions are directionally consistent with the
sought system response.
P
e 100 0.7
Exhaust Temperature Control (Engine Speed = 1800 rpm, Constant Setpoint)
8.8% - 10.1% - 65 9.4% - 6.3% -
r

Demand (0-1)
2.50-2.80 2.75-3.05 2.45-2.75 2.10-2.35 0.6
c 890- 885- 930- 890- 0.5
e 56-61.5 62-65.5 59-65 krpm 56.5-61.5
0.4
n 75 Red = Efficiency Improvement (%) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
850
t 9.3% - 44 Black = Exhaust Power Recovered (kW)

Exh Temp (K)

2.40-2.60 Blue = Intake Man. Pres. (Bar-abs) 800
800-
E 57-60 krpm
Green = Exhaust Temp (K) 750

n Brown = Turbo Speed (krpm) rpm) 700

2 3 4 5 6 7 8
g 5 1500

Crank TQ (N.m)
i 8.2% - 7.0% - 29 4.6% - 25
1.85-2.00 1.80-2.00 1.60-1.80
n 710- 730- 685-
1000

e 48-51.5 49-52.5 47-50.5 500

2 3 4 5 6 7 8
25 Time (sec)
L 6.6% - 10
o 1.50-1.60 Figure 6. Step Response for Exhaust
a 560- Temperature Control Strategy
39-42 krpm
d
Turbo Speed Control (Engine Speed = 1800 rpm, Variable Turbo Speed Setpoint)
1200 1500 1800 2100 1
Demand (0-1)

Engine Speed (rpm) 0.5

Figure 5. Optimum BSFC Operating Conditions 0

4.5 4 4.6
x 10
4.7 4.8 4.9 5 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5
6
Turbo Speed (rpm)

Turbo Speed
The second control approach uses turbocharger speed as the
5 Setpoint
controlled variable. Figure 7 shows the response to a step
change in engine load from 25 to 50 percent (see upper trace 4
4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5
in Figure 7). For the engine used in this example, at a speed 1200
Crank TQ (N.m)

of 1800 rpm, the desired turbocharger speed increases from 1000

41,500 rpm to 51,000 rpm (see setpoint trace on middle plot 800
600
in Figure 6). In this case, an increase in engine demand is 400
accompanied by a fueling increase, leading to higher energy 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5
Time (sec)
in the exhaust and higher turbocharger speed. Thus, the
direction of the control action is consistent with the natural Figure 7. Response for Turbo Speed Control Strategy
tendency of the system. This minimizes the impact on
crankshaft torque, and the actual torque response is B oos t Control (E ngine S peed = 1800 rpm , Cons tant P res s ure S etpoint)

directionally correct with respect to the change in the

Demand (0-1)

0.6
commanded torque.
0.4
The third approach is to control engine intake pressure, i.e., 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
200
engine boost. Figure 8 shows a series of step responses
Intake Pres. (kPa)

Intak e P res s ure

corresponding to 10 percent changes is engine load. The 180

control objective is to maintain the engine boost constant 160

S etpoint

(approximately 170 kPa in this example). Upon encountering 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

the first step change in engine load, from 50 to 60 percent, the

Crank TQ (N.m)

1200

intake pressure rises suddenly, but it is quickly restored to its 1000

desired level by putting additional load on the generator. This 800

is because, as the generator produces more power, it slows 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Tim e (s ec )
down the turbocharger reducing the amount of air going into
the engine, and thus lowering the boost pressure. Since there
is more power available to assist the engine, additional torque Figure 8. Response for Engine Boost Control Strategy
 The previous simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness
of using engine boost control as a means to regulate the
operation of the electric turbocompound system. In that
example, the objective was to maintain the intake pressure
constant. However, in order to minimize BSFC, engine boost
would need to be adjusted as a function of engine speed and
load. Optimum setpoints for maximizing BSFC were given in
Figure 5. Plotting these boost values against engine speed and
load yields the boost map shown in Figure 9. Figure 10 shows
the time response to step changes in engine load (engine
speed is kept constant at 1800 rpm). Each change in engine
load is accompanied by a corresponding change is boost
setpoint. In addition, a first order lag compensator has been
introduced to “soften” the response in the boost pressure. By
matching the time constant of the setpoint filter to the boost
time constant, the overshoot conditions shown in Figure 8 are
effectively neutralized. With proper tuning of this
compensator, the boost response can be made to match the
step changes in engine demand very closely (see traces in the
middle plot on Figure 10).
350
its own ECM (electronic control module.) The electric motor
demand is regulated by the PI Control block in Figure 10.
The error signal going into this PI block results from
comparing the desired boost pressure to the actual intake
manifold pressure. The desired manifold pressure is
determined by the Setpoint Generator, which takes into
account engine speed and load in determining the appropriate
boost level. This block contains the boost map shown in
Figure 8. The compensator block implements the first order
lag needed to avoid overshoots in boost pressure. There are
three feedback loops in this control system block diagram.
The first feedback loop (inner-loop) is the primary control
loop regulating boost pressure. The other two are secondary
or optional feedback loops. The second one maintains the
turbocharger within a specified range. It acts as an over-speed
or under-speed control mechanism. The allowable speed
range could be varied based on engine operating conditions
as well, or be made very narrow so that the turbocharger
speed would essentially follow a speed setpoint. Likewise,
the third feedback loop (exhaust manifold temperature loop)
is incorporated to assure exhaust temperatures stay within
specified limits. These limits could also be set very narrowly,
forcing the engine to operate at a desired exhaust
temperature. Note that these secondary loops add redundancy
to the overall ETC control system, and robustness in the
event of a boost sensor failure.

300

Boost Control (EngineSpeed= 1800rpm, VariablePressureSetpoint)

Boost SetPoint (kPa)

250
1
Demand (0-1)

200

0.5
150

100
1
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
0.75 2100
Intake Pres. (kPa)

0.5 1800
300
1500
0.25
1200 250
0 1000
Demand
Engine Speed (rpm)
200 IntakePressure
Setpoint
150
Figure 9. Desired Engine Intake Pressure
or Boost Setpoint Map 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
2500
Crank TQ (N.m)

2000
1500
Ultimately, from the propulsion and drivability standpoint,
the variable of most interest is the overall torque/power 1000
produced by the engine and electric motor combination. The 500
lower trace in Figure 10 shows the torque produced at the 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
crankshaft. It is seen that the response of the turbocompound Time(sec)
system has very good characteristics from the drivability
perspective. The crankshaft torque closely follows the
requested changes in engine demand (see bottom and top
traces in Figure 10). Note that the torque has two Figure 10. Step Response for Turbocharger Speed
components, one from the engine itself, and the other from Control Strategy
the electric motor. The engine is independently controlled by
 Intake
Manifold
Pressure
Setpoint
Compensation PI Control Motor Crankshaft Plant
Controller Motor (Engine)

Sensed
Setpoint Intake
Manifold Sensor Intake Manifold
Generator Dynamics Sensed Pressure
Pressure

Overspeed Maximum Speed

K spd
Engine Torque Undrespeed Turbocharger Speed
Speed Demand TAU*s+1 Error
Minimum Speed

Overtemp. Maximum Temp.

Ktemp
Undertemp. Exhaust Manifold Temperature
TAU*s+1 Error.
Minimum Temp.

Figure 11. Feedback System for Pressure,

Temperature, and Speed Control

Braking
Generator Controller Torque
to Turbo

Igen Imax
Vsp Voltage Generator Other Ilimit
+ Vgen
Regulator and Derating
(fast PI) Pwr.Conv. ω Factors
(-)

Igggeeennn Iload

Ilimit
Current
Icrank Regulator Crank Tmotor
Select Power
from ETC Isp + (slow PI) Converter Imotor Shaft
Smallest Motor
Control
(-)

Current
Sensor
Motor Controller

Figure 12. Motor and Generator Control System

The preceding discussion was centered on how to set the would be reduced by almost 10 percent. Considering a
demand for the crankshaft motor. The premise was that by typical road load for an on-highway truck, where the engine
controlling the electrical power consumed by the motor, the prevailing operating regime is at 1500 rpm, and loads
load on the generator, and thus on the turbocharger, is fluctuated between 25 and 50 percent, overall reduction in
directly controlled. The less current (electrical power) that is fuel consumption is estimated to be around 5 percent.
consumed by the crankshaft motor, the less current the
generator needs to produce to maintain the electrical bus
voltage constant, and the higher the boost on the engine.
Thus, the crankshaft motor demand can be represented in 4. Acknowledgement
terms of a motor current setpoint (motor torque could also be This work was conducted under a program sponsored by the
used as the demand signal). This is shown in Figure 11. The Department of Energy, Office of Freedom Car and Vehicle
motor controller (see dotted-line box) is shown with Technology, Heavy Vehicle Systems.
additional detail, but it represents the same motor controller
shown in Figure 10. The signal Icrank (see Figure 11) is the
output of the PI controller from Figure 10. This signal sets the
demand for the crankshaft motor. Note that a provision to 5. References
limit the motor current has been introduced to account for
derating factors and/or limiting conditions that may be 1. Caterpillar Inc.: “LE55”, internal research paper, 1982.
encountered during the operation of the ETC system. A
2. Caterpillar Inc.: “Turbo-Compound Generator”, internal
current control loop is used within the motor controller to
research paper, 2002.
maintain the motor operating at the desired torque/load level.
3. Wallace, F.J.: “Turbo-Compound Diesel Engines”,
The second part of this control system regulates the operation Automotive Engine Alternatives. Edited by Robert L.
of the generator. Since the motor controller is used to Evans. New York: Plenum Press, 1987, pp.219
governed the demand side, the generator controller takes care
of the supply side. In this case, a voltage loop is used to 4. Zinner, K.: “Aufladung von Verbrennungsmotoren” 3.,
control the amount of power produced by the generator, so voellig neu bearb. Aufl.. - Berlin [u.a.] : Springer , 1985.
that it supplies enough electrical power to maintain the bus
voltage at the desire value. If the generator were to produce
less power than what is being consumed, the bus voltage
would decrease. Conversely, if it were to generate more
power than what is being consumed, the bus voltage would
increase. Thus, by tightly regulating the bus voltage, the
turbocharger-mounted generator produces just the right
amount of electrical power needed to supplier the crankshaft-
mounted motor, and any other electrical loads that may be
present in the ETC system.

3. Summary
The ETC control system is comprised of: 1) a voltage loop to
control the amount of power being produced by the
generator; 2) a current loop to control the amount of power
being consumed by the motor; and 3) an engine intake
pressure loop to control the amount of power being recovered
through the turbocompound system. To avoid interactions
between control loops, it is envisioned that the generator
voltage loop would the one with the faster time constant,
followed by the motor current loop, and the engine boost
control loop would be the one with the slower time constant.
Also, in an alternate implementation, the generator could be
the one regulating the amount of current going into the bus,
and the motor could be the one regulating the bus voltage.
The two schemes are functionally equivalent. To test the
steady state performance of this system, a complete
engine/turbocompound system simulation was developed.
The simulation results indicate that at the rated power, the
fuel consumption of a Class-8 on-highway truck engine