Research and development of electronic speed control strategies for medium-speed marine diesel engines

Abstract

Modern diesel engine systems rely more and more on electronic control systems. The benefits of such electronic control systems include reduced fuel consumption, limited emissions and enhanced performance. Following the trend, this article aims to derive an appropriate methodology for improving the performance of the speed regulation by upgrading an existing mechanical governing control system to an electronic one for the marine diesel engine. Hardware-in-loop simulations and the diesel engine test-bed experiments are applied to realize a V-type mode study of the speed control strategies for the marine medium-speed diesel engines. First, the algorithm of the strategies and the functions of the electronic control unit are verified through hardware-in-loop test bench which is established using hardware devices and a software tool chain from ETAS GmbH. Additionally, the specific parameters are modified and calibrated finely on the test bed with an online debugging system. Finally, to demonstrate the performances and the generality of the proposed control strategies, the test-bed results of the two types of marine diesel engines are illustrated. The experimental results indicate that a better performance is achieved by replacing the original controller with the proposed controller. And the methodology of the control strategies development is proven to be efficient.

Modeling of Thermodynamic Properties of Diesel Fuel and In-Cylinder Gas for Diesel Engine Combustion Investigation

“…Because h f,liquid in is a function of fuel injection temperature ( T f,inj = 40 °C) and u f,gas is a function of in-cylinder temperature, the difference is also a function of temperature and it is negative, which can be considered to be the net heat loss to the fuel before combustion . This result is quite important for the fuel thermodynamic properties and reveals the deficiencies of the constant value setting of the lower heating value. ,,,, …”

“…The range of temperature is 0–3000 °C, and the gas composition is set to be 0 or 1 to indicate air or stoichiometric gas, respectively. Meanwhile the pressure is assumed to be constant as 100 bar, which is somewhat close to the magnitude of the maximum in-cylinder pressure in the diesel engine. , The simulation is implemented in MATLAB/SIMULINK software.…”

“…Meanwhile the pressure is assumed to be constant as 100 bar, which is somewhat close to the magnitude of the maximum in-cylinder pressure in the diesel engine. 46,47 The simulation is implemented in MATLAB/ SIMULINK software.…”

Experimental study and optimization in the layouts and the structure of the high-pressure common-rail fuel injection system for a marine diesel engine

“…Especially for the in-served marine engines, plenty of advanced technologies are considered to be effective to reduce fuel consumption and enhance engine performance, for instance, combustion system optimisation, two-stage turbocharging, selective catalytic reduction, as well as the high-pressure common-rail (HPCR) fuel injection system. [2][3][4] One of the most widely used methods today is adopting the tailor-made electronic common-rail fuel injection system controlled with advanced electronic control units (ECUs). Hence, the retrofit of a fuel injection system provides the possibility of precise injected mass control and multiple injection control to optimise the fuel consumption and balance the trade-off between nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM).…”

“…Especially for the in-served marine engines, plenty of advanced technologies are considered to be effective to reduce fuel consumption and enhance engine performance, for instance, combustion system optimisation, two-stage turbocharging, selective catalytic reduction, as well as the high-pressure common-rail (HPCR) fuel injection system. 2–4…”