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Energy-saving ventilation systems are designed to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. Low energy efficiency in buildings poses a considerable problem that needs to be addressed. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery has gained increased popularity in recent years. Mechanical ventilation has numerous advantages, including easy adjustment and control, high indoor air quality and elimination of indoor pollutants. Mixing ventilation is the most popular type of mechanical ventilation, in particular in residential buildings. Unsteady ventilation is a type of mixing ventilation that involves stronger mixing effects and smaller vertical temperature gradients to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) and minimize energy consumption. This study examines the possibility of controlling and modifying Coanda effect hysteresis (CEH) to generate unsteady flow and simulate the conditions of unsteady mixing ventilation. The experiment was performed on a self-designed test bench at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. It demonstrated that an auxiliary nozzle can be applied at the diffuser outlet to control CEH and the angles at which the air jet becomes attached to and separated from the flat plate positioned directly behind the nozzle. The study proposes an innovative mixing ventilation system that relies on CEH. The potential of the discussed concept has not been recognized or deployed in practice to date. This is the first study to confirm that an auxiliary nozzle by the diffuser outlet can be operated in both injection and suction mode to control CEH. In the future, the results can be used to design a new type of nozzles for unsteady ventilation systems that are based on CEH control.

Stepper motors are widely used in many applications where discrete, precise movement is required. There is a variety of dedicated stepper motor controllers (sometimes referred to as “step sticks”) available on the market. Those controllers provide a number of different motor control schemes that vary by aspects like current control method, reference current shape or maximum resolution increase (microstepping). The two most widely acknowledged signal shapes are sine-cosine microstepping and quadrature microstepping. The choice of the control scheme impacts torque output, torque variation, positioning error and maximum power supply requirements. This paper presents a family of generalised microstepping signal shapes, ranging from sine-cosine microstepping to quadrature microstepping. Derivation of signal shapes as well as their mathematical analyses are provided. Those signals are then implemented on the control board. A series of experiments is performed on a test bench to analyse the influence of different signal shapes on the performance of the motor in both load and no load conditions. The comparison of the new generalized shapes influence on the motor operation to the commonly used sine-cosine and quadrature control is provided.

This paper is focused on the extraction of the noise parameters of a linear active device by exploiting both forward and reverse noise power measurements associated with different terminations. In order for load-pull measurements to yield a significant marginal improvement (as compared to forward measurements only) it is expected that the device under test should appreciably deviate from unidirectionality. For this reason, the source/load-pull technique is applied to frequencies at which the considered devices are still usable but their reverse noise factor exhibits a measurable dependence on the output terminations. Details on the test bench set up to the purpose, covering the 20–40 GHz frequency range, are provided. A characterization campaign on a 60 nm gate length, 4×35 µm GaN-on-Si HEMT fabricated by OMMIC is illustrated.

Integration of renewable energy resources and conventional grids leads to an increase in power quality issues. These power quality issues require different standards to be followed for accurate measurement and monitoring of various parameters of the power system. Conventional power quality analyzers (PQAs) are programmed to a particular standard and cannot be reconfigured by the end user. Therefore, conventional PQAs cannot meet the challenges of a rapidly changing grid. In this regard, a Compact RIO-based (CRIO-based) PQA was proposed, that can be easily reprogrammed and cope with the challenges faced by conventional PQAs. The salient features of the proposed PQA are a high processing speed, interactive interface, and high-quality data-storage capacity. Moreover, unlike conventional PQAs, the proposed PQA can be monitored remotely via the internet. In this research, a hardware-in-loop (HIL) simulation is used for performing the power-quality assessment in a systematic manner. Power quality indices such as apparent power, power factor, harmonics, frequency disturbance, inrush current, voltage sag and voltage swell are considered for validating the performance of the proposed PQA against the Fluke’s PQA 43-B.

Conventional constant speed turbo air centrifugal compressor systems (TACCSs) consist of an electric motor driven at the constant speed and an inlet guide vane (IGV) for pressure control. TACCSs with an inverter for a variable speed drive (VSD) of the electric motor are more efficient than the conventional constant speed TACCS because they have a wide operating range and can minimize the power consumption. Therefore, this paper proposes a quadratic V/f control and VSD to reduce electrical and mechanical energy losses. To verify the energy saving effect of the TACCS with the proposed controls, this paper analyzes the performances of an electric motor drive system (EMDS) using the proposed quadratic V/f control considering load conditions of the turbo air centrifugal compressor (TACC) to reduce electrical energy losses. Furthermore, the performances of the conventional constant speed drive (CSD) using the IGV control and the proposed VSD were compared and analyzed in the test bench that represented an actual factory environment. As a result, the proposed quadratic V/f control and VSD experimentally verified energy savings of 4.44% and 23.37% compared to conventional controls. In addition, the economic feasibility of the proposed VSD was verified in the TACCS by analyzing the recovery period of the initial investment due to the addition of the inverter.

Ammonia is a toxic exhaust component emitted from internal combustion engines. Both pure ammonia and the products of its reaction with nitrogen and sulfur compounds, being the source of particulate matter (PM) emissions, are dangerous for human health and life. The aim of the article was to demonstrate that NH3 can be produced in exhaust gas after-treatment systems of spark-ignition (SI) engines used in light-duty vehicles. In some cases, NH3 occurs in high enough concentrations that can be harmful and dangerous. It would be reasonable to collect research data regarding this problem and consider the advisability of limiting these pollutant emissions in future regulations. The article presents the results of the spark-ignition engine testing on an engine test bench and discusses the impact of the air–fuel ratio regulation and some engine operating parameters on the concentration of NH3. It has been proven that in certain engine operating conditions and a combination of circumstances like the three-way catalytic reactor (TWC) temperature and periodic enrichment of the air–fuel mixture may lead to excessive NH3 emissions resulting from the NO conversion in the catalytic reactor. This is a clear disadvantage due to the lack of limitation of these pollutant emissions by the relevant type-approval regulations. This article should be a contribution to discussion among emissions researchers whether future emission regulations (e.g., Euro 7 or Euro VII) should include a provision to reduce NH3 emissions from all vehicles.

Electric arcing is a common problem in DC power systems. To overcome this problem, the electric arc detection algorithm has been developed as a faster alternative to existing algorithms. The following issues are addressed in this paper: The calculation of the proposed algorithm of incremental decomposition of the signal over time; the computational complexity of Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and the incremental decomposition; the test bench used to measure electric arcs at given parameters; the analysis of measurements using FFT; and the analysis of measurements using incremental decomposition. The parameters are the DC voltage, electric load, and width of the gap between electrodes. The results showed that the proposed algorithm allows for a faster calculation—about seven times faster than FFT—and cheaper implementation in electric arc detection devices than FFT.

The creation of efficient and compact heat exchangers is one of the priority tasks arising during the design of heat and gas supply to industrial and residential buildings. As a rule, finned surfaces and turbulization of heat carrier flows are used to increase the efficiency of heat exchange in heat exchangers. The present paper proposes to use novel materials, namely porous material, in the design of highly efficient heat exchangers. The investigation was carried out experimentally and theoretically. To study the possibility of creating such heat exchangers, a multi-purpose test bench is created. The aim of the study was to assess the intensity of heat transfer in heat exchangers using porous metal. Laboratory tests are carried out as part of the experimental study. In the theoretical study, the classical equation for the change in the heat flux density when the coolant passes through the porous insert was used. As a result, a mathematical model was obtained in the form of a second-order differential equation. Boundary conditions were set and a particular solution was obtained. The results of theoretical calculations were compared with experimental data. The performed study experimentally confirmed the efficiency of using porous metal inserts in the design of shell-and-tube heat exchangers. The compiled mathematical model allows one to perform engineering calculations of the considered heat exchangers with porous inserts.

This article summarises the development and experience of the Formula Student race car engine from 2018. According to the technical rules of Formula Student after the change in 2017, this engine adopts a new design concept, employs a 690-mL single-cylinder engine as the base, and applies &lsquo, response enhancement technology&rsquo, with supercharging as the core to achieve a high-power output, a wide high-torque range and an excellent response capability. During the development, various studies on the dynamic performance of the vehicle and the engine were conducted, including vehicle dynamics analysis and track simulation, parameter matching of the supercharger and the engine, control strategy design, and the intake and exhaust system design. This research builds a supercharger air flow and efficiency test bench and an engine performance test bench. Test results show that the developed engine can output 122% of the original power and 120% of the original torque with a 20-mm diameter intake restrictor. Compared with previous generation race cars with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, the new race car&lsquo, s 0&ndash, 100 km/h acceleration time is shortened by 0.2 s, the torque response time under typical condition is shortened by 80%, and the lap time of the integrated circuit is reduced by 7%.

This article presents the results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of an innovative directional control valve consisting of four poppet seat valves and two electromagnets enclosed inside a single body. The valve has a unique design, allowing the use of any poppet valve configuration. Both normally opened (NO) and normally closed (NC) seat valves can be applied. The combination of four universal valve seats and two electromagnets gives a wide range of flow path configurations. This significantly increases the possibility of practical applications. However, due to the significant miniaturization of the valve body and the requirement to obtain necessary connections between flow paths, multiple geometrically complex channels had to be made inside the body. Hence, the main purpose of work was to shape the geometry of the flow channels in such a way as to minimize pressure losses. During the CFD analyses velocity distribution in flow channels and pressure distribution on the walls were determined. The results were used to obtain pressure loss as a function of flow rate, which was then verified by means of laboratory experiments conducted on a test bench.

The growing number of renewable energy plants connected to the power system through static converters have been pushing the development of new strategies to ensure transient stability of these systems. The virtual synchronous generator (VSG) emerged as a way to contribute to the system stabilization by emulating the behavior of traditional synchronous machines in the power converters operation. This paper proposes a modification in the VSG implementation to improve its contribution to the power system transient stability. The proposal is based on the virtualization of the resistive superconducting fault current limiters’ (SFCL) behavior through an adaptive control that performs the VSG armature resistance change in short-circuit situations. A theoretical analysis of the problem is done based on the equal-area criterion, simulation results are obtained using PSCAD, and experimental results are obtained in a Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) test bench to corroborate the proposal. Results show an increase in the system transient stability margin, with an increase in the fault critical clearing time (CCT) for all virtual resistance values added by the adaptive control to the VSG operation during the short-circuit.

The aim of this work is to show that a significant increase of the e_ciency of aWave Energy Converter (WEC) can be achieved already at an early design stage, through the choice of a turbine and control regulation, by means of an accurate Wave-to-Wire (W2W) modeling that couples the hydrodynamic response calibrated in a wave flume to a Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) test bench with sizes and rates not matching those of the system under development. Information on this procedure is relevant to save time, because the acquisition, the installation, and the setup of a test rig are not quick and easy. Moreover, power electronics and electric machines to emulate turbines and electric generators matching the real systems are not low-cost equipment. The use of HIL is important in the development of WECs also because it allows the carrying out of tests in a controlled environment, and this is again time- and money-saving if compared to tests done on a real system installed at the sea. Furthermore, W2W modeling can be applied to several Power Take-O_ (PTO) configurations to experiment di_erent control strategies. The method here proposed, concerning a specific HIL for testing power electronics and control laws for a specific WECs, may have a more general validity. This work was supported by MARINET, a European Community—Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 “Capacities” Specific Programme, grant agreement n. 262552.

Exact component characteristics are required for establishing an accurate component level aeroengine model. When component characteristics is lacking, the dynamic coefficient method based on test data, is suitable for establishing a single-input and single-output aeroengine model. When it is applied to build multiple-input, multiple-output aeroengine models, some parameters are assumed to be unchanged, which causes large error. An improved modeling method based on rig data is proposed to establish a double-input, double-output model for a micro variable-pitch turboprop engine. The input variables are fuel flow and pitch angle, and the output variables are rotational speeds of the core engine and the propeller. First, in order to gather modeling data, a test bench is designed and rig tests are carried out. Then, two conclusions are obtained by analyzing the rig data, based on which, the power turbine output is taken as the function of the core speed and the propeller speed. The established model has the property that the input variables can vary arbitrarily within the defined domain, without any restriction to the output variables. Simulation results showed that the model has a high dynamic and steady-state accuracy. The maximum error was less than 8%. The real-time performance was greatly improved, compared to the component level model.

This work proposes a comprehensive approach to modifying the design of wood stoves with a heating power up to 20 kW, including design works, simulations, and experimental research. The work is carried out in two stages. In the first part, a numerical model is proposed of the fireplace insert including fluid flow, the chemical combustion reaction, and heat exchange (FLUENT software is applied to solve the problem). The results of the simulation were compared with the experiment carried out on the test bench. A comparison of the experimental and numerical results was made for the temperature distribution along with the concentration of CO, CO2, and O2. Construction changes were proposed in the second stage, together with numerical simulations whose goal was an increase in the efficiency of the heating devices. The results obtained show that the average temperature in the chimney flue, which has a low value that is a determinant of the higher efficiency of the heating devices, was reduced relative to the initial design of the fireplace intake by 11%−16% in all cases. The retrofit enhanced stable heat release from the wood stove, which increased the efficiency and reduced the harmful components of combustion.

The dual-stator winding induction generator (DWIG) is a promising electrical machine for wind energy conversion systems, especially in the low/mid power range. Based on previous successful results utilising feed forward control, in this article, a super-twisting (ST) sliding mode improved control set-up is developed to maximise power extraction during low wind regimes. To accomplish this objective, via constant volts/hertz implementation, a ST controller was designed to command the DWIG control winding, such that the tip-speed ratio is robustly maintained at its optimal value. The proposed super-twisting control set-up was experimentally assessed to analyse its performance and to verify its efficiency in an actual generation test bench. The results showed a fast convergence to maximum power operation, avoiding chattering and offsets due to model uncertainties., Instituto de Investigaciones en Electrónica, Control y Procesamiento de Señales

The influence of cavitation in common-rail diesel nozzles on the soot formation process has been analysed experimentally. The soot formation process was characterized by measuring soot emissions in a single-cylinder engine, which was mounted on a test bench equipped with an opacimeter. In order to do this, operating conditions where the soot oxidation process was equivalent were chosen, whereby differences in the soot formation process were possible to be analysed. The results achieved confirm that cavitation provokes a soot formation process reduction. This reduction can be attributed by combining results of three effects: a reduction of the effective diameter, an increase in effective injection velocity, and an increase in turbulence level inside the nozzle orifice leading to a longer lift-off length. The three effects lead to a decrease in relative fuel/air ratio at the lift-off, therefore explaining the soot formation reduction.

Energies : open-access journal of related scientific research, technology development and studies in policy and management 14(16), 4914 (2021). doi:10.3390/en14164914 special issue: "Special Issue "Fuel Consumption of Hybrid Vehicles" / Special Issue Editor: Dr. Zöldy Máté, Guest Editor", Published by MDPI, Basel

Energies : open-access journal of related scientific research, technology development and studies in policy and management 14(16), 4747 (2021). doi:10.3390/en14164747 special issue: "Special Issue "Fuel Consumption of Hybrid Vehicles" / Special Issue Editor: Dr. Zöldy Máté, Guest Editor", Published by MDPI, Basel

The growing number of variable speed drives (VSDs) in industry has an impact on the future development of condition monitoring methods. In research, more and more attention is being paid to condition monitoring based on motor current evaluation. However, there are currently only a few contributions to current-based pump diagnosis. In this paper, two current-based methods for the detection of bearing defects, impeller clogging, and cracked impellers are presented. The first approach, load point-dependent fault indicator analysis (LoPoFIA), is an approach that was derived from motor current signature analysis (MCSA). Compared to MCSA, the novelty of LoPoFIA is that only amplitudes at typical fault frequencies in the current spectrum are considered as a function of the hydraulic load point. The second approach is advanced transient current signature analysis (ATCSA), which represents a time-frequency analysis of a current signal during start-up. According to the literature, ATCSA is mainly used for motor diagnosis. As a test item, a VSD-driven circulation pump was measured in a pump test bench. Compared to MCSA, both LoPoFIA and ATCSA showed improvements in terms of minimizing false alarms. However, LoPoFIA simplifies the separation of bearing defects and impeller defects, as impeller defects especially influence higher flow ranges. Compared to LoPoFIA, ATCSA represents a more efficient method in terms of minimizing measurement effort. In summary, both LoPoFIA and ATCSA provide important insights into the behavior of faulty pumps and can be advantageous compared to MCSA in terms of false alarms and fault separation.

Biofuels are important additives to conventional fuels in combustion engines of the transport sector, as they reduce atmospheric emissions and promote environmental-friendly production chains. The mechanical and thermal performance of a PT6A-61A engine on a test bench of the Colombian Air Force operating with blends of JETA-1 and Biodiesel up to 25% volume values of substitution is evaluated in this work. Experimental results show that blends are operationally reliable up to 15% volume content. In that range, the engine operation is not compromised in terms of response variables. Moreover, experimental properties of fuel blends show that the freezing point—which is the most critical variable, does not comply with aeronautical regulations. The system dynamics are subject to several variations in the test parameters, which mainly affected fuel flow, Inter-Turbine Temperature (ITT), and engine performance. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is performed over the experimental results to quantify possible disturbances on the bench measurements. This is based on the fact that the study is restrained to stationary test bench conditions.

In order to ensure thermal safety and extended cycle life of Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) used in electric vehicles (EVs), a typical thermal management scheme was proposed as a reference design for the power battery pack. Through the development of the model for theoretical analysis and numerical simulation combined with the thermal management test bench, the designed scheme could be evaluated. In particular, the three-dimensional transient thermal model was used as the type of model. The test result verified the accuracy and the rationality of the model, but it also showed that the reference design could not reach the qualified standard of thermal performance of the power battery pack. Based on the heat dissipation strategy of liquid cooling, a novel improved design solution was proposed. The results showed that the maximum temperature of the power battery pack dropped by 1 &deg, C, and the temperature difference was reduced by 2 &deg, C, which improved the thermal performance of the power battery pack and consequently provides guidance for the design of the battery thermal management system (BTMS).

This paper deals with fault-tolerant control (FTC) of an induction motor (IM) drive. An inter-turn short circuit (ITSC) of the stator windings was taken into consideration, which is one of the most common internal faults of induction machines. The sensitivity of the classic, well-known voltage and current models to the stator winding faults was analyzed. It has been shown that these classical state variable estimators are sensitive to induction motor parameter changes during stator winding failure, which results in unstable operation of the direct field-oriented control (DFOC) drive. From a safety-critical applications point of view, it is vital to guarantee stable operation of the drive even during faults of the machine. Therefore, a new FTC system has been proposed, which consists of new modified rotor flux estimators, robust to stator winding faults. A detailed description of the proposed system is presented herein, as well as the results of simulation and experimental tests. Simulation analyses were performed using MATLAB/Simulink software. Experimental tests were carried out on the experimental test bench with a dSpace DS1103 card. The proposed solution could be applied as an alternative rotor flux estimation technique for the modern FTC drive.

An antilock braking system (ABS) is one of the most important components in a road vehicle, which provides active protection during braking, to prevent the wheels from locking-up and achieve handling stability and steerability. The all-electric ABS without any hydraulic components is a potential candidate for electric vehicles. To demonstrate and examine the all-electric ABS algorithms, this article proposes a single-wheel all-electric ABS test bench, which mainly includes the vehicle wheel, the roller, the flywheels, and the electromechanical brake. To simulate dynamic operation of a real vehicle’s wheel, the kinetic energy of the total rotary components in the bench is designed to match the quarter of the one of a commercial car. The vertical force to the wheel is adjustable. The tire-roller contact simulates the real tire-road contact. The roller’s circumferential velocity represents the longitudinal vehicle velocity. The design and analysis of the proposed bench are described in detail. For the developed prototype, the rated clamping force of the electromechanical brake is 11 kN, the maximum vertical force to the wheel reaches 300 kg, and the maximum roller (vehicle) velocity reaches 100 km/h. The measurable bandwidth of the wheel speed is 4 Hz–2 kHz and the motor speed is 2.5 Hz–50 kHz. The measured results including the roller (vehicle) velocity, the wheel velocity, and the wheel slip are satisfactory. This article offers the effective tools to verify all-electric ABS algorithms in a laboratory, hence saving time and cost for the subsequent test on a real road.

Full-electric boats are an expression of recent advancements in the area of vessel electrification. The installed batteries can suffer from poor cold-start performance, especially in the frigid season and at higher latitudes, leading to driving power limitations immediately after startup. At state, the leading solution is to adopt a dedicated heater placed on the common cooling/heating circuit; this implies poor volume, weight, and cost figures, given the very limited duty cycle of such a part. The Heater-in-Converter (HiC) technology allows removing this specialized component, exploiting the power electronics converters already available on board: HiC modulates their efficiency to produce valuable heat (pseudo-cogeneration). In this work, we use the model-based approach to design this system, which requires heating power minimization to fulfill power electronics limitations, while guaranteeing the user-expected startup time to full power. A multistage model is used to get the yearly vessel temperature distribution from latitude information and some additional data. Then, a lumped parameter for the cooling/heating circuit is used to determine the minimum required power as a function of the properties of the thermal interface material used for the battery coupling. The design is validated on a 1:5 test bench (battery power and energy), which demonstrates how the technology can be to scaled up to also fit different boats and battery sizes.

Vehicle transmission which has discrete gear-stages inevitably produces torque drop during shifting gears. This torque drop should be minimized because it may lead to uncomfortable driving feeling and degradation of acceleration performance. In accordance with the spread of electric-powered vehicle technology, this study proposes novel transmission architecture to eliminate torque drop during shifting gears by using one electric motor and verifies its operating concept through experiments with a test-bench. The proposed transmission, called CGST (clutchless geared smart transmission) can synchronize the gear-shaft to be engaged for the next gear-stage with the output shaft by using a planetary gear-set and an electric motor. The CGST has a dual input gear-box with even and odd gear-stages on different input shafts, and the planetary gear-set and the electric motor control the speeds of each input shafts to smoothly engage the next gear-stage. This idea was verified by the simplified test-rig in this study. Three distinct scenarios for gear-shift including starting from engine idling, odd to even gear-shift, and even to odd gear-shift were conducted in the experiment. The shifting performance of the CGST was evaluated by comparing it with the results of the manual transmission (MT). As a result, the CGST shows only 24% of torque drop of the MT, and torque oscillation followed after gear-shifting is reduced by 26%. Although the developed test bench was of limited size, the possibility and expected performance of the CGST have been confirmed as the solution for seamless transmission.

Axial piston pumps with high rotational speeds are required in many fields to increase the power-to-weight ratio. However, three main sliding friction pairs in the pump restrict the increase in rotational speed. To solve this problem, we propose a 2D piston pump with a balanced force that contains a sliding friction pair. Firstly, the mechanical structure and working principle of the pump are described. Then, the pump volumetric efficiency is studied by mathematical modeling, and volumetric losses containing backflow and leakage are analyzed and discussed from the perspectives of load pressure and rotational speed. A test bench that verifies the mathematical model is built to measure the volumetric efficiency of the tested pump. We have found that the increase in rotational speed can help to increase the pump volumetric efficiency, and the mathematical model is consistent with the tested data for 1000 rpm but demonstrates a remarkable difference from the tested data for 3000 rpm. Thus, the temperature field of the pump and the viscosity-temperature characteristics of the oil must be taken into account to increase volumetric efficiency further.

International audience; In this paper a mechanical sensorless control of Switched Reluctance Motors (SRMs) scheme of an electric vehicle (EV) powertrain is presented. The aim is to develop a soft sensors implementation for position and speed measurements of SRM. This contribution is focused on an extended Kalman filter and a sliding mode observer. The proposed observers are designed to generate speed and position estimations with the purpose of achieving highly robust speed control. The performances of these two observers are assessed and their robustness are analyzed. The design also includes a robustness analysis of the proposed mechanical sensorless control scheme under conditions which take the parameter variations and the load torque into account. To carry out this work, experiments are highlighted on an experimental test bench of 8/6 Switched Reluctance Motor prototype.

Optimization design of an impeller is critical for the energy performance of a fan. This paper takes the promotion of fan efficiency and pressure rise as the optimization objectives to carry out multiparameter and multiobjective optimization research. Firstly, an experimental test bench is built to measure the energy performance of the original fan and verify the accuracy of the numerical method. Then, the hub outlet angle of impeller &beta, 1, the impeller outlet angle increment &Delta, &beta, 1, the wrap angle &phi, the hub outlet angle of diffuser &beta, 2, and the diffuser outlet angle increment &Delta, 2 are set as the optimal parameters to conduct orthogonal optimal design. The results show that the efficiency of the optimal fan increases by 11.71%, and the pressure rise increases by 50.15%. The pressure and velocity distributions in an optimal fan are uniform, the internal flow separation is weakened, and the influence of tip leakage flow is reduced, which makes for the improvement of energy performance for the fan.

This paper introduces an R package ForecastTB that can be used to compare the accuracy of different forecasting methods as related to the characteristics of a time series dataset. The ForecastTB is a plug-and-play structured module, and several forecasting methods can be included with simple instructions. The proposed test-bench is not limited to the default forecasting and error metric functions, and users are able to append, remove, or choose the desired methods as per requirements. Besides, several plotting functions and statistical performance metrics are provided to visualize the comparative performance and accuracy of different forecasting methods. Furthermore, this paper presents real application examples with natural time series datasets (i.e., wind speed and solar radiation) to exhibit the features of the ForecastTB package to evaluate forecasting comparison analysis as affected by the characteristics of a dataset. Modeling results indicated the applicability and robustness of the proposed R package ForecastTB for time series forecasting., Published in Energies

Recent developments of high performance thermoelectric (TE) materials have increased the interest of using this technology to directly convert waste heat into electricity. In the automotive sector, many automotive thermoelectric generators (ATEGs) designs use TE modules (TEMs) with high hot side temperatures to cope with high engine load regimes. Here, we develop a new concept of a radial ATEG that is specifically designed to work with low temperature TEMs, which enables the use of Pb-free modules and reduces the thermal stress of the device. A prototype is built and tested at different regimes in an engine test bench. A numerical model of the ATEG is developed and validated. The consequences of modifying (1) the exchange area between the heat absorber and the exhaust gases and (2) the effective figure of merit of TEMs on the electrical output power and fuel economy are investigated by means of simulations. Results indicate that the maximum fuel economy (1.3%) is not attained at the point of maximum output power (228 W). In terms of fuel economy, the back pressure at the exhaust penalizes high mass flow regimes. We use a dimensionless parameter to analyze the potential of the ATEG for reducing fuel consumption.

This work is concerned with the use of the engine start module (ESM) ULTRA 31/900/24V ultracapacitor in specific hybrid systems consisting of a photovoltaic (PV) module, battery, and internal combustion engine (ICE). The test bench research on the ESM cooperating with the photovoltaic module to prevent its self-discharge has been tested, analyzed, and discussed. Moreover, the power distribution between electrochemical batteries and the ultracapacitor is shown. The potential application of the ultracapacitor connected with batteries for the start-up of an ICE engine is also presented. Furthermore, we analyze the possible application of the ultracapacitor plus battery system in heavy transport vehicles and buses. The main advantages and disadvantages of the system consisting of an ultracapacitor and a battery is presented along with the problem of self-discharge and the conditions of ultracapacitor and battery cooperation. This work also features the assumptions made for the conducted tests, selected accordingly for nominal current values of typical starter motors available on the market.

The establishment of international and regional standards for electric vehicle (EV) magnetic field wireless power transfer (MF-WPT) systems started in 2010 by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). In the meantime, the EV MF-WPT standardization has been focused on primary device and secondary device topology. Recently, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and SAE have begun describing the communication and alignment techniques for EV MF-WPT. In this paper, we present a fine positioning method using a low-frequency (LF) signal, as mentioned in IEC 61980 and SAE J2954. Through modeling and simulation, we optimized a LF ferrite rod antenna (FRA) for EV MF-WPT fine positioning. We also found the optimal arrangement of LF-FRAs on primary device and secondary device Finally, we used a test bench to experiment and check the results of our proposal.

Engine brake torque is a key feedback variable for the optimal torque split control of an engine–motor hybrid powertrain system. Due to the limitations in available sensors, however, engine torque is difficult to measure directly. For torque estimation, the unknown external load torque and the overlap of the expansion stroke between cylinders introduce a great disturbance to engine speed dynamics. This makes the conventional cycle average engine speed-based estimation approach unusable. In this article, an in-cycle crankshaft speed-based indicated torque estimation approach is proposed for a four-cylinder engine. First, a unique crankshaft angle window is selected for load torque estimation without the influence of combustion torque. Then, an in-cycle angle-domain crankshaft speed dynamic model is developed for engine indicated torque estimation. To account for the effects of model inaccuracy and unknown external disturbances, a “total disturbance” term is introduced. The total disturbance is then estimated by an adaptive observer using the engine’s historical operating data. Finally, a real-time correction method for the friction torque is proposed in the fuel cut-off scenario. Combining the aforementioned torque estimators, the brake torque can be obtained. The proposed algorithm is implemented in an in-house developed multi-core engine control unit (ECU). Experimental validation results on an engine test bench show that the algorithm’s execution time is about 3.2 ms, and the estimation error of the brake torque is within 5%. Therefore, the proposed method is a promising way to accurately estimate engine torque in real-time.

The sloshing of fuel inside the tank is an important issue in aerospace and automotive applications. This phenomenon, in fact, can cause various issues related to vehicle stability and safety, to component fatigue, audible noise, vibrations and to the level measurement of the fuel itself. The sloshing phenomenon can be defined as a highly nonlinear oscillatory movement of the free-surface of liquid inside a container, such as a fuel tank, under the effect of continuous or instantaneous forces. This paper is the result of a research collaboration between the Industrial Engineering Department of the University of Naples “Federico II” and the R&D department of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (F.C.A.) The activity is focused on the study of the sloshing in the fuel tank of vehicles. The goal is the optimization of the tank geometry in order to allow, for example, the correct fuel suction under all driving conditions and to prevent undesired noise and vibrations. This paper shows results obtained on a reference tank filled by water tinted with a dark blue food colorant. The geometry has been tested on a test bench designed by Moog Inc. on specification from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles with harmonic excitation of a 2D tank slice along one degree of freedom. The test bench consists of a hexapod with six independent actuators connecting the base to the top platform, allowing all six Degrees of Freedom (DOFs). On the top platform there are other two additional actuators to extend pitch and roll envelope, thus the name of “8-DOF bench”. The designed tank has been studied with a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling approach, too. By the end, the numerical and experimental data have been compared with a post-processing analysis by means of Matlab® software. For this reason, the images have been reduced in two dimensions. In particular, the percentage gaps of the free surfaces and the center of gravity have been compared each other. The comparison, for the three different levels of liquid tested, has shown a good agreement with a discrepancy always less than 3%.

This paper mainly investigates the sensitive characteristics of lithium-ion batteries so as to provide scientific basises for simplifying the design of the state estimator that adapt to various environments. Three lithium-ion batteries are chosen as the experimental samples. The samples were tested at various temperatures (−20 ∘ C, −10 ∘ C, 0 ∘ C , 10 ∘ C , 25 ∘ C) and various current rates (0.5C, 1C, 1.5C) using a battery test bench. A physical equivalent circuit model is developed to capture the dynamic characteristics of the batteries. The experimental results show that all battery parameters are time-varying and have different sensitivity to temperature, current rate and state of charge (SOC). The sensitivity of battery to temperature, current rate and SOC increases the difficulty in battery modeling because of the change of parameters. The further simulation experiments show that the model output has a higher sensitivity to the change of ohmic resistance than that of other parameters. Based on the experimental and simulation results obtained here, it is expected that the adaptive parameter state estimator design could be simplified in the near future.

Fuel economy efficiency is one of the most important parameters for vehicle powertrains, which is of particular interest for heavy-duty powertrain calibration. Conventionally, this work relies heavily on road tests, which cost more and may lead to long duration product development cycles. The paper proposes a novel hardware-in-loop modeling and calibration method to work it out. A dSPACE hardware-based test bench was successfully established and validated, which is valuable for a more efficient and easier shift schedule in calibration. Meanwhile, a real-time dynamic powertrain model, including a diesel engine, torque converter, gear box and driver model was built. Typical driving cycles that both velocity and slope information were constructed for different road conditions. A basic economic shift schedule was initially calculated and then optimal calibrated by the test bench. The results show that there is an optimal relationship between an economic shift schedule and speed regulation. By matching the best economic shift schedule regulation to different road conditions, the fuel economy of vehicles can be improved. In a smooth driving cycle, when the powertrain applies a larger speed regulation such as 12% and the corresponding shift schedule, the fuel consumption is smaller and is reduced by 13%. In a complex driving cycle, when the powertrain applies a smaller speed regulation such as 5% along with the corresponding shift schedule, the fuel consumption is smaller and is reduced by 5%. The method thus can provide guidance for economic calibration experiments of off-road heavy-duty vehicles.

This paper presents an acceleration slip regulation strategy for distributed drive electric vehicles with two motors on the front axle. The tasks of the strategy include controlling the slip ratio to make full use of the road grip and controlling the yaw rate to eliminate the lateral movement due to the difference between motor torques. The rate of the slip ratio change can be controlled by controlling the motor torque, so that the slip ratio can be controlled by applying a proportional-integral control strategy to control the rate of the slip ratio change. The yaw rate can be controlled to almost zero by applying torque compensation based on yaw rate feedback. A coordination control strategy for the slip ratio control and yaw rate control is proposed based on analysis of the priorities and features of the two control processes. Simulations were carried out using MATLAB/Simulink, and experiments were performed on a hardware-in-loop test bench with actual motors. The results of the simulations and experiments showed that the proposed strategy could improve the longitudinal driving performance and straight line driving stability of the vehicle.

In this paper, an experimental fuel cell/battery/supercapacitor hybrid system is investigated in terms of modeling and power management design and optimization. The power management strategy is designed based on the role that should be played by each component of the hybrid power source. The supercapacitor is responsible for the peak power demands. The battery assists the supercapacitor in fulfilling the transient power demand by controlling its state-of-energy, whereas the fuel cell system, with its slow dynamics, controls the state-of-charge of the battery. The parameters of the power management strategy are optimized by a genetic algorithm and Pareto front analysis in a framework of multi-objective optimization, taking into account the hydrogen consumption, the battery loading and the acceleration performance. The optimization results are validated on a test bench composed of a fuel cell system (1.2 kW, 26 V), lithium polymer battery (30 Ah, 37 V), and a supercapacitor (167 F, 48 V). OA gold

This paper investigates the impact of silicon carbide (SiC) metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) on the dynamic performance of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive systems. The characteristics of SiC MOSFETs are evaluated experimentally taking into account temperature variations. Then the switching characteristics are firstly introduced into the transfer function of a SiC-inverter fed PMSM drive system. The main contribution of this paper is the investigation of the dynamic control performance features such as the fast response, the stability and the robustness of the drive system considering the characteristics of SiC MOSFETs. All the results of the SiC-drive system are compared to the silicon-(Si) insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) drive system counterpart, and the SiC-drive system manifests a higher dynamic performance than the Si-drive system. The analytical results have been effectively validated by experiments on a test bench.

Electric variable transmission is a new electromechanical energy conversion device structure, which is especially suitable as the driving force distribution device for hybrid electric vehicles. This paper focuses on the power management strategy of hybrid electric vehicles based on an electric variable transmission, and a kind of hierarchical control ideology is proposed. The control strategy is composed of four control levels, namely analysis of force requirement, operation mode switching, force distribution and coordinate control, which are designed respectively in this paper. Then a simulation model is built based on the notion of energetic macroscopic representation, and an experimental test bench is built. The simulation and experiment results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed strategy, and it can be taken as a new theory and method for the study of hybrid electric vehicle based on electric variable transmission.

A rapid compression machine (RCM) test bench is developed in this study. The performance characterization and auto-ignition performance tests are conducted at an initial temperature of 293 K, a compression ratio of 9.5 to 16.5, a compressed temperature of 650 K to 850 K, a driving gas pressure range of 0.25 MPa to 0.7 MPa, an initial pressure of 0.04 MPa to 0.09 MPa, and a nitrogen dilution ratio of 35% to 65%. A new type of hydraulic piston is used to address the problem in which the hydraulic buffer adversely affects the rapid compression process. Auto-ignition performance tests of the RCM are then performed using a DME–O2–N2 mixture. The two-stage ignition delay and negative temperature coefficient (NTC) behavior of the mixture are observed. The effects of driving gas pressure, compression ratio, initial pressure, and nitrogen dilution ratio on the two-stage ignition delay are investigated. Results show that both the first-stage and overall ignition delays tend to increase with increasing driving gas pressure. The driving gas pressure within a certain range does not significantly influence the compressed pressure. With increasing compression ratio, the first-stage ignition delay is shortened, whereas the second-stage ignition delay is extended. With increasing initial pressure, both the first-stage and second-stage ignition delays are shortened. The second-stage ignition delay is shortened to a greater extent than that of the first-stage. With increasing nitrogen dilution ratio, the first-stage ignition delay is shortened, whereas the second-stage is extended. Thus, overall ignition delay presents different trends under various compression ratios and compressed pressure conditions.

Copper busbar technology is widely used with the aim to achieve electrical connections with power distribution systems because of their flexibility and compactness. The thermal analysis takes into account the heat conduction and convection of a copper busbar system used to supply a test bench with high currents in order to check the electro-thermal behaviour of power circuit breakers during overload and short circuit conditions. This paper proposes a mathematical model for busbars used within a high current power supply. The obtained thermal model can be used to analyse the thermal behaviour of busbars in steady-state conditions at different values of the electric current, cross-section and length of the busbar. Also, the mathematical model allows to calculate the temperature distribution along the busbar at different values of the contact resistances at junction points with other conductors. There is a good correlation between calculated, simulated and experimental results.

This paper presents the construction, mathematical modeling and testing of a scaled universal hydraulic Power Take-Off (PTO) device for Wave Energy Converters (WECs). A specific prototype and test bench were designed and built to carry out the tests. The results obtained from these tests were used to adjust an in-house mathematical model. The PTO was initially designed to be coupled to a scaled wave energy capture device with a low speed and high torque oscillating motion and high power fluctuations. Any Energy Capture Device (ECD) that fulfils these requirements can be coupled to this PTO, provided that its scale is adequately defined depending on the rated power of the full scale prototype. The initial calibration included estimation of the pressure drops in the different components, the pressurization time of the oil inside the hydraulic cylinders and the volumetric efficiency of the complete circuit. Since the overall efficiency measured during the tests ranged from 0.69 to 0.8 and the dynamic performance of the PTO was satisfactory, the results are really promising and it is believed that this solution might prove effective in real devices. Financial support received from the Spanish Government, by means of the research project subsidy from the PSE-MAR program contract PS-440000-2008-1, "Obtencion de Energia de las Olas". Editorial

Based on the application of the power batteries, this paper uses a statistical method to estimate the internal resistance and open-circuit voltage of Ni-MH battery. Battery status is monitored and simulated by battery pack test bench. Through using ideal battery model and fitting the data of measured voltage and current, the battery internal resistance and open-circuit voltage are estimated. The average relative error between battery statistic internal resistance and pulse internal resistance is less than 15% in different state of charge. Relative error is influenced by dispersion and symmetry of charge or discharge current. Average of absolute error in open-circuit voltage is about 5% respectively. The results show that it is feasible and accurate to estimate the parameters of Ni-MH battery by using statistical method.

One of the key systems of a Wave Energy Converter for extraction of wave energy is the Power Take-Off (PTO) device. This device transforms the mechanical energy of a moving body into electrical energy. This paper describes the model of an innovative PTO based on independently activated double-acting hydraulic cylinders array. The model has been developed using a simulation tool, based on a port-based approach to model hydraulics systems. The components and subsystems used in the model have been parameterized as real components and their values experimentally obtained from an existing prototype. In fact, the model takes into account most of the hydraulic losses of each component. The simulations show the flexibility to apply different restraining torques to the input movement depending on the geometrical configuration and the hydraulic cylinders on duty, easily modified by a control law. The combination of these two actions allows suitable flexibility to adapt the device to different sea states whilst optimizing the energy extraction. The model has been validated using a real test bench showing good correlations between simulation and experimental tests. The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support received from the Spanish Government, by means of the research project subsidy from the PSE-MAR program contract PS-440000-2008-1, "Obtencion de Energia de las Olas". This work was also supported in part by the Regional Government of the Basque Country (Project IT719-13) and UPV/EHU under grant UFI11/28.

This work presents a methodology to adjust the electronic control system of a reciprocating internal combustion engine test bench and the effect of the control parameters on emissions produced by the engine under two extreme situations: unadjusted and adjusted, both under transient operation. The aim is to provide a tuning guide to those in charge of this equipment not needed to be experts in control engineering. The proposed methodology covers from experimental plant modelling to control parameters determination and experimental validation. The methodology proposed includes the following steps: (i) Understanding of test bench and mathematical modeling; (ii) Model parameters identification; (iii) Control law proposal and tuning from simulation and (iv) Experimental validation. The work has been completed by presenting a comparative experimental study about the effect of the test bench control parameters on engine performance profiles (engine speed, engine torque and relative fuel air ratio) and on regulated gaseous emissions (nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons concentrations) and the profile of number of particles emitted. The whole process, including experimental validation, has been carried out in a test bench composed of a turbocharged, with common rail injection system, light duty diesel engine coupled to a Schenck E-90 eddy current dynamometric brake and its related Schenk X-act control electronics. The work demonstrates the great effect of the test bench control tuning under transient operation on performance and emissions produced by the engine independently of the engine accelerator position demanded before and after the test bench tuning.

Dual fuel combustion exhibits a high degree of complexity due to the presence of different fuels like diesel and natural gas in initially different physical states and a spatially strongly varying mixing ratio. Optimizing this combustion process on an engine test bench is costly and time consuming. Cost reduction can be achieved by utilizing simulation tools. Although these tools cannot replace the application of test benches completely, the total development costs can be reduced by an educated combination of simulations and experiments. A suitable model for describing the reactions taking place in the combustion chamber is required to correctly reproduce the dual fuel combustion process. This is why in the presented study, four different reaction mechanisms are benchmarked to shock tube (ST) and rapid compression machine (RCM) measurements of ignition delay times (IDTs) at pressures between 60 and 100 bar and temperatures between 671 and 1284 K. To accommodate dual fuel relevant diesel-natural gas mixtures, methane–propane–n-heptane mixtures are considered as the surrogate. Additionally, the mechanisms AramcoMech 1.3, 2.0 and 3.0 are tested for methane–propane mixtures. The influence of pressure and propane/n-heptane content on the IDT based on the measurements is presented and the extent to which the mechanisms can reflect the IDT-changes discussed.