Modeling and control of gasoline PPC engine approaching high efficiency with constraints

Gasoline-fueled Partially Premixed Combustion is an advanced combustion concept approaching high efficiency as well as low emissions. The most challenging task on controlling a gasoline PPC engine is to regulate the maximum pressure rise rate to reduce engine noise and durability problem. A trade-off relationship between pressure rise rate and soot emissions is observed as a function of pilot injection event. In this paper, a control-oriented model is developed to predict in-cylinder pressure and engine outputs through fuel injection events. Thereafter, two controllers structured with PI and MPC are designed and evaluated separately. Simulation results show that, both controllers satisfy the objective of achieving desired engine load and combustion phasing, with the constraints of pressure rise rate and soot emissions simultaneously. MPC controller produces a smoother transient move with less overshoot, comparing with PI controller with a fast response.