Optimal control of an over-actuated spark-ignited hydrogen engine

The spark-ignited (SI) hydrogen combustion engine has the potential to noticeably reduce greenhouse gas emissions from passenger cars. To prevent nitrogen oxide emissions and to increase fuel efficiency and power output, complex air paths and operating strategies are utilized. This makes the engine control problem more complex, challenging the conventional engine calibration process. This work combines and extends the state-of-the-art in real-time combustion engine modeling and optimal control, presenting a novel control concept for the efficient operation of a hydrogen combustion engine. The extensive experimental validation with a 1.5 l three-cylinder hydrogen SI engine and a dynamically operated engine test bench with emission and in-cylinder pressure measurements provides a comprehensible comparison to conventional engine control. The results demonstrate that the proposed optimal control decreased the load tracking errors by a factor of up to 2.8 and increased the engine efficiency during lean operation by up to 10 percent while decreasing the calibration effort compared to conventional engine control. • Model-based control algorithm with reduced calibration effort. • Applied to real-time hardware and tested on the engine testbench. • Systematic handling of over-actuated airpath. • Optimization to increase the thermal efficiency of the engine operation. • Better load tracking performance compared to conventional engine control approaches.