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Lookup NU author(s): Boru Jia, Dr Rikard Mikalsen, Dr Andrew SmallboneORCiD, Dr Boru Jia, Professor Tony Roskilly
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The free-piston engine generator (FPEG) is a linear energy conversion system, which is known to have greater thermal efficiency than an equivalent and more conventional reciprocating engine. The piston motion of a FPEG is not restricted by a crankshaft-connection rod mechanism, it must be controlled to overcome challenges in the starting process, risk of misfire, and unstable operation. In this paper, the global control structure for a FPEG prototype is presented. A Cascade control strategy is proposed for the piston stable operation level, and PID controllers are used for both of the outer loop and inner loop. The measured top dead centre of the previous stroke and the piston velocity during the current stroke are taken for controller feedback, and the injected fuel mass is used as the control variable. The proposed cascade control implemented in the FPEG is shown to have good performance, the piston returns to a stable state in 0.5 s. Compared with a single loop control strategy, the performance of cascade control is improved in terms of the control delay, peak error and settling time.
Author(s): Boru J, Mikalsen R, Smallbone A, Zuo Z, Feng H, Roskilly AP
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Applied Energy
Year: 2016
Volume: 179
Pages: 1166-1175
Print publication date: 01/10/2016
Online publication date: 27/07/2016
Acceptance date: 16/07/2016
Date deposited: 06/08/2016
ISSN (print): 0306-2619
ISSN (electronic): 0306-2619
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.07.081
DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.07.081
Data Access Statement: http://dx.doi.org/10.17634/160151-1
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