The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the possibility to refine the control system of turbochargers in petrol engines by introducing turbo speed measurement. This thesis also investigates possible control enhancement from an electric wastegate actuator compared with a traditional pneumatic actuator. During the thesis work the control problem is divided into 3 sub systems: boost pressure controller, turbo speed controller, and electric actuator controller. The design procedure of the controllers follows model-based method in which a simulation model for engine and a simulation model for electric actuator are used. The designed controller is then implemented and evaluated in an engine test cell. The result of the thesis work shows that the electric wastegate actuator is preferred as it delivers consistent actuation speed and accurate positioning which favours model-based design that requires exact wastegate position. Although the purposed controller structure that uses turbo speed measurement cannot yet achieve faster generation of boost pressure by the end of the thesis work, the use of turbo speed sensor as controller feedback still shows potential to enhance the boost controller and ease the controller design, as the turbo speed measurement can reflect the boost pressure faster and is less sensitive to the disturbances in the air flow.

<p>In some turbochargers, boost pressure is reduced by opening the wastegate valve. In a modern turbo charged car, the most common way for opening the wastegate is with a pneumatic actuator and an air control solenoid, controlled by the ECU. In the control systems studied the ECU utilizes a static feedforward and a PID controller, for the purpose of making the boost pressure follow its reference value. With no systematic method for tuning the controller, this can be time consuming, and a set of well defined experiments to determine PID parameters are desired.When test time in a real engine is limited or expensive, it is advantageousto work in a simulation environment before doing live tests. A model for thewastegate actuator and air control solenoid is developed in the thesis. This is used to simulate controller performance before any tests in a real car is performed.In the thesis a tuning method for the PID controller based on step responsesis proposed. The tuning method evaluated is the IMC-choice of controller fora second order system, and it has a single design parameter not given by theexperiments. The controller is shown to give desired behavior when the staticfeedforward is correct or has small error.</p>

In some turbochargers, boost pressure is reduced by opening the wastegate valve. In a modern turbo charged car, the most common way for opening the wastegate is with a pneumatic actuator and an air control solenoid, controlled by the ECU. In the control systems studied the ECU utilizes a static feedforward and a PID controller, for the purpose of making the boost pressure follow its reference value. With no systematic method for tuning the controller, this can be time consuming, and a set of well defined experiments to determine PID parameters are desired.When test time in a real engine is limited or expensive, it is advantageousto work in a simulation environment before doing live tests. A model for thewastegate actuator and air control solenoid is developed in the thesis. This is used to simulate controller performance before any tests in a real car is performed.In the thesis a tuning method for the PID controller based on step responsesis proposed. The tuning method evaluated is the IMC-choice of controller fora second order system, and it has a single design parameter not given by theexperiments. The controller is shown to give desired behavior when the staticfeedforward is correct or has small error.

Series compensation of transmission lines is an effectiveand cheap method of improving the power transmission systemperformance. Series capacitors virtually reduces the length ofthe line making it easier to keep all parts of the power systemrunning in synchronism and to maintain a constant voltage levelthroughout the system. In Sweden this technology has been inuse since almost 50 years. The possibility to improve the performance of the ACtransmission system utilizing power electronic equipment hasbeen discussed a lot since about ten years. Some newsemiconductor based concepts have been developed beside thesince long established HVDC and SVC technologies. The ThyristorControlled Series Capacitor (TCSC) is one such concept. Byvarying the inserted reactance an immediate and well-definedimpact on the active power flow in the transmission line isobtained. Several potential applications, specifically poweroscillation damping, benefit from this capability. The conceptimplied the requirement to design a semiconductor valve, whichcan be inserted directly in the high-voltage power circuit.This certainly presented a technical challenge but thestraightforward approach appeared to be a cost-effectivealternative with small losses. It was also realized that the TCSC exhibits quite differentbehaviour with respect to subsynchronous frequency componentsin the line current as compared to the fixed series capacitorbank. This was a very interesting aspect as the risk ofsubsynchronous resonance (SSR), which just involves such linecurrent components, has hampered the use of series compensationin power systems using thermal generating plants. The thesis deals with the modelling and control aspects ofTCSC. A simplifying concept, the equivalent, instantaneousvoltage reversal, is introduced to represent the action of thethyristor controlled inductive branch, which is connected inparallel with the series capacitor bank in the TCSC. The idealvoltage reversal is used in the thesis in order to describe andexplain the TCSC dynamics, to investigate its apparentimpedance at various frequencies, as a platform forsynthesizing the boost control system and as the base elementin deriving a linear, small-signal dynamical model of thethree-phase TCSC. Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT) then hasbeen applied to the TCSC model in order to tune its boostregulator taking into account the typical variation ofparameters that exists in a power system. The impact of theboost control system with respect to damping of SSR is finallybeing briefly looked at. <b>Keywords:</b>Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor, TCSC,FACTS, reactive power compensation, boost control, phasorestimation, Quantitative Feedback Theory, subsynchronousresonance, SSR.

<p>Series compensation of transmission lines is an effectiveand cheap method of improving the power transmission systemperformance. Series capacitors virtually reduces the length ofthe line making it easier to keep all parts of the power systemrunning in synchronism and to maintain a constant voltage levelthroughout the system. In Sweden this technology has been inuse since almost 50 years.</p><p>The possibility to improve the performance of the ACtransmission system utilizing power electronic equipment hasbeen discussed a lot since about ten years. Some newsemiconductor based concepts have been developed beside thesince long established HVDC and SVC technologies. The ThyristorControlled Series Capacitor (TCSC) is one such concept. Byvarying the inserted reactance an immediate and well-definedimpact on the active power flow in the transmission line isobtained. Several potential applications, specifically poweroscillation damping, benefit from this capability. The conceptimplied the requirement to design a semiconductor valve, whichcan be inserted directly in the high-voltage power circuit.This certainly presented a technical challenge but thestraightforward approach appeared to be a cost-effectivealternative with small losses.</p><p>It was also realized that the TCSC exhibits quite differentbehaviour with respect to subsynchronous frequency componentsin the line current as compared to the fixed series capacitorbank. This was a very interesting aspect as the risk ofsubsynchronous resonance (SSR), which just involves such linecurrent components, has hampered the use of series compensationin power systems using thermal generating plants.</p><p>The thesis deals with the modelling and control aspects ofTCSC. A simplifying concept, the equivalent, instantaneousvoltage reversal, is introduced to represent the action of thethyristor controlled inductive branch, which is connected inparallel with the series capacitor bank in the TCSC. The idealvoltage reversal is used in the thesis in order to describe andexplain the TCSC dynamics, to investigate its apparentimpedance at various frequencies, as a platform forsynthesizing the boost control system and as the base elementin deriving a linear, small-signal dynamical model of thethree-phase TCSC. Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT) then hasbeen applied to the TCSC model in order to tune its boostregulator taking into account the typical variation ofparameters that exists in a power system. The impact of theboost control system with respect to damping of SSR is finallybeing briefly looked at.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor, TCSC,FACTS, reactive power compensation, boost control, phasorestimation, Quantitative Feedback Theory, subsynchronousresonance, SSR.</p>