Fast model predictive control for the air path of a turbocharged diesel engine

This article describes the development of a fast model predictive controller (MPC) for the air path of a diesel combustion engine. A basically fundamental model with a couple of measurement driven parts forms a nonlinear observer within an MPC. An online linearization algorithm allows a successive update of the linear model used for the prediction step and furthermore for the optimization to get the control input corrections. Two methods are presented to solve the used objective function - the analytical way and the application of a QP solver with the possibility to include constraints. For controller validation experimental tests with a diesel engine in PCCI (partial charge compression ignition) mode are made.