Combustion timing control of HCCI engine based on NNPC and Elman-NN model under complex conditions

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combines the characteristics of gasoline engine and diesel engine with high thermal efficiency and low emissions. However, since there is no direct initiator of combustion, it is difficult to control the combustion timing in HCCI engines under complex working conditions. In this paper, Neural Network Predictive Control (NNPC) for combustion timing of the HCCI engine is designed and implemented. First, the black box model based on Elman neural network is designed and developed to estimate the combustion timing. The fuel equivalence ratio, intake valve closing timing, intake manifold temperature, intake manifold gas pressure, and engine speed are chosen as the system inputs. Then, a NNPC controller is designed to control combustion timing by controlling the intake valve closing timing. Simulation results show that the Elman neural network black box model is capable of estimating the HCCI engine combustion timing. In addition, regardless of whether the HCCI engine is in constant or complex condition, the designed NNPC controller is capable of keeping the combustion timing within the ideal range. In particular, under New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) working conditions, the maximum overshoot of the controller is 28.95% and the average error is 1.03 crank angle degree. It is concluded that the controller has good adaptability and robustness.