Adaptive Air-Fuel Ratio Regulation for Port-Injected Spark-Ignited Engines Based on a Generalized Predictive Control Method

The accurate air-fuel ratio (AFR) control is crucial for the exhaust emission reduction based on the three-way catalytic converter in the spark ignition (SI) engine. The difficulties in transient cylinder air mass flow measurement, the existing fuel mass wall-wetting phenomenon, and the unfixed AFR path dynamic variations make the design of the AFR controller a challenging task. In this paper, an adaptive AFR regulation controller is designed using the feedforward and feedback control scheme based on the dynamical modelling of the AFR path. The generalized predictive control method is proposed to solve the problems of inherent nonlinearities, time delays, parameter variations, and uncertainties in the AFR closed loop. The simulation analysis is investigated for the effectiveness of noise suppression, online prediction, and self-correction on the SI engine system. Moreover, the experimental verification shows an acceptable performance of the designed controller and the potential usage of the generalized predictive control in AFR regulation application.