Abstract:

A method was proposed by using integrating globally optimized dynamic programming (DP) with real time control to address the energy-saving and emission-reduction needs of inland waterway vessels and to improve the energy management strategies for methanol electric hybrid propulsion systems. A quasi steady state model was developed based on bench test data to characterize the fuel consumption and emission patterns of the methanol engine. The DP strategy was employed to establish a globally optimal benchmark for energy allocation. The real time control performance of the strategy was validated by using an NI PXIe Hardware In the Loop (HIL) platform. The results show that the DP strategy reduces the fuel consumption by 28.2% and lowers the pollutant emissions of HC, CO₂, and NO_x by 41.0%, 42.6%, and 30.5% respectively, compared with the deterministic Rule Based (RB) strategy. Therefore, it provides a practical energy management solution for methanol fueled hybrid vessels.

Key words: hybrid propulsion systems, methanol-electric, energy management strategy, dynamic programming (DP) strategy, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL)