Assisted Turbocharging

Hannu Jääskeläinen

This is a preview of the paper, limited to some initial content. Full access requires DieselNet subscription.
Please log in to view the complete version of this paper.

• Introduction
• Applications
  • Torque Curve Shaping
  • Transient Response Improvement
  • Alternative to Hybrid Drivetrains
  • Engine Efficiency Improvements
  • Particulate Emission Control

Introduction

Providing assistance to the turbocharger in turbocharged engines has long been an option that engine designers have utilized to address two undesirable characteristics of many turbocharged engines—namely low boost pressure at low engine speeds and turbocharger lag. This assistance can take one of several forms. Additional power can be supplied directly to the turbocharger shaft from an electric or hydraulic motor or even the engine itself [739][740][2259]. Alternatively, an additional compressor, either a supercharger or even a smaller turbocharger, can be used to provide boost when the primary turbocharger is unable to do so. Helhmoltz resonators and pulse chargers have also been proposed for providing this assistance.

While commercial applications of assisted turbocharging (also known as supported turbocharging) have been available since the early days of the internal combustion engine, increased interest in the technology appeared after about 2010. This renewed interest has been driven primary by the potential of this technology to support fuel efficiency improvements through engine downsizing and downspeeding by improving engine performance at lower engine speeds (torque curve shaping) and ensuring that transient response does not suffer.

It should be noted that many applications have avoided the need for turbocharger assistance by employing turbochargers with reduced inertia rotors, variable geometry turbines and other means to improve turbocharger performance. Whether they will continue to do so in the future remains to be seen.

One commercial application that has long utilized assisted turbocharging is turbocharged two-stroke engines. Because of their operating principle, two-stroke engines are unable to use the motion of the piston to induce gas flow into and out of the cylinder. Instead, pressurized intake air must be provided at all operating conditions. At low load and start-up conditions, the exhaust energy is too low for the turbocharger of a turbocharged two-stroke to provide the needed scavenge flow and some form of assistance is required. While superchargers are common, electrically assisted turbochargers have seen some use for these applications.

Applications

Torque Curve Shaping

Figure 1 shows the principle of providing some external power assist to the turbocharger at low speeds to improve steady-state full load torque. In this case, the objective is to achieve a torque curve shape with a downsized engine that is equivalent to a larger displacement naturally aspirated engine. Starting with the naturally aspirated downsized engine, it is relatively straight forward to achieve the required torque characteristics from about rated torque speed to the maximum rated speed of the engine using conventional turbocharging technology. As is apparent, at engine speeds below rated torque speed, the challenge is considerably greater. While a variable geometry turbocharger helps, there is still a considerable torque deficit at low speeds. Providing some external assistance to the turbocharger, in this case via a motor connected to the turbocharger’s shaft, is one way to generate the additional boost required to overcome this torque deficit [2357].

The external power demands for turbocharger assisted torque curve shaping can be significant and depend on the amount that the torque at low engine speeds needs to be increased. For steady-state torque curves, the amount of power that needs to be supplied depends on the difference between the engine torque that can be generated by the turbocharger alone and the desired low speed torque output. Figure 2 shows the effect of providing up to 3 kW of turbocharger assistance for a 2 L diesel engine [2358]. A 50% increase in low speed torque can be achieved with 1 kW assist. In another case where the target boost pressure for a 2 L engine was 300 kPa for the entire speed range from 1000 rpm and up, a maximum of 5.6 kW of motor assist was required [2357].

Figure 2 illustrates an important point for using assisted turbochargers for engine downsizing applications. The limit on low speed engine output can be strongly dependent on how much assistance power can be supplied to the turbocharger. This can limit the downsizing potential, and thus the thermal efficiency improvements, of various turbocharger assist technologies. It should be noted that the maximum assist that can be provided directly to the shaft of a turbocharger can also be limited by the need to avoid compressor surge. This is discussed under Turbocharger Integrated Assist.

###