DE VELO PMENT Simulation and Measurement

DESIGN OF AN
ELECTRIC SUPERCHARGER
FOR DOWNSIZED ENGINES
A research and development team at Valeo, supported by LMS, has developed a vehicle
equipped with an electric supercharger that improves the dynamic characteristics of the
internal combustion engine while reducing fuel consumption and emissions. The following
report presents a MBSE development approach to adapt the electric supercharger to a
Renault Fluence with a turbocharged 1.2-l gasoline engine.

36

AUTHORS

PASCAL MENEGAZZI
is System Simulation Innovation
M anager at Valeo Powertrain Systems
Business Group in Cergy Pontoise
(France).

YIMING WU
is Automobile Powertrain System
Engineer at Valeo Powertrain Systems
Business Group in Cergy Pontoise
(France).

VINCENT THOMAS
is Internal Combustion Engine
P roduct Line Manager at LMS,
A S iemens Business, in Lyon
(France).

ELECTRIC SUPERCHARGER
AGAINST TURBO LAG

Today, tightening carbon-dioxide emissions and fuel-economy regulations are

key technology drivers. This forces
automakers to downsize engines by as
much as 40 or 50%. In most cases,
exhaust-driven turbocharging is used to
boost output in these new types of
smaller displacement engines. With this
solution, turbo lag becomes more pronounced putting drivability and fun-todrive factors at risk. A solution for this is
the electric supercharger, a smart way to
add that essential fun-to-drive punch [1].
The electric supercharger [2] is
designed to provide a low-end power
boost with far-better dynamics compared to alternative solutions, such as
turbo-only twin-scroll or two-stage
turbo-charging. Since it is electrically
driven, it does not draw direct power
from the engine unlike conventional
superchargers. This flexibility makes the
technology more fuel and emissions efficient as well as less expensive than twostage turbocharging or mild hybrid powertrains [3].
The research and development (R&D)
team from Valeo, assisted by LMS, used
model-based systems engineering
(MBSE) to implement the electric supercharger on a 1.2-l turbocharged gasoline

engine, showing the advantages of this

technology in terms of low-end torque,
drivability and fuel consumption. In this
article, an overview of theMBSE methodology is given, combining the intensive use ofsystem simulation in the
design phase with component prototyping and integration during the validation
phase.
MODEL-BASED SYSTEMS
ENGINEERING

In the case of the electric supercharger,

most of the development stages in the
V-cycle, demonstrated in , were completed or supported by models from a
mechatronic system simulation platform
called LMS Imagine.Lab AMESim. Early
system design stages (phases 1 and 2
in ) were covered by macroscopic
and map-based models. The purpose
was to evaluate and compare different
powertrain architectures and technol
ogical options to meet the initial vehicle
requirements in terms of steady-state
and transient performance, and fuel
and electrical consumption. They also
allowed the engineers to define subsystem design specifications in terms of
maximum engine torque or time-totorque, for example.
LMS Imagine.Lab AMESim multidomain models, with a higher physical

Applying model-based system engineering to implement the electric supercharger on a turbocharged

asoline engine: (1) vehicle requirements, (2) system design, (3) subsystem design, (4) component design,
g
(5) component validation, (6) subsystem validation, (7) system validation, (8) global validation

11I2013Volume 74

37

DE VELO PMENT Simulation and Measurement

Example of models with upstream and downstream configuration used for system analysis

content were used during subsystem

design (phase 3 in ) of both the airpath and the electrical system. This
made it possible to define models with
the right level of detail to design the
right air-path architecture combining
the turbocharger, electric supercharger,
heat exchangers and control valves.
Detailed specifications for the turbo-

charger and theelectric supercharger

design were also proposed.
In parallel, a detailed model for the
electrical power network and control
law was set up including devices dedicated to the power supply for the electric
supercharger (batteries and/or ultracapacitors). The model was used to complete electrical system configuration

Steady-state and transient performance of the 1.2-l PFI engine with the electric supercharger

38

analysis to find the right parts sizing and

start defining optimal energy management strategies, including the e-chargers
actuation.
During component design (phase 4 in
), the characteristics simulated using
FEM or CFD tools of the newly designed
parts are put back into the models for
validation in the system context. Once

 The multi-domain vehicle simulator including

electric supercharger (screen shot)

validated, the part is physically prototyped and tested. Its characteristics are
implemented in the system simulation
models to prepare further prototyping
and integration. In this case, the main
integration and validation steps from
the bottom-up process were: the electric
supercharger prototyping and characterisation (phases 5 and 6 in ), the
a ir-path integration including the electric supercharger, on the engine test
bench (phase 7 in ), and finally, the
engine and electrical system integration
in the Renault Fluence demonstrator car
(phase 8 in ).
Close interaction with simulation is
ensured during each step of the validation process to support physical system
integration as well as control strategies
set-up using the existing models as plant
models connected to Simulink. During
global validation (phase 8 in ), a de
tailed vehicle model is combined with
the control Simulink model to generate
avirtual vehicle-testing environment.
This could be used to compare, rather
accurately, the performance of the electric-supercharged powertrain to other
configurations, such as a mild hybrid
powertrain.
11I2013Volume 74

AIR-PATH ARCHITECTURE
DEFINITION AND DESIGN

For many applications, the electric

supercharger is used as a secondary
charging device in conjunction with a
turbocharger. In such cases, the position
of the electric supercharger in the engine
air-path is an important factor influencing air-charging performance. Different
configurations were quickly evaluated
using system simulation, . On the one
hand, it was observed that an upstream
configuration where the electric supercharger was installed at the turbocharger
inlet has a lower air-charging performance because the electric supercharger
compressed the air first. This means that
the turbocharger works with a higher
inlet pressure and higher temperature.
This pushes the turbochargers operating
point closer to the surge line with a
lower isentropic efficiency. On the other
hand, a downstream configuration where
the electric supercharger is installed at
the turbocharger outlet provides better
system performance because it has less
influence on the turbocharger. In this
case, it also leads to poorer thermal conditions for the electric supercharger,

which may even require an additional

intercooler between the turbocharger
and the electric supercharger. Finally,
the choice between configurations is
always a multi-criteria decision between
thermal combustion tolerance for diesel
or gasoline, performance/cost ratio, and
other integration problems.
Since the objective was to provide
high-level performance results, the en
gine was equipped with a larger turbocharger in combination with the new
electric supercharger. The longer time-totorque response inherent to the larger
turbocharger is compensated by the electric superchargers operation. With this
kind of configuration, the small 1.2-l PFI
gasoline engine provides the driver with
a very impressive torque characteristic,
. In practice, the larger turbocharger
alone is able to match the target of above
2250rpm, but the benefits of applying the
electric supercharger set-up are clearly
demonstrated in . There is a tremendous
torque increase at low rpm. In addition,
the resulting engine still maintains very
good torque performance: the time-totorque is less than 1sfor all engine
speeds and significantly better than
the baseline engine below 2000rpm.

39

DE VELO PMENT Simulation and Measurement

ELECTRIC ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN AND OPTIMISATION

The electric supercharger is an electric

power consumer. Applying this type of
technology cannot be done without considering the impact on the power network. From a component point-of-view,
the electric supercharger is a centrifugal
supercharger using a switched reluctance electric motor technology that
provides the lowest rotor inertia of all
the electric motor technologies considered for this application. The electric
supercharger is mainly running under
transient conditions and a significant
portion of the electric power is used to
speed up the impeller. At times, classic
12-V architecture can be used for naturally aspirated gasoline engines under
2-l displacement. However, in many
cases, adding an electric supercharger
requires more electrical storage, such as
an ultracapacitor. This provides the best
transient performance because the
engine does not need to provide energy
to the supercharger. With less air-charg-

Mild hybrid vehicle

model for performance and
fuel consumption analyses
(screen shot)

40

ing, there isbetter fuel economy. The

storage device can then be recharged by
the combustion engine either during
operation for better fuel economy or
directly by a regenerative brake. Investigating this power split between storage
and generator from the alternator was
conducted using models. easily visualises the system energy flows in the
complete vehicle model. also illustrates the optimal electrical device sizing to obtain the best compromise
between performance, fuel consumption and cost.
In addition to this, a hybrid boost has
been developed that has two advantages:
one being a free boost using the energy
of the ultracapacitor and the other, a
forced boost, using energy from the
alternator. In this mode, the electric
supercharger uses energy from both the
generator and the ultracapacitor. During
a transient acceleration, the generator
load will be adjusted progressively to
avoid the impact on engine performance.
At full-load acceleration with its
extremely long boost duration, the

hybrid boost has zero impact on the en

gine performance since the total acceleration time is the same compared with a
free boost. The total electrical consumption increases by about 1kJ because the
boost duration slightly increases by
about 0.5s, but the energy consumption
from the ultracapacitor can be reduced
by over 30% and energy storage capacity
itself optimised.
COMPARING THE ELECTRIC
SUPERCHARGER TO MILD HYBRID

To complete the investigation, a model

for a mild hybrid configuration was set
up to complete a direct comparison be
tween competing technologies and the
baseline powertrain. The same engine
basis (1.2-l gasoline engine with a large
turbocharger) and driveline (long-gear
transmission) were used in both cases.
The mild hybrid vehicle embedded a
10kW electrical motor associated to a
12.5kW/500kJ battery. The corres
ponding model and main results are
illustrated in .

The simulation results confirm the

benefit of electric supercharger technology, showing an equivalent performance
level and comparable fuel consumption
figures according to standard driving
cycles. The simulation covered advantages in more dynamic cycles, which
will be validated later in actual working
conditions. In general, the conclusion
would be that the new Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedures
(WLTP) would definitely position the
electric supercharger as a leading
technology.
CONCLUSIONS

The authors propose a short overview of

the Valeo electric supercharger implementation work on a 1.2-l turbocharged
gasoline demonstrator car. Assisted by
LMS, the research and development team
efficiently deployed model-based systems
engineering (MBSE) to implement the
best-possible design options for complex
interacting systems, such as the engine
air-path and the vehicle electrical system. This project perfectly illustrates the
system simulation advantages for the
design and validation of new concepts in
guiding the design choices and limiting
the number of prototypes throughout the
development process. The capability to
demonstrate the value of the concept in a
vehicle context is an important step
toward the adoption of new types of
technology.
REFERENCES
[1] Criddle, M.; Morris, G.; Cutts, K.; Fraser, D.;
Morgan, G.: Development of the next Generation of
Electric Supercharging Systems for Passenger Car
Applications. Aachen Colloquium Automobile und
Engine Technology, 2005
[2] King, J.; Fraser, A.; Morris, G.; Durrieu, D.:
E lektrifizierung eines Downsizing-Ottomotors mit
Aufladung [Electrification of a Downsized Boosted
Gasoline Engine]. In: MTZ 73 (2012), No. 7/8, pp.
554-561
[3] Forissier, M.; Zechmair, D.; Weber, O.; Criddle,
M.; Durrieu, D.; Picron, V.; Menegazzi, P.; Surbled,
K.; Wu, Y.: The electric supercharger, Improved
transient behaviour and reduced CO 2 as well as NO x
emissions at the same time? 34 th International
Vienna Motor Symposium, 2013

11I2013Volume 74

41