Electrical energy storage system for traction power supply

1. An energy storage system for connection to a traction power supply that provides power to an electric vehicle, the energy storage system comprising:

(a.) a buck-boost DC-DC converter for connection to the traction power supply;

(b.) an electrical energy storage;

(c.) a storage bus connecting the electrical energy storage to the converter; and

(d.) a power controller communicably connected to the converter and being operable in a regeneration mode when the vehicle is braking and in an assist mode when the vehicle is accelerating;

wherein when the power controller is in the regeneration mode, the power controller controls the converter to transfer electrical energy from the traction power supply to the electrical energy storage;

wherein when the power controller is in the assist mode, the power controller controls the converter to transfer electrical energy from the electrical energy storage to the traction power supply; and

wherein the controller slows the rate of electrical energy transfer between the traction power supply and the electrical energy storage when upper and lower voltage boundary limits of the electrical energy storage are approached, respectively, and

wherein the power controller comprises

a first controller that works to reduce the difference between the voltage of the traction power supply and a reference voltage,

a second controller that works to produce a constraint boundary based on the difference between the storage bus voltage and a maximum bus voltage utilizing a gain of the second controller, and

a dynamic saturator operable to receive an output from the first controller and to bound the output to upper and lower saturation levels, the upper saturation level being the output of the second controller.

2. The energy storage system of claim 1 , wherein the power controller slows the transfer of electrical energy from the traction power supply to the electrical energy storage when the voltage of the storage bus approaches the upper boundary limit; and

wherein the power controller slows the transfer of electrical energy from the electrical energy storage to the traction power supply when the voltage of the storage bus approaches the lower boundary limit.

3. The energy storage system of claim 1 , wherein the electrical energy storage comprises electric dual layer capacitors.

4. The energy storage system of claim 1 , wherein the energy storage comprises a plurality of capacitors arranged in one or more strings, each of which comprises a plurality of serially connected capacitors.

5. The energy storage system of claim 1 , wherein the energy storage comprises a plurality of batteries.

6. The energy storage system of claim 1 , wherein the converter comprises a plurality of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs).

7. The energy storage system of claim 6 , wherein the converter comprises a first leg having a pair of serially connected IGBTs, a second leg having a pair of serially connected IGBTs and an inductor connected between nodes of the first and second legs, the node in each of the first and second legs being located between the IGBTs.

8. The energy storage system of claim 1 , wherein the mode of the power controller is determined by a voltage of the traction power supply.

9. The energy storage system of claim 1 , wherein the power controller moves to the regeneration mode when the voltage of the traction power supply moves above an upper voltage threshold limit and moves to the assist mode when the voltage of the traction power supply moves below a lower threshold limit.

10. The energy storage system of claim 1 , wherein the power controller further comprises a third controller that works to reduce the difference between the current of an inductor of the converter and a reference current derived from an output of the dynamic saturator.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the gain of the second controller is a function of the capacity of the electrical energy storage.

12. A method of operating an energy storage system, the method comprising:

providing the energy storage system for connection to a traction power supply that provides power to an electric vehicle, the energy storage system comprising a buck-boost DC-DC converter for connection to the traction power supply, an electrical energy storage, a storage bus connecting the electrical energy storage to the converter, and a power controller communicably connected to the converter and being operable in a regeneration mode when the vehicle is braking and in an assist mode when the vehicle is accelerating;

operating the power controller in a regeneration mode such that the power controller controls the converter to transfer electrical energy from the traction power supply to the electrical energy storage; and

operating the power controller in an assist mode such that the power controller controls the converter to transfer electrical energy from the electrical energy storage to the traction power supply; and

wherein the power controller slows the rate of electrical energy transfer between the traction power supply and the electrical energy storage when upper and lower voltage boundary limits of the electrical energy storage are approached, respectively, and

wherein the power controller comprises a first controller that is operated to reduce the difference between the voltage of the traction power supply and a reference voltage, a second controller that is operated to produce a constraint boundary based on the difference between the storage bus voltage and a maximum bus voltage utilizing a gain of the second controller, and a dynamic saturator that operates to receive an output from the first controller and to bound the output to upper and lower saturation levels, the upper saturation level being the output of the second controller.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the power controller slows the transfer of electrical energy from the traction power supply to the electrical energy storage when the voltage of the storage bus approaches the upper boundary limit.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the power controller slows the transfer of electrical energy from the electrical energy storage to the traction power supply when the voltage of the storage bus approaches the lower boundary limit.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the power controller further comprises a third controller that operates to reduce the difference between the current of an inductor of the converter and a reference current derived from an output of the dynamic saturator.

16. An energy storage system for connection to a traction power supply that provides power to a vehicle, the energy storage system comprising:

a DC-DC converter for connection to the traction power supply; an electrical energy storage device;

a bus connecting the electrical energy storage device and the DC-DC converter; and a control system operatively coupled with the converter, the control system comprising a first controller structured to reduce a difference between a voltage of the traction power supply and a reference value to provide a first output, a second controller structured to provide a second output based on a difference between a voltage of the bus and a maximum value of the bus voltage utilizing a gain of the second controller, and a dynamic saturator structured to receive the first output from the first controller and to bound the first output to upper and lower saturation levels, the upper saturation level being dynamically determined using the second output of the second controller;

wherein the control system is operable in a regeneration mode when the vehicle is decelerating to control the converter to transfer electrical energy from the traction power supply to the electrical energy storage device, the control system is operable in an assist mode when the vehicle is accelerating to transfer electrical energy from the electrical energy storage device to the traction power supply, and the control system slows the rate of electrical energy transfer between the traction power supply and the electrical energy storage when upper and lower voltage boundary limits of the electrical energy storage are approached, respectively.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the first controller is structured as a proportional-integral controller, and the second controller is structured as a proportional-integral controller.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the control system further comprises a third controller that operates to reduce a difference between the current of an inductor of the converter and a reference current derived from an output of the dynamic saturator.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein the third controller is structured as a proportional-integral controller.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein the gain of the second controller is a function of the capacity of the electrical energy storage device.