Computer system and a computer-implemented method of controlling the temperature of a selective catalytic reduction system
A computer system comprising processing circuitry configured to obtain topographic data containing information about the topography of the road along which a heavy-duty vehicle is currently travelling, the topographic data including information about an upcoming downhill slope; acquire prediction data indicative of the braking requirements for the upcoming downhill slope, the braking requirements including how much brake power and/or brake energy that will be needed in the upcoming downhill slope to maintain the speed of the heavy-duty vehicle at or below a selected speed limit of the heavy-duty vehicle throughout the travel in the downhill slope; determine a brake blending combination which allows a Selective Catalytic Reduction System (SCR) of the heavy-duty vehicle to be kept as warm as possible while still fulfilling the braking requirements; and apply the determined brake blending combination to the heavy-duty vehicle while travelling along the downhill slope.
1 . A computer system comprising processing circuitry configured to:
obtain topographic data containing information about topography of a road along which a heavy-duty vehicle is currently travelling, the topographic data including information about an upcoming downhill slope;
acquire prediction data indicative of braking requirements for the upcoming downhill slope, the braking requirements including how much brake power and/or brake energy will be needed in the upcoming downhill slope to maintain speed of the heavy-duty vehicle at or below a selected speed limit of the heavy-duty vehicle throughout travel in the downhill slope;
determine effects of each of a plurality of brakes on the brake power and at least one of exhaust gas temperature or resulting temperature of a Selective Catalytic Reduction System (SCR), the plurality of brakes comprising service brakes and a plurality of auxiliary brakes;
determine, using a brake blending model, a brake blending combination of the plurality of brakes which allows the SCR of the heavy-duty vehicle to be kept as warm as possible while still fulfilling the braking requirements, the brake blending combination including a concurrent brake blending of the service brakes and a plurality of different types of auxiliary brakes;
determine a current temperature of the SCR or an expected temperature of the SCR in the upcoming downhill slope is below a predefined threshold temperature; and
upon determining that the determined current or expected temperature of the SCR is below the predefined threshold temperature, apply the determined brake blending combination to the heavy-duty vehicle while travelling along the downhill slope.
2 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of auxiliary brakes comprises a retarder, exhaust brake, and/or engine brake.
3 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to upshift gears for the travel along the downhill slope in addition to applying the determined brake blending combination.
4 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the brake blending model implements cost functions where the control target is to minimize the cost.
5 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the brake blending model is stored in a remote server which is accessible by the heavy-duty vehicle.
6 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the brake blending model is stored in the processing circuitry, onboard the heavy-duty vehicle, wherein the brake blending model is uploadable to a remote server, enabling sharing of the brake blending model with other heavy-duty vehicles.
7 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
access stored historical control data representing previous control actions by the processing circuitry; and
determine the brake blending combination based on the accessed stored historical control data.
8 . The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the historical data includes information acquired during different brake events of the heavy-duty vehicle and/or information acquired during different brake events of one or more other heavy-duty vehicles, the acquired information including information about the change in temperature of the SCR during the different brake events and different combinations of brake blending.
9 . A heavy-duty vehicle comprising the computer system of claim 1 .
10 . A computer-implemented method of controlling, for a heavy-duty vehicle traveling along a road, a temperature of a Selective Catalytic Reduction System (SCR) which forms part of an Exhaust After-Treatment System (EATS) of the heavy-duty vehicle, the method comprising:
obtaining, by processing circuitry of a computer system, topographic data containing information about topography of the road along which the heavy-duty vehicle is currently travelling, the topographic data including information about an upcoming downhill slope;
acquiring, by the processing circuitry, prediction data indicative of braking requirements for the upcoming downhill slope, the braking requirements including how much brake power and/or brake energy will be needed in the upcoming downhill slope to maintain speed of the heavy-duty vehicle at or below a selected speed limit of the heavy-duty vehicle throughout travel in the downhill slope;
determining, by the processing circuitry, effects of each of a plurality of brakes on brake power and at least one of exhaust gas temperature or resulting temperature of the SCR, the plurality of brakes comprising service brakes and a plurality of auxiliary brakes;
determining, by the processing circuitry using a brake blending model, a brake blending combination of the plurality of brakes which allows the SCR to be kept as warm as possible while still fulfilling the braking requirements, the brake blending combination including a concurrent brake blending of the service brakes and a plurality of different types of auxiliary brakes;
determining, by the processing circuitry, a current temperature of the SCR or an expected temperature of the SCR in the upcoming downhill slope is below a predefined threshold temperature; and
upon determining that the determined current or expected temperature of the SCR is below the predefined threshold temperature, apply the determined brake blending combination to the heavy-duty vehicle while travelling along the downhill slope.
11 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform the method of claim 10 .