2013 American Control Conference (ACC)
Washington, DC, USA, June 17-19, 2013
Heat Exchanger Modeling and Identification for Control of
Waste Heat Recovery Systems in Diesel Engines
Emanuel Feru, Frank Willems, Chepa Rojer, Bram de Jager and Maarten Steinbuch
Abstract— To meet future CO2 emission targets, Waste Heat
Recovery systems have recently attracted much attention for
automotive applications, especially for long haul trucks. This
paper focuses on the development of a dynamic counter-flow
heat exchanger model for control purposes. The model captures
the dynamic phenomena of two-phase fluid flow using the mass
and energy balance equations. While most of the studies use
chemical libraries to retrieve the working fluid properties, in
this model mathematical equations are derived. Compared to
other evaporator models, the proposed model is validated on
data from a complete engine platform. Experiments are done
on a state-of-the-art Euro-VI heavy-duty diesel engine, which
is equipped with a Waste Heat Recovery system. For transient
conditions over a wide range of operating points, simulation
results show good agreement in comparison with experimental
data. This makes the model suitable for real-time simulations,
diagnostics and control algorithm designs.
Index Terms— Model identification, Energy recovery system,
Diesel engine, Heat exchanger, Waste Heat Recovery system.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Driven by CO2 legislation, fuel costs and concerns about
energy security, engine exhaust gas heat utilisation has re-
cently attracted a lot of interest. For heavy-duty applications,
the vast majority of research focuses on energy recovery
systems based on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) [1], [2].
These energy recovery systems called Waste Heat Recovery
(WHR) systems can reduce fuel consumption [3] and lower
engine emissions [4].
Control of engines with a WHR system is challenging,
especially because of the large number of control actions
and strong coupling between the engine and WHR system.
Moreover, to prevent damage of the WHR system, infor-
mation about the vapor fraction within the WHR system is
crucial. Thus, a model-based control approach is essential.
Modeling of a WHR system is not a simple task due
to its complexity and thermal behavior mainly influenced
by the heat exchanger and condenser. In [5], a general
heat exchanger model using the Moving Boundary (MB)
approach is presented. The model includes three regions:
liquid, two-phase and vapor, and is developed to perform
simulations with different refrigerants types or mixtures. The
MB approach is also used in [6], where the attention is
focused on switching algorithms to improve accuracy and
robustness of the model. In [7], the MB model is validated
for single and multi-evaporator air conditioning systems and
E. Feru is with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven
University of Technology, The Netherlands (e-mail: e.feru@tue.nl).
F. Willems and C. Rojer are with TNO Automotive Helmond, The Nether-
lands (e-mail: {frank.willems,chepa.rojer}@tno.nl).
B. de Jager and M. Steinbuch are with the Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands (e-mail:
{a.g.de.jager,m.steinbuch}@tue.nl).
978-1-4799-0178-4/$31.00 ©2013 AACC
found to give acceptable results against experimental data.
However, in case the volume of one region becomes much
smaller than the others the MB models become singular and
can lead to failures [6]. Another type of modeling approach,
which is more robust during start-up and shut-down pro-
cesses, is the Finite Volume (FV) formulation [8], [9]. A
disadvantage of this approach is that FV models are more
computationally demanding than MB models [8]. Recently,
in [10] a FV heat exchanger model for WHR systems is
presented. The proposed model is designed to be used in
small-scale ORC to optimize the working conditions of WHR
systems with variable heat sources. However, this approach
suffers from certain discontinuities mainly generated by the
density derivative on the liquid saturation curve.
In this paper, using the FV formulation, a mathematical
model of a heat exchanger is presented. Based on the mass
and energy conservation principles, the model captures the
phase change in fluid flow and is developed to be utilized
for control of the evaporation process within a WHR system.
Compared to previous heat exchanger models, the proposed
approach can prevent the chattering effect coming from the
density derivative. Instead of using chemical libraries to
retrieve the working fluid properties, mathematical equations
are derived which can avoid discontinuities in the density
derivative during a phase change. The model describes a
complex heat exchanger composed out of three modules to
prevent high temperature values in the wall material.
The paper is organized as follows. In Section II, the stud-
ied system and mathematical relations for the heat exchanger
are given. In Section III, the measured data is analysed and
model parameters are identified. In Section IV, the model is
validated on data from a state-of-the-art Euro-VI heavy-duty
diesel engine equipped with a WHR system in the Exhaust
Gas Recirculation line. Finally, conclusions are drawn and
directions for future research are discussed.
II. S YSTEM DESCRIPTION
In Fig. 1, a schematic representation of the considered
system is shown. The system consists of a WHR system
connected to the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) line of a
Euro-VI heavy-duty diesel engine. The recirculated exhaust
gas flow rate is a function of the EGR valve uegr , controlled
similar to an engine without a WHR system. The components
of the WHR system correspond to a typical small-scale ORC:
a pump, an evaporator, a two piston expander, a condenser
and a reservoir. The pump is a parallel displacement pump
actuated by the engine shaft through a mechanical coupling.
The working fluid flow is controlled by means of two
hydraulic valves uv1 and uv2 . For safety reasons, a pressure
2860
 Engine
fact that exhaust gas density variation with temperature is
Ẇtot
considerably small. Hence, the heat exchanger model can be
Ẇeng
written as the following set of partial differential equations.
exhaust gas Expander Conservation of mass (working fluid):
Tg,in Tf,out Ẇexp
ṁg,in pf uv2
Condenser ∂ρf ∂ ṁf
+ Af = 0, (1)
∂t ∂z
V3
Conservation of energy:
Evaporator u v1 ∂ρf hf ∂ ṁf hf
Af =− + αf Pf (Tw − Tf ), (2a)
Tf,in ∂t ∂z
ṁf,in ∂hg ∂hg
uegr ethanol Reservoir Ag ρg = ṁg − αg Pg (Tg − Tw ), (2b)
∂t ∂z
Tg,out Pump WHR system Conservation of energy at the wall:
Fig. 1: Schematic representation of a heavy-duty diesel engine equipped ∂Tw
with a WHR system in the EGR line. ρw Aw cpw = αg Pg (Tg − Tw ) + αf Pf (Tf − Tw ), (3)
∂t
relief valve V3 is installed. Using a two piston expander the where hf , hg are the working fluid enthalpy and exhaust gas
recovered energy is converted to mechanical power Ẇexp enthalpy, ṁf , ṁg are the working fluid and exhaust gas mass
and added to the engine shaft through a fixed gear set. The flow rates, respectively. The change in sign of (2b) compared
measured signals are depicted in blue and located at the input to (2a) refers to a counter flow application. The heat transfer
and output of the evaporator. rate is related to a heat transfer coefficient α, a heat exchange
In what follows, a mathematical description of the evap- perimeter P and a difference in temperature visible in the
orator is given. First, a set of non-linear partial differential right hand side of Equations (2). Note that similar to [5], in
equations which describe the transport of mass and energy (3) we assume an infinitely fast wall axial conductivity.
are provided. Second, to account for phase change, the As the pressure dynamics are neglected, the density deriva-
∂ρ ∂ρ ∂h
working fluid properties are approximated by a set of mathe- tive with respect to time is ∂tf = ∂hff ∂tf . Using the energy
matical equations. Third, the partial differential equations are conservation law (2a) for the working fluid side, the mass
discretized in space using a finite-difference approximation. conservation law (1) becomes:
The resulting heat exchanger model is a set of ordinary ∂ρf 1

∂hf

∂ ṁf
differential equations which can be solved efficiently using −ṁf + αf Pf (Tw − Tf ) + = 0. (4)
∂hf ρf ∂z ∂z
numerical solvers such as ode solvers from Matlab
R
.
The exhaust gas thermal dynamics are considerably faster
A. Continuous evaporator model than working fluid and wall temperature dynamics. Thus,
The evaporator used in this WHR system is a special (2b) can be simplified by neglecting the time derivative of the
counter flow type of heat exchanger divided in three modules exhaust gas enthalpy. Furthermore, a simple way to account
(see Fig. 1). In this way, high wall temperatures which could for the heat exchanger modules (see Fig. 1) is to consider a
harm the wall material are avoided. For simplicity, each linear exhaust gas temperature profile. In this case, Equation
module can be seen as separated in three parts: the working (2b) can be written as
fluid, the heat exchanger wall and the secondary fluid. The
secondary fluid is associated with the hot exhaust gases, ṁg cpg (Tg,in − Tg,out ) = αg Sg (Tg,avg − Tw,avg ), (5)
while the working fluid is pure ethanol, a substance better where Sg = LPg is the wall contact surface area on
adapted than water to low temperature heat sources. the exhaust gas side, and Tg,avg = (Tg,in + Tg,out )/2
The mathematical description of the heat exchanger is RL
and Tw,avg = L1 0 Tw (z)dz are the average exhaust gas
formulated using the general conservation principles for mass
temperature and wall temperature, respectively.
and energy. For simplicity, the axial conductivity, radiation
To express the heat transfer coefficient αf corresponding
and viscous friction are neglected, since these contributions
to the working fluid side, a correlation for horizontal tube
are much smaller than the remaining terms. Furthermore,
arrangement from [11] is chosen:
several effects are neglected in the complete description of ( " 0.37 #−2.2
the heat exchanger model, i.e.,

αf 0.01 ρl
= (1 − xc ) (1 − xc ) + 1.2xc0.4
• the time derivative of pressure for both the working fluid αf,l ρv
side and exhaust gas side; "  0.67 !#−2 )−0.5
• the exhaust gas mass dynamics along the heat exchanger αf,v ρl
+xc0.01 1 + 8(1 − xc ) 0.7
.
length. αf,l ρv
(6)
The first assumption is made due to the pressure dynamics
which are considered to be characterized by small time scales In (6), αf,l and αf,v are the local single-phase heat transfer
in comparison to the relevant thermal phenomena. Therefore, coefficients to be determined at a given location z. These heat
it is assumed that the working fluid change in pressure transfer coefficients are generic functions of dimensionless
is infinitely fast. The second assumption follows from the number, i.e., Nusselt number. However, in order to keep the

2861
model simple and since the main term influencing the single-

Saturation temperature Tsat [oC]

250 400
phase heat transfer coefficients is the mass flow ṁf , the Real

Fluid temperature Tf [oC]

Approximated
300
following approximations are used [10]: 200
pf=65.5 bar
 0.5  0.8 200
ṁf ṁf 150
αf,l = αf0,l , αf,v = αf0,v (7)
ṁf0 ṁf0 100
100
Real
Approximated pf=0.5 bar
where αf0,l and αf0,v are the nominal heat transfer coef- 0
50
ficients for the liquid region and vapor region. They corre- 0 20 40 60
Pressure pf [bar]
80 0 5 10
Enthalpy hf [J/kg]
15
5
x 10
spond to a nominal mass flow rate ṁf0 defined at 1200 [rpm]
(a) (b)
engine speed and 500 [Nm] engine torque. Similarly, the heat
transfer coefficient on the exhaust gas side is: Fig. 2: (a) Saturation temperature as a function of pressure. (b) Working
fluid temperature as a function of specific enthalpy and pressure.
 0.5
ṁg
α g = α g0 , (8) Next, in Fig. 2b the temperature-enthalpy characteristic
ṁg0
of the working fluid for different values of the pressure is
For control, the dimensionless enthalpy ratio is of interest: presented. The enthalpy is usually the preferred variable to
hf − hl describe the energy change of a system, since it captures the
xr = , (9) internal energy, volume and pressure change of the system.
hv − hl
Since the heat exchanger volume is constant the working
where hl and hv are the saturated liquid enthalpy and the sat- fluid temperature can be approximated as follows:
urated vapor enthalpy at a specific pressure pf , respectively.
 al h2f + bl hf + cl

Using the enthalpy ratio (9), the vapor fraction is given by: if hf ≤ hl
Tf = Tsat if hl < hf < hv , (14)
xc = max(0, min(1, xr )). (10) 
av h2f + bv hf + cv if hf ≥ hv
Equation (9) is simple and neglects super-saturation effects where al , bl , cl are constants used for the temperature-
while it assumes perfect mixing, especially in the two-phase enthalpy characteristic on the liquid region. In the two-
region. However, it is suitable for control design purposes. phase region the working fluid temperature is constant and
Equations (2a), (3), (4) and (5) represent the continuous equal to the saturation temperature Tsat . The vapor region is
heat exchanger model. For solving these equations two time- approximated using pressure dependent coefficients:
dependent boundary conditions for both the working fluid
a v = a v 1 p f + a v 0 , bv = b v 1 p f + b v 0 , c v = c v 1 p f + c v 0 .
side and exhaust side are necessary. These time-dependent
(15)
boundary conditions at z = 0 and z = L are given by:
To completely define (14), mathematical expressions for
ṁf (t, 0) = ṁf,in (t), hf (t, 0) = hf,in (t), (11a) the saturated liquid enthalpy hl and saturated vapor enthalpy
ṁg (t, L) = ṁg,in (t), Tg (t, L) = Tg,in (t). (11b) hv as a function of pressure are provided,
p
Furthermore, initial conditions for the working fluid enthalpy −bl + b2l − 4al (cl − Tsat )
hl = , (16a)
and wall temperature are provided as 2al
p
hf (0, z) = hf0 (z), Tw (0, z) = Tw0 (z). (12) −bv + b2v − 4av (cv − Tsat )
hv = . (16b)
2av
Note that, the first equality in (11b) becomes ṁg (t, z) = Expressions (16) follow from (14) solved for hf = hl
ṁg,in (t), since the exhaust gas mass flow variation along and hf = hv , respectively. Note that mathematically two
the heat exchanger length is neglected. solutions are obtained. However, only (16) represents a
B. Working fluid properties physical meaningful solution.
In Fig. 3a the working fluid density as a function of
In the considered WHR system, analysis of the physical
enthalpy and pressure is illustrated. The expression which
and thermodynamic properties indicate that ethanol is a good
describes the density is
candidate as a working fluid. In this section, we give a
2
 a ρ l h f + bρ l h f + c ρ l if hf ≤ hl

mathematical representation of the ethanol thermodynamic
ρv −ρl hv ρl −hl ρv
properties which can be numerically found in [11]. ρf = hf + hv −hl if hl < hf < hv , (17)
First, the saturation temperature for various pressure val-  hv −h2l
aρv hf + bρv hf + cρv if hf ≥ hv
ues is shown in Fig. 2a. The saturation temperature is the
where aρl , bρl , cρl are constants used to approximate the
temperature for a corresponding pressure at which a liquid
density-enthalpy characteristic for the liquid region.
boils into its vapor phase. A mathematical relation to describe
In the vapor region the polynomial coefficients are
the saturation temperature is given in [12]:
quadratic expressions of the form
bs
Tsat = − cs , (13) aρv = aρv2 p2f + aρv1 pf + aρv0 , (18a)
as − (log10 pf − 5)
bρ v = bρv2 p2f + bρv1 pf + bρv0 , (18b)
where pf is the working fluid pressure. For ethanol the
constants as , bs and cs are taken from [12]. cρv = cρv2 p2f + cρv1 pf + cρv0 , (18c)

2862
since linear expressions are weak approximations of the real T g1 T g2 T g3 Tgn−1 Tgn

Tgn+1
characteristic given in Fig. 3a. The saturated liquid and vapor ṁg
Tw1 T wn
density are given by 
h f1  hf2 h f3 hfn hfn+1
ṁf1 ṁf2 ṁf3 ∆z ṁfn ṁfn+1
ρl = aρl h2l + bρl hl + cρl , (19a) ρf1
 ρf2 ρf3 ρfn ρfn+1

ρv = aρv h2v + bρv hv + cρv . (19b) 1 2 3 n−1 n z

These expressions follow from (17) solved for hf = hl and 0 L

hf = hv , respectively. Substituting (19) into (17), demon- Fig. 4: Space discretization of the heat exchanger tube length.
strates that during phase change (17) remains a continuous
function (see Fig. 3a). where the exhaust gas temperature Tg1 results from (5),
 
Exhaust temperature T [ C] α S Pn
800 600
ṁg cpg − g2 g Tgn+1 + αg Sg n1 i=1 Twi
o
Fluid density ρf [kg/m ]

Real
3

Real
g

600
Approximated 500 Approximated T g1 = α S
. (24)
400 ṁg cpg + g2 g
400 p =0.5 bar 300
f Next, based on the forward Euler method the working fluid
p =65.5 bar 200
200
f energy law (2a) discretized in space is
100
dhfi+1 hfi+1 − hfi
 
1
0
0 5 10 15
0
2 4 6 8 10 = −ṁfi+1 + αf Pf (Twi − Tf∗i ) .
Enthalpy h [J/kg] 5 Enthalpy h [J/kg]
g
5
x 10
dt A f ρfi ∆z
f x 10
(25)
(a) (b)
Fig. 3: (a) Working fluid density as a function of specific enthalpy and
Equation (3) related to the conservation of energy at the
pressure. (b) Exhaust temperature as a function of specific enthalpy. wall can be written in discrete-space form as
dTwi 1
Using (17) the working fluid density derivative with re-


= αg Pg (Tg∗i − Twi ) + αf Pf (Tf∗i − Twi ) ,
dt ρw Aw cpw
spect to enthalpy is given by: (26)

∂ρf  2aρl hf + bρl if hf ≤ hl where Tg∗i = (Tgi+1 + Tgi )/2 is the average exhaust gas
ρv −ρl
= if hl < hf < hv , (20)
∂hf  hv −hl temperature in cell i.
2aρv hf + bρv if hf ≥ hv Equations (23), (25) and (26) are a set of coupled equa-
Expression (20) is used in (4) to compute the working fluid tions defining the response of the i-th cell of the exhaust gas,
mass flow variation along the heat exchanger tube length. working fluid and heat exchanger wall.
The exhaust gas temperature as a function of specific en-
thalpy is shown in Fig. 3b. Due to the fact that exhaust gases III. M ODEL IDENTIFICATION
do not suffer a phase change, the exhaust gas temperature The model parameters include: the working fluid process
and exhaust gas enthalpy have a direct relationship: parameters and the heat exchanger parameters. First, based
on data from literature [11], the working fluid parameters in
hg = cpg Tg , (21)
(15), (18) and (19) are obtained in an automated fashion
where cpg is the exhaust gas specific heat capacity. using polynomial fitting routines from Matlab R
. Second,
C. Discrete-space evaporator model we divide the heat exchanger parameters in two categories:
measurable and empirical. The measurable parameters are
In this section, the continuous-time heat exchanger model known and usually provided by the manufacturer of the heat
is discretized in space based on a finite-difference approxi- exchanger. However, this is not the case for the empirical
mation and a staggered grid approach. As shown in Fig. 4, parameters. In this application, the empirical parameters are
the heat exchanger tube length is divided into n cells in the nominal heat transfer coefficients αf0,l , αf0,v for the
which the mass conservation principle and energy conserva- working fluid side and αg0 for the exhaust gas side.
tion principle are applied. More explicitly, for z ∈ [0, L] and For a correct identification of the empirical parameters,
∆z = L n , (2a), (3), (4) and (5) are brought in a discrete- we first verify if the overall energy balance is satisfied
space form, resulting in a set of continuous-time ordinary for several measured stationary conditions. This verification
differential equations. is performed using the heat flow rate expressions for the
First, the mass balance Equation (4) is handled for each
exhaust gas side and working fluid side given by
cell i = 1, . . . , n, yielding,
∂ρ 1 Q̇out = ṁg (hg,out − hg,in ), (27a)
ṁfi − ∆z ∂hffi ρ fi αf Pf (Twi − Tf∗i )
ṁfi+1 = ∂ρfi 1
i
, (22) Q̇in = ṁf (hf,out − hf,in ). (27b)
1− ∂hfi ρfi (hfi+1 − hfi )
In Fig. 5, an energy imbalance can be noticed for a
where Tf∗i = (Tfi+1 + Tfi )/2 is the average working fluid wide range of engine speed and torque values, i.e., 1200 −
temperature in cell i. For the exhaust gas side, a linear 1800 [rpm] and 500 − 2500 [Nm], respectively. The en-
temperature profile was chosen given by: ergy imbalance leads to errors between the outlet measured
z temperature and predicted temperature by the model. From
Tg = (Tgn+1 − Tg1 ) + Tg1 , (23)
L investigations, it follows that a possible reason for energy

2863
Imbalance [kW] 6 TABLE I: Heat exchanger model parameters
measured
4 corrected Measurable
Symbol Value Unit Description
2
L 13 [m] heat exchanger tube length
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
n 20 [−] number of cells in z direction
operating point Pf 3.14 10−2 [m] perimeter of the working fluid
Pg 8.29 10−2 [m] perimeter of the exhaust gas
Fig. 5: Energy imbalance for different operating conditions. ṁf0 0.01 [kg/s] nominal working fluid mass flow
ṁg0 0.05 [kg/s] nominal exhaust gas mass flow
imbalance is the reduced accuracy of the mass flow sensors. cpg 1090 [J/kgK] exhaust gas specific heat capacity
An effective way to reduce these inaccuracies is to use data Af 7.85 10−5 [m2 ] working fluid cross sectional area
reconciliation techniques [13]. Data reconciliation techniques Aw 2.6 10−4 [m2 ] wall cross sectional area
ρw 7750 [kg/m3 ] wall density
consider the correction of measured values by minimizing cpw 510 [J/kgK] wall mass specific heat capacity
a least-squares error objective function subject to energy c1 0.91 [−] gain correction (exhaust gas)
conservation principles. The resulting mass flow corrections c2 8.11 10−3 [−] offset correction (exhaust gas)
c3 1.11 [−] gain correction (working fluid)
for the exhaust gas side and working fluid side are: c4 −2.07 10−3 [−] offset correction (working fluid)
ṁcg = c1 ṁg + c2 , ṁcf = c3 ṁf + c4 , (28)
Empirical heat transfer coefficients
where c1 , c3 are the gain corrections and c2 , c4 are the offset Symbol Value Unit Description
mass flow corrections, respectively. Fig. 5 shows that the αf0,l 800 [W/m2 K] working fluid in liquid state
mass flow corrections lead to an improved energy balance. αf0,v 180 [W/m2 K] working fluid in vapor state
In what follows, the nominal heat transfer coefficients for αg0 289 [W/m2 K] exhaust gas
the working fluid side and exhaust gas side are determined.
Consider a steady-state representation of the heat exchanger
model given by (1), (2a), (3), and (5), where time derivatives For validation the heat exchanger model discretized in
are cancelled. This leads to a typical boundary value problem space is used. The model is first initialized starting from an
with respect to space variable z and boundary conditions arbitrary initial condition, [Tf0 (z); Tw0 (z)] = [50; 80] o C,
(11). Furthermore, let kxk2 denote the two-norm of a vector and constant input signals equal with the ones applied on
x ∈ Rm and hm m the real set-up. After the model reached its steady-state
f,out ∈ R denote a set of steady-state points
used for identification. The steady-state enthalpy set hm condition, the input signals illustrated in Fig. 6 are applied.
f,out
m
correspond to the measured temperatures Tf,out , obtained
0.15 0.15
using the temperature-enthalpy characteristic. Next, we solve

mg,in [kg/s]
mf,in [kg/s]

0.1 0.1
the following optimization problem for 28 operating points.
0.05 0.05

Problem III.1 Define J := khm

f,out − hf,out k2 and find 0 0

min J (29) 120 600

αf0,l ,αf0,v ,αg0 ∈H 100 500

Tg,in [ C]
Tf,in [oC]

o
80 400
where H ⊆ R+ is a feasible set of heat transfer coefficients.
60 300
40 200
In Problem III.1, hf,out is a function of the optimization
variables αf0,l , αf0,v and αg0 , and represents a solution of 30
the steady-state formulation (1), (2a), (3), and (5).
pf,in [bar]

The heat exchanger response time is mainly influenced by 20

the wall cross sectional area Aw . Unfortunately, based on

10
manufacturer data a rough estimate of Aw is obtained. Thus, 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Time [s]
a fine-tuning of the wall cross sectional area was necessary.
In Table I, the heat exchanger parameters are reported. Fig. 6: Experimental input signals.

IV. M ODEL VALIDATION
The model dynamical validation is performed based on
several engine operating points different from the operating
points used for identification. The measurements cover a
wide range of engine operating conditions with respect to
speed and torque. However, due to the reduced amount of
space only few results are shown in this paper.
In order to safely run the WHR system set-up, a low-level
controller was used to manipulate the valve uv1 in order to
maintain the working fluid at the heat exchanger outlet in the
vapor region. During the measurements, the valve uv2 was
kept fully opened.
Fig. 7 shows that the model is able to describe the
real transients with good accuracy. In comparison with the
experiments, the average absolute error in energy uptake by
the working fluid is 4 %. From Fig. 7, the absolute error
of the predicted exhaust gas temperature is larger than the
absolute error of the predicted working fluid temperature.
However, for control it is more important to have accurate
predictions of the working fluid temperature.
In Fig. 8 the vapor ratio and working fluid density at the
heat exchanger outlet are shown. For control, it is important
to maintain the vapor ratio above 1, such that no droplets
are encountered at the heat exchanger outlet.

2864
 260

240
Tsat composition can considerably improve the results. Second,
Tf,out [oC]

measured
simulation
more advanced heat transfer coefficients and inclusion of the
220
wall axial conductivity effect can improve the overall model
200
behavior in steady-state as well as during transients.
180
V. C ONCLUSIONS
Error [oC]

20
10 |Tm −T |
f,out f,out
Dynamic modeling and identification of a prototype heat
0
160
exchanger for automotive applications was presented. The
measured model captures the two-phase flow behavior which is crucial
140 simulation
Tg,out [oC]

for control of the WHR system. Based on a finite difference

120
approximation, the model was reduced to a set of coupled
100
ordinary differential equations. By solving an optimization
80
problem which minimizes a least-squares objective function,
Error [oC]

20
|Tm
g,out
−Tg,out| the model parameters were identified. For model validation,
10
0
transient measurements were performed over a wide range of
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Time [s] operating conditions on an Euro-VI heavy-duty diesel engine
Fig. 7: Working fluid and exhaust gas outlet temperatures. with WHR system. Simulation results show that the dynamic
1.5
heat exchanger model provides a good representation of the
real system with an average absolute error of 4 % in energy
1
uptake by the working fluid.
x [−]
r

0.5 Future work will focus first on WHR system low-level

0
optimal control algorithms. Second, extensions of the super-
visory control strategy in [3], which combines the energy and
300 emission management will be developed and implemented on
[kg/m ]

the studied engine.

3

200

R EFERENCES
f,out

100
ρ

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0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 efficiency improvement in high output diesel engines a comparison of
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T
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Length [m]
Fig. 9: Temperature, vapor fraction and density profiles along the heat
exchanger tube length.
In Fig. 9 the spatial temperature distribution, the vapor
fraction and density at t = 4500 [s] are given. This type of
representation is of interest, since it gives knowledge about
the working fluid phase transitions as well as the working
fluid state of matter along the heat exchanger tube length.
The simulation results show that the real system dynamics
are well captured. However, results can be furthermore
improved. First, the use of a more accurate mass flow
sensors and a more accurate representation of the exhaust
gas heat capacity can solve the energy imbalance aspect.
In the current formulation the exhaust gas heat capacity is
constant. However, incorporating the exhaust gas chemical
12
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