Effects of Using an Electrically Heated Catalyst on the State of Charge of the Battery Pack for Series Hybrid Electric Vehicles at Cold Start

Battery models are being developed as a component of the powertrain systems of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) to predict the state of charge (SOC) accurately. Electrically heated catalysts (EHCs) can be employed in the powertrains of HEVs to reach the catalyst light off temperature in advance. However, EHCs draw power from the battery pack and hence sufficient energy needs to be stored to power auxiliary components. In series HEVs, the engine is primarily used to charge the battery pack. Therefore, it is important to develop a control strategy that triggers engine start/stop conditions and reduces the frequency of engine operation to minimize the equivalent fuel consumption. In this study, a battery pack model was constructed in MATLAB-Simulink to investigate the SOC variation of a high-power lithium ion battery during extreme engine cold start conditions (-7°C) with/without application of an EHC. The EHC was simulated in MATLAB to determine the energy required to heat the catalyst during cold start conditions. The effect of the EHC in emissions purification at -7°C was studied using a three-way catalyst (TWC) model. The EHC was operated only during the initial few seconds before the engine start to increase the bed temperature of the catalyst. This was found to have a significant impact on exhaust gas emissions even under cold start conditions. However, powering the EHC lowered the SOC of the battery pack, triggering the engine to run and consume more fuel. Hence, an engine ON/OFF control strategy was proposed to control the engine operation conditions and effectively charge the battery pack. The SOC variation of the battery pack and the effects on emissions and fuel consumption were simulated and compared with/without the EHC. The battery model was validated with a control strategy proposed in simulations at 23°C and a parameter study was conducted at -7°C.