Thermal Management in Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles: A Real-Time Nonlinear Model Predictive Control Implementation

A real-time nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) for the thermal management (TM) of the electrical components cooling circuit in a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) is presented. The electrical components are highly temperature sensitive and, therefore, working out of the ranges recommended by the manufacturer can lead to their premature aging or even failure. Consequently, the goals for an accurate and efficient TM are to keep the...