A Fast Physical NOx Model Implemented on an Embedded System

This paper offers a two-zone, physical, NOx model with low computational cost, implemented in C on an embedded system. The model is able to compute NOx-emission formation with high time resolution during an engine cycle. To do this the model takes cylinder pressure and injected fuel amount as inputs and produces NO concentration as output. The model as such is not new, nevertheless the physical background of the model as well as the equations upon which the model is based had to be briefly described to facilitate the understanding of the subsequent work. The main part of the paper is devoted to the process of developing an algorithm implementing the described model, techniques used and issues encountered are described. The resulting algorithm was implemented in C and tested on an embedded ARM processor. For the sake of implementation, parts of the algorithm had to be pre-computed and stored in tables, allowing significant acceleration of the computations. Since the model is non-linear, exponentially spaced tables had to be developed in order to successfully tabulate the parts needed without consuming too much memory. Much of the methods presented are also applicable in a variety other applications when it is desirable to implement fast versions of complex algorithms and models. The outcome regarding computation speed and memory needed is discussed. The final result is a low-cost NOx model, which is able to compute several orders of magnitude faster than NOx models known so far, implemented in C on an embedded system.