Energy Conversion and Management 183 (2019) 26–34

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Optimization of energy regeneration of hybrid hydraulic excavator boom T

system
⁎
Ying-Xiao Yua, Kyoung Kwan Ahnb,
a
Graduate School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, University of Ulsan, San 29, Muger 2dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan 680-764, Republic of Korea
b
School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, University of Ulsan, San 29, Muger 2dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan 680-764, Republic of Korea

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Saving energy is important and necessary for hydraulic excavators. This paper proposed a novel energy re-
Boom system generation boom system. A variable displacement hydraulic motor and flow control valve were used to regulate
Energy regeneration the torque and speed of the generator, and to regulate flow through the hydraulic motor. A control strategy was
Efficiency proposed to calculate the optimal displacement of the hydraulic motor. The hydro-mechanical efficiency map
Hybrid hydraulic excavator
and volumetric efficiency map were used to estimate the speed and torque of the generator instead of using
speed and torque sensor. The resulting energy regeneration efficiency ranged from 33.8% to 57.4%, which
cannot be realized in conventional boom system. Compared with conventional energy regeneration boom
system, the improvement of energy regeneration efficiency with the proposed system was 3.2% to 4.1% for low
and moderate velocities. A control strategy has been proposed to decrease the setup power of generator and
ensure system safety in large load and high velocity mode.

1. Introduction
Construction machines play important roles in construction and
agriculture [1–3]. Researches exploring energy saving in construction
machines are urgently needed to solve the problems of environmental
pollution and excessive fuel consumption [4–7]. A number of hybrid
excavators, which are divided mainly into hydraulic hybrids and elec-
tric hybrids, have been developed and commercialized to save energy
[8–11]. Hydraulic hybrid excavators use hydraulic accumulators to
store energy. The hydraulic accumulator can be connected to the cy-
linder, and when the cylinder moves down with a load, the accumulator
is charged and saves the potential energy. When the cylinder moves up,
the energy can be reused [12].
However, the load dependent pressure of a hydraulic accumulator
affects the system performance, because it represents a variable value
during the system operation. Proportional flow control valves can be
used to solve this problem. Research addressing how to utilize control
valves optimally from a fluid dynamics perspective and studies of spool
position control systems have provided methods to control flow accu-
rately [13]. Hence, flow though the accumulator could be regulated
using proportional flow control valves and system performance could
be improved to satisfactory levels. However, the pressure drop caused
by the control valves decreases energy regeneration efficiency. Hy-
draulic pump/motor and hydraulic transformer could be used in the
hydraulic boom system to address these problems [14–17]. When the
boom moves down, the pump/motor charges the accumulator. How-
ever, there are no commercial components available for such systems
up to now.
Electric hybrid technology is another method used to decrease the
energy consumption when the electrical storage such as batteries or
super capacitors are equipped. In addition to batteries and super ca-
pacitors, flywheel energy storage, flow batteries and hydrogen storage
are newly-developed to store energy. Based on the research by
Amirante et al. [18], flywheel energy storage offers fast discharge time
and high power but can store only small amount of energy. Flow bat-
teries and hydrogen energy storage are still in the developing phase.
Lithium batteries have benefitted from decisive development over the
last few years, resulting in enhanced power rating, increased lifetimes,
improved efficiency, and reduced costs. Shen et al. [19] analyzed an
energy storage system in which a super capacitor and battery were used
for energy storage in an electric vehicle. Super capacitors provide high
peak power, receive regenerative braking power, and reduce battery
size. They also proposed a systematic approach and tools to optimize
energy storage system size and estimate battery cycle life, resulting in
the extension of battery lifetime by 76%.
Based on this analysis, the super capacitor and battery strategy has
many advantages and are suitable for use in hybrid hydraulic excavator.
Wang et al. [20] proposed a boom system in which a hydraulic motor

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kkahn@ulsan.ac.kr (K.K. Ahn).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.12.084
Received 7 June 2018; Accepted 27 December 2018
0196-8904/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y.-X. Yu, K.K. Ahn Energy Conversion and Management 183 (2019) 26–34

and generator were installed in the return line. Experiments were

3 Arm
conducted to investigate both no load and load conditions. The effi-
ciency of the hydraulic motor, generator, converter, and super capacitor
4 Bucket
was analyzed. The energy recovery efficiency was mainly between 0.26 1 Engine
and 0.33.
Lin et al. [21] simulated an accumulator-motor-generator. In such a 2 5 Boom
system, the gravitational potential energy can be converted into hy- Control
draulic energy and saved in the hydraulic accumulator. Then, the ac- valves
6 Swing
cumulator charges the battery through the hydraulic motor and gen-
erator. Simulation results showed that it was possible to increase the
efficiency of the generator up to 41% and downsize the generator by 7 Traveling
including an accumulator in the hybrid boom system. Lin et al. [9]
performed experiments using a similar system, resulting in approxi-
mately 39% increase of recovery efficiency and more than 65% re- Fig. 1. Structure of a conventional excavator.
duction of the capacity of the regeneration unit.
Improvement of boom control performance in hybrid hydraulic
excavator was investigated by Wang et al. [22], who proposed a staged 3
Control 4 Boom
composite control strategy to achieve acceptable performance and load
1 Engine 2
torque observation. The main valve and generator were controlled valves
during energy regeneration in the boom potential energy regeneration
system, and experimental results showed that the potential energy of
the boom could be recovered effectively with acceptable control per- 5
formance.
Minav et al. [23] studied about energy storage of forklift. The lifting 8 7
system was controlled directly by an electric servo motor and a hy- 6
Inverter Generator
draulic pump/motor where the hydraulic pump/motor is working as
hydraulic motor during the potential energy recovery. The maximum
9 Battery / Energy
energy saving efficiency was 54% and this system can also be used in
Super capacitor regeneration part
the excavator boom system but the cost of pump/motor is a big burden
for the real application.
Previous research investigating electric hybrid excavator has shown Fig. 2. A classical boom system used in an electric hybrid excavator.
that the energy regeneration of boom system saves energy effectively.
During the energy regeneration, cylinder velocity is usually governed
cylinder 4. When the boom is down, control valve 3 is closed and valve
by controlling the rotational speed of the hydraulic motor, which is
5 is open. The electrical generator 7 is driven by hydraulic motor 6 in
coaxially connected to an electrical generator. Hence, the optimization
the return oil line of the boom cylinder. The regenerated energy is
of working point of hydraulic motor and generator could improve the
stored in battery or super capacitor 9 through the inverter 8. When the
energy regeneration efficiency.
boom moves down, the speed of the generator and hydraulic motor are
This paper proposed a novel energy regeneration boom system in
controlled based on the required velocity of the cylinder, which is
which a variable hydraulic motor is installed in the return line of a
proportional to the joystick signal. The torque of the generator and the
boom cylinder. Rotational speed and generator torque are both regu-
hydraulic motor is decided by the load of the excavator. Hence, the
lated by controlling the displacement of hydraulic motor. Therefore, the
working points of the generator and the hydraulic motor are also de-
energy regeneration efficiency was improved compared to the con-
pendent on the load. An efficiency map of the generator is shown in
ventional energy regeneration boom system. A proportional flow con-
Fig. 3 as an example. The area denoted by red curve represents the high
trol valve (FCV) was installed in the system to decrease the flowrate
efficiency range of the generator. If the working point of the generator
through the hydraulic motor under conditions of large load and high
velocity to ensure the system safety and decrease the power required to
drive the generator.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. The proposed boom T
system is shown in Section 2. The control strategy is presented in
Section 3. Experiment results and analyses are shown in Section 4.
Conclusions are presented in Section 5.

2. Structure of the proposed boom system

A conventional excavator structure is shown in Fig. 1, in which

1
engine 1 is the power source. The main control valves 2 control the flow
to the actuators 3–7. The cylinders of the boom system, arm system, and
bucket system are numbers 4, 5, and 6, respectively. The swing system
has a hydraulic motor 6, which is used to rotate the upper structure of 2
the excavator. There are two hydraulic motors 7 in the traveling system,
which are used to drive the excavator. The gravitational potential en-
ergy is dissipated from the boom, arm and bucket systems as heat in the
control valves. Therefore, the regeneration of this potential energy is an
effective method to save energy. A classic electric hybrid system for n
boom energy regeneration is shown in Fig. 2. When the boom moves
up, the engine 1 drives hydraulic pump 2 to provide flow to boom Fig. 3. Example of a generator efficiency map.

27
Y.-X. Yu, K.K. Ahn
6
8
G 7
4
1 ICE 2 3
Fig. 4. Hydraulic circuit of the proposed boom system.
is point 1, the generator cannot work at high efficiency and cannot be
optimized with a fixed hydraulic motor.
To improve the energy regeneration efficiency, a novel structure of
boom system is proposed, as shown in Fig. 4. Variable hydraulic motor
7 is installed in the return line of the boom system to regulate the
torque and speed of generator 6 and to optimize energy regeneration
efficiency. In Fig. 3, point 1 can be moved to point 2 through the equal
power line (dotted line) by controlling displacement of the hydraulic
motor. If point 1 is moved to point 2, the generator can be operated in a
high efficiency range, which improves the energy regeneration effi-
ciency. Regenerated energy is stored in battery 5 through an inverter.
An FCV 8 is installed to regulate the flowrate through the hydraulic
motor. When boom cylinder 10 moves down under the condition of
large load and high velocity, the FCV decreases the flowrate through
the hydraulic motor to avoid generator overload and maintain the
system performance. Other components include engine 1, hydraulic
pump 2, main valve 4, and check valves 3 and 9.
A test bench was built in the lab as shown in Fig. 5. Bucket cylinder
9 was used to emulate the boom cylinder. When the cylinder is ex-
tended, the function is the same as in boom up mode, and vice versa. In
a real hybrid hydraulic system, the torque generator produces regulates
the speed of the hydraulic motor by controlling the voltage and current.
In the test bench, servo motor 5 was used to generate torque and reg-
ulate the speed of the hydraulic motor 6, instead of a generator. The
speed and torque of the servo motor are measured by sensors. Finally,
the speed, torque, and efficiency map of the generator are used to
10 Cable
9
5
Load part 12 Servo Motor
(emulate 6
generator)
11
13
4 nected to the generator, respectively. Due to a variable hydraulic
14
1 Boom system
16
Motor 15 Motor 2 3
Fig. 5. Hydraulic circuit of the test bench.
Energy Conversion and Management 183 (2019) 26–34
10
9
Load
cylinder
Fig. 6. Photo of test bench in the laboratory.
calculate the regenerated energy.
In the test bench, the load is generated by the load part, in which
hydraulic pump 15 provides oil to the rod chamber of cylinder 11 to
tow cable 10. Accumulator 12 was installed in the system to ensure that
the pressure remains stable. Other components are servo motor 1; main
pump 2; check valves 3, 8, and 14, main valve 4; FCV 7; relief valve 13;
and electric motor 16. The photo of the test bench is shown in Fig. 6.
The boom system has two working modes, boom up mode and boom
down mode. In boom up mode, the directional valve operates in the left
position, and the pump provides oil to the head chamber of the cy-
linder. In boom down mode, the directional valve operates in the right
position, and pump stops. The generator and FCV regulate flow through
the return line of the head chamber of the cylinder, and the boom
moves down. The load part provides constant load to emulate the load
of the boom system. The posture of the bucket system is varied during
the operation to emulate the varied boom posture in the real excavator.
The force acting on the cylinder changes, because of the varied posture
of the system. Hence, in boom down mode, the pressure of the head
chamber also varies to test the control strategy and energy regeneration
at different pressures.
3. Control strategy design
3.1. Analysis of system control
This chapter focuses on the control strategy used for energy re-
generation. In boom down mode, oil flows through the hydraulic motor.
The output energy can be calculated by Eq. (1).
Eout = ∫ pc qc dt (1)
where Eout, pc, and qc are the output energy, pressure, and flow rate of
the head chamber of the boom cylinder, respectively. The hydraulic
motor converts hydraulic energy into mechanical energy, which can be
calculated by Eqs. (2) and (3).
PM = Tω (2)
7 8 EM = ∫ Tωdt (3)
where Pm, EM, T, and ω are the mechanical power, mechanical energy,
torque, and angular velocity of the hydraulic motor output shaft con-
motor, the torque, and speed can be controlled by adjusting the dis-
placement of the hydraulic motor, as shown in Eqs. (4)–(6).
D = βDmax (4)
ηm pc D
T=
2π (5)
28
Y.-X. Yu, K.K. Ahn Energy Conversion and Management 183 (2019) 26–34

ηv qc qreq
n=
D (6) pc Hydro-mechanical T1, T2…T51 Generator
Ștotal1,
efficiency of Ștotal1
Șm1,Șm2...Șm51 Efficiency
where β, n and Dmax are the control value, angular velocity and max- hydraulic motor …
ȕ1=50%, map is Ștotal51 Find out Ștotal_opt
imum displacement of the hydraulic motor respectively, and ηm and ηv ȕ2=51% used to get and
… Șgen and corresponding ȕopt
are the hydro-mechanical efficiency and volumetric efficiency of the ȕ51=100% calculate
hydraulic motor. Hydro-mechanical efficiency losses are caused by Volumetric
qreq n1, n2…n51 total
efficiency of Șv1,Șv2...Șv51
friction, and volumetric efficiency losses are primarily caused by efficiency
pc hydraulic motor
leakage. Finally, the mechanical energy is converted to electric energy
that can be stored in a battery through the generator. In this paper, Fig. 7. Calculation of the optimal displacement of hydraulic motor.
electric energy is defined as regenerated energy, as shown in Eq. (7).
Ereg = ηgen EM (7) Boom
system
where Ereg is the regenerated energy, and ηgen is the generator effi- pc
Calculate the optimal
ciency. When the boom moves down, the joystick signal is measured to qreq displacement of hydraulic
opt Hydraulic
calculate the required flow rate, and the required velocity is as shown in motor
motor
Eqs. (8) and (9).
qreq = αqmax (8)
qreq vreq PI v
vreq = controller Generator
Ac (9)
where qreq and qmax are the required flow rate and maximum flow rate
of the head chamber of the cylinder respectively, and vreq is the re-
quired velocity. Based on Eqs. (4) and (6), the generator speed and pc
displacement of the hydraulic motor must be controlled to ensure that
the flow rate qc meets the required flow rate qreq. Then, the velocity of
the cylinder satisfies the system requirements, based on Eq. (9). Hence, Fig. 8. Control diagram of proposed control strategy.
controlling the speed of the generator and displacement of the hy-
draulic motor are the key points of the control strategy design.
cylinder velocity.
3.2. Control strategy design
Based on the control strategy outlined above, we consider the total
efficiency of the generator and hydraulic motor to identify the optimal
When the required flow rate is calculated using the joystick signal
operating conditions of the generator and hydraulic motor. Calculation
and the displacement of the hydraulic motor is changed, generator
of optimal displacement of the hydraulic motor is shown in Fig. 7. The
speed must be controlled based on Eq. (6). Hence, controlling the dis-
hydro-mechanical efficiency map and volumetric efficiency map of the
placement of the hydraulic motor is the most important aspect of
hydraulic motor are used to estimate the torque and speed of the gen-
control strategy design. In our test bench, displacement of the hydraulic
erator instead of using sensors. The control diagram is shown in Fig. 8,
motor can be changed from 50% to 100% of maximum displacement.
where v is the velocity of the cylinder. The velocity and pressure of the
This produces a range of parameter β of [50%, 100%]. The goal is to
head chamber of the cylinder are used as feedback signals for the
determine the optimal parameter β within this range to obtain max-
controller and to calculate the optimal displacement of the hydraulic
imum regeneration efficiency. The detailed control strategy is as fol-
motor.
lows:

1. A hydro-mechanical efficiency map and volumetric efficiency map
of hydraulic motor and efficiency map of generator are prepared.
2. In boom down mode, the required velocity and flow rate are cal-
culated based on the joystick signal, and the pressure of the head
chamber of cylinder is measured.
3. Fifty-one parameters of β are set (β1 = 50%,
β2 = 51% … β51 = 100%). Each β is used to calculate the torque and
speed of the generator, according to Eqs. (4)–(6). Therefore, 51
combinations of torque and speed are obtained and used to calculate
the generator efficiency ηgen1 to ηgen51, based on the efficiency map
of the generator. The hydro-mechanical efficiency (ηm1 to ηm51) and
volumetric efficiency (ηv1 to ηv51) of the hydraulic motor are also
obtained based on the efficiency map.
4. The total efficiency ηtotal is calculated based on Eq. (10). Hence, 51
calculated total efficiencies are obtained (ηtotal1 to ηtotal51).
ηtotal = ηm ηv ηgen (10)
5. The maximum value of ηtotal_opt among the results (ηtotal1 to ηtotal51)
is chosen as the optimal value. Then the corresponding optimal
value βopt is obtained and used to control the displacement of the
hydraulic motor.
6. The generator is controlled by a PI controller based on the error of
3.3. Control strategy design in special case
The load of the boom system varies based on the load and postures
of boom, arm, and bucket. The velocity also varies, based on joystick
signal. This paper set the high efficiency range of the generator and
hydraulic motor to meet requirements for common load and velocity.
However, in the special case of large load and high velocity, the output
power of the cylinder may exceed the power of the generator. The black
curve in Fug. 3 shows the maximum torque of the generator, which is
low when the speed is high. Hence, if high speed and torqued are re-
quired, the working points of generator will be out of the permitted
range. Customer may sometimes use overloaded excavators, in which
cases, the flow rate cannot be controlled, and the generator could be
destroyed. If a high-powered generator is used in such system, the high
efficiency range of the generator will change and cannot meet re-
quirements for the common load and velocity conditions. This de-
creases energy regeneration efficiency and increase the cost of the
system. To solve this problem, the FCV was installed in the proposed
system. The control strategy of the FCV is as follows:
If the required flow rate and load are so large that the hydraulic
motor cannot adjust the working point of the generator to remain
within the permitted working range, displacement of the hydraulic
motor should be set to the maximum value to decrease generator speed,

29
Y.-X. Yu, K.K. Ahn Energy Conversion and Management 183 (2019) 26–34

Boom
system
=1
Hydraulic
motor Set control system intial paramaters.

Mechanical Operate the boom system.

pc T Maximum torque np nreq
efficiency of Generator
nr diagram
hydraulic motor
Obtain the joystick signal Į.
Measure the pressure pc.
50
Yes No
> 0?

vreq ev PID v
controller FCV Boom down mode

Exceed the power of generator?

pc Yes No
Boom up mode
Fig. 9. Control diagram of LLHV mode. Calculate the optimal displacement of
hydraulic motor.

LLLV mode is activated.

and the FCV will decrease the flow rate of the hydraulic motor until the
working points of generator could be located in the permitted working Control the displacement of hydraulic
motor.
range. The black line of the generator is used to calculate the permitted Boom moves up Control the speed of generator.

speed of the generator at a specific torque as shown in Fig. 3. A PID Boom moves down.
controller is used to control the FCV to lower the generator speed to less
Boom moves down.
than the maximum permitted speed. The control diagram is shown in
Fig. 9. Condition of large load and high velocity is referred to LLHV
mode.
In Fig. 9, the maximum torque diagram is the maximum torque
curve in Fig. 3 and is used to calculate the maximum permitted speed
np. The control command of generator nreq equal to np minus 50. This
means that the target speed of the generator is 50 rpm lower than the Fig. 10. Flow chart of the control strategy.
maximum speed permitted for system safety. The hydro-mechanical
efficiency map of the hydraulic motor is used to estimate the generator
Table 1
torque instead of using torque sensor, so that the cost of the system is
Comparison of measured roughness data.
decreased. The required generator speed, cylinder pressure and hy-
draulic motor displacement are input values used for the hydro-me- Component Value Remark and unit
chanical efficiency map of hydraulic motor to estimate generator
Hydraulic cylinder 0.05 * 0.036 * 0.66 Piston dia. * Rod dia. * Stroke length
torque. (m)
Hydraulic pump 34.3 Displacement (mL/r)
Hydraulic motor 55 Displacement (mL/r)
3.4. Flow chart of the control strategy
Main control valve 50 Maximum flow (L/min)
Flow control valve 45 Maximum flow (L/min)
According to the analysis above, the control strategy can be illu-
strated by the flow chart shown in Fig. 10. The maximum torque dia-
gram is used to assess whether the cylinder power exceeds the gen- -
erator power.
-
4. Experiment and analysis
-
Torque [Nm]

4.1. Parameters of the test bench 0.72

- 0.8
The hydraulic circuit is shown in Fig. 5. The parameters of the key
components are shown in Table 1.
The pressure of the rod chamber of the load cylinder was set to -
100 bar. The bucket cylinder of the test bench is smaller than the boom 0.9
cylinder of a hydraulic excavator. The load is also less than that of the -
real boom system. Therefore, the flow rate and pressure of cylinder
head chamber are lower than those of real boom system. The generator
used is based on that described in [24], and the speed and torque of the
generator were scaled-down to levels that were amenable to analysis in Speed [rpm]
the proposed test bench. The efficiency map of the generator is shown
Fig. 11. Efficiency map of generator.
below.
In Fig. 11, the maximum speed of the generator and torque are
700 rpm and 50 Nm respectively. Negative torque indicates that the
direction of torque is opposite to that of the speed. Even if the gen-
erator, cylinder and load are smaller than those of real excavators. the
function of the test bench is the same as real boom system. Therefore,

30
Y.-X. Yu, K.K. Ahn Energy Conversion and Management 183 (2019) 26–34

Displacement of Hydraulic motor [%]

0.86
0.93
0.88
0.91

Speed [rpm]
Fig. 12. Volumetric efficiency of the hydraulic motor at 45 bar.

the control strategy tested in this test bench can be used in real ex-
cavators.

4.2. Efficiency of the hydraulic motor

Torque and speed were measured under the different experimental

Fig. 14. Experimental results of cylinder displacement, FCV and HM at an
conditions with varying cylinder pressure, hydraulic motor displace-
average speed of 0.08 m/s in the proposed system.
ment, and flow rate. Then the volumetric efficiency map and hydro-
mechanical efficiency map were produced based on Eqs. (5) and (6).
The volumetric efficiency map and hydro-mechanical efficiency map at
pressure for 45 bar are shown in Figs. 12 and 13.
The volumetric efficiency and hydro-mechanical efficiency at pres-
sure of 20–50 bar were measured, which represents the working pres-
sure range of the system. The volumetric efficiency map and hydro-
mechanical efficiency map were used for the control strategy described
in chapter 3.

4.3. Energy regeneration

One experiment was performed at the required velocity of 0.8 m/s.

First, the cylinder was moved to the initial position with maximum
displacement. Then, the directional valve was operated in the right
position, and the system was operated in boom down mode from 1 s to
6 s. The proposed control strategy was used to control the system.
Finally, the directional valve returned to the middle position, and
system stopped. Cylinder displacement, control signal of FCV and hy-
draulic motor displacement are shown in Fig. 14. The cylinder pressure,
generator speed, and generator torque are shown in Fig. 15. In
Displacement of Hydraulic motor [%]

0.8
Fig. 15. Experimental results of generator at an average speed of 0.08 m/s in
the proposed system.

0.7 Fig. 15(c), the torque is negative, because the direction of torque is
0.55 0.4
different from the speed in Fig. 15(b). This indicates that the servo
motor function is equivalent to that of a generator. The cylinder dis-
placement also shows negative values, because the cylinder is retracted
in boom down mode. Experiments using conventional energy re-
generation system include fixed displacement of the hydraulic motor to
perform comparisons, with results shown in Figs. 16 and 17. The
pressure of the cylinder varies according to the bucket posture during
Speed [rpm] experiments, which was used to emulate varied postures of boom
system and to test system performance under varying loads.
Fig. 13. Hydro-mechanical efficiency of hydraulic motor at 45 bar.

31
Y.-X. Yu, K.K. Ahn
Fig. 16. Experimental results of cylinder displacement, FCV and HM at an
average speed of 0.08 m/s in the conventional system.
Fig. 17. Experimental results of generator at an average speed of 0.08 m/s in
the conventional system.
Displacement of hydraulic motor increased from 2 s to 4.5 s, as
shown in Fig. 14(c), because cylinder pressure decreased due to var-
iation in boom posture. Hence, the generator torque shown in Fig. 15
was more stable than that of a conventional energy regeneration
system, as shown in Fig. 17. In Fig. 15, the generator speed decreased
accordingly, as explained by Eq. (6). Therefore, the speed and torque of
the generator were different from that of the conventional energy re-
generation system. The working points of the generator in our proposed
system and in a conventional energy regeneration system are denoted
by “o” and “*” in Fig. 18.
32
Energy Conversion and Management 183 (2019) 26–34
-
0.72
0.8
-
Torque [Nm]
-
0.9
-
Speed [rpm]
Fig. 18. Comparison of working point of generator.
Cylinder pressure decreased during this process. Hence, the gen-
erator torque of both the proposed system and the conventional system
decreased, as seen in Fig. 18. Our proposed control strategy makes the
generator working points move quickly from the high-torque and low-
speed range to the low-torque and high-speed range (high efficiency
range). Most of the working points of the proposed system are in the
higher efficiency range, compared with a conventional energy re-
generation system. The energy regeneration efficiency of the proposed
system and a conventional energy regeneration system are 57.4% and
54.0%, respectively.
4.4. Experiment examining LLHV mode
The high velocity of cylinder was set to 0.15 m/s to test the system
in LLHV mode. The experimental results of the proposed system and of
the conventional energy regeneration system are shown in Figs. 19–22.
The FCV was operated from 1 s to 1.5 s, because the pressure was
Fig. 19. Experimental results of the proposed system at an average speed of
0.15 m/s.
Y.-X. Yu, K.K. Ahn
Fig. 20. Experimental results of generator at an average speed of 0.15 m/s in
the proposed system.
Fig. 21. Experimental results of cylinder displacement, FCV and HM at an
average speed of 0.15 m/s in the conventional system.
high and the LLHV mode was activated only in this region. The gen-
erator speed of the proposed system was lower than that of the con-
ventional energy regeneration system, as shown in Figs. 20 and 22. The
generator working points of each system are shown in Fig. 23. All
generator working points for the proposed system were within the
permitted range, while some working points of the conventional energy
regeneration system were outside of the permitted range. This indicates
that the generator in a conventional system cannot provide the torque
necessary to balance the load at such conditions. Hence, high power
generator should be chosen for the conventional energy regeneration
33
Energy Conversion and Management 183 (2019) 26–34
Fig. 22. Experimental results of generator at an average speed of 0.15 m/s in
the conventional system.
-
0.72
0.8
Torque [Nm]
- 0.9
Speed [rpm]
Fig. 23. Comparison of working point of generator in LLHV mode.
system, which may increase the cost of system. Working points vary
outside of the permitted range only under the condition of large load
and high velocity. Hence, using larger generator to compensate for
uncommon conditions is not an appropriate choice. The high efficiency
range also changes when the power of generator is larger and then the
energy regeneration efficiency is also affected, especially under the
conditions of small load and velocity. The control strategy allowed the
conditions of the generator to remain within the permitted range in
LLHV mode. Part of the potential energy can be regenerated, and the
generator therefore functions safely.
4.5. Energy regeneration in each condition
An experiment was conducted to test energy regeneration efficiency
at different velocities. The experimental results are shown in Table 2.
The energy regeneration efficiency of the proposed system is higher
than that of the conventional energy regeneration system at low and
moderate velocities. For a velocity of 0.125 m/s, the energy regenera-
tion efficiency of the proposed system is the same as that of
Y.-X. Yu, K.K. Ahn Energy Conversion and Management 183 (2019) 26–34

Table 2
Energy regeneration efficiency.
Velocity Proposed system Conventional system
0.05 m/s 50.8% 47.6%
0.08 m/s 57.4% 54.0%
0.105 m/s 53.3% 49.2%
0.130 m/s 46.4% 46.4%
0.15 m/s 33.8% 0.00%
conventional energy regeneration system, because the generator can
operate in the high efficiency range with maximum displacement of the
hydraulic motor. At high velocity such as 0.15 m/s, a conventional
system cannot regenerate energy, because the generator cannot provide
high enough torque. However, the proposed system can regenerate
energy and ensure generator safety without using a high-power gen-
erator.
5. Conclusions
A novel energy regeneration boom system was proposed in this
paper. The proposed control strategy was used to calculate optimal
displacement of a hydraulic motor to improve energy regeneration ef-
ficiency. In the control strategy, hydro-mechanical efficiency map and
volumetric efficiency map were used to estimate the speed and torque
of the generator instead of using speed and torque sensors. This change
decreased the overall cost of the system. The new system energy re-
generation efficiencies ranging from 33.8% to 57.4%, which cannot be
realized in conventional boom system. Compared with the conventional
energy regeneration boom system, the energy regeneration efficiency of
our proposed system was improved by 3.2% to 4.1% for low and
moderate velocities. The control strategy when used in LLHV mode also
decreases the setup power of the generator and ensures system safety.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
ence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Basic Science Research Program
through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-
2017R1A2B3004625).
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