Nonlinear robust control of marine diesel engine

Diesel engines are widely used for the propulsion of marine vehicles and are exposed to uncertain working environment. In this paper, a robust nonlinear controller is proposed for a marine diesel engine that employees sliding mode control theory. The robust controller aims to maintain the desired diesel engine speed performance under harsh sea environment. The sliding surface has been carefully chosen that minimises the error in both angular velocity and acceleration. Robust control algorithm development and its tuning are also discussed. The performance of the proposed nonlinear robust controller is investigated thoroughly and is compared with a classical Proportional–Integral–Differentiation controller with integral windup scheme. Simulation results show that the proposed super-twisting-algorithm-based sliding mode controller can effectively improve the speed performance of the marine diesel engine in transient and steady operating conditions.