IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v253y2025ics0960148125013096.html

An integrated control strategy of parallel-series hybrid electric powertrain systems for agricultural tractors

Author

Listed:
  • Ai, Qiang
  • Wei, Hongqian
  • Zhai, Yong
  • Zhang, Youtong

Abstract

Nowadays, the electrification trend of agricultural tractors is obvious. For high-power tractors, the hybrid electric powertrain system is a good configuration at present. Due to the demands of continuous agricultural work, high-powered hybrid tractors depend more heavily on fuel than on high-voltage power batteries. This paper introduces an integrated control strategy for a series-parallel hybrid powertrain system to minimise the usage of high-voltage batteries. To reach this end, the control objective of the minimum DC bus current is selected to reduce the bus voltage fluctuation, slow down the high-voltage battery degradation, and decrease the cost of the high-voltage battery. Firstly, the powertrain model of the parallel-series hybrid electric tractor is established, whose components mainly include an engine, a generator, a motor, a battery, two clutches, and gear boxes. Based on this model, the energy conversion and dynamic parameters of the powertrain system can be described. Secondly, considering the different time scale characteristics of engine and generator/motor torque response, the powertrain control system is divided into two distinct subsystems named the fast control subsystem and the slow control system by using singular perturbation theory. Additionally, disturbance observers are incorporated to mitigate the influence of mechanical and electrical losses on control accuracy. Compared with the traditional thermostat control method and the optimal engine fuel consumption control strategy, experiments under ploughing conditions are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed integrated control strategy. Concretely, the time-based variations in parameters including speed, torque, fuel efficiency, state of charge, and DC bus current are analyzed. The results demonstrate that the proposed control strategy for minimizing DC bus current can reduce battery usage to 6.93 % during the combined ploughing cycles.

Suggested Citation

  • Ai, Qiang & Wei, Hongqian & Zhai, Yong & Zhang, Youtong, 2025. "An integrated control strategy of parallel-series hybrid electric powertrain systems for agricultural tractors," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:253:y:2025:i:c:s0960148125013096
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.123647
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148125013096
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2025.123647?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lombardi, Simone & Di Ilio, Giovanni & Tribioli, Laura & Jannelli, Elio, 2023. "Optimal design of an adaptive energy management strategy for a fuel cell tractor operating in ports," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    2. Olkkonen, Ville & Lind, Arne & Rosenberg, Eva & Kvalbein, Lisa, 2023. "Electrification of the agricultural sector in Norway in an effort to phase out fossil fuel consumption," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    3. Vu, Ngoc-Lam & Messier, Pascal & Nguyễn, Bảo-Huy & Vo-Duy, Thanh & Trovão, João Pedro F. & Desrochers, Alain & Rodrigues, António, 2023. "Energy-optimization design and management strategy for hybrid electric non-road mobile machinery: A case study of snowblower," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    4. Teresa Donateo & Ludovica Spada Chiodo & Antonio Ficarella & Andrea Lunaro, 2022. "Improving the Dynamic Behavior of a Hybrid Electric Rotorcraft for Urban Air Mobility," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-20, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ali, Dilawer & de Castro, Ricardo & Ehsani, Reza & Vougioukas, Stavros & Wei, Peng, 2025. "Unlocking the potential of electric and hybrid tractors via sensitivity and techno-economic analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PC).
    2. Yifei Yang & Yifang Wen & Xiaodong Sun & Renzhong Wang & Ziyin Dong, 2025. "A Review of Green Agriculture and Energy Management Strategies for Hybrid Tractors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-23, June.
    3. Rundong Zhou & Lin Wang & Xiaoting Deng & Chao Su & Song Fang & Zhixiong Lu, 2024. "Research on Energy Distribution Strategy of Tandem Hybrid Tractor Based on the Pontryagin Minimum Principle," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Semchukova, Veronika & Topolski, Kevin & Abdin, Zainul, 2025. "Hydrogen technology for maritime applications: A review of challenges, opportunities, and lessons from the port authority of New York and New Jersey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    5. Zhao, Weigang & Chen, Jianmin & Yan, Ying & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2025. "Provincial heterogeneity effects of electrification on carbon dioxide emissions in China and the moderating effect of power supply mix," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    6. Szarek, Magda & Jouttijärvi, Sami & Karttunen, Lauri & Hynnä, Teemu & Ranta, Samuli & Miettunen, Kati, 2026. "Performance evaluation of high latitude agrivoltaic systems with vertically mounted bifacial panels," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 402(PB).
    7. Wang, Shuai & Wu, Xiuheng & Zhao, Xueyan & Zhang, Sibo & Wang, Shilong & Zhu, Mingjie & Xie, Bin & Song, Zhenghe & Wang, Dongqing, 2025. "An integrated control strategy for reducing equivalent fuel consumption and improving traction efficiency of a distributed hybrid electric tractor considering farmland terrain adaptability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    8. Kücüksariyildiz, Hanifi & Canli, Eyüb & Carman, Kazim, 2024. "Experimentally detected aerodynamic drag coefficient of the agricultural tractor form considering effects of windshield angle and hood front shape," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    9. Wang, Jianuo & Enilov, Martin & Kizys, Renatas, 2024. "Does M&A activity spin the cycle of energy prices?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    10. Klaus Kivekäs & Antti Lajunen, 2024. "Effect of Soil Properties and Powertrain Configuration on the Energy Consumption of Wheeled Electric Agricultural Robots," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-35, February.
    11. Hernández Soto, Gonzalo, 2024. "The role of foreign direct investment and green technologies in facilitating the transition toward green economies in Latin America," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    12. Li, Xianzhe & Liu, Mengnan & Hu, Chenming & Yan, Xianghai & Zhao, Sixia & Zhang, Mingzhu & Xu, Liyou, 2024. "Parameters collaborative optimization design and innovation verification approach for fuel cell distributed drive electric tractor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    13. Martini, Valerio & Mocera, Francesco & Somà, Aurelio, 2025. "Comparative analysis of hybrid fuel cell powertrain architectures for orchard tractors using hardware-in-the-loop technique," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    14. Najmi, Aezid-Ul-Hassan & Wahab, Abdul & Prakash, Rohith & Schopen, Oliver & Esch, Thomas & Shabani, Bahman, 2025. "Thermal management of fuel cell-battery electric vehicles: Challenges and solutions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 387(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:253:y:2025:i:c:s0960148125013096. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.