Electric machines, such as induction machines, switched reluctance machines, and other comparable types of electric machines, are commonly used in the industry to convert electrical energy into rotational torque or rotational torque into electrical energy for any one of a variety of different applications including machine tools, traction motors, industrial work machines, stationary drive machines, mobile work vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and the like. Electric machines are commonly employed in association with a primary power source, such as an internal combustion engine or any other comparable prime mover, to provide a combined genset which serves to generate electrical and/or mechanical energy.
In a typical variable speed genset, a primary power source is mechanically and/or rotatably coupled to a rotor of the electric machine, while the stator of the electric machine is in turn electrically coupled to a common bus of the associated vehicle, machine and/or tool. The common bus generally communicates electrical power between the electric machine and one or more connected loads. In a generating mode of operation, the primary power source rotates the rotor of the electric machine to cause electromagnetic interactions which generate electrical energy to be stored and/or employed by one or more of the connected loads. Moreover, the operating speed of the primary power source may be correlated to the resulting electrical power that is communicated to connected loads.
Accordingly, the operating speed of the primary power source of a typical genset may be varied, for instance, according to predefined power-speed curves which suggest different nominal speeds for different anticipated loads, in an effort to conserve fuel and other system resources. In actual practice, however, such predefined relationships are not always fixed and can be adversely affected by any one or more of a variety of factors, such as fuel quality, fuel type, environmental temperature, altitude, system age, system wear, and the like. Moreover, because of such uncontrollable variants, gensets often exhibit inefficient characteristics despite strict adherence to predefined and suggested target speeds.
The present disclosure is directed at addressing one or more of the deficiencies set forth above.