Hybrid Fuel Cell – Battery System as a Main Power Unit for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

Dudek, Magdalena; Tomczyk, P.; Wygonik, P.; Korkosz, M.; Bogusz, P.; Lis, Bartłomiej

doi:10.1016/s1452-3981(23)12901-4

Cited by 75 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Many research has been conducted on enhancing the endurance of UAVs. 23,25 –29,31 –37 Various approaches were proposed. Many of these approaches involve incorporating specialized internal combustion engines (ICEs) or additional power sources, such as fuel cells, photovoltaic solar panels, supercapacitors, or a combination of these.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dudek et al 33 developed a winged UAV with an AEROPACK ® hybrid system, using a fuel cell and a battery. They studied various fuel sources and found that a pressurized composite cylinder is best for short flights and a chemical fuel cartridge for longer ones.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…22 –30 Other approaches of using fuel cells as auxiliary power sources are presented in the literature. 31 –34…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A hybrid thrusting system for increasing the endurance time of multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles

Bdour

Sababha

2023

International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems

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One of the most significant disadvantages of electric multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles is their short flight time compared to fuel-powered unmanned aerial vehicles. This is mainly due to the low energy density of electric batteries. Fuel has much more energy density when compared to batteries. Electric-powered motors in multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles cannot be replaced with fuel-based engines because the stability and control of multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles rely on the high response rates of electric motors. One of the possible solutions to overcome this problem of short endurance times is by using hybrid thrusting systems that combine the advantages of both fuel and electrical propulsion systems, where high maneuverability and long endurance flight time could be achieved. In this work, hybrid thrusting and power systems for multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles are studied. Targeted hybrid thrusting systems consist of combustion engines, electric motors, and their power sources. Then a hybrid thrusting system-based quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle model is developed. The article presents the altitude and attitude control systems of the developed hybrid thrusting system-based unmanned aerial vehicle. The presented hybrid quadcopter model comprises four electric motors and one fuel engine. The fuel engine used in this work is a 4.07 cc internal combustion engine targeting 2–3 kg unmanned aerial vehicles with up to 5 kg maximum takeoff weight. The developed hybrid quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle achieved a 139% improvement in flight time when compared with traditional electric-based quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles. The article also reports on other flight time-related issues such as the optimal fuel mass to battery size ratio to maximize the endurance time of the quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A hybrid thrusting system for increasing the endurance time of multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles

Bdour

Sababha

2023

International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems

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Performance evaluation of two proton exchange membrane and alkaline fuel cells for use inUAVsby investigating the effect of operating altitude

Rostami¹,

Manshadi²,

Afshari

2021

Intl J of Energy Research

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Summary Fuel cells today have a variety of applications, such as fueling vehicles, which lead to a reduction in conventional fuel consumption and environmental pollution. On the other hand, in the present era, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is known as one of the most important unmanned systems for delivering postal packages, environmental monitoring, disaster relief, and military target. However, the performance of fuel cells is affected by their operating pressure and temperature. In addition, due to some political and technical considerations, the performance of these systems (especially UAV based on fuel cells) is very rare in the literature. The present work provides a conceptual design of UAV propulsion system based on a fuel cell system and a battery. The performance of two different fuel cells, namely the alkaline fuel cell (AFC) and proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), is examined separately and compared. Mission and constraint analyses of the system, as well as weight distribution of UAV, are provided. Furthermore, the performance of the UAV propulsion system in different flight modes and the performance of fuel cells under atmospheric conditions are discussed. It should be noted that reference UAV data are used for input parameters. It was found that the total power required by the UAV to carry out the mission is equal to 1253.7 W, which the share of takeoff, climb, cruise, and maximum speed flight modes were 321.3, 608.5, 118.3, and 205.6 W, respectively. Furthermore, the UAV under study, in this paper, has flight endurance of about 7.4 hours. Also, the required area of the PEMFC and AFC to supply the UAV power under the study conditions is about 0.03 and 0.6 m2, respectively. Finally, it observed that with increasing altitude (in the absence of a heating system) the performance of both fuel cells is greatly reduced.

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Fuel Cells for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Wang

Zhao

2022

Sustainable Aviation

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Hybrid Fuel Cell – Battery System as a Main Power Unit for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

Cited by 75 publications

References 26 publications

A hybrid thrusting system for increasing the endurance time of multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles

A hybrid thrusting system for increasing the endurance time of multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles

Performance evaluation of two proton exchange membrane and alkaline fuel cells for use inUAVsby investigating the effect of operating altitude

Fuel Cells for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

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