Optimization of fuel cell system operating conditions for fuel cell vehicles

Abstract

Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology for use in fuel cell vehicles and other applications has been intensively developed in recent decades. Besides the fuel cell stack, air and fuel control and thermal and water management are major challenges in the development of the fuel cell for vehicle applications. The air supply system can have a major impact on overall system efficiency. In this paper a fuel cell system model for optimizing system operating conditions was developed which includes the transient dynamics of the air system with varying back pressure. Compared to the conventional fixed back pressure operation, the optimal operation discussed in this paper can achieve higher system efficiency over the full load range. Finally, the model is applied as part of a dynamic forward-looking vehicle model of a load-following direct hydrogen fuel cell vehicle to explore the energy economy optimization potential of fuel cell vehicles.

A Review on Optimization Modeling of Energy Systems Planning and GHG Emission Mitigation under Uncertainty

“…Fong et al used a robust evolutionary algorithm to identify optimal energy-conservation strategies within a centralized heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system [169]. An optimization model was proposed by Zhao and Burke for managing fuel-cell based energy systems to reduce GHG emissions [170]. In order to optimally design a small-scale energy system for mitigating GHG emissions, Jewett et al proposed a multi-phase, multi-component model based on simulation and optimization approaches [171].…”

Numerical simulations of a full-scale polymer electrolyte fuel cell with analysing systematic performance in an automotive application

“…The PEFC system is designed to achieve a specified maximum power and the operation is optimized around the nominal operating design-point in order to maximize the overall system efficiency [12]. To this end, a large number of studies have been conducted to model the PEFC system, optimize the operating conditions, and simulate fuel cell vehicle [12,13].…”

“…To this end, a large number of studies have been conducted to model the PEFC system, optimize the operating conditions, and simulate fuel cell vehicle [12,13]. Performance analysis has been developed based on a single fuel cell by using zero dimensional [14], one dimensional [15], two dimensional [16], and multidimensional [17] models.…”

“…In addition, the semi-empirical models have also been used to conduct the performance analysis of PEFC stack [18][19][20]. The performance of the PEFC system with water and thermal management subsystems has been investigated by developing the dynamic and semi-empirical models [12,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Under various drive cycles of the vehicle, the transient dynamic PEFC system models were developed to optimize the control strategy [21][22][23][24][25], and maximize the net system power [12,26] and the fuel economy of the vehicle [27].…”

Analysis of operating characteristics of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell coupled with an air supply system

“…One of the major applications of PEMFCs is as a vehicle power source. There are various technical and economic studies regarding the use of PEMFCs in vehicles [6][7][8][9]. Electric power sources are the other major application.…”