University of Tasmania, Australia

Power Management of a Battery-Ultracapacitor Based Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle

Fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) has received considerable attention recently due to their high-energy efficiency, low-exhaust emissions, low-operating noise, and long vehicle range. Because a fuel-cell system (FCS) is not power reversible, an energy storage system (ESS) is added to the powertrain. FCS suffers from a slow transient because of the low response time of the air circuit, which leads to the oxygen-starvation phenomena. FCS has some other drawbacks that may affect vehicle driveability; for example, the cold start period with limited FCS power. A well-sized ESS can provide this lack of power and overcome this problem. Also, the fuel consumption of a fuel-cell vehicle (FCV) can be improved by using an additional energy source. The second role of the ESS is to recover the vehicle kinetic energy while braking. Employing ultra capacitor relieves the high-energy-density battery unit from the peak power transfer stress due to their higher specific power and efficiency. This extends the battery life span and greatly reduces the required battery size. However, design of an intelligent control strategy for coordinated power distribution is a critical issue for ultracapacitor-battery supported FCEV power systems.

This project aims to develop an intelligent control strategy for power management of a battery-ultracapacitor based FCEV to reduce hydrogen consumption and increase battery life and overall vehicle efficiency. The project works include: design of power converter for FCEV, component sizing and development of power management strategy.