Ev Da

NAME- NISHITH NAYAN REG.
No- 18BEE0166
REPORT ON FUEL CELL HYBRID ELECTRIC TRAIN DESIGN
INTRODUCTION: Fuel cells can be considered as one of the advanced power sources for the
application in transportation. Compared to the traditional IC engines, fuel cells have the advantages
of high energy efficiency and much lower emissions. This is because they directly convert the free
energy in fuel into electrical energy, without undergoing combustion. However there are some
disadvantages to vehicles powered solely by fuel cells, such as heavy and bulky power unit caused by
the low power density of fuel cell system, long start up time and slow power response.
Hybridization of the fuel cell system with a peaking power source (PPS) is an effective technology to
overcome the disadvantages of the fuel-cell-alone-powered vehicles. The fuel cell HEV is totally
different from the conventional IC engine powered vehicles and IC engine-based hybrid drive trains.
Therefore, a totally new design methodology is necessary.
CONIFGURATION:
Fuel cell HEV consists of a fuel cell system as the primary power source, a PPS, an electric motor
drive (motor and its controller), a vehicle controller, and an electronic interface between the fuel cell
system and the PPS. According to the signals received from brake or accelerator (Torque or Power
signals) and other operating signals, the vehicle controller controls motor power (torque) output and
energy flow between fuel cells, PPS and drive train. For peak power demand during situation of
sharp acceleration, both the fuel cell system and the PPS supply power to electric motor drive.
During braking the electric motor works as a generator, converts part of the braking energy into
electric energy and stores it in the PPS. The PPS can also restore the energy coming from the fuel cell
system when the load power is less than the rated power of the fuel cell system.
FIG: Configuration of fuel cell HEV.

NAME- NISHITH NAYAN REG.No- 18BEE0166
CONTROL STRATEGY:
The control strategy pre-set in vehicle control system controls the power flow between the fuel cell
system, PPS and the drive train. The control Strategy should ensure:
• The output power of electric motor always meets the power demand.
• The energy level in PPS is always within its optimal region.
• The fuel cell system operates in its optimal power region.
FIG: Flow chart for control strategy.
The driver gives a traction command or brake command through the accelerator pedal or brake
pedal (Pcomm), that the motor is expected to produce. In traction mode, the electric power input to
the motor drive can be expressed as: Pm-in = Pcomm/ ηm , where ηm is the efficiency of the motor
drive. In braking the motor drive functions as a generator, and the electric power output from the
motor is expressed as Pm-out = Pmb-comm*ηm. Various operating modes of the drive train and the
corresponding power control strategy are:
• Standstill mode: Neither the fuel cell system nor the PPS supplies power to the drive train.
• Braking mode: The fuel cell system operates at idle, and the PPS absorbs the regenerative
braking energy, according to the brake system operating characteristics.
• Traction mode: If the commanded motor input power is greater than the rated power of the
fuel cell system, the hybrid traction mode is used. In this mode the fuel cell system operates
with its rated power, and the remaining power demanded is supplied by the PPS. If the
commanded motor input power is smaller than the preset minimum power of the fuel cell
system, and the PPS needs charging (the energy level is less than the minimum value), the
fuel cell system operates with its rated power, part of which goes to the drive train, while
the other part goes to the PPS. Otherwise, if the PPS does not need charging (the energy
level is near its maximum value), the fuel cell system operates at idle and the PPS alone
drives the vehicle. In the latter case, the peak power that the PPS can produce is greater
than the commanded motor input power.
Power Design of the Fuel Cell System:
The PPS is only used to supply peak power in short time periods and has a limited amount of energy
in it. Thus, the fuel cell system must be able to supply sufficient power to support the vehicle while it
drives at high constant speeds on a long trip (e.g., highway driving between cities), and to support
the vehicle to overcome a mild grade at a specified speed without the help of the PPS. For a 1500 kg
car (Taking an example) 33 kW of motor power is sufficient to meet the power demand with about
150 km/h of constant speed on a flat road and 100 km/h on a 5% grade road. If we consider
inefficiency of the motor drive, for long drive situation a fuel cell system of about 40KW power is
required.
Power Capacity of the PPS:
Based on the maximum power of the motor determined by the specified acceleration performance,
and the rated power of the fuel cell system determined by the constant speed driving, the rated
power of the peaking power source can be determined by Ppps = Pmotor /ηmotor – Pfc.
Where Ppps is rated power of PPS, Pmotor is max. motor power, ηmotor efficiency of motor drive, Pfc is
rated power of fuel cell system. For previous example Ppps is about 43KW.
Energy Capacity of the PPS:
The PPS supplies its energy to the drive train when peaking power is needed, and restores its energy
storage from regenerative braking or from the fuel cell system. The energy changes in the PPS in a
driving cycle can be expressed as E= ∫(𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑠 − 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 − 𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑠 − 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑎ℎ𝑟𝑔𝑒)𝑑𝑡
Where 𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑠 − 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 and 𝑃𝑝𝑝𝑠 − 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑎ℎ𝑟𝑔𝑒 are charge and discharge power of PPS.
Refrence:
• Gao, Y. and Ehsani, M., "Systematic Design of Fuel Cell Powered Hybrid Vehicle Drive Train,"
SAE Technical Paper 2001-01-2532, 2001, https://doi.org/10.4271/2001-01-2532.
• D. Tran, M. Cummins, E. Stamos, J. Buelow, and C. Mohrdieck, “Development of the Jeep
Commander 2 FC hybrid electric vehicle,” Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Journal,
Paper No. 2001-01-2508, Warrendale, PA, 2001.
• T. Simmons, P. Erickson, M. Heckwolf, and V. Roan, “The effects of start-up and shutdown of
a FC transit bus on the drive cycle,” Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Journal, Paper
No. 2002-01-0101, Warrendale, PA, 2002.
• Di Wu and S. S. Williamson, "A novel design and feasibility analysis of a fuel cell plug-in
hybrid electric vehicle," 2008 IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference, 2008, pp. 1-5,
doi: 10.1109/VPPC.2008.4677706.
•

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NAME- NISHITH NAYAN REG.

FIG: Configuration of fuel cell HEV.

FIG: Flow chart for control strategy.

Power Design of the Fuel Cell System:

Power Capacity of the PPS:

Energy Capacity of the PPS:

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