Development of a National Virtual Powertrain-Fuel Cell and Hybrid Vehicle Dynamics
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Chemical Engineering
Abstract
We are currently going through large-scale electrification of road vehicles. The primary options as power sources for electric vehicles include batteries, super capacitors and fuel cells. In order to understand how these devices operate in a vehicle we must connect them as part of the powertrain and understand the interconnectivity, communications and dynamic operational aspects. This project is part of the Digital Test and Engineering Centre and aims to include leading national centres of excellence in different aspects of powertrain development, connecting each site virtually. The UCL part of this project involves the development of a fuel cell stack hybridised with a battery that concentrates on dynamic aspects of operation under real-world load conditions.
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/N509577/1 | 01/10/2016 | 24/03/2022 | |||
| 1766468 | Studentship | EP/N509577/1 | 26/09/2016 | 30/09/2020 | Lara Rasha |
| Description | This award was focused on developing a virtually connected electric vehicle powertrain with hardware components operating simultaneously at different universities across the UK. The University College London (UCL) contribution involved designing and building a hydrogen fuel cell system with its auxiliary components, that would supply power to the power train and recharge the primary battery, based on a predetermined hybrid configuration. The majority of work involved in this project was dedicated to understanding how fuel cells operate in automotive conditions, what operational procedures and conditions achieved the best performance and minimised degradation rates. A variety of diagnostic techniques were constructed and implemented to probe the internal performance. Current, temperature and water mapping of the active area in particular, has uncovered a great detail of knowledge that would not be obtained by measuring bulk parameters e.g. stack voltage, temperature, output current, output humidity. From this award, multiple studies have been published, focused on creating novel diagnostic techniques, probing the internal performance to understand degradation in automotive applications and the designing an electric hybridised powertrains for mobility devices. This information can be used by both research and commercial fuel cell teams to aid in design work, gain a further understanding of the degradation mechanisms that afflict a fuel cell using localised mapping techniques and model the optimal power ratio of fuel cell to battery for automotive/mobility applications. |
| Exploitation Route | The knowledge amassed and techniques developed with this award can be utilised by other researchers in the electrochemical field in order to probe performance, degradation and lifetime of the fuel cell system. |
| Sectors | Energy,Transport |
| URL | https://www.ideuk.org/project-vchv |