Developing a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle (HFCV) Energy Consumption Model for Transportation Applications

This paper presents a simple hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (HFCV) energy consumption model. Simple fuel/energy consumption models have been developed and employed to estimate the energy and environmental impacts of various transportation projects for internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). However, there are few published results on HFCV energy models that can be simply implemented in transportation applications. The proposed HFCV energy model computes instantaneous energy consumption utilizing instantaneous vehicle speed, acceleration, and roadway grade as input variables. The mode accurately estimates energy consumption, generating errors of 0.86% and 2.17% relative to laboratory data for the fuel cell estimation and the total energy estimation, respectively. Furthermore, this work validated the proposed model against independent data and found that the new model accurately estimated the energy consumption, producing an error of 1.9% and 1.0% relative to empirical data for the fuel cell and the total energy estimation, respectively. The results demonstrate that transportation engineers, policy makers, automakers, and environmental engineers can use the proposed model to evaluate the energy consumption effects of transportation projects and connected and automated vehicle (CAV) transportation applications within microscopic traffic simulation models.

Research on Hydrogen Consumption and Driving Range of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle under the CLTC-P Condition

Hydrogen consumption and mileage are important economic indicators of fuel cell vehicles. Hydrogen consumption is the fundamental reason that restricts mileage. Since there are few quantitative studies on hydrogen consumption during actual vehicle operation, the high cost of hydrogen consumption in outdoor testing makes it impossible to guarantee the accuracy of the test. Therefore, this study puts forward a test method based on the hydrogen consumption of fuel cell vehicles under CLTC-P operating conditions to test the hydrogen consumption of fuel cell vehicles per 100 km. Finally, the experiment shows that the mileage calculated by hydrogen consumption has a higher consistency with the actual mileage. Based on this hydrogen consumption test method, the hydrogen consumption can be accurately measured, and the test time and cost can be effectively reduced.

Fuel cell behavior and energy balance on board a Hyundai Nexo

Hydrogen fuel consumption measuring methodologies of a fuel cell vehicle without modifying the fuel path has been tested and benchmarked. In this work, they are applied to a Hyundai Nexo fuel cell electric vehicle driving different mission profiles on a chassis dynamometer. Three methods respectively based on hydrogen tank pressure, tailpipe oxygen concentration, and IR-shared (infrared) tank data are compared to the reference method relying on fuel cell current measurements. In addition to the hydrogen fuel consumption results, the installed electrical measuring equipment made possible to yield the fuel cell efficiency map at both stack and system levels as well as the energy consumption of its balance-of-plant (BoP) components during steady-state operation. A maximum steady-state efficiency of 66.8% is reported along with a rated system power of 82 kWe involving a 9.1-kWe power consumption for the electric compressor. It is shown that the compressor and the 12-V accessories are the most energy consuming devices among the BoP components accounting for 2%–3% of the total electric energy generated by the fuel cell. Furthermore, the behavior of the powertrain system is monitored and discussed during warm-up phases and during a long idling period. Finally, based on non-intrusive temperature measurements, a short analysis is conducted about the temperature impact on the fuel cell efficiency.

Waste Aluminum Application as Energy Valorization for Hydrogen Fuel Cells for Mobile Low Power Machines Applications

This article proposes a new model of power supply for mobile low power machines applications, between 10 W and 30 W, such as radio-controlled (RC) electric cars. This power supply is based on general hydrogen from residual aluminum and water with NaOH, so it is proposed energy valorization of aluminum waste. In the present research, a theoretical model allows us to predict the requested aluminum surface and the required flow of hydrogen has been developed, also considering, in addition to the geometry and purity of the material, two key variables as the temperature and the molarity of the alkaline solution used in the hydrogen production process. Focusing on hydrogen production, isopropyl alcohol plays a key role in the reactor’s fuel cell vehicle as it filters out NaOH particles and maintains a constant flow of hydrogen for the operation of the machine, keeping the reactor temperature controlled. Finally, a comparison of the theoretical and experimental data has been used to validate the developed model using aluminum sheets from ring cans to generate hydrogen, which will be used as a source of hydrogen in a power fuel cell of an RC car. Finally, the manuscript shows the parts of the vehicle’s powertrain, its behavior, and mode of operation.