Analysis and Sizing of Power Distribution Architectures Applied to Fuel Cell Based Vehicles

Carmen Raga, Andres Barrado, Henry Miniguano, Antonio Lazaro, Isabel Quesada and Alberto Martin-Lozano
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Carmen Raga: Power Electronics System Group, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 28911 Leganes, Spain
Andres Barrado: Power Electronics System Group, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 28911 Leganes, Spain
Henry Miniguano: Power Electronics System Group, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 28911 Leganes, Spain
Antonio Lazaro: Power Electronics System Group, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 28911 Leganes, Spain
Isabel Quesada: Power Electronics System Group, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 28911 Leganes, Spain
Alberto Martin-Lozano: Power Electronics System Group, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 28911 Leganes, Spain

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-30

Abstract: The fuel cell based vehicles powertrain is an extensive system that comprises a fuel cell (FC) as the primary energy source, a set of power converters both unidirectional and bidirectional and batteries or supercapacitors as secondary energy sources. Its design is a complex task that affects the mass, volume, cost, efficiency and fuel economy of the vehicle. This paper describes a graphic and straightforward sizing of the secondary energy sources needed to fulfil the vehicle load requirements, as well as the set of equations related to the mass, cost and volume of each one of the power distribution subsystems. Moreover, this paper analysis ten different power distribution architectures to conclude which is the most suitable secondary energy source, the minimum sizing, cost, volume and weight, depending on the amount of power delivered by the fuel cell. Also, a 1.6 kW fuel cell based architecture is implemented and testing. The experimental results confirm the proposed methodology.

Keywords: fuel cell; electric vehicles; hybrid vehicle; architecture; sizing; power distribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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