Development of a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Hybrid Urban Air Mobility System Model Using a Hydrogen Metal Hydride Tank

Sanghyun Yun, Seok Yeon Im () and Jaeyoung Han ()
Additional contact information
Sanghyun Yun: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kongju National University, 1223-24 Cheonan-daero, Cheonan-si 31080, Republic of Korea
Seok Yeon Im: Mechanical Engineering Education Department, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea
Jaeyoung Han: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kongju National University, 1223-24 Cheonan-daero, Cheonan-si 31080, Republic of Korea

Energies, 2024, vol. 18, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: Hydrogen fuel cell-based UAM (urban air mobility) systems are gaining significant attention due to their advantages of higher energy density and longer flight durations compared to conventional battery-based UAM systems. To further improve the flight times of current UAM systems, various hydrogen storage methods, such as liquid hydrogen and hydrogen metal hydrides, are being utilized. Among these, hydrogen metal hydrides offer the advantage of high safety, as they do not require the additional technologies needed for high-pressure gaseous hydrogen storage or the maintenance of cryogenic temperatures for liquid hydrogen. Furthermore, because of the relatively slower dynamic response of hydrogen fuel cell systems compared to batteries, they are often integrated into hybrid configurations with batteries, necessitating an efficient power management system. In this study, a UAM system was developed by integrating a hydrogen fuel cell system with hydrogen metal hydrides and batteries in a hybrid configuration. Additionally, a state machine control approach was applied to a distribution valve for the endothermic reaction required for hydrogen desorption from the hydrogen metal hydrides. This design utilized waste heat generated by the fuel cell stack to facilitate hydrogen release. Furthermore, a fuzzy logic control-based power management system was implemented to ensure efficient power distribution during flight. The results show that approximately 43% of the waste heat generated by the stack was recovered through the tank system.

Keywords: hybrid system; metal hydride tank; polymer electric membrane fuel cell; power management system; thermal management system; urban air mobility (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: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/1/39/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/1/39/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2024:i:1:p:39-:d:1553601

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().