A Feasibility Study of an Auxiliary Power Unit Based on a PEM Fuel Cell for On-Board Applications

Abstract

PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cells show characteristics of high power density, low operating temperature and fast start-up capability, which make them potentially suitable to replace conventional power sources (e.g. internal combustion engines) as Auxiliary Power Units (APU) for on-board applications. This paper presents a methodology for a preliminary investigation on either sizing and operating management of the main components of an on-board power system composed by: i) PEM fuel cell, ii) hydrogen storage subsystem, iii) battery, iv) grid interface for the connection to an external electrical power source when available, and v) electrical appliances and auxiliaries installed on the vehicle.A model able to reproduce the typical profiles of electric power requests of on-board appliances and auxiliaries has been implemented in a computer program. The proposed methodology helps also to define the sizing of the various system components and to identify the fuel cell operating sequence, on the basis of the above mentioned load profiles.

Novel VHT-PEFC MEAs Based on ABPBI Membranes for APU Applications

“…Auxiliary power units (APUs) -for example for trucks or airplanes -running on reformed middle distillates that are already being on-board as fuel for the main engine represent an auspicious application for early market introduction of fuel cells. In the past, due to their high efficiency solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) (1,2) as well as polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEFC or PEMFC with a perfluorosulfonic acid membrane operating at T ~ 80 °C), the latter offering rapid cold-start and tolerating rapid load changes (3,4), have been considered as those types of fuel cells that might be best suited for this purpose.…”

Nonlinear MPC Controller Design for AIR Supply of PEM Fuel Cell Based Power Systems

“…• GetĪ B based onP B and the battery model (9) • Assign the extra current for the battery's SOC control I SOC based on (12), and get the actual current of the battery I B based on (13). Then the power supplied by the battery is obtained as P B = I B V B .…”

“…For a sharp increase of the power demand, the unacceptable undershoot of the oxygen excess ratio is inevitable if the power load is fully supplied by the PEMFC system. In order to avoid thev undershoot, a rechargeable battery or ultracapacitor can be added to provide buffer power supply for the PEMFC system to smooth the power supply and extend the lifetime of the PEMFC. A fuel cell hybrid configuration with an ultracapacitor was utilized and a model predictive control (MPC) approach was proposed in to control the PEMFC air supply system to provide proper oxygen supply while preventing the surge and choke of the compressor.…”

Thermal integration of a SOFC power generator and a Na–NiCl2 battery for CHP domestic application

“…The CHP application for residential building of a PEM technology fuel cell has been investigated in [9], where possible layouts and thermal integrations with the user are shown. Moreover, SOFC could provide significant amount of high value heat, in comparison with other fuel cells (see for example [10,11]), leading to potential values of overall CHP efficiency as high as 80-85% [12]. The penetration of fuel cell systems as CHP prime mover in the residential sector is expected to grow, especially if supporting schemes and policies will be applied in the near future [13].…”