Fuel cell electric vehicles: A review of current power electronic converters Topologies and technical challenges

Abstract

This paper proposes a brief review to study the implementation of fuel cells and management energy in hybrid vehicles. The use of fuel cells (FC) in the automotive field has been growing steadily over the last decades thanks to their simple operation, quiet running, and high efficiency. In addition, fuel cell vehicles have great advantages over electrified vehicles powered by secondary batteries in terms of mileage endurance, energy efficiency, charging speed and climate tolerance. In this paper, the classification and a brief introduction of HEVs/FCs are reviewed, then topologies of fuel cell HEVs are presented that illustrate the hybrid vehicle system of the different FC architectures. Finally, a discussion of control strategies for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is implemented with the clarification of future prospects for HEVs.

Design and Analysis of Power Converter Topologies in Fuel Cell Applications.

“…The power transmission system solely relies on a Fuel Cell as the energy source and has a simple structure consisting of a hydrogen fuel tank, a Fuel Cell Stack, a DC-DC converter, and an inverter to power the load. [16] Quick refueling time, ability to start in cold temperatures, quiet operation due to the absence of moving parts, a steady and reliable energy supply with reduced emission in compact space, easy to implement control strategies are some key features of this system[3, [16][17][18] Regenerative braking is not possible in these propulsion systems which is a significant drawback. [3].…”

“…The battery also stores energy generated from regenerative braking. [18,19] The high energy density of the battery and its ability to recover energy are the pros of this system while the slow dynamic response is one major disadvantage of the system [3,16].…”

“…A DC/DC converter is always used in the case of UC as it has a wide range of fluctuating voltage. UCs generally provide energy during the transient phase of the system [3, [16][17][18][19].…”

“…This system provides a better dynamic response but is complex due to several power converters. [3,[16][17][18][19].…”

“…This energy powers the load or recharges the battery. [16,18,19]. The integration is generally converted to AC for convenient application.…”