Impact of Cold Start on Vehicle Fuel Economy and Performance

The goal of this research is to understand and quantify the impact and effects of low temperature operation has on the performance and efficiency of vehicle fuel cell systems through modeling. More specifically, this work addresses issues of the initial thermal transient known to the automotive community as “cold-start” effects. Cold-start effects play a significant role in power limitations in a fuel cell vehicle, and may require hybridization (batteries) to supplement available power. A fuel cell system model developed as part of this work allows users to define the basic thermal fluid relationships in a fuel cell system. The model can be used as a stand-alone version or as part of a complex fuel cell vehicle model. Fuel cells are being considered for transportation primarily because they have the ability to increase vehicle energy efficiency and significantly reduce or eliminate tailpipe emissions. A proton exchange membrane fuel cell is an electrochemical device for which the operational characteristics depend heavily upon temperature. Thus, it is important to know how the thermal design of the system affects the performance of a fuel cell, which governs the efficiency and performance of the system