Electrical and mechanical integration of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell into electric bus test platform

This thesis covers background and practical work on electrically and mechanically integrating a commercial fuel cell power module into VTT EMule prototyping bus. The integrated components include power module from Hydrogenics Inc and DCDC converter from Prisma Ecotech. Target apparatus is a reasonably movable modular fuel cell power module based range extender, controllable over the vehicle CAN bus. Literature part of the work provides background on research with focus on defining the environment, terminology and technology behind to understand the experiment. The integration experiment begins with establishing understanding the technology, by its requirements and interfaces. Integration steps are described from commissioning the relevant independent components to integration testing the apparatus in the actual EMule vehicle. Goal of this work is to document the apparatus and work done while integrating it. During the integration, each increment on implementing the range extender functionality was verified by test runs. In results section of this work, the findings and data collected from experiments is processed and visualized as basis of understanding the operations of the hydrogen powered range extender unit. Final discussion overviews and analyses the findings and path towards further research with the apparatus