Performance simulation of pem fuel cell powertrains for all-terrain vehicles (ATVs)

Fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FCVs) including batteries and fuel cell are being studied. In hybridisation of fuel cell the consideration of fuel economy, efficiency, emissions and characteristics of power output are necessary. Hybridization allows the size of the fuel cell is to be reduced by using a battery and an Ultracapacitor, and it is beneficial when the power demand is high, like with higher loads or acceleration, and it permits the fuel cell system to be operated more efficiently. In association with the above, the cost of vehicle can be reduced by reducing the cost of expensive fuel cell. When the power demand is low, the fuel cell will provides the required power. Battery and Ultracapacitor will assist in fast start up of the fuel cell and allows capture of the regenerative energy. This study deals with the comparison between two powertrain strategies for the All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs): a Fuel Cell- Battery powertrain strategy and a Fuel Cell-Battery-Ultracapacitor powertrain strategy. A methodology of modeling hybrid vehicle configurations with three energy devices in Advanced Vehicle Simulator (ADVISOR) 2003 was developed. The vehicle models, including the ATV (golf cart) physical model, the ATV Fuel Cell (FC) system of 4.8 kW, and the power bus of the Fuel Cell-Battery- Ultracapacitor powertrain, were programmed in MATLAB/Simulink. Large scale simulations were run in order to find the optimized powertrain strategy. The cost function in this study considered the acceleration performance, gradeability, hydrogen consumption, and powertrain cost. According to the cost function, FC-BT vehicle powertrain cost is 7% less than the cost of FC-BT-UC powertrain and 10% less than the pure FC vehicles