Numerical simulation based on dynamic flow models to improve analysis and control of air supply system for Fuel Cell Vehicle

摘要

Hydrogen Fuel Cells are now considered as a serious promising replacement power source for internal combustion engines in transport applications. As for conventional engines, the trend in the FC vehicle industry is towards integrated powertrain design and control, which are inherently difficult to optimize by hardware testing procedures. This makes numerical simulations attractive, serving as useful support to system modelling and optimization, but also to experimental activity. In order to maximize FC physical advantages, it is necessary to propose efficient control strategies of stack internal parameters (partial pressures, stoichiometries), that can ensure an optimal working point, and a reduced stress to its components. In this perspective, air supply system is a critical system since it implies static and dynamic performances of the stack, and thus the efficiency of the global FC power plant. So, the inherent non-linearity of acoustic phenomena in compressible fluids, coupled with the unusual complexity and decisive role of air supply system, requires detailed understanding and modelling. This paper proposes a structured and coupled methodology for thermal pneumatic dynamic models development, where reliable and helpful numerical simulation is complementing the more usual test-oriented hardware development process. It explores the potential of numerical simulation in the analysis of the dynamic transient response of an advanced FC air supply system.