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Fuel Cell model integrated with vehicle cooling system and battery - GLOBAL PROJECT WITH CHALMERS UNIVERSITY

Company: Volvo Group Trucks Technology, Powertrain Engineering, a Division of Mack Trucks, Inc. (Volvo)

Major(s):
Primary: ME
Secondary: EGEE
Optional: CMPSC

Non-Disclosure Agreement: YES

Intellectual Property: YES

Develop a model for a fuel cell integrated with a vehicle cooling system and battery storage system for studying fuel cell electric vehicle performance and durability under various operating conditions and duty cycles. The tasks are further detailed below. Develop a 1D fuel cell system model with the capability to: estimate the efficiency and performance of subcomponents such as turbocharger, humidification system, inlet/exhaust system, DC/DC, high temperature / low temp circuits Estimate degradation because of shutdown/startup cycles, running fuel cell at higher coolant temperature, catalyst poisoning, and other such failure mechanisms. Assume H2 grade D and above. Tune and verify the model using an example dataset for the fuel system. Volvo to provide the dataset if needed. Extend the model to simulate fuel cell electric vehicle performance by integrating vehicle cooling system models (map-based or detailed) and battery storage models (energy and power battery). Use the extended model to calculate the power output from the battery and fuel cell for a given duty cycle Estimate fuel cell degradation sensitivity on a duty cycle to start/stop events, increased temperature in fuel cell cooling circuit (high-temperature cooling loop), catalyst poisoning, and any other mechanism identified in step 1.b. Deliverables: M0: Project schedule and scope: Layout a schedule for model development and define the scope of the model M1: Model development: Fuel cell system model with degradation mechanism M2: Model verification and tuning: predict the beginning-of-life and end-of-life fuel cell system performance (efficiency, currents, heat rejections, ….) M3: Translate a duty cycle to failure mechanism events and determine the sensitivity of performance for a failure mechanism M4: Develop a simplified integrated model with battery and vehicle cooling system to predict fuel cell power output* *Objective for M4 is to predict power output from a fuel cell system for a given duty cycle. It will allow for estimating the fuel cell system power in relation to the cooling system capacity. We can then translate the information here into the operation at max power, excursions in cooling temperatures, and statistics on the ambient conditions. The model eliminates the need for user input of translating a duty cycle into failure mechanism-relevant events such as time spent at max power, start/stop, and high ambient temperature operation.