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Development and comparative analysis of a pure fuel cell configuration for a light commercial vehicle

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Abstract

Fuel cell electric vehicles help hybrid and battery electric vehicles to reduce vehicle emissions. Fuel cells are more appealing since, like internal combustion engines, they provide energy as long as fuel is supplied while doing so with less energy conversion and little or no emissions. In this study, the energy and fuel consumption values of a vehicle's internal combustion engine and fuel cell configurations were compared on a tank-to-wheel basis. First of all, a fuel consumption model was created for the conventional vehicle with 1.3 diesel engine. Subsequently, the fuel cell configuration of the same vehicle was designed by selecting a suitable fuel cell, electric motor, battery, and transmission. Then, the fuel cell vehicle configuration’s hydrogen and energy consumptions were calculated. The equivalent diesel consumption of the fuel cell vehicle was determined to be 3.38 L/100 km at the end of the study, which is 32% better than an Internal Combustion Engine vehicle. Also, with theoretical regenerative braking in the fuel cell electric vehicle, consumed traction energy can be reduced by 27%, while with practical regenerative braking, 55% of the braking energy can be recovered, and the traction energy can be reduced by 15%. On the other hand, since there is no regenerative braking system in the conventional vehicle, all of the braking energy is lost as heat.

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Abbreviations

ADVISOR:

ADvanced VehIcle SimulatOR

BEV:

Battery Electric Vehicles

bmep:

Brake mean effective pressure

BSFC:

Brake Specific Fuel Consumption

EM:

Electric Motor

EUDC:

Extra Urban Driving Cycle

FC:

Fuel Cell

FCEV:

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles

FHDS:

Federal Highway Driving Schedule

FUDS:

Federal Urban Driving Schedule

HEV:

Hybrid Electric Vehicles

ICE:

Internal Combustion Engine

ICEV:

Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle

NEDC:

New European Driving Cycle

PEM:

Proton Exchange Membrane

PSAT:

Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit

TTW:

Tank-to-Wheel

UDC:

Urban Driving Cycle

WLTC:

Worldwide harmonized Light-duty vehicles Test Cycles

WTW:

Well-to-Wheel

\(\dot{\mathrm{m}}\) :

Instantaneous fuel consumption

a :

Acceleration

A f :

Frontal area

C d :

Drag coefficient

D :

Driving distance

E FC :

Energy of the FC

E ICE :

Energy of the ICE

E regen. :

Regenerative energy

F aero :

Aerodynamic resistance force

F grade :

Grade resistance force

F rolling :

Rolling resistance force

F traction :

Traction force

g :

Gravitational acceleration

H u,H2 :

Lower heating value of hydrogen

i d :

Ratio of final drive

i g :

Ratio of gearbox

J d :

Polar moment of inertia of differential

J e :

Polar moment of inertia of engine

J p :

Polar moment of inertia of primary shaft of the gearbox

J pr. :

Polar moment of inertia of propeller shaft

J s :

Polar moment of inertia of secondary shaft of the gearbox

J w :

Polar moment of inertia of wheels

k :

Regenerative braking coefficient

m eq :

Equivalent of the vehicle

m H2 :

Amount of hydrogen consumed

m v :

Vehicle curb mass

n :

Engine speed

P aux :

Power of the auxiliary systems

P brake :

Braking power

P FC :

Fuel cell input power

P ICE :

ICE power

R w :

Wheel radius

T EM :

EM torque

T ICE :

ICE torque

v :

Vehicle speed

V fuel :

Fuel consumption

V H :

Engine displacement

v w :

Wind speed

α :

Road slope angle

η EM :

Electric motor efficiency

η FC :

Fuel cell efficiency

η t :

Efficiency of powertrain

μ :

Rolling coefficient

ρ :

Air density

ρ fuel :

Density of fuel

\(\upomega\) :

Angular speed of engine

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Automotive Engineering, Bursa Uludag University, 16059, Bursa, Turkey

    M. Tekin & M. İ. Karamangil

Authors
  1. M. Tekin
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  2. M. İ. Karamangil
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Correspondence to M. Tekin.

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The authors declare that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: Fatih Şen.

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Tekin, M., Karamangil, M.İ. Development and comparative analysis of a pure fuel cell configuration for a light commercial vehicle. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 20, 6197–6208 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04629-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-022-04629-3

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