Abstract
This paper discusses a Hardware-in-the-loop simulation of a novel fuel cell based vehicle propulsion system. The proposed drive train configuration consists of
- a fuel cell stack as the main power source
- a supercapacitor for braking energy recuperation and for power assist
- the power electronics for the power flow control between the supercapacitor and the fuel cell system
- the control system including the supervisory energy management and the vehicle simulation.
The 1 kW fuel cell stack, the supercapacitor and the power electronics are realized in hardware, while the control system and the down-scaled vehicle are represented by models. The fuel cell propulsion system drives a simulated vehicle following the new european driving cycle. Experiments investigating the dynamic operation of the fuel cell stack only, and the combination of fuel cell stack and supercapacitor are performed. An analysis of the experiments shows the benefits and disadvantages of the supercapacitor with respect to fuel savings and gives hints for the scale-up to a 40 kW propulsion system.