Hybrid System of Air-Breathing PEM Fuel Cells/Supercapacitors for Light Electric Vehicles: Modeling and Simulation
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 5
Abstract
Recently, light electric vehicles such as pedelecs, electric bicycles, and electric scooters have shown excellent potential for short distances. It is essential to control the power required by the electric motor in response to power demand fluctuations. Hybrid energy sources have some essential features to improve efficiency and dynamics. This paper presents a hybrid system of air-breathing proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells (ABFC) and supercapacitors (SC) for operating electric bicycles. Since the supercapacitors meet some of the load variations, the hybrid system offers the opportunity to optimize the air-breathing PEM fuel cells to achieve better fuel consumption and performance. A hybrid dynamic model of the ABFC-SC system is built by using MATLAB Simulink version 9.3 and Simscape Power Systems toolbox for electric bicycles. A web-based software tool used to examine an electric bicycle is employed to create a realistic driving cycle for electric bicycles. The simulation results of the hybrid ABFC-SC system are compared with the results of the ABFC system. The power requirement of an electric bicycle fluctuates depending on the riding conditions, type of electric motor, and control system. The simulation results show that the hybrid ABFC-SC system provides efficient and sufficient energy for an electric bike.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or codes generated or used during the study are available in a repository or online in accordance with funder data retention policies (Yalcinoz and Alam 2008).
Some or all data, models, or codes that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. (MATLAB model of the hybrid ABFC-SC system and all data.)
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Philipp Schwartz Initiative, which was launched by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Federal Office. Tankut Yalcinoz would like to thank the Philipp Schwartz Initiative for their support.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 5 • October 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 17, 2020
Accepted: May 13, 2021
Published online: Jul 30, 2021
Published in print: Oct 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Dec 30, 2021
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