A Predictive Real-Time Energy Management Control for a Hybrid PEMFC Electric System Using Battery/Ultracapacitor

Abstract

The optimization of energy consumption in transport applications, especially dual-energy vehicles (hybrid electric System), was selected as an interesting problem for future transportation applications due to its high efficiency, reduced emissions and the required consumption optimization. To solve this embedding problem, a Hybrid Electrical System (HES) powered by a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was proposed. The hybrid electric system has some main drawbacks derived from the PEMFC due to its inability to meet the energy demand. Battery (BT) and Ultracapacitor (UC) devices are added in this aspect, wherein each power source comprises a DC/DC converter. These devices are used as a potential energy storage that deals to minimize the transitional response associated with the PEMFC. So, the HES is evaluated and demonstrated through an accurate Multi-Input Single-Output (MISO) state space model. To optimize the energy demand, Road-Speed-profiles was chosen. The selecting profiles are systematically compared in terms of hydrogen fuel consumption and tank state of charge prediction. To maintain the required energy through an effective cooperation between the PEMFC, BT and UC, a predictive real-time Energy Management Unit (EMU) is developed. The obtained results reflect the system performance and the proposed EMU effectiveness using Matlab/Simulink environment.