Peak Power based Fuel Cell Hybrid Propulsion System

Hybrid electric propulsion systems are interesting solutions to increase the energy efficiency of the road transportation technology. In this paper, several series hybrid propulsion system topologies are analysed in the Vehicle Simulation Programme (VSP). Especially the use of a DC/DC converter connected between the DC-bus and a energy source like a battery or the fuel cell stack, the supercapacitor or both are investigated together with its control algorithms in the validated VSP model. Both the advantages and drawbacks of the different topologies are presented. On the basis of experimental results, the proposed power management control strategy is also validated, which can ensure the main power supply (e.g. fuel cell) only providing the moving average power.