Design and performance of a prototype fuel cell powered vehicle

Abstract

The Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC) is now engaged in the Palm Desert Renewable Hydrogen Transportation System Project. The Project involves a consortium which includes the City of Palm Desert, SERC, the U.S. Department of Energy, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and Sandia and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. Its goal to develop a clean and sustainable transportation system for a community will be accomplished by producing a fleet of fuel cell vehicles, installing a refueling infrastructure utilizing hydrogen generated from solar and wind power, and developing and staffing a fuel cell service and diagnostic center. We will describe details of the project and performance goals for the fuel cell vehicles and associated peripheral systems. In the past year during the first stage in the project, SERC has designed and built a prototype fuel cell powered personal utility vehicle (PUV). These steps included: (1) Designing, building, and testing a 4.0 kW proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell as a power plant for the PUV. (2) Designing, building and testing peripherals including the air delivery, fuel storage/delivery, refueling, water circulation, cooling, and electrical systems. (3) Devising a control algorithm for the fuel cell power plant in the PUV. (4) Designing and building a test bench in which running conditions in the PUV could be simulated and the fuel cell and its peripheral systems tested. (5) Installing an onboard computer and associated electronics into the PUV (6) Assembling and road testing the PUV.