Design and Study of Energy Recovery System for Fuel Cell Vehicles with Low Temperature Difference

Abstract

As an emerging research direction in the field of highway transportation, fuel cell vehicles have attracted worldwide attention. In the process of fuel cell operation, about 50% of the energy is lost in the form of heat. If this part of waste heat can be recovered while ensuring the proper temperature inside the battery, the operation efficiency of the vehicle will be further improved. However, the recovery of low-grade waste heat is difficult and the recovery efficiency is low. This paper first reviews the feasible methods of using the waste heat of fuel cell, and proposes a fuel cell cooling system with a waste heat generation system. The power generation effect of thermoelectric generators under different temperature differences in the operating conditions of the car was simulated to verify the actual power generation effect of the thermoelectric generators. At the same time, in order to increase the temperature difference of the power generation system, the heat sink of the thermoelectric power generation system was subjected to multi-physics simulations under different structures. The simulation results show that thermoelectric generator has a certain energy generation ability under the operating conditions of the car. And the cylindrical radiator has the best comprehensive performance in terms of heat dissipation. This paper provides a new idea and related theoretical guidance for improving the energy efficiency of fuel cell vehicles.