On-Board Liquid Hydrogen Cold Energy Utilization System for a Heavy-Duty Fuel Cell Hybrid Truck

Mingye Yang,Song Hu,Dian Yuan,Fuyuan Yang,Yu Bu,Liangfei Xu

doi:10.3390/wevj12030136

Mingye Yang, Song Hu + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj12030136

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Abstract

In this paper, a kind of on-board liquid hydrogen (LH2) cold energy utilization system for a heavy-duty fuel cell hybrid truck is proposed. Through this system, the cold energy of LH2 is used for cooling the inlet air of a compressor and the coolant of the accessories cooling system, sequentially, to reduce the parasitic power, including the air compressor, water pump, and radiator fan power. To estimate the cold energy utilization ratio and parasitic power saving capabilities of this system, a model based on AMESim software was established and simulated under different ambient temperatures and fuel cell stack loads. The simulation results show that cold energy utilization ratio can keep at a high level except under extremely low ambient temperature and light load. Compared to the original LH2 system without cold energy utilization, the total parasitic power consumption can be saved by up to 15% (namely 1.8 kW).

Highlights

The simulation results achieved under a steady state, including the cold energy utilization ratio and parasitic power savings, were analyzed to evaluate the performance of the LH2 cold energy utilization system
The results show that cold energy utilization ratio increases with temperature and load
By using two heat exchangers, the cold energy of LH2 is utilized for cooling the inlet air of the compressor and the coolant of the accessories cooling system sequentially

Summary

Introduction

With the development of the fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), there has been an increasing demand for a hydrogen source with high energy density. The common hydrogen sources of on-board hydrogen storage and supply systems are high-pressure hydrogen (35 MPa and 70 MPa), low-temperature liquid hydrogen (LH2 ), and metal hydride [1,2]. The density of liquid hydrogen (10 bar, 31 K, 50 kg/m3 ) is about 2.2 times higher than that of 35 MPa high-pressure gas hydrogen (23 kg/m3 ) at room temperature, and 1.35 times that of 70 MPa gas hydrogen (37 kg/m3 ) at room temperature [3]. As for the liquid hydrogen tank, its weight density is at least 9 wt%, while these examples of 35 MPa and 70 MPa hydrogen storage solutions are just 2.5 wt% and 4.5 wt%, respectively. The storage and transportation costs of liquid hydrogen are much lower than compressed hydrogen [4]

Methods

Results

Conclusion