Sizing and Dynamic Modeling of a Power System for the MUN Explorer Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Using a Fuel Cell and Batteries

Mohamed M Albarghot,Luc Rolland,Kevin Pope,M Tariq Iqbal

doi:10.1155/2019/4531497

Mohamed M Albarghot, Luc Rolland + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/4531497

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Abstract

The combination of a fuel cell and batteries has promising potential for powering autonomous vehicles. The MUN Explorer Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is built to do mapping-type missions of seabeds as well as survey missions. These missions require a great deal of power to reach underwater depths (i.e., 3000 meters). The MUN Explorer uses 11 rechargeable Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries as the main power source with a total capacity of 14.6 kWh to 17.952 kWh, and the vehicle can run for 10 hours. The drawbacks of operating the existing power system of the MUN Explorer, which was done by the researcher at the Holyrood management facility, include mobilization costs, logistics and transport, and facility access, all of which should be taken into consideration. Recharging the batteries for at least 8 hours is also very challenging and time consuming. To overcome these challenges and run the MUN Explorer for a long time, it is essential to integrate a fuel cell into an existing power system (i.e., battery bank). The integration of the fuel cell not only will increase the system power, but will also reduce the number of batteries needed as suggested by HOMER software. In this paper, an integrated fuel cell is designed to be added into the MUN Explorer AUV along with a battery bank system to increase its power system. The system sizing is performed using HOMER software. The results from HOMER software show that a 1-kW fuel cell and 8 Li-ion batteries can increase the power system capacity to 68 kWh. The dynamic model is then built in MATLAB/Simulink environment to provide a better understanding of the system behavior. The 1-kW fuel cell is connected to a DC/DC Boost Converter to increase the output voltage from 24 V to 48 V as required by the battery and DC motor. A hydrogen gas tank is also included in the model. The advantage of installing the hydrogen and oxygen tanks beside the batteries is that it helps the buoyancy force in underwater depths. The design of this system is based on MUN Explorer data sheets and system dynamic simulation results.

Highlights

The MUN Explorer Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is an autonomous underwater vehicle used for missions such as mapping, surveillance, oceanographic data gathering, environmental monitoring, mine detecting, and coastal defence [1]
The simulation in Hybrid Optimization Model for Electrical Renewable (HOMER) software was done to get the sizing results for the integrated power system
The oxygen and hydrogen tanks were successfully studied in terms of specific energy and energy density

Summary

Introduction

The MUN Explorer AUV is an autonomous underwater vehicle used for missions such as mapping, surveillance, oceanographic data gathering, environmental monitoring, mine detecting, and coastal defence [1]. One of the challenges facing the MUN Explorer is the power system’s capacity to complete its missions. To improve the system’s energy capacity, the MUN Explorer AUV is taken as a real example to do sizing and to build a dynamic model. The MUN AUV has a length of 5.3 m, a diameter of 0.69 m, and a dry weight of 820 kg. The flooded front and back sections of the AUV make the mass around 1400 Kg, with an average speed of 1.5 m/s, graphing over 80 Km. Some components have been integrated into the vehicle such as computers and sensors

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