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Development of Braking Systems in Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles

Harpreet Singh Bedi*, Shakti Raj Chopra and Krishan Arora

School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, LPU, Punjab, India

Abstract

Researchers are developing environmentally friendly, zero-emission cars to address concerns about greenhouse gas emissions. One promising solution is fuel cell vehicles, which use hydrogen as the primary energy source. These vehicles generate electricity by combining hydrogen with oxygen from the air, powering electric motors that drive the wheels. Additionally, they incorporate electric batteries to store excess energy during braking and aid during driving. The paper discusses the implementation of regenerative and anti-lock braking systems and models of vehicle components using MATLAB/Simulink software. The goal is to analyze the vehicle’s performance under real working conditions using ADVISOR GUI models and demonstrate the benefits of fuel cell technology and advanced braking systems.

Keywords: Vehicle model, braking systems, advisor

1.1 Introduction

Automotive engineers are concerned that burning fossil fuels in cars will lead to increased air pollution, increased carbon levels in the environment, and global warming. For this reason, engineers adopt electric vehicles. These vehicles are environmentally friendly. Battery electric vehicles are the most common vehicles on the market, but these vehicles require external charging. As a result, they are limited and require charging infrastructure to travel several kilometers. Recognizing these limitations of EVs, engineers introduced the fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). In this car, hydrogen was generated for locomotion and charging the onboard battery. Hydrogen is a clean fuel that does not pollute the environment. In a hydrogen society, FCEVs are not just eco-cars. The FCEVs with hydrogen fuel cells require stable performance, robust durability, and powerful performance. Therefore, automakers could test new technologies. Considering that the hydrogen required for fuel cell vehicles can be stored indefinitely and the manufacturing process is environmentally friendly, it will also help boost the growth of related industries such as power, steel, chemicals, and new materials needed for infrastructure. Such drive systems are not only used in urban traffic.

In this paper, we have also discussed the braking system used in this vehicle. The braking system discussed here is a regenerative braking system, which is also known as a kinetic energy recovery system which converts the kinetic energy of a moving object into potential or stored energy during the slowing down of the vehicle, which improves fuel economy. Another type of braking system discussed in this article is the anti-lock braking system (ABS). It is a security system used in ground vehicles such as cars, buses, motorcycles, and trucks. The ABS keeps the clutch in touch with the ground surface and gives a driver greater control of the vehicle, which prevents wheel lockup when braking. It is most impressive when traveling long distances of hundreds of miles. Fuel cell electric vehicles excel even with short refuelling times of just a few minutes. The fuel cell electric drive consists of various components that Bosch introduces into series production through appropriate research and development.

1.2 Historical Background of Fuel Cell

Keeping in mind the need to satisfy the energy requirements of the world, researchers have found an alternative source to fulfill the energy requirements. In the 1800s, English scientist William Nicholson described the process of generating electricity by separating hydrogen from water through the process named electrolysis.

Various researchers have further led to the development of hydrogen fuel cells. The first fuel cell was invented by Sir William Robert Grove in mid-1838 and was used commercially for over a hundred years. Francis Thomas Bacon is the inventor of [1] hydrogen-oxygen in 1932. In 1959, a team led by Harry Gehrig built a 15-kW tractor. Alkaline fuel cells are also known as Bacon fuel cells. It has been one of the most advanced technologies since its invention. This technology was used by NASA on the Apollo space missions in the late 1990s to generate electricity for satellites and spacecraft [1]. In today’s terms of fuel cell technology, these gadgets were used as a primary or secondary power source in many facilities, including industrial and commercial centers and dwellings.

1.3 ADVISOR

This paper was written at the National Sustainable Energy Lab, and it refers to one of the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Vehicle Simulation (ADVISOR) applications built in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. ADVISOR provides the automotive engineering community with easy-to-use, customized, supported, and resilient analysis tools for a wide variety of vehicle models as shown in Figure 1.1 [2]. This tool is primarily used to measure fuel efficiency, vehicle performance, and emissions for vehicles using alternative technologies. This tool is great at calculating the relative change to be expected from technology usage compared to a reference situation [2].

Figure 1.1 Advanced vehicle simulation interface.

1.4 Why Hydrogen is Preferred

Hydrogen is not an energy source, but it is an energy carrier. This means that energy can be stored or it can be released in a working form. As an energy conveyor, hydrogen has several edges. It can be created utilizing a variety of domestic energy sources, including nuclear power, solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy, and fossil fuels like natural gas and coal [3]. We are not reliant on any one energy source or external energy source because of the diversity of our energy sources [4]. Emissions of greenhouse gases are produced when hydrogen is produced using nuclear, renewable, and fossil fuel–based systems that also sequester carbon. All areas of the economy, including transportation, energy, business, and structures, can be powered by hydrogen. But for this, fuel cells are necessary [3].

1.5 What is a Fuel Cell?

A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that uses two redox reactions to dynamically convert the chemical energy of a fuel (primarily hydrogen) and an oxidant (primarily oxygen) into electricity [3]. Fuel cells differ from most batteries in that they require a constant supply of fuel and oxygen (usually from the air) to sustain the chemical reaction, whereas chemical energy is typically derived from substances already present in the cell in batteries. As long as fuel and oxygen are available, fuel cells can keep producing electricity [3]. Two electrodes—anode and cathode—that are separated by a membrane known as an electrolyte make up the structure of fuel. Researchers are now working to improve the efficiency of fuel cells.

1.6 Working of Fuel Cells

Using fuel cells, the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen may be exploited to produce energy. These cells were utilized for two distinct reasons during the Apollo space program. Both fuel and drinking water were obtained from it (the condensed water vapors generated by the cells is appropriate for human use).

As seen in Figure 1.2, this fuel cell works by transferring hydrogen and oxygen through a carbon electrode into a concentrated sodium hydroxide solution. The reaction of an element can be written as

Figure 1.2 Fuel cell.

1.7 Types of Fuel Cells

Fuel cells are one of the energy sources that could help address the coming energy crisis and power the world of the future. The fuel’s chemical energy is converted into electricity through an electrochemical process [4]. They are like batteries in action. However, fuel cells can be refilled when chemical reactants run low. The types of fuel cells are as follows.

1.7.1 Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC)

Many fuel cells use hydrogen, which may be created from modern high hydrogen fuels like ethanol, methanol, and hydrocarbon fuels, either directly into the fuel cell system or within the fuel cell system. Nevertheless, DMFCs need real methanol, often mixed with water, and delivered directly to the fuel cell anode.

Unlike some fuel cell systems, DMFCs have fewer complications regarding the fuel storehouse because the energy density of methanol is significantly greater than hydrogen. However, it is lower than diesel and gasoline [4]. Because it is a fluid, like gasoline, the transportation and supply of methanol to the people are also simple with the present infrastructure. In general, portable devices such as laptops and mobile phones can use DMFC as their power supply.

1.7.2 Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC)

A proton exchange membrane (PEM) is another name for a phosphoric acid fuel cell (PEMFC). PEMFC operate at relatively low temperatures, around 80°C (176°F). At low temperature, function enables quick start-up (low warm-up time), reducing wear and extending the life of system components. To divide the electrons and protons of hydrogen, however, necessitates the use of precious metal catalysts, mostly platinum, which raises the system’s cost and makes a second reactor necessary because platinum catalysts are extremely vulnerable to carbon monoxide poisoning. This is because when hydrocarbon fuels produce hydrogen, the carbon monoxide content of the fuel gas must be reduced. These reactors also require...