Development of a generic fuel cell model: application to a fuel cell vehicle simulation

Abstract

In this paper, a novel approach to fuel cell modelling is proposed. The model is obtained from manufacturer datasheets and is able to represent the behaviour of any hydrogen fuel cells. The simulation results are as expected with an error in the range of ±1%, provided a controlled stack internal humidity. The procedure to extract data from fuel cells datasheet is described along with the method to estimate cell’s parameters. The model is integrated in SimPowerSystems (SPS) and used in the simulation of a fuel cell vehicle. The vehicle is modelled with the same characteristics as the Honda FCX-Clarity. The performance obtained from the vehicle model is close to reality in terms of fuel consumption, maximum speed and acceleration.