Model-based Evaluation of Advanced Energy Management Control Strategies for Heavy-Duty Fuel Cell Powertrains

<div>In recent years, fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) have become a promising alternative to battery electric vehicles in medium- and heavy-duty on-road applications, which specifically require long vehicle range, high payload capacity, and fast refueling times. While FCEVs are more likely to meet these requirements, they come with their own challenges of high upfront system cost, reduced system efficiency at high load, on-board hydrogen storage system packaging, and fuel cell system (FCS) durability. To address these challenges, it is critical to ensure optimal propulsion system component sizing during the concept phase as well as ensure optimal propulsion system energy management during vehicle operation. In a previous publication, authors presented a model-based approach for system sizing and optimization of FCEV propulsion system components for a Class 8 long-haul application. In this study, the authors have evaluated and optimized multiple advanced propulsion system energy management control strategies to maximize the FCEV propulsion system efficiency during vehicle operation.</div> <div>Specifically, several energy management strategies were evaluated with the primary objective of reducing hydrogen consumption through efficient power split between FCS and high-voltage battery, while maintaining vehicle performance and sustaining battery state of charge (SOC). A 1D multi-physics-based plant model of the vehicle propulsion and thermal system was developed in GT-SUITE and validated against vehicle test data. The validated plant model was then used for model-in-loop (MiL) simulations to evaluate multiple control strategies such as rule-based, equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS), and dynamic programming (DP), on real-world drive cycles.</div>