Analysis of an Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy for a Fuel Cell Electric Aircraft

This paper analyzes an energy management strategy known as Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy (ECMS) applied to the powertrain of a Fuel Cell Electric Aircraft. Such strategy is based on a pseudo-optimization algorithm whose goal is to minimize a cost index representing an equivalent fuel consumption for the powertrain. The equivalent fuel index is built by combining the real hydrogen consumed by the fuel cell and the electrical energy exchanged by the battery, which is converted into a virtual fuel consumption. The ECMS is assessed with the aid of a MATLAB/Simulink model of the powertrain, where a typical mission profile for the chosen aircraft is implemented. A comparison is drawn as well between the ECMS and a benchmark energy management strategy based on a rule-based state-machine algorithm. The analysis aims at providing deeper insight into the ECMS algorithm, and its results can be useful to design engineers for proper tuning and implementation of this strategy.