Research Projects

In this project, a proposal to devise a digital twin for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell-battery hybrid energy system for vehicular applications is presented. The battery is set to operate as the energy buffer to assist the PEM fuel cell to supply the load and to absorb the excess power whenever the PEM fuel cell supply is more than the demand and to store it for future use. To ensure the optimal power split among the hybrid energy sources while simultaneously satisfying the constraints, an appropriate energy management system would be devised. In this project, a digital twin for PEMFC-battery hybrid energy system will be developed to ensure efficient, stable, and secure operation of the hybrid energy system. The digital twin will be developed based on the most accurate consideration of detailed dynamic operation aspects of the whole system under different loading and operating conditions. The digital twin will also help in forecasting the capacities of both PEMFC and battery over wide environmental and loading conditions. The following action plans are devised to fulfill the objectives of the proposal: • Firstly, the individual energy components will appropriately be modeled. • Then, a prototype hardware set-up for PEMFC-Battery hybrid energy system will be developed with the appropriate designs of the DC/DC converters. • The decision on the placement of different sensors in different parts of the PEMFC-Battery hybrid energy system will be taken. • An optimization-based EMS strategy will be devised for the minimization of the fuel consumption of the PEMFC under the vehicle performance constraints, (i.e. the acceleration time, the grade-ability, constant speed cruising time, etc.), the limitation on the dynamic performances of the energy sources, (such as the state-of-charge of the battery, the ramp rate of the PEMFC output power, etc.), the constraints of the instantaneous power balance between the supply and the demand, etc. • Based on the data received from different sensors placed in different parts of the hybrid energy system under different types of drive cycle scenarios, a digital twin of the hybrid energy system will be developed. The dynamic modelling of PEMFC and battery will be done using MATLAB/MODELIKA software. The various optimizations will be carried out using GAMS/MATLAB solvers. • Finally, the performance of the developed digital twin will be assessed for online monitoring the operation of the hybrid energy system. The online capability to monitor the health of the PEMFC and battery will be assessed.

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