Energy Saving Control of Waste Heat Utilization Subsystem for Fuel Cell Vehicle

Maximizing the waste heat utilization of the fuel cell without controlling the operating temperature, the fuel cell at each power output point will increase the hydrogen consumption of the fuel cell, and thus, the energy consumption of the system. In this article, to ensure that the waste heat utilization subsystem always runs with low energy consumption, the waste heat utilization subsystem model of the fuel cell vehicle (FCV) is constructed, and the fuel cell operating temperature prediction model is established. By taking the optimal operating temperature of the fuel cell under each output power as the reference trajectory, the optimization target is set as reducing the difference between the fuel cell operating temperature and the ideal operating temperature; thus, a predictive controller with the function of following the optimal working temperature of the fuel cell is designed for the waste heat utilization subsystem. The effectiveness of the predictive controller is verified under New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) and China heavy-duty commercial vehicle test cycle for heavy trucks of GVW<5500 kg (CHTC-HT) driving cycle, respectively. The feasibility and effectiveness of the predictive controller are verified by real vehicle experiments. The experimental results show that the predictive controller can reduce the fuel cell hydrogen consumption and system energy consumption compared with the rule-based controller and constant temperature controller. The hydrogen consumption of fuel cells is reduced by 17.2% and 14.7%, respectively, and the energy consumption of the waste heat utilization subsystem of FCV is reduced by 15.6% and 13.4%, respectively.