Hydrogen fuel cells convert chemical energy to electrical energy by combining hydrogen and oxygen in a process that generates electricity and water as the by-product in an emission free process. The high energy density of hydrogen makes fuel cell technology an economically wise option in the long term. They have been successfully employed in the automotive sector despite the limitations that exist on their dynamic performance. This limitation is often resolved through the usage of hybrid powertrains with a more power dense energy storage device. Batteries and ultracapacitors have been proposed as potential candidates for hybridization. The proposed powertrain retrofit is a hybrid FC/battery system which must handle the power dynamics of a two-passenger railway speeder. To demonstrate hydrail technology the research team designed and implemented a prototype standard gauge, low-power, fuel cell/battery hybrid hydrail vehicle. The traction package consisted of a 1.7 kW fuel cell to be used as backup power and 12kWh of LiFePo4 batteries to handle most of the dynamic power demand of the vehicle. A two-seater vehicle powered by a 16 kW motor in place of a 70HP combustion engine was constructed and tested. The goal of this project was to demonstrate that hydrail technology: (1) can meet the performance requirements of a railway vehicle, (2) is safe and reliable, and to provide a platform for control system tuning and performance optimization.
Hydrail One: A Standard Gauge Low Power Fuel Cell/battery Hybrid Hydrail Vehicle
Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering
Canadian Society of Civil Engineering Annual Conference ; 2021 May 26, 2021 - May 29, 2021
Proceedings of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering Annual Conference 2021 ; Chapter : 27 ; 335-344
2022-06-03
10 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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