Modeling and Simulation Analysis of Thermal Management System for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle

An effective vehicle integrated thermal management system (ITMS) is critical for the safe and efficient operation of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) vehicles. This paper takes a fuel cell vehicle (FCV) as the research object, comprehensively considers the vehicle layout environment and thermal management requirements, and designs a complete thermal management system for FCV. The key components are selected and designed to match the performance and the control strategy of ITMS of fuel cell vehicle is developed. To do that, the ITMS model is established based on the heating principle and heat transfer theory of each key component. Then, the ITMS under Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC) operating conditions at different ambient temperatures are simulated and analyzed by selecting indicators such as coolant flow rate and temperature. Under the ambient temperature of 40°C, the temperature of PEMFC is basically stable between 78 °C and 83°C, the coolant outlet temperature of the electric drive system radiator is lower than 65°C, and the temperature of the power battery and the crew compartment is maintained at about 25 °C and 23°C, respectively. In addition, in order to improve the performance of the vehicle in low temperature environment, the feasibility of waste heat recovery of the stack is also simulated. The results show that the ITMS has sufficient cooling capacity, and the temperature of key components remains stable under the controlled requirements under different working conditions. In winter, the waste heat generated by the stack can be used to heat the crew cabin. The proposed thermal management system can provide some design ideas and modeling methods for the future research and development of the thermal management system of fuel cell vehicles.