Making the Case for Predictive Thermal Management of Fuel Cell Systems for Electrified Vehicles

This paper investigates the potential of predictive thermal management as hydrogen saving enabler for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs). First, a numerical approach to model the fuel cell system of the FCEV from energy and thermal perspectives is described. A rule-based reactive approach is then considered as baseline controller for the instantaneous radiator fan state and the coolant rate of the FCEV. Subsequently, an optimal predictive thermal management strategy is implemented based on the global optimal principle of dynamic programming (DP). The fuel cell system is simulated while the FCEV performs a 93 kilometer long drive cycle considering different ambient temperatures that respectively represent summer, mid-season, and winter cases. Both baseline reactive thermal management and optimal predictive thermal management approaches are considered in this case. Results highlight how predictive thermal management can enable up to more than 8% hydrogen saving compared with the baseline reactive controller. The viability and usefulness of predictive thermal management for FCEVs is demonstrated in this way.