Ultracapacitor with Ballard Nexa in a GEM vehicle in a hybrid mode

Abstract

Incorporation of ultra capacitors to augment power transient's requirement in a hybrid mode in a Ballard fuel cell mounted on a Global Electric Motor's (GEM) vehicle. A Ballard Nexatrade fuel cell, six 2600 Farads Maxwell's ultra capacitors connected in series and a load cell, are tested on a bench and later on a GEM a vehicle. A custom developed DC-DC converter is used to boost the fuel cell stack input voltage from 26 V DC to 72 V DC. The controller performs the ultracapacitor's recharging functions while the ultra capacitors augment for power needs during transients. A very stable operational performance of the vehicle is observed throughout the range tested and the state of charge of the battery is satisfactory. The results show that the test results with ultra capacitors provide a smooth and gradual peak power augmentation