Investigation of the Viability of Fuel Cell System for Sustainable Aviation

Since the aviation industry contributes significantly to CO2 emissions, there is a growing trend toward developing proton exchange membrane fuel cell technology for emission reduction. This study describes the simulation of a fuel cell and battery-powered hybrid power train for a small, four-seat airplane. A control strategy is developed to guarantee that the required power for the flight mission is supplied by both the fuel cell and battery pack while maintaining the battery state of charge within a predetermined range. A simple model based on the power output of the fuel cell is also proposed to control the media’s flow in the fuel cell system.