A comprehensive study of various carbon-free vehicle propulsion systems utilizing ammonia-hydrogen synergy fuel

Ammonia and hydrogen, as carbon-free clean energy, can be converted and applied in various scenarios. They can also be mixed to achieve synergistic efficiency. To promote the carbon-neutral development of heavy-duty vehicles, this paper studies an ammonia-hydrogen powertrain equipped with both a fuel cell and an engine (FCEAP). This powertrain efficiently allocates energy between multiple power sources and exploits the potential of ammonia-hydrogen synergy fuel. The modeling of FCEAP is based on experimental data obtained from engine bench tests, and the control strategy enables real-time control. Additionally, FCEAP undergoes multi-objective co-optimization using the non-dominated sorting algorithm-III (NSGA-III). By optimizing ammonia consumption, acceleration time, and manufacturing cost, Pareto solutions for the configuration and control strategy parameters are obtained. Furthermore, FCEAP is compared to ammonia-hydrogen powertrains equipped with either a fuel cell (FCAP) or an engine (EAP). The trade-off solutions indicate that FCEAP effectively balances energy consumption and manufacturing cost compared with FCAP and EAP. A comprehensive analysis of the energy flow distribution within various ammonia-hydrogen powertrains is conducted, revealing the operational processes and details of each component. The proposed ammonia-hydrogen powertrain represents an important technological pathway for achieving carbon neutrality in the future heavy-duty long-haul trucks industry.