Master Thesis - IT-PEM Fuel Cell Vehicle Simulation Study

Transport solutions are a vital part of modern life as we know it. Sustainable transport solutions with low emissions will have increasing importance in the future.


The increased environmental and legislative demands is a great driver for new technology for heavy-duty vehicles. Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV’s) are currently being developed at Volvo Group Trucks Technology (GTT) to meet the demands of the future.


The FC (Fuel cell) in a FCEV is interacting and impacting multiple subsystems in the vehicle, for example the cooling system, hydrogen storage system, air supply system and battery storage system. This project will investigate how a heavy-duty FCEV is affected on a system level if an intermediate temperature PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) FC is used instead of a low temperature PEM FC. This increase in FC operation temperature could allow for higher FC performance, improved overall system level performance, and increase the usability of the waste heat. A part of the work will also be to evaluate how other vehicles subsystems are affected when an intermediate temperature PEM FC is used instead of a low temperature PEM FC.

Suitable background
The project is suitable for 1 or 2 students with the ability to drive the work forward by being proactive, curious, and persistent. Suitable Background is a Master program in relevant engineering field. Extensive studies and high interest in mathematical modelling and simulations with previous experience from using Matlab or a similar simulation tool will be required.

Description of thesis work
The project will be performed in collaboration with Volvo Group Trucks Technology (GTT). The initial focus of the project will be to develop a physical Fuel Cell simulation model and calibrate this with experimental data from ongoing research projects. A second focus of the project is to integrate the Fuel Cell model in a complete vehicle simulation environment and perform a system study for Heavy-Duty vehicle applications. The examination will be done through Chalmers University of Technology.


Thesis Level: Master

Language: English


Starting date: January/February 2023


Number of students: Preferably 2 students


Tutor
Staffan Luong (Industrial supervisor), Volvo Group Trucks Technology (GTT), phone: +46 313237199

Academic Supervisor
Björn Wickman, Associate Professor, Chemical Physics, Department of Physics, phone: +46317725179




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