Fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles (FCHEVs) are potential solutions for fulfilling high-power demands in road transportation while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, despite being very promising, FCHEVs confront many challenges in their quest to penetrate the present automotive market, with thermal management being one of the major challenges. In addition to significantly reducing FCHEV efficiency, auxiliary loads, heating, and cooling demands can also shorten the lifespan of electric components due to inefficient heating/cooling, which impacts the operating temperature.
Utilising fuel cell waste heat, however, emerges as a potential solution to address these thermal demands. While waste heat recovery provides an opportunity for enhanced energy efficiency and less dependence on external heating sources, it introduces additional costs and complexities, notably related to managing mismatches between demand and the availability of recoverable waste heat.
The proposed research aims to address this challenge by investigating innovative strategies for waste heat recovery and utilisation within hybrid NRMM powertrains. It aims to bridge the temporal gap between fuel cell heat generation and battery heating demand by incorporating thermal and energy management solutions. The research seeks to develop an energy-efficient plug-in hybrid fuel cell battery powertrain system, particularly for non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) applications in cold weather conditions, focusing on fuel cell waste heat recovery. This work is intended to contribute to expanding hybrid system applications in the NRMM industry. Following this research, the commercial implementation of hybrid systems in NRMMs to replace fossil fuel-based propulsion systems will likely advance.
