Benchmarking a 1 kW hybrid hydrogen fuel cell system
(2023) MVKM01 20222Department of Energy Sciences
- Abstract
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's) offer great versatility in the tasks that they may perform and they are today used in many sectors. The H24LEO project, administered by the Lund University School of Aviation, aims to develop and demonstrate a hybrid proton-exchange membrane fuel cell-powered UAV to aid in search and rescue operations performed by the Swedish Maritime Administration, and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions compared to similar work performed by helicopters. This master's thesis aims to test the performance and learn about the operation of a physical hybrid fuel cell system before it is integrated in a UAV airframe. A test bench was designed and built where experiments with the fuel cell could be run in a controlled manner.... (More)
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's) offer great versatility in the tasks that they may perform and they are today used in many sectors. The H24LEO project, administered by the Lund University School of Aviation, aims to develop and demonstrate a hybrid proton-exchange membrane fuel cell-powered UAV to aid in search and rescue operations performed by the Swedish Maritime Administration, and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions compared to similar work performed by helicopters. This master's thesis aims to test the performance and learn about the operation of a physical hybrid fuel cell system before it is integrated in a UAV airframe. A test bench was designed and built where experiments with the fuel cell could be run in a controlled manner. An analysis was also made of the system's strengths and weaknesses, and these were compared to those of battery-electric and combustion-based power supplies.
Due to time constraints of the project and major hardware issues with the fuel cell system, results from the experiments could not be gathered in time for this report. An electrical fault due to bad wiring led to the fuel cell not working properly, and repairs could not be performed within the deadline of the project.
This hybrid fuel cell system should be able to provide 6 \% better energy density than a battery-electric system, with the same airframe and propulsion system. The system could however be further optimized by using different hydrogen cylinders. The bulkiness of the system is a limitation, with custom modifications of the fuel cell stack being required to fit in the airframe.
The hybrid fuel cell system should be a valid choice for a UAV, and should be able to provide sufficient power during all stages of flight. It does however offer significantly worse range than that of a combustion-based system. Cold Swedish weather could prove to be a challenge as it might compromise the start-up of the system under sub-zero temperatures. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Drönare används idag inom en rad områden. Projektet H24LEO, som drivs av Trafikflygarhögskolan vid Lunds Universitet (TFHS) och är finansierat av Vinnova, har som mål att utveckla och demonstrera en drönare driven av ett hybridiserat vätgasbränslecell-system baserat på PEM-tekniken. Denna drönare har som tilltänkt syfte att kunna erbjuda understöd i så kallade Search and Rescure-uppdrag hos Sjöfartsverket, samt erbjuda minskade växthusgasutsläpp jämfört motsvarande arbete utfört av helikoptrar. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att funktions- och prestandatesta bränslecellssystemet innan det skall integreras i drönaren flygplanskropp. En testbädd designades och konstruerades där bränslecellen skulle kunna testas under kontrollerade... (More)
- Drönare används idag inom en rad områden. Projektet H24LEO, som drivs av Trafikflygarhögskolan vid Lunds Universitet (TFHS) och är finansierat av Vinnova, har som mål att utveckla och demonstrera en drönare driven av ett hybridiserat vätgasbränslecell-system baserat på PEM-tekniken. Denna drönare har som tilltänkt syfte att kunna erbjuda understöd i så kallade Search and Rescure-uppdrag hos Sjöfartsverket, samt erbjuda minskade växthusgasutsläpp jämfört motsvarande arbete utfört av helikoptrar. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att funktions- och prestandatesta bränslecellssystemet innan det skall integreras i drönaren flygplanskropp. En testbädd designades och konstruerades där bränslecellen skulle kunna testas under kontrollerade förutsättningar. En analys gjordes av systemets för- och nackdelar jämfört med ett batterielektriskt alternativ och ett system baserat på en förbränningsmotor.
På grund av tidsbegränsning i projektutförandet samt stor problematik med bränslecellsystemets funktion kunde resultat från experimenten ej samlas in i tid. Ett tillverkningsfel ledde till skadade sladdar inuti bränslecellen, vilket gjorde att bränslecellen ej fungerade som den skulle. Reparationer kunde ej utföras inom projektets deadline.
Denna hybridiserade vätgasbränslecell bör kunna erbjuda omkring 6~\% högre energidensitet än ett batterielektriskt alternativ i samma flygplanskropp och med samma elektrisk drivlina. Det finns samtidigt möjlighet att optimera systemet ytterligare genom att använda andra vätgastankar. Systemet har en relativt stor volym, och i detta projekt krävdes viss modifikation av bränslecellen för att den skulle få plats i drönaren.
En hybridiserad vätgasbränslecell bör vara ett rimligt val för att driva en drönare, och bör kunna producera tillräckligt med effekt under en flygnings samtliga etapper. Räckvidden som uppnås är dock klart sämre än den då en förbränningsmotor används. Kallt väder skulle kunna vara ett problem då detta kan orsaka problem vid uppstart av bränslecellen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9111584
- author
- Envall, Jonathan LU
- supervisor
-
- Marcus Thern LU
- Martin Andersson LU
- Marcus Lundgren LU
- organization
- alternative title
- A renewable power supply for unmanned aerial vehicles
- course
- MVKM01 20222
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- PEMFC, fuel cell, UAV, hybrid
- report number
- LUTMDN/TMHP-23/5513-SE
- ISSN
- 0282-1990
- language
- English
- id
- 9111584
- date added to LUP
- 2023-03-01 13:32:32
- date last changed
- 2023-03-01 13:32:32
@misc{9111584,
abstract = {{Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's) offer great versatility in the tasks that they may perform and they are today used in many sectors. The H24LEO project, administered by the Lund University School of Aviation, aims to develop and demonstrate a hybrid proton-exchange membrane fuel cell-powered UAV to aid in search and rescue operations performed by the Swedish Maritime Administration, and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions compared to similar work performed by helicopters. This master's thesis aims to test the performance and learn about the operation of a physical hybrid fuel cell system before it is integrated in a UAV airframe. A test bench was designed and built where experiments with the fuel cell could be run in a controlled manner. An analysis was also made of the system's strengths and weaknesses, and these were compared to those of battery-electric and combustion-based power supplies.
Due to time constraints of the project and major hardware issues with the fuel cell system, results from the experiments could not be gathered in time for this report. An electrical fault due to bad wiring led to the fuel cell not working properly, and repairs could not be performed within the deadline of the project.
This hybrid fuel cell system should be able to provide 6 \% better energy density than a battery-electric system, with the same airframe and propulsion system. The system could however be further optimized by using different hydrogen cylinders. The bulkiness of the system is a limitation, with custom modifications of the fuel cell stack being required to fit in the airframe.
The hybrid fuel cell system should be a valid choice for a UAV, and should be able to provide sufficient power during all stages of flight. It does however offer significantly worse range than that of a combustion-based system. Cold Swedish weather could prove to be a challenge as it might compromise the start-up of the system under sub-zero temperatures.}},
author = {{Envall, Jonathan}},
issn = {{0282-1990}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Benchmarking a 1 kW hybrid hydrogen fuel cell system}},
year = {{2023}},
}