i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y x x x ( 2 0 1 7 ) 1 e9

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Energy management of PEM fuel cell/

supercapacitor hybrid power sources for an electric
vehicle

Boumediene Allaoua a,*, Khadidja Asnoune a, Brahim Mebarki b

a
Laboratory of Smart Grids and Renewable Energies, TAHRI Mohammed University of Bechar, BP. 417 Bechar
(08000), Algeria
b
ENERGARID Laboratory, TAHRI Mohammed University of Bechar, BP. 417 Bechar (08000), Algeria

article info abstract

Article history: This paper presents the utilization of a supercapacitor (SC) as an auxiliary power source in
Received 18 January 2017 an electric vehicle (EV), composed of a proton electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) as
Received in revised form the main energy source. The main weak point of PEMFC is slow dynamics because one
9 June 2017 must limit the fuel cell current slope in order to prevent fuel starvation problems, to
Accepted 26 June 2017 improve its performance and lifetime. The very fast power response and high specific
Available online xxx power of a supercapacitor can complement the slower power output of the main source to
produce the compatibility and performance characteristics needed in a propulsion system.
Keywords: DC-DC converters connected to the hybrid source ensure a constant voltage value in in-
PEMFC/Supercapacitor battery verters inputs. After an architecture presentation of the hybrid energy source, two parallel-
Hybrid energy source type configurations are explored in more detail. For each of them, the energy flow control
DC-DC converters and management, validated simulation shows the performance obtained in this configu-
Power flow management ration. The hybrid source management is based primarily on the intervention of the
Electric vehicle supercapacitor in fugitives' schemes such as slopes, different speeds and rapid accelera-
tion. Secondly, the PEMFC intervenes to guarantee the power in permanent regime. Finally,
simulation results considering energy management are presented and illustrated the
hybrid energy source benefits.
© 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

starvation problems, to improve its performance and lifetime.

Introduction
The increasing concerns on energy conservation and envi-
ronmental protection throughout the world result are in the
revival of the electric vehicles [1]. Currently many automotive
applications based on fuel cell as a main energy source. But
the feeble point of PEMFC is slow dynamics because one must
limit the fuel cell current slope in order to prevent fuel
The utilization of a supercapacitor as an auxiliary power
source in EV, solve this problem [2e4].
However, limited life cycle of the battery and limited range
of the vehicle after each battery charge become the major
obstacles for the commercialization of electric vehicles. The
power distribution between fuel cell and supercapacitor
modules for obtain a good performance is an essential prob-
lem in hybrid source electric vehicles [3,5]. The supercapacitor

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: elec_allaoua2bf@yahoo.fr (B. Allaoua), Brahimo12002@yahoo.fr (B. Mebarki).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.06.209
0360-3199/© 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Allaoua B, et al., Energy management of PEM fuel cell/ supercapacitor hybrid power sources for an
electric vehicle, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.06.209
2 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y x x x ( 2 0 1 7 ) 1 e9
is an electrochemical device that can supply a large burst of
power, but cannot store much energy [6e8]. By connecting the
two energy sources together in parallel configuration, the
benefits of both can be achieved as a complete energy source.
A novel electric vehicle using the hybrid energy sources is
proposed recently [2,9]. And the power distribution between
the hybrid sources becomes a tough and promising issue.
Between the different FC technologies, the PEMFC is very
useful for the transportation area [10e13]. PEMFC is one of the
promising technologies for alternative power source of elec-
trical power traction systems in future and offers a lot benefits
such as the working at a low temperature compared to other
types of fuel cells, low cost which is very important point, long
cycle life and high efficiency [14,15]. Only, the FC cannot
respond to fast transient peak power demand. The PEMFC is
very important for power system, because it facilitates the
understanding of the involved phenomena. Many models
have been proposed to simulate fuel cells in the literature,
which have generally each the own specificities and utilities,
following the studied phenomena [10].
Numerous researchers use constant energy source
alimentation for their electric vehicles. However, this does not
match reality because all batteries are autonomous and
dependent on their specific energy storage (state of charge and
depth of discharge), and output voltage is not constant [16,17].
For this reason, DC-DC converters with a control strategy are
used to ensure that the energy requirements of electric vehi-
cles and propulsion systems are met [18]. The control and
power management using DC-DC converters ensures and
maintains the DC output voltage constant against load vari-
ations, satisfying the demand inputs of electric vehicle in-
verters [19e24].
DC-DC converters can be used in the propulsion system by
boosting or bucking the voltage levels. For the PEMFC, a boost
converter unidirectional in current is utilized to connect the
FC to the DC bus; although, the requires DC-DC converter
bidirectional in current to supply power and to recover the
breaking energy [25e27]. The DC bus which is a capacitor
supplies the both traction wheel drives with employing a
three-phase inverter for each one to convert the DC power
into AC power. This system gives the torque control of each
wheel in dependently with a significantly high accuracy,
which can enhance the stability of the EV, reduce clutter
caused by the mechanical part such as mechanical differential
and transmission shafts and give more frees space in the
vehicle for supercapacitor and hydrogen tank [11e13,21]. The
motors are three-phase asynchronous machine type which is
frequently used in the transportation field due to its good
power, high efficiency, weight ratio machines. Fig. 1 shows the
model of EV with real localization of each elements [2,28].
The reminder of this paper is organized as follows:
Section Introduction reviews the introduction to hybrid
energy source based on PEMFC and supercapacitor. Section
Traction Chain Description shows the traction chain
description and principle components of the EV. Section
Hybrid Energy Source Modelling And Sizing develops the
hybrid energy source modeling and sizing. Section Results and
Discussions gives simulation results of the studied case and
discussions. Finally, the conclusion is drawn in the latest
section.
Please cite this article in press as: Allaoua B, et al., Energy management of PEM fuel cell/ supercapacitor hybrid power sources for an
electric vehicle, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.06.209
Traction chain description
In this study, hybrid energy source sizing is needed for a good
energy management. The hybrid source management
composed of a PEMFC and supercapacitor for electric vehicle
is our objective to present a design method of power sources
in a EV and to determine the number of supercapacitor cells
and the number of PEMFC cells [2,4,5]. The traction chain of
propulsion system is represented in Fig. 2. The hybrid energy
source (PEMFC and supercapacitor) exchange power with a DC
bus based on DC-DC converters.
Energy storage or power supply devices vary their output
voltage according to load or charge states. This creates major
challenges for electric vehicle designers when integrating the
energy storage or power supply devices with a traction drive
[25,26]. However, their use is limited due to the size, weight,
efficiency, and cost of current buck-boost DC-DC converters
[27e29]. Recent power supply designs employ buck-boost DC-
DC converters; the required output is inverted directly from the
input voltage and the output voltage can be either higher or
lower than the input voltage. Buck-boost power converters are
widely used in automotive and marine applications [30e32].
DC-DC converters used in hybrid energy source operated
electric vehicles must provide a regulated DC output voltage
under varying loads or when the battery charge state varies as
the input voltage varies [33e35].
The traction chain (Table. 1 in appendix shows parameters
of the electric vehicle), and electrical system studied in Fig. 2
included:

Two DC-DC converters which adapt the voltage levels be-
tween the PEMFC and supercapacitor to a DC bus, Table. 2
in appendix shows PEM Fuel cell nominal parameters and
Table. 3 in appendix shows parameters of the super-
capacitor model. The converter associated with the PEMFC
in Boost mode to agree the voltage equal to 300 V, it is
unidirectional. The other converter, interposed between
the supercapacitor and the DC bus, is bidirectional [25,26].
It operates in Boost mode when supercapacitor provides
electrical power to the DC bus and Buck mode in recharging
case [2].

A three-phase inverter connected to the DC bus ensure
alimentation to the wheel drive.

An asynchronous wheel motor connected to the vehicle
wheel (Table. 4 in appendix shows asynchronous motor
parameters).
In order, the hybrid power source sizing, is important to
estimate the required EV total power. Assuming that the
thoroughfare is plane, it is expressed by Refs. [2,3,11]:


1 dV
PLoad ¼ V ra $V2 $S$Cx þ M$g$f r þ M (1)
2 dt
with:
M: Total vehicle mass [kg];
V: Vehicle speed in [m/s];
S: vehicle frontal area [m2];
Cx : Aerodynamic drag coefficient;
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y x x x ( 2 0 1 7 ) 1 e9 3

Fig. 1 e Real electric vehicle with hybrid energy source.

Fig. 2 e Hybrid energy source architecture of electric vehicle.

ra : Air density [kg/m3];
f r : Rolling resistance force constant;
g: acceleration due to gravity [m/s2].
Hybrid energy source modeling and sizing
Fuel cell voltage depending on the output current
Hydrogen PEM fuel cells transform chemical energy to elec-
trical and thermal energy by the simple chemical reaction. In
order to get an electric current out of this reaction, hydrogen
oxidation and oxygen reduction are separated by a membrane,
which is conducting protons from anode to cathode side [3,12].
While the protons are transported through the membrane,
electrons are carried by an electric circuit in which their en-
ergy can be used. Modeling of fuel cells have big interest of
scientist in power electronics field, as most powerful fuel cell
stacks, according to their power outputs, the uses of this
sources is going more and more largest thanks to their
chemical reactions technologies, to be integrated into power
systems [2,3,12].
The model is based on simulating the relationship between
output voltage and partial pressure of hydrogen, oxygen, and
currant. Fig. 3 shows the basic proton exchange membrane
fuel cell scheme [2]. The output voltage of a single cell can be
defined as the result of the reaction chains mentioned in Fig. 3.
By grouping all losses causing voltage drops in a PEMFC, the
voltage of a cell can be expressed in terms of the current by the
following equation [1,2,13e15]:


I þ in
Vcell ¼ E  R$I  A$ ln þ m$ expðn$IÞ (2)
i0
where “E” is the cell reversible circuit voltage equal to 1.2 V; the
current “I”; the total specific resistance “R”; “m” and “n” are two

Please cite this article in press as: Allaoua B, et al., Energy management of PEM fuel cell/ supercapacitor hybrid power sources for an
electric vehicle, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.06.209
4 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y x x x ( 2 0 1 7 ) 1 e9
Fig. 3 e Basic proton exchange membrane fuel cell scheme.
constants used in voltage drop expression due to concentration
losses. “m” and “n” values are 3  105 V and 8  103 cm2mA1
respectively; Exchange current density “i0” equal to 0.04 mA/
cm2 at the cathode and is more than of the anode. The internal
current density “in” equivalent to the migration of some mole-
cules hydrogen; the Tafel coefficient “A” is 0.06Volts [2,14].
Usually the charge transfer phenomenon occurs only when
exceeding a certain current value. Therefore, this phenome-
non is not taken into account [15]. Thus, the cell voltage will be
expressed by the equation:
Vcell ¼ E  Rcell $Icell  A$ lnða$Icell þ bÞ
with:
Icell : Drain current in a cell;
Rcell : Membrane cell resistance represents the ohmic
losses;
a and b: two real constants;
The Rcell is calculated according to:
DVcell
Rcell ¼
DIcell
DIcell is calculated using current 40A  Icell  60A, a and b
were calculated by solving a system of two equations based on
two different values of Icell .
Neglecting the resistance of the connections between the
battery cells [3,10], the total voltage supplied by the stack is
given by:
UFC ¼ 375$Vcell


1 (5)
¼ 375 E  Rcell Ipac  A$ lnð21:273$Icell þ 96:297Þ
2
Reminder in this study, the fuel cell is the main source of
energy in the EV. Therefore, it must be able to provide suffi-
cient power to the vehicle to run at a maximum speed around
136 Km/h. Using Equation (1) and assuming that the vehicle
speed is stabilized at 80 Km/h, the PEMFC power is calculated
around 29 kW [2].
In addition, 20% of power consumed by the fuel cell aux-
iliaries to attain 35 kW about a maximum power. The voltage
Please cite this article in press as: Allaoua B, et al., Energy management of PEM fuel cell/ supercapacitor hybrid power sources for an
electric vehicle, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.06.209
cell limit “Ecell ” of a PEM fuel cell is 0.53 V. This voltage cor-
responds to the maximum power supplied by the cell. The fuel
cell must supply a 300 V DC bus via a Boost DC-DC converter.
Boost has a decreasing efficiency when the transformation
ratio increases, so the duty cycle must be around two for
optimal operation [2,4,5]. Then, the voltage of the fuel cell
given by:
UFC ¼ NFCserie $Ecell (6)
must be VDC =2 at least equal to NFCserie . The number of cells
mounted in series given by:
VDC
NFCserie ¼ ¼ 377 (7)
2$E
The total cells' power “PFCcell ” of the PEMFC used in the
electric vehicle is 64 kW. The number of series cells connected
in parallel is given by:
PFCmax
NFCparalle ¼ ¼ 1:66z2 (8)
NFCserie $PFCcell
To summarize, the vehicle fuel cell is made up of two
blocks mounted in parallel, each block contains three stacks
mounted in series, the stack is an assembly of 125 cells of
64 kW.
Supercapacitor dynamic evolution, sizing and modeling
Supercapacitors are a new type of capacitor, also known as ultra-
capacitors. The characteristics of supercapacitors give them a
(3)
higher capacitance than conventional capacitors. Super-
capacitors have a higher power density, but they suffer from low
energy densities compared to batteries [2,6,7]. However, recent
advances in carbon based materials, namely graphene, increase
the energy density to nearly the level of batteries [8].
A supercapacitor is a modified capacitor. One modifica-
tion is the electrode is coated or made of a porous material
[7e9]. Being porous increases the surface area without
changing the size of the capacitor, allowing it to hold more
charge. Supercapacitors make use of an electrolyte, a sub-
stance made of positively and negatively charged particles.
(4) When the electrodes are charged, the electrolyte polarizes
according to the charge of the electrodes. This separation of
charge creates two oppositely charged layers that act like
new charged plates. These four plates act like two conven-
tional capacitors attached in series. These capacitors have
plate separation distances that are a few nanometers thick
[6,9].
Fig. 4 shows the diagram of the charge distribution in an
electric double-layer supercapacitor when it is charged (left)
and discharged (right). The combination of the increased
surface area and the small plate separation distance increases
the capacitance and the energy stored in the supercapacitor.
The cross section to the right shows a separator between the
electrodes. The separator stops the electrodes from touching
and short circuiting [2, 7].
The supercapacitor battery used in our electric vehicle is
composed of two blocks connected in parallel. Each block
contains 141 supercapacitor cells (the cells capacity is assumed
to be constant equal to 1500 F) [2,6,7]. The supercapacitor bat-
tery is represented as an RC electrical circuit type in Fig. 2.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y x x x ( 2 0 1 7 ) 1 e9
Fig. 4 e Diagram showing the charge distribution in an
electric double-layer supercapacitor.
When:
CSC : Total capacity of the supercapacitor battery equal to
21.27 F;
RSC : Total series resistance of the supercapacitor battery
equal to 0.066U. It should be noted that the resistance of
the connections between the cells is neglected.
The stored charge “Q SC ” in the supercapacitor battery. It is
given by:
Q SC ¼ CSC $VSC
The supercapacitor current is specified by:
dQ SC
¼ ISC
dt
The supercapacitor voltage is assumed by:
USC ¼ VSC  RSC $ISC
The supercapacitors constitute an auxiliary energy source
which intervenes during the accelerations and the transient
regimes [2]. The maximum power that the supercapacitors
must provide to the EV to accelerate from 0 to Vf ¼ 100 Km/h at
time ta ¼ 10.3 s is expressed as:
M (Cswitch), a diode (D), a filter inductor (L) and a filter capacitor (C).
Pscmax ¼ V2f (12)
ta
We have determined a maximum power Pscmax ¼ 60 kW.
The supercapacitors battery must guarantee a maximum
average power of 50 kW for 15s (equivalent to 60 kW for 10.3s).
A supercapacitor battery is sized according to the demanded
power and the during time which it must provide this power.
The sizing methodology consists of determining the func-
tioning range voltage. Maximum transferred energy “Emaxtransf ”.
The elements number to be put in series “NS ” and in parallel
“NP ” [2].
The following parameters are defined:
Nele : The total number of supercapacitor elements;
Velemax : The maximum voltage of supercapacitor elements;
Uscmax : The maximum voltage of the supercapacitor battery;
Uscmin : The minimum voltage of the supercapacitor battery.
Generally, Uscmin ¼ Uscmax =2 because when the super-
capacitor battery discharges between Uscmax and Uscmax =2, 75%
Please cite this article in press as: Allaoua B, et al., Energy management of PEM fuel cell/ supercapacitor hybrid power sources for an
electric vehicle, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.06.209
5
of the stored electrical energy is consumed [2,7]. The
maximum energy transferred (corresponds to 50 kW during
15 s) is given by:
2
!
1 V
Emaxtransf ¼ Pscmax $ta ¼ Nele $Cele V2elemax  elemax (13)
2 4
Using Equation (13), the number of supercapacitor ele-
ments required to provide the required energy is expressed as:
8 Emaxtransf
Nele ¼ NP $NS ¼ (14)
3 Cele $V2elemax
For a supercapacitor cell fitted to the EV we have
Cele ¼ 1500 F with Velemax ¼ 2.55 V (the maximum voltage is fixed
to this value to guarantee better longevity). Hence
Emaxtransf ¼ 750000 J and Nele ¼ 205.
The maximum voltage of the supercapacitor battery is set
at Uscmax ¼ 360 V so that the converter efficiency is acceptable,
In which NS ¼ Uscmax =Velemax z141 and 0 < NP ¼ NNeleS
¼ 1:45 < 2,
therefore NP ¼ 2.
To summarize, the supercapacitor battery on board the EV
consists of two blocks mounted in parallel. Each block con-
tains 141 supercapacitor cells mounted in series. One cell ca-
pacity equal to 1500 F.
Energy management using DC-DC converters modeling
(9) Buck-boost DC-DC converters find applications in places
where battery charging, regenerative braking, and backup
power are required. The power flow in a bidirectional con-
(10) verter is usually from a low voltage end, such as a super-
capacitor battery, to a high voltage side. This is referred to as
boost operation [25,26,32]. An electric vehicle buck-boost
converter provides an output voltage, which can be higher
(11)
or lower than the battery input voltage. Output voltage po-
larity is opposite to that of the input voltage [28,33e35]. Fig. 2
shows a simplified structure of the buck-boost converter
associated with the electric vehicle drive. It consists of a bat-
tery DC input voltage source (Vinput), DC output voltage (Voutput)
delivered to the electric vehicle drive, a controlled switch
The modeling will concern only the main converters (Boost
and Buck-Boost). u1 , u2 and u3 are the control signals of
transistors T1 , T2 and T3 respectively (see Fig. 2). A capacitance
“Cp ” is connected in parallel to the fuel cell. In fact, this ability
helps protect the fuel cell against overvoltage at a high-power
demand.
When the second converter (related to supercapacitor)
operates in Boost mode, the behavior of both converters is
described by:
8
> dIFC 1
>
> dt ¼ L ðUFC  ð1  u1 ÞVDC Þ$f c1 ðu1 ; IFC Þ
>
>
>
>
<
dISC 1
¼ ðUSC  ð1  u2 ÞVDC Þ$f c2 ðu2 ; ISC Þ (15)
> dt
> L
>
>
>
> dVDC
>
: 1
¼ ðð1  u1 ÞIFC þ ð1  u2 ÞISC  ILoad Þ
dt Cf
Now if the converter operates in buck mode, the behavior
of both converters will be described:
6 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y x x x ( 2 0 1 7 ) 1 e9

Vehicle Cycle
8 100
> dIFC 1
>
> dt ¼ L ðUFC  ð1  u1 ÞVDC Þ$f c1 ðu1 ; IFC Þ
>

Vehicle linear speed [Km/h]

>
> 80
>
<
dISC 1
¼ ðUSC  u3 $VDC Þ$f c3 ðu3 ; ISC Þ (16)
>
> dt L 60
>
>
>
> dV 1
>
: DC
¼ ðð1  u1 ÞIFC þ u3 $Isc  ILoad Þ
dt Cf 40

The tow systems can be grouped in one system:

20
8
>
> dIFC 1
>
> ¼ ðUFC  ð1  u1 ÞVDC Þ$f c1 ðu1 ; IFC Þ 0
>
> dt L 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
>
>
>
> Time (s)
>
< dI SC 1
¼ ðUSC  ðð1  u2 Þk þ ð1  kÞu3 ÞVDC Þ
dt L
>
>   Fig. 5 e Electric vehicle speeds cycle.
>
> k$f c2 ðu2 ; ISC Þ þ ð1  kÞf c3 ðu3 ; ISC Þ
>
>
>
>
> dVDC
> 1
>
: ¼ ðð1  u1 ÞIFC þ ðð1  u2 Þk þ ð1  kÞu3 ÞISC  ILoad Þ PEMFC alone intervenes to ensure propulsion power in per-
dt Cf
manent regimes.
(17)
In order to describe the behavior of the hybrid energy
where “k” is a binary variable that takes the value “1” when the source management, simulations were carried out using the
second converter (connected to supercapacitor) operates in model in Fig. 2. The following results were simulated in
Boost mode and “0” in Buck mode. MATLAB/SIMULINK, and it's divided into two phases, the first
Functions f c1 , f c2 and f c3 are introduced into the system one present a performance test of output voltage (see Fig. 5)
(Equation (17)) to modeling the diodes behavior is D1 , D2 and controlled by DC-DC converters in various speed regimes for a
D3 , and when the converters operate in discontinuous con- vehicle cycle (see Fig. 6) and second phase shows the behavior
duction manner. of PEMFC and supercapacitor bank system power (see Fig. 7)
Functions f c1 , f c2 and f c3 are defined as: supplying an electric vehicle during displacement cycle.

1 siðu1 ¼ 1Þ ou ðIFC > 0Þ
f c1 ðu1 ; IFC Þ ¼ (18)
0 siðu1 ¼ 0Þ et ðIFC  0Þ 600
VDC Source Hybride
Output voltage of hybrid energy source (V)

 500 VDC PEM Fuel Cell

1 siðu2 ¼ 1Þ ou ðISC > 0Þ
f c2 ðu2 ; ISC Þ ¼ (19) VDC Supercapacitor Battery
0 siðu2 ¼ 0Þ et ðISC  0Þ 400

 300
1 siðu3 ¼ 1Þ ou ðISC < 0Þ
f c3 ðu3 ; ISC Þ ¼ (20)
0 siðu3 ¼ 0Þ et ðISC  0Þ
200
The “ILoad ” control is derived from the EV speed “V”. The
100
vehicle total mass “M” including the energy sources and con-
verters. The total power demanded by the vehicle is expressed 0
in Equation (1). Inverter and asynchronous wheel drive need a
total power “PLoad” with a yield of 75% and the DC bus voltage -100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
“VDC ” is regulated to 300 V, the total power is given by: Time (s)


1 dV Fig. 6 e Output voltage of the Hybrid energy source.
PLoad ¼ 1:33 ra $V2 $S$Cx þ M$g$f r þ M V (21)
2 dt

This delivered power accept a load current which is given

as:


1:33 1 dV
ILoad ¼ ra $V2 $S$Cx þ M$g$f r þ M V (22)
300 2 dt

Knowing the vehicle cycle speeds (see Fig. 5), Equation (22)
with the objective to estimate the load current at the DC bus in
order to calculate the current required trajectories from the
vehicle hybrid power source.

Results and discussions

The hybrid energy source management is based first on the

supercapacitor battery intervention in transient regimes such
as slopes, overtaking and fugitive acceleration. Second, the Fig. 7 e Hybrid source power generation.

Please cite this article in press as: Allaoua B, et al., Energy management of PEM fuel cell/ supercapacitor hybrid power sources for an
electric vehicle, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.06.209
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y x x x ( 2 0 1 7 ) 1 e9
Fig. 5 present the EV speed cycle studied in this present
work consists of five regimes: the first one present start of EV
by a speed up to 60 Km/h for 0  t  4.12s, the second regime
for 4.12  t  8s a stabilize vehicle speed, in the third regime
for 8  t  10s, EV is moving up the slopped road of 10% under
fugitive acceleration up to 80 Km/h, in the fourth regime the
vehicle is moving on straight road with a stabilize speed for
10  t  14s and finally the vehicle is under braking on same
road until total stop for 14  t  20s.
Refereed to Fig. 6, the hybrid power source is designed to
maintain an output voltage constant and exactly equal to
300 V during all speed cycle, the major reason is to assure the
inverter input constant, to give a stable process and to deliver
the supplies power toward the EV propulsion system (wheel
drive). This stability justified the DC-DC converters emplace-
ment and shows a good concordance between PEMFC and
supercapacitor connection to supply the electric vehicle dur-
ing displacement cycle. According to Equations (15), (16) and
(17) an upright management using DC-DC converters proved
when PEMFC intervenes only in permanent regimes
(4.12  t  8s and 10  t  14s) and supercapacitor battery
arbitrates in fugitive regimes such as fugitive acceleration
(0  t  4.12s), slope overtaking with acceleration (8  t  10s)
and under braking at 14  t  20s. In all regimes, switches
opening and closing control is performed according to a pro-
portional integrator controller that calculates the state
0 (close) or 1 (open) of DC-DC converters connections.
Switches states are calculated according to the proportional
integrator controller to guarantee a EV power Load (Equation
(21)) in permanent regimes (the state 0 for supercapacitor
battery and 1 for the PEMFC) and the opposite for the fugitive
regimes (the state 1 for the supercapacitor battery and 1 for
the PEMFC).
The hybrid power source sizing, is important to estimate
the required EV total power. The result in Fig. 7 proves that the
hybrid energy source under sloped road and fugitive acceler-
ation demand develop the supreme effort with total power
equivalent to 23 kW comparing with the permanent regimes
and breaking phase by means that the vehicle needs the
lowest of its energy corresponding to 18 kW. The hybrid en-
ergy source sizing must be able to supply the EV in all regimes,
which means that the peak power of the PEMFC/super-
capacitor supply must be greater than or at least equal to the
peak power of the EV wheel motor.
PEMFC and supercapacitor connection supply the electric
vehicle during displacement cycle. The PEMFC must store
sufficient energy to maintain their fuel at a reasonable level
during permanent regimes (4.12  t  8s and 10  t  14s) and
describe the changes in the PEMFC power storage. It's very
interesting to describe the power distribution in the electrical
traction under several road topologies shown in Fig. 7. The
PEMFC provides about 18 kW and 23 kW in the second and
fourth regime respectively in order to reach the reference
speed of 60 Km/h. In the first and third regime (fugitive ac-
celeration (0  t  4.12s) and slope overtaking with accelera-
tion (8  t  10s) the demanded power supercapacitor battery
improved about 18 kW and 23 kW that present 21.95% and
Please cite this article in press as: Allaoua B, et al., Energy management of PEM fuel cell/ supercapacitor hybrid power sources for an
electric vehicle, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.06.209
7
28.04% respectively of the globally nominal power of PEMFC
(82 kW see appendix). In the last regime (14  t  20s), the
vehicle unhurried to stop and in this state the supercapacitor
battery receives power from the PEMFC for charging according
to the buck-boost DC-DC converter, this phase called the
recharging phase. The respectable management via DC-DC
converters is proved, simulation results focuses the power
flow supply from PEMFC during permanent regimes and
supercapacitor battery fugitive regimes. Finely, the operation
of a PEMFC in conjunction to a supercapacitor bank for the
purposes of meeting the power energy needs of an EV is
detailed.
Conclusions
In this paper, a study of hybrid PEMFC/supercapacitor bank
system supplying an electric vehicle is presented and an
improved hybrid energy source management is realized.
This system groups asynchronous motor installed in rear
wheel for traction with three-phases inverter. The hybrid
energy source DC-DC converters control allowed maintain-
ing the DC bus voltage constant. Hybrid energy source
management outlined in this paper has demonstrated that
the behavior controlled by boost DC-DC converter for utility
EV, when the developed power of PEMFC depend on the
speed reference of the driver and intervenes to guarantee the
power in permanent regime. The control management using
buck-boost DC-DC converter is based on the intervention of
the supercapacitor in fugitives' schemes such as slopes,
different speeds and rapid acceleration. The several topol-
ogies road do not affect the performances of the DC-DC
converters output voltage and the energy management
gives good dynamic characteristics of the EV propulsion
system and supplying power. This paper proposes novel
fitting formulas which give the relationship between the
hybrid source power, DC-DC converters voltage and the
traveled distance. This study enables the prediction of
hybrid energy source dynamic behavior under vehicle cycles
conditions, which is considered as a foundation for control
and power management for EV. The different parts of the
proposed hybrid source have been simulated and then the
power management control has been used to coordinate
between the two sources to supply the EV. Satisfactory re-
sults obtained when the simulation model of the hybrid en-
ergy source has been developed using MATLAB/Simulink.
The obtained results show the feasibility of the hybrid sys-
tem production for an electric vehicle.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Laboratory of smart grids and
renewable energies, Faculty of technology, Department of
electrical engineering, TAHRI Mohammed University of
Bechar.
8 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y x x x ( 2 0 1 7 ) 1 e9

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