Dynamic simulation and performance assessment of a novel powertrain system using liquid ammonia ICE and PEM fuel cell in real driving cycles

This paper introduces a novel powertrain system composed of a liquid ammonia internal combustion engine, a dissociation and separation unit, and a PEM fuel cell system developed for vehicular applications. Using a carbon-free fuel for the ICE and producing hydrogen on board for PEMFC use significantly enhance this novel system's environmental effects. The thermodynamic analyses are conducted using EES and MATLAB software. The results show that while this hybrid powertrain system produces 120 kW output power, energy and exergy efficiencies are 45.2% and 43.1%, respectively. The overall exergy destruction rate of the system becomes 237.4 kW. The fuel consumption, engine speed, and battery state of charge (SoC) analyses are calculated using three driving cycles. These vehicles consume 7.9, 5.7, and 7.7 liters of liquid ammonia per 100 km in FTP- 75, NEDC, and HWFET driving cycles, respectively. The battery state of charge differentiation in these three cycles shows the practicality of this novel powertrain system specially in inner-city driving cycles as the battery does not confront any intense decline of SOC to the minimum level. HWFET results show the great dependence of the vehicle on ICE and low PEM fuel cell function, which results in releasing decomposed hydrogen to the environment