Energy management and optimal control strategies of fuel cell/supercapacitors hybrid vehicle

In this paper, an energy management strategy (EMS) based on optimal control theory is applied to a hybrid vehicle propelled by fuel cell and supercapacitors pack. In order to show the effectiveness of this strategy, another EMS based on thermostat method is proposed and compared with the first one. Firstly, the power sources used in this study are presented with the electrical model of each one, and the hybrid architecture is given. Then, the EMS based on optimal control is expressed, where the minimization of the hydrogen consumption is its objective as well as the supercapacitor state of charge control. Then, the thermostat method strategy, which is a simple control method based on rules imposed by the limits of the power sources is applied. These two EMSs have been simulated using Matlab/Simulink. The results indicate the effectiveness of the energy management based on optimal control, which leads to improving the fuel consumption and a good control of the auxiliary source.