Modeling and characterization of ultra capacitor for fuel cell vehicle simulator

The main objective of this paper is the modeling and the characterization of a hybrid power source combining ultra capacitors and proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The related theoretical study is validated through experimental measurements. After establishing the ultra capacitor model, a brief study of a PEMFC is presented taking into account the fuel starvation phenomenon which causes serious problems during the operating modes where the load changes rapidly, such as vehicle accelerations. To validate this study a PEMFC real time simulator has been build using dSpace device. Then, this tool has been used to demonstrate the main role of ultra capacitors in terms of preventing the starvation phenomena in FCEV.