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Racecar Fuel Cell control using Labview, The Netherlands

Contact Information

University: Delft University of Technology

Team Member(s): Thomas Arink, Tiemen Joustra, Matthijs Damen

Faculty Advisors:

Email Address: m.damen@forze-delft.nl

Country: The Netherlands

Project Information

Title: Racecar Fuel Cell control using Labview, The Netherlands


Description:

Forze Hydrogen Racing Team Delft is a student team developing a formula student type race car powered by a fuel cell. The design and testing of the system is done with the help of Labview.


Products:

We use the following hardware:

NI cDAQ 8 slot USB Chassis

32 ch analog input module

16 ch analog output module

8 ch bidirectional digital I/O module

1 port CAN C series module

Software:

Labview 2011

PID and Fuzzy Logic toolkit

The Challenge:

The first priority of the project is to promote hydrogen technology. We want to show that sustainablility is not a limitation, but a challenge. Fuel cell technology has great potential for the future, we want show this by making hydrogen powered race cars.

Off-the-shelfe fuel cell systems are way to heavy for our application. Therefore we decided to develop our own fuel cell system. Several pumps, valves and sensors make sure the fuel cell is fed with the right amount of hydrogen and oxygen at the right temperature and pressure. The challenge in controlling the fuel cell system is to find the balance in feeding the fuel cell with the right amount of reactants and pulling the right amount of amps to get a certain voltage. The system is monitored by looking at the output voltage, if this is to low or to high the system will be adjusted. Forze is the world’s first race team to build a formula type car powered by hydrogen.

RenderCar.PNG

A render of the design of the car of this year.


The Solution:

Design of the control system:

Our Labview code consists of several loops, each with a specific task. Here follows a description of the loops. Some more attention is given to the executing loop, which is the most important one.

Monitoring loop: sensor readout and logging

Safety loop: guarantees that some variables like temperature and pressure cannot exceed critical values that could damage the system.

Executing loop: controls the two main parameters in the system: the air and hydrogen inlets. These two determine the actual power output of the system. Two PID controllers are used to get the right amount of reactants.

The current demanded by the car determines the flow at the air inlet. A compressor with a motor normally used in RC helicopters pumps the air in the system. The process variable for the PID is the air mass flow.

From the air flow, the program calculates the amount of hydrogen needed, which is stored in the tank under a pressure of 350 bar. A PWM controlled proportional valve regulates the pressure to a value suited for the system (about 0 to 1 bar). In this case the process variable is the hydrogen pressure.

Main sequence: takes care of the startup sequence, brings the system in run mode, and eventually shuts the system down in the proper way.

Benefits of using Labview:

Because of the many parts and the complex operation of the stack, thorough, part-by-part testing is a must. Labview makes it possible to expand the system in a fast and easy way. We can then debug and test this addition, before we make the next step in the system build. Even for non-programmers it is easy to understand the Labview code and make changes and additions.

Furthermore, using the NI cDAQ chassis and Labview, we have a single piece of hardware and software where everything comes together. Through one device (the computer) the whole system can be controlled and changes can be made easily.

Finally, we are able to create the control system before the hardware (that will eventually control the system in the car) is finished. This enables us to create the control system and the hardware simultaneously, which saves a lot of time. Eventually, when the car hardware is finished, it is easy to make the transition. RenderFCSystem.PNG

Render of the fuel cell system as it will be in the car.

FCSystem.PNG

The fuel cell system in development.

Computer.PNG

The computer with all the controls and sensor value’s. There was no room for all the graphs on the screen, so we used two tablets and shared the variables over the network.

Contributors