Improvement of Power Capacity of Electric-Assisted Bicycles Using Fuel Cells with Metal Hydride

Abstract

Hydrogen is an alternative fuel that is currently being used in fuel cell (FC) applications. This study focuses on electric-assisted bicycles (electric bicycles) powered by FCs and aims to determine the configuration of an FC system based on power demand. Metal hydrides (MHs) were used in the investigation to facilitate the containment of FC systems with improved hydrogen storage capacity. The flow performance was evaluated in our previous study; thus, here we focused on understanding the hydrogen flow characteristics from storage and the weight gain of the cartridge. Through experiments performed on existing electric-assisted bicycles, the relationship between the load weight and the power demand was evaluated. Furthermore, the power capacity of Li-ion batteries and FC systems was compared. No loss in performance was observed up to an additional payload weight of 8 kg. Combining the FC unit with an auxiliary battery offers up to 6.81× benefits with a significant weight capacity (8 kg). It is inferred that the current MH tank design does not support the required amount of hydrogen. The hydrogen flow could be supported by the exhaust heat of the FC to the MH.