Modelling a fuel cell propulsion system for multicopters

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Multirotors are used in many applications - PwC predicts that drones have apotential market value of $127.3 bn. It is expected that if beyond-visual-lineof-sight becomes legalized, current multirotor light time will be insuffcientin these applications, and investment in increasing multirotor light time willincrease. The most mature technology to increase multirotor UAV light timeis fuel cells. This technology has been proven to increase the light time twotothreefold, compared to LiPo-based multirotors, the current state-of-the-arttechnology. However, these multirotor systems are more complex to design,and no publicly-available software design tools exist.In order to solve this, a software design tool was developed. The componentsof a fuel cell multirotor system were modelled. Models were developedin Matlab/SimscapeTM. Experimental data was obtained using either the author'sown experiments, data from manufacturers or data found in literature.The experimental data was then used to identify the unknown model constants.The component models are quite accurate, with the error mostly beingsmall in comparison to the effect of varying a parameter. Also, % RMSE valuesare mostly below 3% and the R2 values are all greater than 0.97.These component models were combined to form a design tool. The usefulnessof the design tool was demonstrated by running a preliminary optimizationstudy - the light time was maximized with battery remaining state of chargeas a constraint. A theoretical design was obtained with 2.39 hours light timeand 38% SOC remaining.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University