Simulating fuel cells and hydrogen combustion

With stricter global emissions restrictions and target deadlines looming, manufacturers are facing ever increasing challenges to make motorsport categories that meet the new environmental requirements for net zero emissions. Whilst the development of electric and hybrid vehicles offers options for low emission races, many governments are investing in researching a new hydrogen economy which is to the benefit of motorsport with new hydrogen combustion Le Mans cars previewed this year.

In the initial stages of hydrogen engine development, physical prototype testing is extremely expensive, requiring virtual software tools to model both hydrogen fuel cell systems and hydrogen combustion engines, answering the ‘What ifs’ of new hydrogen technologies from hydrogen flame speed simulation to fuel cell humidity control, cooling and selection of components depending on the type of hydrogen being employed.

For hydrogen combustion the following toolsets are available:

WAVE is a 1D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool that solves the Navier-Stokes equations governing the transfer of mass, momentum, and energy for compressible gas flows, and includes sub-models for combustion and emissions.

VECTIS is a 3D CFD tool that uses cutting edge kinetics, flame propagation and emissions models for conventional hydrocarbons, e-fuels and synthetic fuels including hydrogen using a unique thermo-diffusive model.

FEARCE-Vulcan uses a unique iterative Finite Element solution that considers all the heat paths in detail to deliver a reliable and accurate predictive tool for conclusive structural investigations for hydrogen-fuelled engines.

For modelling fuel cell and associated systems, the following toolsets are available:

IGNITE, a complete physics-based vehicle systems modelling simulation package. With a library system of building blocks, the user can quickly and accurately model complete fuel cell systems, analysing parameters around performance and efficiency.

VECTIS is a 3D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to optimise the cooling of battery packs for maximum thermal performance.