Light traction applications

Mobile applications with a power range between 100 W and 5kW are called light traction applications [51]. Similarly to automotive applications, fuel cells are also very attractive for these special vehicles as they are emission free and offer a very fast recharge [51]. The group of light traction applications includes scooters, forklift trucks, and commercial vehicles. The following technical overview gives some examples. 

Janssen, H., Blum, L, Hehemann, M., Mergel, J., and Stolten, D. (2010) System technology aspects for light traction applications of direct methanol fuel cells. Presented at the 18th World Hydrogen Energy Conference, Essen, May 2010. 

For both DMFC systems for light traction and for DMFC systems for portable applications, Nafion is still the standard membrane material. A general overview of the polymer electrolyte membrane materials, their modifications, and their function can be found in. [107] and with the focus on the DMFC operation in [108]. 

DMFCs are an interesting option, e.g. in portable power generation, light traction, etc. For these applications, most system designs rely on feeding fuel from the liquid phase. 

The latter batteries are used for such different applications as in consumer elee-tronics, in vehicles for starting, lighting, and ignition (SLI) and for traction, as emergency power supplies, in load-leveling systems of electric power stations to supply peak demand, and as systems to couple with alternative energy sources. 

Automotive SLI traction (specialized vehicles) emergency power Traction and lighting of trains (predominantly in USSR) Small-size portable power Aerospace applications requiring nonmagnetic components Military aerospace... 

The performance specification and the acceptable cost of a battery depend, of course, on its application. Here we are concerned with traction batteries, primarily for use in road vehicles, and we have concentrated our attention upon urban buses and light delivery vehicles. In order to define the battery performance targets it is first necessary to consider the operational problem from the point of view of the traffic manager, who specifies the journey profile which the vehicle must be capable of making, and then to select a particular design of vehicle in order to interpret this duty cycle in terms of energy and power requirements and the permissible mass and volume of the battery. When this was done, we arrived at a specification of battery performance for each class of vehicle (Table l). 

Light-duty FCV has been the application that has experienced the most hype, most column inches and most nonsense written about it. To date, there has been in the region around 600 vehicles produced globally, with 2015 now being seen as a realistic date for some form of initial commercialisation. Within the vehicle, the fuel cell provides electric power for traction, thereby defining the vehicle as an electric vehicle, and often all the onboard electrical power requirements as well. The fuel, hydrogen, is stored in either compressed gas tanks or as a liquid fuel (Figure 2.18). 

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