Ant colony optimization based optimal energy management for an FC/UC electric vehicle

This paper presents an optimal energy management of a Fuel Cell/Ultra-Capacitor power source based on Ant Colony Optimization metaheuristic for vehicular applications. First, the modeling of the Fuel Cell/Ultra-Capacitor hybrid source which presents a better dynamic performance and energy efficiency is described. Then, the optimal control problem formulation based on the Ant Colony Optimization algorithm is presented. The proposed management approach aims not only to reduce the hydrogen consumption but also to prevent the premature aging of the Fuel Cell system with respect of its dynamic characteristics and operational limitations. A charge sustaining strategy is applied for the Ultra-Capacitor bank to ensure a sufficient amount of energy at the start of each new cycle. The obtained results using a standard HWEFT driving cycle validate the performance of the proposed approach.