Simulation Research on Thermal Management of Hydrogen Fuel Cell for UAV

The relatively high energy density of fuel cell UAVs has attracted more attention, and the working efficiency of fuel cell has a great impact on fuel cell UAVs. This study examines the influences of three cooling techniques—air cooling, liquid cooling, and pulsing heat pipe cooling on fuel cells operation and temperatures distribution of fuel cells. The factors’ sensitivity analysis including the amount of water present, oxygen mole fraction, and current density are also studied under 5 m/s cruising speed of the fuel cell UAV. In addition, the research compares the cooling methods on pulsing heat pipe between the interior fan cooling and exterior natural convection cooling. The results show that under the same external wind speed, liquid cooling has the best cooling effect on fuel cells. Under the operating voltage of 0.35 v. 0.3 m/s flow rate has the largest heat flux. However, utilizing pulsing heat pipes can improves the temperature consistency of fuel cell. The outcomes demonstrate that the fuel cell's performance is not significantly impacted by the heat pipe casing's outer extension length. The heat pipe section can be appropriately extended from the outside of the housing during the design process to reduce the volume occupied by the fuel cell inside the UAV housing.