The Region of Tuscany, considering environmental sustainability a "key factor for development", through a grant of CIPE, has promoted research activities aimed at a clean and sustainable mobility, focusing on the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier.
This has created the "H2 Filiera Idrogeno" project which aims to develop research in the field of technologies of production, distribution and storage of hydrogen and its use for propulsion vehicles (hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines or fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen).
The intervention of the Region of Tuscany, in a forward-looking, also emphasized the opportunity to leverage the strengths of its territory (the presence of broad expertise in technological research in the field, large chemical companies, potential hydrogen makers, the presence of important industries related to the production of vehicles and the creation of systems for the production and distribution of hydrogen, and finally the availability of local authorities to cooperate in the testing of vehicle fleets and distribution systems) to start a trial, i.e. the activation in a local scale of all the components of a mobility system based on hydrogen.
The main lines of activity of the "team" of partners, involving various departments of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Pisa and the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, are two.
[...] The second line of activity relates to electric vehicles powered by fuel cells that use hydrogen to produce the "clean" electricity.
The activities of PITOM focused on two strategic lines within the WP5 "Hydrogen Line for Systems powered by Fuel Cell" headed by prof. Massimo Ceraolo. The first task has involved the conversion of an electric version of Porter Piaggio vehicle into a hybrid fuel cells and lithium batteries-powered van. The second task was about the development of a complete system for electricity generation on boats, strarting from hydrogen stored in high-pressure Metal Hydride Tanks.
In particular, the activities conducted by PITOM within the WP5 relatively to Piaggio hybrid van can be summarized as follows:
- Design and complete realization of the control system and energy management system of the hybrid vehicle (in particular, the control unit is interfaced and must manage lithium batteries, fuel cells, hydrogen detection sensors, power converters, electric motor, man-machine interface, gear selector, brakes and throttle)
- Design and realization of the human-machine interface integrated in the cockpit
- Assistance in the implementation of the correct VMU connections, sensors and actuators
- Functional test of the complete vehicle, including the interaction of all subsystems installed on board
The activities carried out relatively to the APU system can be summarized as follows:
- Design and implementation of hardware and software control systems for power generation (the controller was interfaced with a 4.8kWh lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, power modules, DC / DC 20kW each., 40kW inverter, metal hydrides system for hydrogen storage and release)
- Assistance in the implementation of the correct connections of the unit to the appropriate sensors and actuators
- Verification of the overall system functionality
