Random facts about the car
- 1 cell in the Fuel Cell can produce more than the power we consume with the Aurora Omega. The fuel cell stack consists of 215 of these cells which can produce up to 49 kW altogether.
- The pressure on a car tire is approximately 3 bars. We store our hydrogen at 100 times that pressure.
- On the energy stored in the capstack we can drive 36 seconds on race pace. The same energy can be used to power a refrigerator for 3 hours.
- The chassis consists of 107 tubes welded together
- One wheel can easily take a load of 1000 kg
Some information about the hydrogen system can find below. However, more information about control and safety, cooling systems, and mechanics can be found via the following link Car information.
Hydrogen system
The fuel cell needs both oxygen and hydrogen in order to deliver electricity. The oxygen side of the fuel cell begins with the air filter, with as purpose to ensure that the air going in the fuel cell does not contain pollutants. In order to meet the required pressure and flow of the air going in the fuel cell we need the compressor. The intercooler, following after, cools down the air that was heated up by the compressor to the right temperature. After that we have the humidifier, ensuring that the air is humid before entering the fuel cell stack. Besides the air input, we also need an input of hydrogen. This starts at the tank where we store the hydrogen at a high pressure. This is where the pressure regulator comes in and lowers the pressure down to a more manageable pressure, which will then flow into the fuel cell as well.
The reaction of Hydrogen and Oxygen makes the flow of electricity possible. The voltage coming out of the fuel cell stack is not steady and is too low to power the motors. This is why the DCDC is needed. The DCDC increases the variable voltage to 400 V. After this, a supercapacitor pack (capstack) is used to store the energy for a short while. The motor controller then draws power from the capstack and transfers the electricity from DC to AC and into the two rear motors.
