Abstract:
With the massive use of traditional fossil fuels, environmental problems such as the greenhouse effect are becoming increasingly prominent. One way to address this issue is to use green alternative energy. Fuel cell, a technology wherein chemicals are used to produce energy, is regarded as a viable development direction for the future of energy. Notably, this technology has two major advantages: high efficiency and clean energy production. Particularly, hydrogen fuel cells are attracting widespread attention and getting unprecedented development opportunities due to their fast response, low operating temperature, and suitability for vehicles and portable power systems. Simultaneously with the rapid development of the internet, big data, cloud computing, internet of things, and other nascent technologies continue to emerge and flourish. The digital twin technology, as an important part of the industrial internet, has been widely adopted in various fields. This technology provides new technical support for the design, testing, operation, and maintenance of fuel cells by creating a digital copy of the physical entity and conducting real-time monitoring, precise regulation, and efficient simulation of the entity. By constructing a digital twin model of the hydrogen fuel cell, the operating state of the cell can be monitored in real time and dynamically analyzed, and the degradation trend and potential failures of the cell can be effectively predicted. This helps in the implementation of appropriate maintenance measures to extend the service life of the cell. In this study, the structural composition and working principle of the hydrogen fuel cell were discussed in detail; we analyzed its internal components and operation mechanism and investigated the basic principle, development history, and application potential of the technology in the field of fuel cells. Notably, we analyzed the feasibility of applying the digital twin technology to six systems: the thermal, water, gas, durability, safety, and monitoring and control management of hydrogen fuel cells, while exploring its practical application to specific cases. Our study revealed that the digital twin technology significantly improved the performance, reliability, and safety of fuel-cell systems while reducing the maintenance costs. Furthermore, this study presents a summary of the current research status of the digital twin technology in the field of hydrogen fuel cells and proposes an advanced fuel-cell management system based on the technology. The proposed system integrates high-precision digital twin modeling and cloud computing technology to realize the intelligent management of the whole lifecycle of hydrogen fuel cells, thereby supporting the further development and application of fuel-cell technology. Our study can not only solve the existing challenges in traditional fuel-cell management but also presents novel ideas for the future innovation of fuel-cell technology. Through the systematic application of the digital twin technology in hydrogen fuel cells, our study advances the theoretical foundation of this field, provides useful references for the practical engineering applications of the technology, and promotes the wider application and rapid development of hydrogen fuel-cell technology globally.