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Areas of Interest:
The Department has its origins in
Automobile and Aeronautical Engineering courses started in 1919 and 1935
respectively, and now runs four undergraduate and two postgraduate degree
programmes tailored specifically to the needs of the automotive and
aeronautical engineering industries. It maintains close links with industry and
research establishments through its research and consultancy activities. The Department contains a custom-built Fuel
Cell and Electric Vehicle Laboratory, specially equipped with 4 wall-mounted
stations for the supply of hydrogen, oxygen, compressed air and other gases.
This facility is able to accommodate the testing of both fuel cell stacks and
fuel cell sub-systems.
The
Department’s main areas of interest relate to Proton-Exchange Membrane (PEM)
fuel cells, encompassing the study of fuel cell electrochemistry and modelling,
fuel cell vehicle modelling, on-board fuel reforming and hydrogen production
and storage.
Activity and Expertise:
Past
activities include the study of on-board fuel processing for automotive fuel
cell applications, mathematical modelling of solid polymer fuel cells,
including the influence of humidification on current distribution, and fuel
cell hybrid vehicle studies.
Current
research areas include compact renewable hydrogen storage for an automotive
application, PEM fuel cell electrochemistry, and control strategy optimisation
studies for a fuel cell hybrid vehicle powertrain. The Department will continue
to support leading-edge research into fuel cell electrochemistry and hydrogen
production and storage. In addition, there will be greater emphasis on the
automotive application of fuel cell systems. It is the intention of the
department to move towards the building of its own fuel cell hybrid vehicle,
based on a current production car chassis, for the purposes of further research
and demonstration to public bodies.
Fuel cell and/or Hydrogen courses and
modules offered:
Fuel cell
vehicles are introduced as part of the Year 3 elective module on Vehicle
Powertrains – Electric Vehicles. This module will be developed in future years
to include fuel cell and fuel cell hybrid vehicle design, and include practical
laboratory sessions using fuel cells within the departmental Fuel Cell and
Electric Vehicle Laboratory. Further ahead, it is intended that final year
students obtain practical experience on a fuel cell vehicle produced by the
department as part of on-going research.
Contact: Professor
Rob Thring (Head of Department and Intelligent Energy Chair in Fuel Cell
Engineering)
Email: R.H.Thring@lboro.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1509 227259
Address: Department
of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering,
Loughborough,
Leicestershire LE11 3TU
Website: www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/tt