Contribution to the systemic study of energetic systems including electrochemical devices: Bond Graph formalism applied to modelling fuel cells, lithium-ion batteries and Sunracer

This thesis is a contribution to the study of electric power conversion systems including electrochemical devices. A systemic approach draws advantage of the unified Bond Graph formalism in order to model every component as well as the whole system. A state of the art of electrochemical devices for decentralised electric energy generation and storage put emphasis on common phenomena with the aim of developing 'system oriented' generic models. Solid Oxide and Proton Exchange Fuel Cells (SOFC, PEMFC), as well as Lithium Ion batteries, have been modelled through an efficient work with electrochemistry specialists. These models involve an explicit representation, at a macroscopic level, of conversion and irreversible phenomena linked to the chemical reaction and coupled together both in the hydraulic, chemical, thermodynamic, electric and thermal fields. These models are used to study the modularity of the components, particularly the electric and thermal imbalances in the series and parallel fuel cells associations. The systemic approach is also applied to the study of architectures and energy management of electric power generating units involving PEMFC and battery or supercapacitors storage. Different working conditions for the fuel cells are defined and studied, consisting in either voltage or current or power imposed by means of the storage and static converters environment. Identification of parameters and working tests are performed on specially developed test benches so as to validate theoretical results. At last, the method is applied to study a 'Sunracer', an original complex system with embedded photovoltaic generator, electrochemical storage and brushless wheel motor, wholly modelled in order to compare various energy management onboard the solar vehicle 'Solelhada'. (author)