This paper focuses on system for fuel cell powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Three topological schemes of fuel cell power systems are designed as the pure fuel cell power system, the passive hybrid fuel cell/battery power system, and the active hybrid fuel cell/battery power system. With an air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell, an integrated test platform for fuel cell power systems is established. The dynamic characteristics and startup characteristics of the fuel cell itself are experimentally investigated under stair-power load and pulsed-power load, respectively. With a typical mission profile of UAV, a comparative experimental study on passive and active hybrid fuel cell/battery power systems was carried out. Based on the test results, the characteristics of the three schemes are analyzed including the power flow, the voltage and current variations, the battery state of charge, and the hydrogen consumption. By comparison, the features of the three topological schemes are concluded. The results indicate that the pure fuel cell power system is more suitable for small UAVs with simple maneuver, the passive hybrid fuel cell/battery power system can support more complicated maneuver for small UAVs, the active hybrid fuel cell/battery power system can be applied to long endurance medium or large UAVs.
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