Energy management and control system
An electric motor and energy management control system for use with at least one rechargeable battery and at least one hydrogen fuel cell in an electric powered marine vessel. A processor is configured to receive: a drive signal from a throttle unit in response to an operator command; a signal from a sensor connected a hydrogen fuel cell to provide a status. The processor is use transmits the output drive signal to a motor controller which is operative to supply a DC source to an electric motor of an electric powered marine vessel, to receive the output drive signal from the processor, and in response to the output drive signal to selectively switch between providing a DC supply from the rechargeable battery and/or a DC supply from the hydrogen fuel cell in order to optimize an available DC source to supply the electric motor.
1 . An electric motor and energy management control system for use with at least one rechargeable battery and at least one hydrogen fuel cell, in an electric powered marine vessel, including at least one electric motor and a processor and a motor controller are operative to supply a direct current source to the at least one electric motor of the electric powered marine vessel and, in which the motor controller is operative to selectively switch between providing a direct current (DC) supply from the at least one rechargeable battery and/or a direct current (DC) supply from the at least one hydrogen fuel cell dependent on: a level of a drive signal received from a throttle unit in response to an operator command; a first signal from a first sensor connected to the at least one rechargeable battery to provide an indication of battery level status; a second signal from a second sensor connected to the at least one hydrogen fuel cell to provide an indication of hydrogen fuel cell status; and a global positioning system (GPS) that receives a GPS signal indicative of a location of the electric powered marine vessel, wherein the processor is operative to derive an output drive signal from the drive signal and from the first signal and the second signal and to calculate an amount of energy available and the processor processes the GPS signal, the first signal, the second signal and a signal indicative of at least one maritime variable from a list including: air pressure, windspeed, wind direction, current and/or tide, or any combination thereof, to determine an identified course and in order to ensure that there are sufficient energy levels within the at least one rechargeable battery and/or the at least one hydrogen fuel cell, selects a most suitable energy source from among the at least one rechargeable battery or the at least one hydrogen fuel cell required, and overrides the derived output drive signal with a reduced output drive signal, in order to navigate the electric powered marine vessel on the identified course.
2 . The system according to claim 1 further including a battery charger which when connected to an alternating current (AC) supply, charges the at least one rechargeable battery in response to a command signal from the processor.
3 . The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one electric motor is a radial flux motor.
4 . The system according to claim 3 wherein at least one pair of radial flux motors is connected to an input shaft via a gearbox.
5 . The system according to claim 4 configured to determine a magnitude and instant of supplying DC to the, or each, of the at least one pair of radial flux motors.
6 . The system according to claim 3 wherein a regenerative brake converts kinetic energy from the radial flux motor to an electric current which powers the at least one hydrogen fuel cell.
7 . The system according to claim 1 further comprises an alert device when a warning signal is received from a safety sensor indicating at least one of a gas leak, a low coolant, a motor temperature, and a battery temperature.
8 . The system according to claim 1 wherein a battery supply back-up is provided for navigational equipment.
9 . The system according to claim 1 wherein a battery supply back-up is provided for radio communications equipment.
10 . The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one rechargeable battery comprises a plurality of rechargeable batteries connected together.
11 . The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one hydrogen fuel cell comprises a plurality of hydrogen fuel cells connected together.
12 . The system according to claim 1 further includes a display.
13 . The system according to claim 1 whereby the processor is further operative to determine available energy levels and energy spent to provide the indication of battery level status and to provide the indication of hydrogen fuel cell status.
14 . The system according to claim 13 wherein an alert signal alarm device is configured to transmitted automatically via a transmitter to a remote recipient.