Patent ID: 7971538

Claim:
A method of power management in a hydrogen hybrid locomotive including a hydrogen fuel cell power plant, an air system for providing air flow to the power plant, and a DC to DC converter for managing power distribution to electrical systems of the locomotive, comprising: determining an amount of current required from the power plant to produce a selected amount of power; determining a stoic operating setpoint for the power plant based on the current required; setting the speed of a compressor within the air system to provide a selected amount of air flow to the power plant for the determined stoic operating setpoint; determining from a resulting actual air flow to the power module available power; setting an operating setpoint of the DC to DC converter from the determined available power for controlling power delivered to a battery bus providing power to a plurality of batteries providing power to traction motors for moving the hydrogen hybrid locomotive; and determining a net available power available to selected ones of the electrical systems including the plurality of batteries by subtracting power required by equipment associated with the power plant from the determined available power.