A novel feature susceptibility approach for a PEMFC control system based on an improved XGBoost-Boruta algorithm

Abstract

Data-driven modelling methods are being developed in the quest to achieve more accurate performance prediction of protons exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems in response to their complicated physicochemical phenomena. However, there is little research in this field detailing the pre-processing and selection of balance of plants (BOP) features for the input layer of system performance prediction at different current densities. Furthermore, most of the previous research applies neural networks based on simulation data rather than real-time bench or vehicle operation datasets which leads to low robustness and unreliable practical results. This paper details the application of a novel algorithm denoted XGBoost-Boruta, which utilises the combination of an ensemble learning approach and a wrapping approach, to improve the robustness of feature selection and to increase the accuracy and robustness of PEMFC system performance prediction. By introduction of the Z score and shadow features to eliminate the randomness of conventional ensemble learning methods, seven key controllable BOP variables of the hydrogen anode, air cathode and cooling subsystems are selected as the original input variables to determine their dependency on the stack voltage. Two case studies are presented for verification and validation of the proposed algorithm based on the real-time dataset of bench experimental data and data obtained from heavy truck operation at current densities ranging from 100 to 1500 mA/cm2. The feature selection strategy, based on the proposed XGBoost-Boruta algorithm, largely decreases the RMSE by 23.8% and 14.1% and the R2 increases by 0.06 and 0.04 of both the bench experimental and the heavy truck validation datasets respectively.