Integration of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell system for voltage and frequency stabilization in a micro hydro system

Abstract

This work discusses the frequency and voltage stabilization in a stand-alone self-excited induction generator system (SEIGs) using a fuel cell (FC)-based generation unit. The proposed SEIG acts as the power generator in a microhydro system. Variations in load create fluctuations in voltage and frequency, which have to be stabilized. In this work, authors have proposed integrating a FC-based generation unit with the existing SEIGs to improve its voltage and frequency profiles. For this work, a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has been considered. Modeling of a 36 kW PEMFC is taken for the proposed work, which has to be integrated with the 22 kW self-excited induction generator. The design of the system and converter parameters have also been included in the work. Authors have proposed an orthogonal current component-based controlstructure that provides independent control of active and reactive power in the system. Considering the FC system working conditions, this article aims to assure optimum power transfer capability between the self-excited induction generator, fuel cell system, and the time-varying loads. The system is exposed to time-varying RL loads dynamic load switching, and the performance is evaluated in real-time. OP 4510 real-time simulator verifies the proposed system's dynamic model created using Matlab/Simulink.