Sliding mode control of a fuel cell-based electric power system: multiple modular configurations

Abstract

Control of electric power system comprised proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), along with shared and multiple load configurations of multiple-modular boost DC-DC power converters as power conditioners, is studied using sliding mode control techniques. The nonlinear coupling of the boost converters in a shared and multiple load configurations are overcome by conventional sliding mode controllers (SMCs) that facilitate the output tracking of the load voltage in both converter configurations. The nonminimum phase output tracking is alleviated by controlling the PEMFC current using the adaptive 2-SMC. The challenge of balancing the currents in the boost converters in the shared load configuration is addressed via conventional SMC. The efficiency and robustness of the three-fold controllers for the proposed electric power system for the both configurations has been confirmed via computer simulations.