Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Hybrid Research Articles

Virtual Inertia-Based Control and Stability Analysis for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Virtual Inertia-Based Control and Stability Analysis for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Model Predictive Control With Lifetime Constraints Based Energy Management Strategy for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Hybrid Power Systems

In this article, a model predictive control (MPC) energy management strategy is proposed to distribute power flows of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)-based hybrid power systems consisting of PEMFC, battery, and waste heat recovery system such as TEG and CHP. To optimally meet the demand of load power balancing as well as protect PEMFC from lifetime degradation, a novel objective function by considering fuel consumption, state-of-charge (SOC) of battery, as well as power slope and temperature of PEMFC is constructed and solved in the states prediction horizon within the defined lifetime constraints and SOC limitations. In particular, temperature effects are newly introduced by adding a state-variable to the energy management model and formulating a penalty function. Simulations with mobility and stationary application scenarios are presented. In the automobile case, the hydrogen consumption of the constraints MPC is reduced by 9.98% compared with the rule-based strategy, and the same results can be achieved in the household application. A hardware in the loop experiment was carried out to verify the real-time performance of the MPC strategy which occupied a 2.21% average CPU load rate. The proposed MPC strategy has a promising fuel consumption optimization, lifetime extension, and real-time capability.

Design of Stand-Alone Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Hybrid System under Amman Climate

Design of Stand-Alone Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Hybrid System under Amman Climate

Energy optimization of logistics transport vehicle driven by fuel cell hybrid power system

To reduce the transportation cost of logistics industry and realize the cleanliness and environmental protection of transportation process, the energy management of logistics transportation vehicles driven by proton exchange membrane fuel cell/Li-ion hybrid power system was studied. Based on the high repeatability of vehicle routing, an energy management strategy is proposed to optimize hydrogen consumption on the premise of ensuring the stability of operation process. To improve the proton exchange membrane fuel cell output characteristics, the maximum power point tracking method based on conductance increment is used, and then the maximum power point, which is seared at the first time, is corrected again by simulated annealing algorithm. The power output control system of Li-ion battery pack based on dynamic programming is also designed. The state variables, control variables, constraint functions, objective functions and cost functions of the drive system are designed according to the related parameters such as vehicle gear change, demand torque and state-of-charge of Li-ion battery pack. The principle of equivalent hydrogen consumption is used to measure the energy output of Li-ion battery, and the fuzzy logic controller is used to simplify the expression of system state and control variables. Finally, the optimal output power sequence of Li-ion battery is calculated. And the experimental results show that after dynamic programming optimization, the driving system can ensure the stable operation of logistics vehicles and greatly reduce the consumption of hydrogen. These results can provide reference for energy management of other types of vehicles driven by proton exchange membrane fuel cell hybrid power system.

Optimization of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell hybrid power system for residential buildings

A real-time optimization (RTO) strategy to find the optimal value of the fuel flow rate of a Fuel Cell Hybrid Power System (FCHPS) for residential buildings is proposed here, which is shortly named as Air_LFW-RTO strategy due to the use of Load-Following (LFW) technique to control the air flow. The optimization strategy uses the Global Extremum Seeking (GES) algorithm to adjust the fuel flow rate and harvest the FC power by using two GES control schemes. The performance obtained with Air_LFW-RTO strategy proposed herein is shown compared to Static Feed-Forward RTO strategy, where both fueling rates are controlled by the FC current. The performance have been estimated for 8 kW residential building based on following indicators: the fuel consumption efficiency, the FC system efficiency, and the fuel economy during a variable load demand. The fuel consumption efficiency and the energy efficiency could increase with more than 11.47 W/lpm and 2.13% for a FCHPS under 8 kW constant load. The fuel economy could be up to 263 lpm for a FCHPS under variable load cycle using the Air_LFW-RTO strategy.

Performance investigation of a wind turbine–solar photovoltaic panels–fuel cell hybrid system installed at İncek region – Ankara, Turkey

Renewable energy use in the world increases year by year. However, in many cases it is not possible to cover the electrical energy need of even a single house using only one renewable energy resource due to its intermittent nature. At this point, hybrid systems are applied to overcome this problem. This study focuses on the combination of photovoltaic solar panels, a small scale wind turbine, an electrolyzer and a proton exchange membrane fuel cell hybrid system for electrical power generation for an average house of 150m2 located at İncek region of Ankara, Turkey. Solar and wind energies were used as primary sources and a proton exchange membrane fuel cell is used as the backup power. The hybrid system was modeled and the results indicate that the use of the selected wind turbine with a 3kW capacity along with photovoltaic panels with 17.97m2 area is sufficient to provide the required 5h operation of the electrolyzer, which in turn provides the necessary hydrogen and oxygen to the fuel cell. Since the daily energy needed by the investigated house was taken as 5kWh, the fuel cell with a net power output of 1kW supplies all electrical demand with its 5h operation. The outcomes show that the hybrid system is capable to provide all electrical need of the house all year round, except November. The electrical energy production of the proposed system is considerably higher than the demand in many months and this surplus electricity can be used in order to support the cooling and heating system of the considered house.

Thermoeconomic Optimization of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell and Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Hybrid Power System

A hybrid system that combines a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is presented in this paper. The SOFC stack acts as both an electricity producer and the fuel reformer for the PEMFC stack to generate additional power. A thermoeconomic model for the design optimization of a 220 kW SOFC-PEMFC hybrid system is developed in this work. Optimization of two objectives, i.e., the life cycle cost and the net electrical efficiency, are considered individually to find the optimum system configuration and component designs. Then, a multiparameter sensitivity analysis is performed to estimate the relative importance of the decision variables on the objectives. The optimization results indicate that the life cycle cost of the hybrid system is 3800–5,600 $/kW, and the maximum net electrical efficiency can reach around 63%, which is higher than an SOFC-only system, a reformer-PEMFC system, and an SOFC-gas turbine (GT) system with a similar output power. The sensitivity analysis shows that minimizing the size of the SOFC is most crucial to the system cost optimization. The hydrogen utilization factor in the SOFC is found to be sensitive to the net electrical efficiency.