FC energy harvesting using the MPP tracking based on advanced extremum seeking control

In this paper is proposed a Maximum Power Point (MPP) tracking technique for the Fuel Cell (FC) stacks based on advanced Extremum Seeking (aES) control that improves the basic performances of the ES control schemes: a guaranteed convergence and proved internal robustness. Other features such as higher search speed and improved tracking accuracy are demonstrated for the proposed aES control, besides these features that are necessary in case of unmodeled dynamics. The analysis on the frequency domain reveals the relationships between the main aES control parameters, the values of closed loop gain and dither amplitude, and the design performance indicators, the speed of search and accuracy of MPP finding, respectively. If the dither amplitude is set to be proportional with the magnitude of first harmonics of the processed FC power, then the reference current used in the FC current control loop will have an insignificant ripple after the MPP is caught. Thus, a reduced FC power ripple will appear. Therefore, if the search speed is set to be the same for all ES control schemes, then the proposed aES control outperforms all classical ES control schemes in overall power efficiency. Moreover, the aES search speed will proportionally increase with the loop gain and the dither amplitude. Note that here the dither has the amplitude set by the first harmonic of the FC power, being a time variable that have high value during the searching phase. This accelerates MPP searching up to the FC safe limits. Finally, this means a controllable time to shortly find the next MPP on dynamical operation of the FC stack. First harmonic of the FC power becomes almost zero after MPP is caught. Thus, higher tracking accuracy that means an economy on fuel consumption is obtained. The simulations performed show that above mentioned performances are effective for the aES control operating in both ripple- and dither-based modes of the grid connected FC inverters.     

Load governor based on constrained extremum seeking for PEM fuel cell oxygen starvation and compressor surge protection

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) are extremely sensitive to load variations. A rapid load variation can damage the system in many ways. For this reason, a Load Governor (LG) based on constrained Extremum Seeking (ES) approach has been proposed in this paper. The LG controller ensures that the physical constraints of the system are not violated and the ES controller varies the LG bandwidth parameter to optimize the net power output. The proposed controller has been tested on a Hardware-In-Loop (HIL) emulation test bench, based on a commercial centrifugal compressor and a real time PEMFC emulator. Experimental results show a good performance of the proposed scheme during load variations.     

Improving conversion efficiency of solar energy to electricity in cyanobacterial PEMFC by high levels of photo-H2 production

In this study, we described an efficient electrical power generating system containing cyanobacterial photo-H₂ production and custom-built proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The filamentous N₂-fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena cylindrica was used as the photo-H₂ producer. A photosynthesis inhibitor-diuron (DCMU) was used for the enhancement of photo-H₂ production in the culture under argon gas. For the first time, a total of 1.0 μM DCMU was found to be the most effective treatment, as this produced 3.6 fold higher levels of H₂ in microalgae. By measuring polarization curve, the gas mixture collected from the culture was proven to be an effective fuel for electrical generation through a custom-built PEMFC. When the PEMFC was directly combined with the culture tube, the cells generated as much as 843 mV during a 5-day incubation due to the efficient conversion of solar energy to H₂ by A. cylindrica. Light energy conversion efficiency (LCE) for both solar energy to H₂ and solar energy to electricity were also determined. The LCE for the cyanobacterial conversion of solar energy to H₂ reached a peak at four days with a maximal value of 2.05% and an average value of 1.70% ± 0.17. The corresponding LCE for the conversion of solar energy to electricity in this system was 1.13% at peak and 0.94% ± 0.09 on average.     

Operational characteristics of the direct methanol fuel cell stack on fuel and energy efficiency with performance and stability

This paper is presented to investigate operational characteristics of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) stack with regard to fuel and energy efficiency, including its performance and stability under various operating conditions. Fuel efficiency of the DMFC stack is strongly dependent on fuel concentration, working temperature, current density, and anode channel configuration in the bipolar plates and noticeably increases due to the reduced methanol crossover through the membrane, as the current density increases and the methanol concentration, anode channel depth, and temperature decreases. It is, however, revealed that the energy efficiency of the DMFC stack is not always improved with increased fuel efficiency, since the reduced methanol crossover does not always indicate an increase in the power of the DMFC stack. Further, a lower methanol concentration and temperature sacrifice the power and operational stability of the stack with the large difference of cell voltages, even though the stack shows more than 90% of fuel efficiency in this operating condition. The energy efficiency is therefore a more important characteristic to find optimal operating conditions in the DMFC stack than fuel efficiency based on the methanol utilization and crossover, since it considers both fuel efficiency and cell electrical power. These efforts may contribute to commercialization of the highly efficient DMFC system, through reduction of the loss of energy and fuel.     

Developing fuel map to predict the effect of fuel composition on the maximum efficiency of solid oxide fuel cells

At any given cell operating condition, a fuel map can be developed to predict the effect of a fuel containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and inert gas atoms on the maximum cell efficiency (MCE) of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). To create a fuel map, a thermodynamic model is developed to obtain the fuels that would yield identical MCE for SOFCs. These fuels make a continuous curve in the ternary coordinate system. A fuel map is established by developing continuous fuel curves for different MCEs at the same operating condition of a cell and representing them in the carbon-hydrogen-oxygen (C-H-O) ternary diagram. The graphical representation of fuel maps can be applied to predict the effect of the fuel composition and fuel processor on the MCE of SOFCs. As a general result, among the fuels that can be directly utilized in SOFCs, at the same temperature and pressure, the one located at the intersection of the H-C axis and the carbon deposition boundary (CDB) curve in the C-H-O ternary diagram provides the highest MCE. For any fuel that can be indirectly utilized in SOFCs, the steam reforming fuel processor always yields a higher MCE than auto-thermal reforming or partial oxidation fuel processors at the same anode inlet fuel temperature.     

An experimental study for optimizing the energy efficiency of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with an open-cathode

To develop an operating strategy for maximizing the energy efficiency of open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cells (OCPEMFCs), the present study investigates the effect of the fan speed on the stack performance and energy efficiency using a commercially available OCPEMFC system. The temperature, voltage, and current of the stack are monitored, and the energy efficiency is calculated at various stack power levels. The results of the system with a lab-developed controller are compared with the commercial system with a built-in controller. It is found that the fan speed should be minimum to reduce the auxiliary power consumption and that the stack should be efficiently heated to enhance the electrochemical reaction. In addition, it is noticed that the stack performance dramatically drops when the stack temperature is above 75 °C, due to the membrane dehydration. Overall, the results show that the stack temperature is an important indicator for controlling the fan speed for optimization of energy efficiency, and for stack powers of 50, 60, 70, and 80 W, the peak values of energy efficiencies are 38.0%, 38.3%, 38.5%, and 38.3% at the duty cycles of 0.2, 0.2, 0.25, and 0.3, respectively, which are 28–38% higher than the commercially available OCPEMFC system.     

Optimization of PEMFC system operating conditions based on neural network and PSO to achieve the best system performance

PEMFC system is a complex new clean power system. Based on MATLAB/Simulink, this paper develops a system-level dynamic model of PEMFC, including the gas supply system, hydrogen supply system, hydrothermal management system, and electric stack. The neural network fits the electric stack model to the simulation data. The effects of different operating conditions on the PEMFC stack power and system efficiency are analyzed. Combining the power of the reactor and the system efficiency to define the integrated performance index, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is introduced to optimize the power density and system efficiency of the PEMFC with multiple objectives. The final optimal operating point increases the power density and system efficiency by 1.33% and 12.8%, respectively, which maximizes the output performance and reduces the parasitic power.     

Optimized power management based on adaptive-PMP algorithm for a stationary PEM fuel cell/battery hybrid system

This research develops an efficient and robust polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell/battery hybrid operating system. The entire system possesses its own rapid dynamic response benefited from hybrid connection and power split characteristics due to DC/DC buck-boost converter. An indispensable energy management system (EMS) plays a significant role in achieving optimal fuel economy and in a promising running stability. EMS as an indispensable part plays a significant role in achieving optimal fuel economy and promising operation stability. This study aims to develop an adaptive supervisory EMS that comprises computer-aided engineering tools to monitor, control, and optimize the performance of the hybrid power system. A stationary fuel cell/battery hybrid operating system is optimized using adaptive-Pontryagin's minimum principle (A-PMP). The proposed algorithm depends on the adaptation of the control parameter (i.e., fuel cell output power) from the state of charge (SOC) and load power feedback. The integrated model simulated in a Matlab/Simulink environment includes the fuel cell, battery, DC/DC converter, and power requirements models by analyzing the three different load profiles. Real-time experiments are performed to verify the effectiveness of EMS after analyzing the simulated operating principle and control scheme.     

A novel MPPT controller based PEMFC system for electric vehicle applications with interleaved SEPIC converter

The Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) are one of the most effective and optimistic renewable energy source and they are extensively used in automotive applications. In the past, many researchers focused on solving the issues of extracting maximum power from fuel cell, controlling the speed and reducing the torque ripple of Brushless DC (BLDC) motor for fuel cell based Electric Vehicle (EV) systems. However, it is challenging to fine-tuning the gain parameters in the existing works MPPT approach and extracting maximum amount of energy. Additionally, it has limitations like unregulated voltage, problems of large overshoot, slow tracking speed, output power fluctuation, computational complexity and intricate modeling. Thus, the proposed work aims to create a revolutionary methodology called Unified Firefly Ersatz Neural Network (UFENN) - Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). The UFENN is a kind of optimization-based machine learning technique that was created for efficiently optimizing the parameters to extract the maximum energy from the fuel cells. Furthermore, in order to control the output voltage with the least amount of power loss, an Interleaved SEPIC converter is also used in this work. During performance analysis, an extensive simulation results have been taken for validating the results of the proposed scheme by using various evaluation indicators.     

Comparative feasibility study of combined cycles for marine power system in a large container ship considering energy efficiency design index (EEDI)

This study investigates an appropriate combined cycle as the electric propulsion system in a large container ship. A gas turbine combined cycle and molten carbonate fuel cell-steam turbine cycle are considered; the gas turbine uses LNG or hythane fuels. Because it is difficult to choose an appropriate propulsion system from only one perspective, comprehensive and unbiased analyses refer to the system performance, eco-efficiency, and economic feasibility for three configurations. An LNG-fueled COGES (combined gas turbine and steam integrated electric drive system) seems to be a promising alternative with regards to economic feasibility as well as a greenhouse gas regulation. The following alternative is the molten carbonate fuel cell-steam turbine cycle. A hythane-fueled COGES has a relatively low economic feasibility but will be the sole propulsion system if the regulation of greenhouse gas emission from shipping is stringent. On the other hand, the carbon taxation and implementation of an incentive for hydrogen fuel may facilitate a greener shipping environment; the additional eco-friendly policy for the shipping industry needs to be provided, shortly soon.     

High efficiency chemical energy conversion system based on a methane catalytic decomposition reaction and two fuel cells. Part II. Exergy analysis

A methane catalytic decomposition reactor-direct carbon fuel cell-internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell (MCDR-DCFC-IRSOFC) energy system is highly efficient for converting the chemical energy of methane into electrical energy. A gas turbine cycle is also used to output more power from the thermal energy generated in the IRSOFC. In part I of this work, models of the fuel cells and the system are proposed and validated. In this part, exergy conservation analysis is carried out based on the developed electrochemical and thermodynamic models. The ratio of the exergy destruction of each unit is examined. The results show that the electrical exergy efficiency of 68.24% is achieved with the system. The possibility of further recovery of the waste heat is discussed and the combined power-heat exergy efficiency is over 80%.     

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell system diagnosis based on the signed directed graph method

The fuel-cell powered bus is becoming the favored choice for electric vehicles because of its extended driving range, zero emissions, and high energy conversion efficiency when compared with battery-operated electric vehicles. In China, a demonstration program for the fuel cell bus fleet operated at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the Shanghai Expo in 2010. It is necessary to develop comprehensive proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) diagnostic tools to increase the reliability of these systems. It is especially critical for fuel-cell city buses serving large numbers of passengers using public transportation. This paper presents a diagnostic analysis and implementation study based on the signed directed graph (SDG) method for the fuel-cell system. This diagnostic system was successfully implemented in the fuel-cell bus fleet at the Shanghai Expo in 2010.