Temperature and voltage dynamic control of PEMFC Stack using MPC method

Abstract

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is a multi-parameter and strongly coupled complex system, efficient and smooth operation is beneficial to the efficiency and stability of PEMFC. In this paper, aiming at improve the temperature and voltage management in PEMFC, a stack model is established, and a PEMFC temperature and voltage dynamic management controller based on Model Predict Control method (MPC) is proposed. The working temperature and output voltage are controlled by the mass flow rate of cooling water and hydrogen gas, respectively. The performances of PEMFC under different controller including MPC and traditional PID controllers are analyzed. Due to the optimization of future time step in MPC controller, the measured value will move close to the set value faster. The response time and overshoots of temperature and voltage are remarkably reduced. Compared with PID controller, MPC temperature control has smaller overshoot and faster response time, Moreover, with step current change, voltage overshoot of MPC controller is less than 1.2% which is better than other controllers.

Keywords

• PEMFC
• MPC
• Voltage control
• Temperature control