Better Fuel Economy by Optimizing Airflow of the Fuel Cell Hybrid Power Systems Using Fuel Flow-Based Load-Following Control

Nicu Bizon, Alin Gheorghita Mazare, Laurentiu Mihai Ionescu, Phatiphat Thounthong, Erol Kurt, Mihai Oproescu, Gheorghe Serban and Ioan Lita
Additional contact information
Nicu Bizon: Faculty of Electronics, Communication and Computers, University of Pitesti, 1 Targu din Vale, 110040 Pitesti, Romania
Alin Gheorghita Mazare: Faculty of Electronics, Communication and Computers, University of Pitesti, 1 Targu din Vale, 110040 Pitesti, Romania
Laurentiu Mihai Ionescu: Faculty of Electronics, Communication and Computers, University of Pitesti, 1 Targu din Vale, 110040 Pitesti, Romania
Phatiphat Thounthong: Renewable Energy Research Centre (RERC), King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok 10800, Thailand
Erol Kurt: Gazi University, Faculty of Technology, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 06500 Teknikokullar, Ankara, Turkey
Mihai Oproescu: Faculty of Electronics, Communication and Computers, University of Pitesti, 1 Targu din Vale, 110040 Pitesti, Romania
Gheorghe Serban: Faculty of Electronics, Communication and Computers, University of Pitesti, 1 Targu din Vale, 110040 Pitesti, Romania
Ioan Lita: Faculty of Electronics, Communication and Computers, University of Pitesti, 1 Targu din Vale, 110040 Pitesti, Romania

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 14, 1-17

Abstract: In this paper, the results of the sensitivity analysis applied to a fuel cell hybrid power system using a fuel economy strategy is analyzed in order to select the best values of the parameters involved in fuel consumption optimization. The fuel economy strategy uses the fuel and air flow rates to efficiently operate the proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell (FC) system based on the load-following control and the global extremum seeking (GES) algorithm. The load-following control will ensure the charge-sustained mode for the batteries’ stack, improving its lifetime. The optimization function’s optimum, which is defined to improve the fuel economy, will be tracked in real-time by two GES algorithms that will generate the references for the controller of the boost DC-DC converter and air regulator. The optimization function and performance indicators (such as FC net power, FC electrical efficiency, fuel efficiency, and fuel economy) have a multimodal behavior in dithers’ frequency. Furthermore, the optimum in the considered range of frequencies depends on the load level. So, the best value could be selected as the frequency where the optimum is obtained for the most load levels. Considering a dither frequency of 100 Hz selected as the best value, the sensitivity analysis of the fuel economy is further analyzed for different values of the weighting parameter k eff , highlighting the multimodal feature in the parameters for the optimization function and fuel economy as well. A k eff value around of 20 lpm/W seems to give the best fuel economy in the full range of load.

Keywords: proton exchange membrane fuel cell; hydrogen economy; fueling flows control; global extremum seeking; load following; optimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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