Volume 4: Innovative Solutions for Energy Transitions: Part III

Model Predictive Control Based Hydrogen Excess Ratio Regulation With Circulating Pump For Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Hongwen He, Shengwei Quan, Jinzhou Chen, Ya-Xiong Wang

Abstract

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells have been considered as the potential solution for vehicle energy. Hydrogen is supplied to the anode of the fuel cell and electrochemically reacted with the oxygen of the cathode through the proton exchange membrane. The output current of the fuel cell varies under different vehicle operating conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate the anode hydrogen excess ratio to maintain the high efficiency of the fuel cell. In this paper, a fuel cell anode hydrogen supply system is proposed based on a multiple-input multiple-output model predictive control (MPC) approach. The flow control valve and the hydrogen circulating pump via the proposed MPC are used to regulate the anode pressure and hydrogen excess ratio to meet the power demand of the vehicle. Comparing with the proportional-integral control result, the great control precision and transient response characteristics of the MPC can be achieved.

Keywords Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, hydrogen excess ratio, hydrogen supply, hydrogen circulating pump, model predictive control