Design and application of PEM fuel cell-based cascade boost converter

Kocaarslan İ., Kart S., Genç N., Üzmuş H.

Electrical Engineering, vol.101, no.4, pp.1323-1332, 2019 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 101 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2019
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s00202-019-00871-0
  • Journal Name: Electrical Engineering
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.1323-1332
  • Keywords: Average sliding control, Cascade boost, PEMFC, PI controller
  • Hakkari University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This paper presents average sliding current controller (ASCC) for the proton membrane exchange fuel cell (PEMFC)-based DC–DC cascade boost converter under different source and load conditions. PEMFC which has variable voltage and current can be used in a lot of applications with a wide operating range in low temperatures. However, as the PEMFC produces low nonlinear voltage, this lower nonlinear voltage value needs to be increased as a linear voltage with an appropriate power electronics converter. Therefore, this paper proposes DC–DC cascade boost converter which has a higher voltage gain for PEMFC stack. First, a classical PI controller was applied to regulate the output voltage. Then, the current of the PEMFC-based DC–DC cascade boost converter was controlled via ASCC by using output of the voltage controller. After analyzing the dynamic model of the PEMFC-based DC–DC cascade boost converter via MATLAB/Simulink program, the experimental results of the controlled PEMFC-based DC–DC cascade boost converter are observed and discussed.