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Control of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell for Stand-Alone and Grid Connection using Fuzzy Logic Technique

Abhishek R. Sakhare MS Control Systems. WW Tech Montgomery, WV 25 136 Asad Davari ECE Dept. WW Tech Montgomery, WV 25 136 adavari@wvu.edu Ali Feliachi LDCSEE Dept. WW Morgantown WV 26506 afeliachi@mail.wvu.edu

abhishek-sakhare@hotmail.com

Keywords: Fuel Cells, DCDC Converter, DC/AC Inverter, Fuzzy Logic, Grid.
Abstract - Fuel Cells are very promising sources of electricity; environmentally safe and very efficient. The fuel cells have numerous applications: houses, industries, hospitals, vehicles etc. Another facet of these Fuel cell applications is distributed generation, the implementation of various power generating resources, near the site of need, for reducing reliance on grid power. Fuel cells generate electricity from hydrogen by a chemical process. In this paper a solid oxide fuel cell mathematical model is adopted. The solid oxide fuel cells are very efficient and the technology is most suited to applications in the distributed generation. The main aim of the paper is to achieve the control of the fuel cell for stand-alone and grid connection. To achieve a grid interface and stand-alone working by designing suitable power conditioning units. The powerconditioning unit is needed for the processing of the raw power output of the fuel cell in order to make it usable. The power conditioning unit might consist of only a DCDC converter or the two stages of a DC/DC converter and a DC/AC inverter. For the stand-alone part the concentration is on the controlled DC power thus, only a boost converter @C/DC) stage is used. For the grid interface of the solid oxide fuel cell controlled AC power is needed at the interface point, thus, both stages; boost converter as well as the inverter @C/AC) are needed. A power conditioning unit is designed for this solid oxide fuel cell and for fuel cells in general. The fuzzy logic control strategy is used for designing the controllers.

Another aspect of the use of fuel cells is Distributed Generation (DG). DG is to provide electricity to a customer at a reduced cost, more efficiently with reduced losses than the traditional power generating systems. The benefits that DG could potentially provide, depending on the technology are reduced emissions, utilization of waste heat, improved power quality and reliability and deferral of transmission or distribution upgrades [1,2]. The everincreasing need for electrical power at different sites on a continuous basis (stand-alone) and for DG (gridconnected) with rapid progress in power deregulation have attracted much attention towards FCs. The Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) are particularly attractive because they are the most efficient (in terms of fuel input to electricity output). The technology is most suited to applications in the DG (stationary power). The high operating temperature produces heat suited well to cogeneration applications. SOFC do not contain noble metals and do not utilize liquid electrolytes which can be problematic and expensive [1,2]. The output voltage of FCs at the series of the stacks is uncontrolled DC voltage, which fluctuates with load variations as well as with the changes in the fuel input. It has to be controlled by a D O C converter. The controlled voltage thus obtained is then fed to the DC/AC inverter. The power obtained fiom the inverter is to be incorporated into the grid to interface the FC with the grid for DG applications. The inverter acts as the grid interface. The voltage and the current at the inverter output needs to be conditioned for the grid connection of the FC. This paper uses a developed model of the SOFC and designs the control strategies and controllers for the DC voltage control via the DCDC converter and the current control of the DC/AC inverter to for the grid interface. Two separate controllers are designed for these purposes. The f u z z y logic control scheme is employed for the design of the two controllers. 11. THE OVERALL SYSTEM The FC converters will play an intricate role in FC technology. The block diagram of the overall system is shown in Fig. 1. The unregulated output voltage of the FC

I. INTRODUCTION
Fuel Cell (FC) generate electricity from hydrogen by a chemical process and their emissions are water [ 1,2]. The FC can serve as an emergency source of energy in the event of a long-term power outage. FC could be used as portable power systems. The FCs are finding use in every aspect because of their clean and efficient way of supplying electric power. The FCs are used in the standalone purposes at homes, hospitals, industries and now are finding their use in numerous vehicles. The FCs are replacing the batteries and in the current trend are becoming the most widely used resources. This standalone use of the FCs is one aspect of their applications.

0-7803-828 1-1/04/$20.00 02004 IEEE

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is fed to the DCDC boost converter. The voltage is boosted depending upon the duty ratio. The unregulated voltage is converted to a regulated DC voltage by adjusting the duty ratio of the boost converter which in turn is adjusted by the controller. The boost converter responds fast to the changes in the duty ratio and regulates the DC voltage. The fuel flow needs to be adjusted, which takes effect gradually and controls the output voltage. The control of fuel flow is out of the scope of this paper.
Converter DCIAC Convertex

Controller

Controller

Fig. 1 Overall System Block Diagram The output voltage of the DCDC converter is filtered and fed to the inverter to produce the AC output for grid connection or a load. The inverter is the connecting link between the FC and the grid. A controller adjusts the inverter current for incorporating the FC into the power grid by matching it with a reference current to source a sine current into the grid. The current is controlled by the switches of the DC/AC inverter. In this case the duty ratio of the pulses fed to the four switches of the bridge inverter is controlled. The controller adjusts the duty ratio on a continuously. 111. THE SOFC MODEL For the mathematical model [2] that is used in this paper the stack voltage is given by the equation shown:
VFC =

by a control signal provided by the controller; a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) to keep the average output voltage at the desired level. The output of the DCDC converter at the load is compared with the reference (desired) voltage and the error signal generated is one of the inputs for the FLC. The change in the error (the derivative or the rate of change of error with respect to time) derived from the error is the other input which is fed to FLC. The FLC based upon the inputs and the rule base generates a command signal to adjust the duty ratio of the PWM generator of the converter. The voltage output will be set based upon this new duty ratio value and adjust the unregulated DC voltage coming from the FC to a regulated DC voltage with a fixed average value[ll]. The response time of the DCDC converter is very short compared to that of the reformer. Thus for the fast system response, initially the converter is controlled for load variations.
Fuel Cell

--+

DCIDC Converter
r

PWM Generator

Fig. 2 Boost Converter Control Loop The inputs to the fuzzy controller are the error, e@, and change in error de@). The controller output or the change in the control signal is the change in the duty ratio. The duty ratio change is fed to the PWM generator, which changes the duty ratio accordingly and adjusts the output of the converter. The equation (2) represents the error and the change in error in the mathematical form.

W O -RI

V o : Open circuit

reversible

cell potential

E : Std .reversible cell potential N : Number of cells F Fara4 s consi . I : Stack current x 1 Hjldrogen partial pressure

, - v,, (2a) e(W=v, de(k)c (e(k)-e&-l)) (2b) T whereT = Samplingime e(k) is theerror de(k) is thechangein error V , is thereferenc8Cvoltage V , is thevoltagedt theterminalsf theDCDCconveter
The three variables of the FLC; the error, change in error and the change in the control signal have seven membership functions (MF) each. The fuzzy partition of MFs for the three variables are as shown in the Fig. 3. The fuzzy variables are expressed by linguistic variables positive large (PL), positive medium (PM), positive small (PS), zero (Z), negative small (NS), negative medium (NM), negative large (NL). The linguistic denominations for the MFs are same for all the three variables [3,6,11].

The Nernst and Ohms Law were applied to obtain these equations (considering Ohmic losses). This is a dynamic model the explanation of which can be found in [2].

J Y . THE FUZZY LOGIC CONTROLLERS


A. DCDC Converter Control for Stand-alone Working The DCDC converter control block diagram is shown in Fig. 2. The DCDC power converter is switched on and off

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NL

N h 4

NS

PS

PM

PL

Fig. 3 Membership Functions


Rate of Change of Error

The source voltage or the utility voltage V, (the grid voltage) is used as one of the inputs for the FLC, the other input is the current change AIover the sampling time T, (where T, is assumed to be smaller than the period of the grid voltage) obtained from the current generated at the terminals of the DC/AC inverter. The equation (3) represents the source voltage and the change in current for the inverter in the mathematical form.
Converter
(Mtb a C.mt-01

DC/AC Converter

Filter

PW-M Generator

Table I Rule Base for FLC-1 Table I shows the rule base for the FLC. A rule in the rule base can be expressed in the form: If e is NL and de is NL, then change in duty ratio is NI,. The inference method used is basic and simple; the commonly used MIN-MAX method is implemented. The output MF of each rule is given by the minimum (MIN) operator, whereas the combined fuzzy output is given by the (maximum) MAX operator. The rule base is the Mac-Vicar Whelan rule base, the general rule base when the characteristics of the system are not known [6].The numbers of rules set for the DC/DC converter control are forty-nine: seven linguistic variables each for the MFs of error and change in error (inputs of the FLC). The centroid dekification method determines the crisp output value from the center of gravity of the output MF [3,6]. B. DC/AC Inverter Control for Grid-Connection The inverter must source a sinusoidal current into the grid. The working of the inverter control loop is shown in Fig. 4. The control loop consists of the FLC which is based The inputs upon the predicted current control method [9]. to the FLC are the change in the line current of the inverter over a time period of the grid voltage and the reference grid source voltage (which is assumed to be a pure sinusoidal voltage). The FLC based upon the inputs and the rule base processes the desired control signal to adjust the current output of the DC/AC inverter. The control signal is fed to the gate drives of the bridge inverter in the form of controlled PWM pulses with a varying duty ratio and based upon the control signal the output current of the inverter is altered. Thus, the scheme calculates the duty cycle required for the switches of the inverter that drives the line current to the reference value in one switching period.

v)

;;s=

Fig. 4 DC/AC Inverter Control Loop

where T, is the sampling time L is the inductor of the LC filter t , is the time at the beginning of T , Vi, is the voltage at the terminals of the inverter The duty ratio for the single-phase inverters can be defmed as a function of source voltage (VJ and the change in line current ( AI ) as follows [7,8,9]:

where d k is the duty ratio for switches SI and S2 over one switchingperiod The single phase inverter can be controlled with the switches S&. The switches SI and S2used to shape the waveform to follow the reference current. While the switches S3 and S4 are used to correct the polarity of the can be described as follows: waveform [5]. Hence the Vi,,

ynv = dk dc

(5)

The equation (4) is used for the FLC and the FLC generates the duty ratio as the output used as the control signal for the PWM of the inverter. The three variables of the FLC; the source voltage, the change in inverter output current and the control signal have seven MFs each. The basic fuzzy partition of MFs for the variables are as shown in the Fig. 5, 6 and 7. The fuzzy variables are expressed by linguistic variables

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positive large (PL), positive medium (PM), positive small (PS), zero (Z), negative small (NS), negative negative large (NL), for the source medium O, voltage and the current change. The duty ratio is expressed by the fuzzy variables DO to D6.
NL NM NS
Z

V. SIMULATION AND RESULTS

PS

PM

PL

Output unregulated voltage is controlled to a regulated DC voltage as shown in Fig.8 by a FLC when the load experiences a step change (this action might be caused by the voltage variations by the fuel cell itself rather than the load change). The FLC controls the duty ratio of the boost converter. Since the response time of the boost converter is very fast, the output voltage recovers steady state quickly. Similarly for a linear variation in the load (or by the action of the fuel cell) the FLC is fast to act and brings the voltage back to the desired average value as seen in Fig.8.

-1

-1

Fig. 6 Membership Function for Source Voltage and Current change


Do
D 1 D 2

D3

D4

D 5

D6

[
V

Fig. 6 Membership Function for Duty Ratio Fig. 8 Voltage Response (step and linear change in load)

. . , . . . ......................................... . .. ,. .. ..

Table I I Rule Base for FLC-2 Table I1 shows the rule base for the FLC. The rules are set based upon the knowledge of the system and the working of the system. The rule base adjusts the duty ratio for the PWM of the inverter based upon the changes in the input to the FLC. The number of rules here are 49 based upon the seven MFs for the source voltage and the change in inverter current respectively. The inference method used is the MIN-MAX method. Defuzzification is done using the centroid defuzzification method [3,6]. The fuzzy control scheme does not need an accurate mathematical plant model. Therefore, it is applicable to a process where the plant model is unknown or ill defined. u z z y control is also nonlinear and adaptive in nature The f and offers robust performance under parameter variations and load disturbances. The fuzzy controller offers good performance with relatively fast response time and small overshoot [3,6].

.:

.:

: .

:.

:.

: .

:.

. . . . . . . . .

Fig. 9 D u t y Ratio (step and linear change in load) The change in the duty ratio from the original value of 0.5 to the final value of 0.59 in case of the step change is shown in Fig. 9. In the case of the linear change the duty ratio changes from 0.5 to 0.67 as in Fig. 9. The FLC responds to the change in the voltage and adjusts the duty ratio of the switch of the DC-DC converter to a value so that the boost converter provides the desired average voltage. Fig10 shows the controlled sinusoidal current output of the inverter which goes into the utility.

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[6] Ronald R. Yager and Dimitar P. Filev, Essentials of Fuzzy Modeling and Control. Wiley-Interscience; 1 edition (June 27, 1994).

[7] A. M. Hava, T. A. Lipo, and W. L. Erdman, Utility Interface Issues for Line Connected P W M Voltage Source Converters: A Comparative Study IEEE Applied Power Electronics COI$ and Exposition,pp. 123-132, 1995.
[SI R. Wu, S . B.Dewan and G.R. Selmon, A PWM AC to DC Converter with Fixed Switching Frequency, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol.26, No. 5, pp. 880-885, September/October 1990. Fig. 10 Current Output of the Inverter

VI. CONCLUSION
The FLC is used to control the output voltage of the boost converter and the output current of the inverter. The output of the FC generation system has a high voltage fluctuation rate in response to the load variations. The output voltage of the FC changes with the change in load. The FLC handles the changes well and controls the output voltage of the boost converter. The output doesnt have any overshoot. The inverter current is controlled by the FLC to interface the FC with the grid. The FLC also offers high system stability and performance.
VII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

[9] R Wu, S . B. Dewan and G. R Selmon, Analysis of a PWM AC to DC Voltage Source Converter under the Predicted Cment Control with a Fixed Switching Frequency, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, V01.27,NO. 4 , p p . 756-764, July/August 1991.
[IO] Yasuhiko Dote and Richard G. Hoft, Intelligent Control Power Electronic Systems, 1998, Oxford University Press.
[ I l l Abhishek R. Sakhare, A. Davari, A. Feliachi, Control of Stand Alone and Grid Connected Solid Oxide Fuel Cell using Fuzzy Logic, System Theory, 2003. Proceedings of the 35th Southeastern Symposium on, 1618 March 2003 Pages: 473 - 476.

This work was sponsored in part by the US DOEEPSCoR WV State Implementation Plan Award.

VIII. REFERENCES [l] D. J. Hall and R. G. Colclaser, Transient modeliiig and simulation of tubular solid oxide FCs, Energy Conversion, IEEE Transactions on, Volume: 14 Issue: 4, Sep 1999.
[ 2 ] Sedghisigarchi, K.; Feliachi, A., Control of gridconnected FC power plant for transient stability enhancement. Power Engineering Society Winter Meeting, 2002. IEEE ,Volume: 1 ,27-3 1 Jan. 2002. [3] L. Wang, Stable adaptivefizzy Control of nonlinear systems, F u z z y Systems, IEEE Transactions on, Volume: 1 Issue: 2, May 1994. [4] Y. H. Kim and S . S . Kim, Ai?electrical modeling and Fuzzy logic control of a FC Generation SJwtem, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion.

x.

[5]N. Mohan, T. M. Undeland and W. P. Robbins. Power Electronics Converters, Application and Design. 1989, John Wiley and sons Inc.

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