Modelling and Analysis of Grid-tied Fuel Cell System
with Synchronous Reference Frame Control
Tripurari Das Gupta1, Deepak Kumar2 and Kalpana Chaudhary3
Dept. of Electrical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, BHU
Varanasi, India
tdasg.rs.eee15@iitbhu.ac.in 1, deepak.rs.eee14@itbhu.ac.in2, kchaudhary.eee@itbhu.ac.in3
Abstract-There are some limitations during the
interconnection of fuel cells (FCs) to the utility grid. The output
voltage of fuel cell is low and unregulated DC. It should be
boosted and inverted before connecting to the grid. Because of
the slow response time of chemical processes in FCs, a suitable
power conversion unit is needed which improves the dynamic
response of the system during interconnection with the utility
grid. In this work, a model of 50kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)
system with DC-DC boost converter and DC-AC inverter has
been presented. The response of the system has been analysed
through simulation results. Simulation results show the
improvement in the response and validate proposal of SOFC
system for grid integration.
IndexTerms—Solid oxide fuel cell, phase locked loop,
synchronous rotating reference frame.
I. INTRODUCTION
The demand for energy is increasing. To increase the
energy availability and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels,
some alternative methods of power generation are necessary
beyond the existing conventional techniques. Fuel cells (FCs)
provide a rigid solution for this. Fuel cells are gaining much
attention because of their light weight, compact size, low
maintenance, low acoustic and least chemical emissions. They
can be used as a power source for transportation, space shuttle,
laptop battery, etc. Higher temperature fuel cells such as solid
oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have the potential for distributed
power generation. Unlike low-temperature fuel cells, higher
temperature fuel cells have several advantages such as higher
efficiency, tolerant to impure and poisonous gasses, combine
heat and power operation. Its internal reforming capability
enables the flexibility in hydrocarbon fuels used. Various
companies are now involved in research and development of
tubular solid oxidefuel cell systems [1].
Fuel cells operate at low voltage DC which need to
beboostedthrough theDC-DC converter and inverted through
aDC-ACinverterfor connection to the utility grid.In this work,
the model of grid connected SOFC system for 50kw operation
has been performed in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment.
The power and voltage rating of a single FC unit is very low.
Therefore, several units are connected in series for FC stack.
978-1-5090-4426-9/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE
The output voltage of FC stack still needed to be boosted
through theDC-DC converter. For the controlled DC output
voltage, a closed loop controller is used in this work. A
voltage source inverter (VSI) is utilised to convert the DC
power into AC power for supplying to the utility grid. The
control of the inverter is done through synchronously rotating
reference frame (SRF) method, which provides the decoupled
control of active and reactive power fed to thegrid. The
presented method slightly differs from other methods
presented in the literature.Here for the detection of grid phase
angle, a 3-phase phase locked loop (PLL) is used which also
works on the principle of SRF. The cross coupling of control
parameters in thisframe has been solved by theaddition of a
compensation network. The PWM signals for the switching of
inverter switches are generated using space vector modulation
(SVM). Figure (1) shows the complete block diagram
representation of the SOFC system connected to the grid.
Figure(1): Grid connected SOFC system
WhereVfc is fuel cell stack voltage (V)
Vdc is output voltage of DC-DC converter (V)
Viabc are the output voltages of the three phase inverter (V)
Vabcare the grid voltages (V)
In this paper section II deals with the suitability of
theSOFC system for grid integration.Section III deals with
DC-DC boost converter model in brief. In section IV the
modeling of theinverterwith its controller design has been
discussed in detail. Section Vincludes the simulation results of
the overall systemandsection VIincludes the conclusion of the
work.
II. SUITABILITY OF SOFC SYSTEM FOR GRID
INTEGRATION
SOFCs are around 60% efficient at converting fuel to
electricity. In applications designed to capture and utilize the
system's waste heat in theco-generation process, the overall
fuel efficiency of fuel cell reaches 80%–85% [1]. SOFCs (1)
operate at very high temperatures around 1000°C. The high-
temperature operation removes the need for a precious-
metalcatalyst, thereby reducing cost. It also gives the fuel
flexibility property for hydrocarbons. The carbon mono-oxide
does not work as poison and is used as fuel in higher
temperature fuel cells. But high-temperature operation results
in a slow start up and high-cost ceramic materials.
Figure (3): Feedback control of buck-boost converter
According to [2],[3],[4] and [5], SOFC systems have
potential in electric power generation for stand-alone as well The block diagram of the controller combine with boost
as grid-connected mode. They have no geographic limitations converter is given in Figure (3). The complete explanation for
and can be placed anywhere on a distributed system. They can designing of the controller for DC-DC boost converter is given
also show their presence in locations where transmission lines in [8].
cannot reach. Some advantages which make theSOFC system,
suitable for grid-tied power generating system are given here: IV. MODELLING OF DC-AC INVERTER
• The energy conversion efficiency of SOFC is higher than In Figure (1) the power coming out of DC-DC converter
that of other fossil fuel based distributed generation block is DC. Therefore a three phase VSI is required to
technologies. convert this DC power into AC during grid integration. Figure
• The local emissions of SOFC are almost zero if pure (4) shows the 3-phase 6 switch VSI connected to the utility
hydrogen is used as fuel. grid through a filter and transformer. The transformeris used
• The fuel used is light in weight and have flexibility. when the grid is high voltage AC grid. The transistors
• Because of no moving parts, they are relatively silent and switching signals for the inverter are obtained from the real
low-vibration devices. and the reactive power control.
• Suitability for cogeneration. The combined heat and power
(CHP) generation operation further increases the efficiency
of the SOFC plant.
III. MODELLING OF DC-DC CONVERTER
The main limitation of the fuel cells is thehightime
constant due to which they have slower response to load
changes. The voltage generated by the fuel cell stack is
lowwhich changes with stack current. The simulation model
used for the 50kW SOFC based on the model and the
Figure (4): Voltage source inverter connected to grid
parameters from [6] and[7]. The number ofcells is taken to be
384, and the standard cell potential is 1.18V, so the open
To control the active and reactive power fed to grid several
circuit voltage of the stack is453V which decreases 438V as
techniques have been presented in the literature. In this
the load current increases. A boost converter is required to be
paper,synchronously rotating reference control method is
connected between the fuel cell and the inverter. Circuit
used.
diagram of theboost converter is shown in Figure (2).
A. Synchronously rotating reference frame control (d-q
Control) method:
In this method, the components of grid currents and
voltages are taken along two fictitious orthogonal d-q axes
which rotate at the same synchronous speed as grid frequency.
Therefore it is also called d-q control method.

Figure (2):DC-DC boost converter

The control of switching of the converter is done with

closed loop control method.The output voltage of the
converterVdcis compared with the reference voltageVdcref. The
reference voltage is taken at 660V. The error signal is passed
through controller and PWM comparator to obtain the duty
cycle control signal (d). The transfer function of the controller
is as given in Equation (3).

Figure (5): Block diagram of inverter controller for d-q control


The block diagram of the controller is given in the Figure
(5).In this figure the grid currents , and and grid phase
voltages , and are transformed into DC variables
and and and respectively through axes
transformation method. The control variables and have
DC values so the conventional controllers are suitable to
control them [2]. During this transformation the detection of
grid phase voltage angle and frequency (f) are required.
B. Phase locked loop (PLL):
In the present work the synchronous rotating reference
frame (SRF) based 3-phase phase locked loop(PLL) is used
for phase detection of thegrid voltage. The block diagram
model of 3-phase SRF based PLL is as given in Figure (6).
The expression of and during the tracking of grid phase
voltage angle is given in Equation (2).
∗
cos
∗ (2)
sin
where : Peak value of grid phase to ground voltage
: Phase angle of grid phase to ground voltage
∗ coupled system. For decoupling of two axes for accelerated
: Tracking angle of PLL
∗
∗
0 for ∗
0 (6)
In this paper the grid phase to phase rms value taken is
440V. The commanded active and reactive powers ∗ and ∗
are 50kW and zero respectively. Thus the reference ∗ and ∗
are 92.78A and zero respectively.
D. Compensation for cross coupling:
The interconnection of the VSI with the grid may be
considered as shown in the Figure (4). If equivalent
impedance between the converter and the grid is a series
combination of resistor R and inductor L, the voltage balance
equation between the VSI and grid in the d-q frame is as in
Equation (7).
(7)
where and are d-q components of phase to ground
voltages of VSI output. The above equation clears that there
exist a coupling relation between the two axes components.
The tracking performance of a PI controller is not good for a
performance, a technique is used. For this the VSI output
voltages and is considered by following PI control
Equations (8) and (9).
∗
(8)

∗
(9)

Substituting the above Equations (8) and (9) into Equation

Figure (6): Block diagram of 3-phase SRF based PLL
The error between reference ∗ and measured is
passed through loop filter which is a PI regulator and voltage
control oscillator which works as an integrator. A feed-
forward frequency ff is added to the output of loop filter. It
improves the initial dynamic response of PLL system and
prevents the output signal that goes to zero [9]. In the
present system the feed-forward frequency will be 2πf = 100π.
In Equation (4) when equals then and ∗ coincide
each other and grid phase angle is tracked.
C. Active and reactive power control:
The active and reactive power P and Q fed to thegrid in the
d-q frame are given in Equations (3) and (4).
(3)
(7), the following Equations (10) and (11) are obtained which
clear that two axes components are decoupled now.
∗
(10)
∗
(11)
The block diagram for the compensation of the cross
coupling between the axes is shown in Figure (7). The error
between reference ∗ , ∗ and measured , currents are
passed through PI controllers and cross coupled network to
calculate the reference ∗ , ∗ for space vector modulation
(SVM) block to generate the switching signal for inverter.

(4)
where , , and are phase to ground grid voltage and
inverter to grid current in d-q frame. In the case of unity power
factor operation , 0. Thus the reference value of
∗
and ∗ can be calculated by reference value of active and
reactive power ∗ and ∗ as given in Equations (5) and (6).
∗
∗ Figure (7): Compensation for the cross coupling between d-q axes
(5)
E. Space vector modulation:
 With the advancement in microprocessor technology, the
space vector modulation (SVM) has become most popular
Terms Value
PWM technique in 3-phase PWM inverter. SVM is an
intelligent inverter switching technique which reduces the Universal gas constant 8314 J/(kmol K)
number of switching transitions and further reduces the
switching losses. In Figure (5), after gating the reference Standard reversible cell potential 1.18 V
voltages ∗ and ∗ by inverse park transformation of
∗
, and ∗ these voltages are passed to SVM block which Absolutely temperature 1273 K
generate the switching signals for inverter switches. Figure (8)
Faraday’s constant 96487 C/mol
shows eight different switching states, associated voltage
vectors V0-V7, associated sectors 1-6 and position of reference Number of cells in stack 384
voltage vector Vref at condition 2 in a regular hexagon
for 2-level inverter. The reference voltage vector Vref and its Constant 0.996x10 kmol/(s A)
position angle ) are as given in the Equation (12).
Maximum fuel utilization 0.9
∗
∗ ∗
; ∗ (12) Minimum fuel utilization 0.8

The objective is to find an appropriate combination of Optimum fuel utilization 0.85

active and zero vectors to approximate the given reference
voltage vector, Vref. Valve molar constant for hydrogen 8.43x10 kmol/(s atm)

Valve molar constant for oxygen 2.81x10 kmol/(s atm)

Valve molar constant for water 2.52x10 kmol/(s atm)

Response time for hydrogen flow 26.1 s

Response time for water flow 78.3 s

Response time for oxygen flow 2.91 s

Ohmic loss 0.126 Ω

Ratio of hydrogen to oxygen 1.145

Figure (8): Positions of voltage space vectors, sectors, reference voltage Fuel processor response time 5s
vector in a hexagon
Electrical response time 0.8 s
In Figure (8) the position of Vref canbe identified by time
averaging the two adjacent active space vectors and zero L Inductance used in boost converter 1 mH
vectors as given in the Equation (13) [10].
C Capacitance used in boost converter 5000 µF
∗ ∗ ∗ ∗
(13)
R Equivalent load resistance 8.712 Ω
WhereVn and Vn+1 are two adjacent active vectors; V0 and
V7 are zero vectors; t1, t2, t0 and t7 are time shared by Vdc Boost converter reference voltage 660 V
respective vectors and tsis the sampling period.
Vabc Grid phase to phase RMS voltage 440 V
The SVM offers a fast and digital PWM scheme, reduced
switching losses and frequency and popularly used in modern
inverter control system.The complete operation of SVM and The Figure (9) shows the response of stack voltage,
generating of switching pulses is carried out in [10]. current, and power. The steady state values of these are
approx. 438V, 115A, and 50kW respectively. The stack
V. SIMULATION RESULTS voltage, current, and power take approx. 5 sec to reach the
In the present section, the simulation results of the whole steady value.
system for 50kW power operation have been performed. The
Figure (10) shows the response of the boost converter
parameters used in the modeling of SOFC stack, aDC-DC
voltage, current, and power. The output voltage, current,and
boost converter, and 3-phase inverter are given in Table 1
power of the boost converter are approx. 660V and 75 A and
[6],[7],[11] and [12]. The response of the system is shown in
50kW respectively.
Figures (9)-(14).
Figure (11) shows the zoomed view of theresponse of the
Table 1 Parameters used in the modelling of SOFC stack, DC-DC boost inverter voltage and current. The peak value of inverter
converter, and DC-AC inverter voltage and current are approx. 440V and 92A.
 Figure (12) shows the zoomed view of theresponse of the
grid voltage and current. The peak value of grid phase to the
ground voltage and phase current are approx. 360V and 92A.
Figure (13) shows that active and reactive powers fed to
the grid are approx. 50kW and zero respectively. It shows that
inverter takes less than 2 sec to reach the final value.

Figure (11): Response of inverter phase to ground voltage and current for
50kW operation

Figure (9): Response of stack voltage, current, and power for 50 kW operation

Figure (12): Response of grid phase to ground voltage and current for 50kW
Figure (10): Response of DC-DC converter voltage, current and power for operation
50kW operation
 results show that fuel cell stack voltage decreases gradually
with the increase in fuel cell current and power.The stack
voltage, current, and power take approx. 5 sec to reach their
steady state values.The slow response of fuel cell is due to the
slow chemical reactions of gasses in the cells. In the presented
SRF control (d-q control)method, the active and reactive
power fed to grid take approx. 2 sec to reach the demanded
value. The above observations validate that the response of
SOFC system has been improved with power conversion unit
presented and this system can be used as a power source in
distributed generation system.

Figure (13): Active and reactive power fed to grid for commanded 50kW
power operation
VI. CONCLUSION
A 50 kW SOFC framework integrated utility grid is
simulated, analysed and discussed. System prototype model is
designed in MATLAB/ SIMULINK to investigate the
response of the interconnectedcomponents i.e. SOFC stack,
boost converter and inverter.In the presented inverter control
method thegrid phase angle detection is also performed using
SRF (d-q control) method (same as the inverter controller
uses); which guarantees the compactness the whole system
and make it more economical. The decoupling of d-q axes
quantities is doneby adding a compensation network, which
accelerates the performance of inverter. The space vector
modulation enables the fast and intelligent control of inverter
switches with less transition of switching states which
ensuresimprovementin system efficiency.The simulation
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