See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/296062071

SIMULINK Implementation of the Fuel Cell Models

Conference Paper · September 2013

CITATIONS READS
0 5,355

6 authors, including:

Bilawal Rehman Usman Inayat

North China Electric Power University University of Management and Technology (Pakistan)
13 PUBLICATIONS   14 CITATIONS    4 PUBLICATIONS   0 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

A. Aziz Bhatti Mashood Nasir

University of Management and Technology (Pakistan) Aalborg University
38 PUBLICATIONS   172 CITATIONS    52 PUBLICATIONS   583 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

DC Microgrids for Rural Electrification View project

sonar signal processing using neural networks View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Muhammad Akif on 27 February 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 SIMULINK Implementation of the Fuel Cell Models
Bilawal Rehman, Usman Inayat, Dr. A.A.Bhatti, Mashood Nasir, M.Akif, Waqas Triq Toor
engr.chbilawalrehman@gmail.com,usmaninayat078@gmail.com,drabhatti@umt.edu.pk,
mashood.nasir@umt.edu.pk,engr.m.akif@gmail.com,waqas.toor@umt.edu.pk
University of Management and Technology Lahore, Pakistan
Abstract-The research activity aimed to analyze and
model fuel cell systems for stationary applications. In
particular, existing dynamic nonlinear models of
polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs)
have been developed and set up in the Matlab-
Simulink© environment. Characterization of fuel cell
polarization curves based on time varying current
density, partial oxygen and hydrogen pressure,
temperature, membrane hydration allows analysis and
simulation of the transient fuel cell power generation.
In the paper, the steady state and dynamical operation
of PEM technologies have been analyzed, and their
main characteristics have been compared by
polarization curve.
KEYWORDS: Matlab-Simulink©, Fuel Cell Models,
Oxidizing Agents. PEMFC.
I.INTRODUCTION
In the last years, an interest toward Fuel Cell (FC)
studies has grown, as FC’s are clean and efficient
sources of electricity, and have a wide range of
transportation and stationary applications.
FC’s are electrochemical devices that convert the
chemical energy of a gaseous fuel directly into
electricity and are widely regarded as a potential
alternative stationary power source. FC’s
complement heat engines and reduce the dependence
on fossil fuels, thus have significant environmental
implications. In cogeneration applications overall
efficiencies can be as high as 85 %. Owing to their
attractive characteristics, FC’s are recognized as one
of the most promising technologies to meet the future
power needs.
The ideal fuel for PEMFC is hydrogen with low
carbon monoxide content to avoid poisoning of the
fuel cell; in this way, PEMFC can achieve efficiency
up to 60%, far higher if compared to 20-35%
efficiency of an internal combustion engine.
Depending on its operating condition, a single fuel
cell can provide a voltage from 0 to 1.0 volts with the
nominal value of 0.7 volts. Typical characteristics of
fuel cell are normally given in the form of a
polarization curve, shown in Figure 1. The difference
between actual voltage and ideal voltage of fuel cell
represent the loss in the cell. As shown in Figure 1, as
more current is drawn from the fuel cell, the voltage
decreases, due to fuel cell electrical resistance,
inefficient reactant gas transport and low reaction
rate. The curve varies with different operating
conditions, including different pressure, temperature,
reactant partial pressure and membrane humidity.
II.PEMFCs MODEL FORMATION
This section discusses a mathematical approach for
modeling of PEMFCs. Following assumptions are
made for the sake of simplification:
a) Mathematical treatment is considered to be
one dimensional.
b) Gasses are assumed to be ideal.
c) Constraints for the single cell can be lumped
together to characterize a fuel cell stack.
A. Unified Mathematical Modeling of Steady-State
and Dynamic PEMFC
Steady-state and dynamic V–I characteristics can be
expressed by a unified mathematical modeling. It is
important that such modeling only consists of
polynomial expressions, that can be used to compute
both steady-state and dynamic V–I characteristics for
PEM fuel cells. In addition, it improves and
simplifies other methodologies to mathematically
model the V–I characteristics of FC. Because of the
use of the least squares approach, it is more accurate
than other models based on mathematical approaches.
.PEM fuel cells, cell voltage are determined by
𝑉𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 = 𝐸𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑜 − 𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡 − 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑛 − 𝑉𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑖𝑐
where 𝑉𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 , 𝐸𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑜 , 𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡 , 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑛 , 𝑉𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑖𝑐 represents the
output voltage ,thermodynamic voltage ,voltage drop
due to the activation of the anode and cathode,
voltage drop resulting from the reduction in
concentration of fuel and voltage drop resulting from
the resistance of the conduction respectively.
If the cell operating temperature and the partial
pressures of the hydrogen and oxygen keep constant,
the dynamic change of V–I characteristics depends
on the activation and concentration over voltages.
Thus, their sum is defined as the transient component
of cell voltage(𝑉𝑡𝑟 ).
𝑉𝑡𝑟 = 𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡 + 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑛
 5

𝑉𝑡𝑟 (𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 ) = 𝑞𝑘 (𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 − 𝐼𝑡𝑟 )k

𝑘=0

Vector 𝑞𝑘 is listed in Table 2

𝑁𝑡𝑟 −1
𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑚
𝐼𝑡𝑟 =
𝑁𝑡𝑟
𝑚 =0

where 𝑞𝑘 is the coefficients determined by least

Figure 1
Both the reversible voltage and the ohmic over
voltage are independent of the dynamic response of
the fuel cell. Hence, the sum of both is defined as the
steady component of cell voltage (𝑉𝑠𝑡 ).
𝑉𝑠𝑡 = 𝐸𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑜 − 𝑉𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑖𝑐
squares technique, and 𝑁𝑡𝑟 is the number of the given
discrete current data for the transient component
(𝑁𝑡𝑟 ≥ 6).
The unified mathematical modeling of V–I
characteristics can be defined by
𝑉𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡 = 𝑉𝑠𝑡 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑡 − 𝑉𝑡𝑟 𝑡
−𝑡
𝑉𝑡𝑟 𝑡 = 𝑉𝑡𝑟 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 + 𝑉𝑡𝑟 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑡 − 𝑉𝑡𝑟 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 1 − 𝑒 𝑇𝐶

Hence, the cell voltage includes the two components

where 𝑇𝐶 denotes the first-order time delay
which are the steady and transient components. 𝑉𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙
constant, 𝑡 is the time, load current is 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 when
can be written as
𝑡 = 0, 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑡 when 𝑡 > 0.
𝑉𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 = 𝑉𝑠𝑡 − 𝑉𝑡𝑟 (4) 2 5
k
𝑉𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 t = 𝑝𝑘 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 − 𝐼𝑠𝑡 − 𝑞𝑘 (𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 − 𝐼𝑡𝑟 )k
It is assumed that there are 𝑁𝑠𝑡 known cell voltage
𝑘=0 𝑘=0
and current values for the steady component, which 5
are computed from the formulated electrochemical − 𝑞𝑘 (𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 − 𝐼𝑡𝑟 )k
modeling. Thus the second-order polynomial
𝑘=0
describing steady component is
t
− (𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 − 𝐼𝑡𝑟 )k 1 − e−TC
2
k
𝑉𝑠𝑡 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 = 𝑝𝑘 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 − 𝐼𝑠𝑡 𝑉𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 t is named as the unified mathematical model
𝑘=0 of steady-state and dynamic response of FC.
Polarization curve of unified steady-state model is
Vector 𝑝𝑘 is listed in Table 1 shown in Figure 2.Figure 3 shows polarization curves
at different 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 .
𝑁𝑠𝑡 −1
𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑚 Table 1
𝐼𝑠𝑡 =
𝑁𝑠𝑡 Steady coefficients for the Ballard Mark V PEM fuel cell
𝑚 =0 𝑘 0 1 2
𝑝𝑘 .110149E+0 −.297366E−02 −.183457E−04
where 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 is the cell current, 𝑝𝑘 the coefficients 1
determined by least squares technique, 𝐼𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑚 the
known discrete current values, and 𝑁𝑠𝑡 is the number Table 2
of the given discrete current data for the steady Transient coefficients for the Ballard Mark V PEM fuel cell
component (𝑁𝑠𝑡 ≥ 3). 𝑘 0 1 2
𝑞𝑘 .516228E+00 .298866E−02 .265448E−04
Similarly, it is supposed that the 𝑁𝑡𝑟 known cell
𝑘 3 4 5
voltage and current values for the transient
𝑞𝑘 −.323092E−0 −.603896E−0 .349527E−08
component. Thus the fifth-order polynomial is
5 7
selected to describe the transient component, which is
 The overall PEMFC reaction can be written as:

2𝐻2 → 4𝐻 + + 4𝑒 −

4𝑒 − + 4𝐻 + + 𝑂2 → 2𝐻2 𝑂

The corresponding Nernst Equation is:

𝑅∗𝑇 𝑃𝐻 [𝑃𝑂2 ]1/2

𝐸 = 𝐸0 − ln⁡( 2 )
4∗𝐹 [𝑃𝐻2 𝑂 ]

Where 𝑅 is the universal gas constant, T is the

Figure 2 absolute temperature. 𝑃𝐻2 , 𝑃𝑂2 𝑃𝐻2 𝑂 are the partial
pressure of hydrogen, oxygen and water respectively.
While 𝐸 0 is standard electrode Potential. The
standard electrode potential is actual cell potentials
different under standard condition.
The actual cell potential 𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 is lower than the
stranded cell potential 𝐸 0 because of cell losses.

𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 = 𝐸 0 − 𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 − 𝑉𝐶𝑜𝑛 − 𝑉𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑖𝑐

The activation losses can be estimated from the

following equation:
𝑅∗𝑇 𝑖 𝑅∗𝑇 𝑖
𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = ln + ln⁡
( )
2 ∗ 𝐹 ∗ 𝛼𝑎 𝑖𝑎 4 ∗ 𝐹 ∗ 𝛼𝑐 𝑖𝑐
Figure 3
Where 𝑖 current density and 𝛼 is transfer coefficient.
B. Lumped Model for Proton Exchange Membrane The ohmic losses can be formulated as following:
Fuel Cell
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell can be operated 𝑉𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑖𝑐 = 𝑗 ∗ 𝐴𝑆𝑅
at low temperature (about 80 °K) with high power
density product and at same time without affecting Where 𝑗 is current density and 𝐴𝑆𝑅 is area specific
environment. Fuel cell performance has been resistance.
managed by more elements such as operating
conditions, material properties and cell design. The concentration loss can be calculated from the
It is necessary understand parameters effect on fuel following equation:
cell performance. The mathematical model is
𝑅∗𝑇 𝑃𝐻2 1 𝑃𝑂2
important tool in simulation and modeling. 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑛 = (ln + ln )
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) 2∗𝐹 𝑃𝑎 2 𝑃𝑐
systems consist from thermodynamics,
electrochemistry, hydrodynamics and mass transfer The computed polarization curve of lumped model
theory. So, it is very difficult to deign completed for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is
mathematical model. The lumped model allow to shown in Figure 4.
study fuel cell model by know the input and output of
fuel cell. The linear algebraic equations have been C. Least-Squares Parameter Estimation of PEMFC
used on lumped model. PEMFC work is a complex dynamic process
Lumped model is model with zero dimensions. The mixing three-phase fluid flow, mass transfer, heat
model was developed with some assumptions such transfer and electrochemical process which has a
as, the transport process is steady state which multi-loop, multiphase flow, strong coupling, and
resolves coupled transport in membrane, the gas flow nonlinear characteristics.
channels is laminar ,the catalysts is very thin ,the In order to reduce the complexity of model and
change phase of water was neglected ,the heat improve the degree of fitting in the low electricity
transport cross solid medium as gas medium, the density, a method based on the least-squares
output temperature is cell temperature.
parameter identification is introduced to estimate the
unknown parameters in the model.
Figure 4
According to irreversibility, the output voltage of FC
can be decrypted as:
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠𝑡 − ∆𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡 − ∆𝑉𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑖𝑐 − ∆𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑛
Where Enernst is reversible electromotive force; ∆Vact
is activation polarization over-voltage; ∆Vohmic is
ohmic polarization over-voltage; ∆Vcon is
concentration polarization over-voltage.
According to Tafel formula, the hydrogen oxidation
rate is faster than oxygen’s in platinum catalyst.
Therefore, the activation of the anode potential can
be negligible and activation polarization over-voltage
can be expressed as:
𝑖 The steady state fuel cell voltage, 𝑉𝐹𝐶 , is then
∆𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡 = 𝐴𝑙𝑛( )
𝑖𝑜
Where A is the Tafel slope of oxygen electrochemical
reaction, 𝑖𝑜 is the exchange current density and 𝑖 is
cell current.
Ohmic polarization over-voltage is caused by the
electron transfer in the collection plate and the
proton transfer in proton membrane, which is:
∆𝑉𝑜ℎ𝑚𝑖𝑐 = 𝑗 ∗ 𝐴𝑆𝑅
Where j is current density and ASR is area specific
resistance.
Concentration polarization over-voltage can be
described as:
∆𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑛 = 𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑖
where 𝑚 and 𝑛 are constant, which are estimated and
adjusted according to the test condition.
The computed polarization curve of least squares
parameters model for cell (PEMFC) is shown in
Figure 5.
Figure 5
D. Steady-State Model of PEMFC
Steady state fuel cell characteristics of the FC are
shown in Figure 1. This can be described by means of
a reversible voltage Erev combined with irreversible
voltage loss. The loss voltage responsible for the
activation polarization is the activation over potential
ηact , the ohmic polarization is related to the ohmic
over potential ηohmic , and the concentration
polarization is caused by the concentration over
potential ηl . Figure 1 shows a highly nonlinear
voltage drop in the activation polarization region and
in the region of the concentration polarization.
calculated using
𝑉𝐹𝐶 = Erev − ηact − ηohmic − ηl
The rate of electrochemical reactions is expressed by
the Tafel equation. A simplified expression for the
activation over potential is
2.3 ∗ R ∗ T 𝐼FC
ηact = ln⁡
( )
4αF 𝐼O
The ohmic overvoltage is calculated using
.
ηohmic = 𝑗 ∗ 𝐴𝑆𝑅
Where j is current density and ASR is area specific
resistance.
 If a mixture of gases is used to supply the fuel cell,
the consumption of one reactant causes a small
reduction of the partial pressure. This is directly
linked to a change in voltage. The limiting current 𝐼𝑙
is defined as the current at which the fuel is
consumed at a rate equal to the maximum supply
flow. Assuming that the partial pressure of the fuel
gas falls down linearly to zero when the load current
increases linearly to the limiting current, the
concentration losses are expressed as

R∗T IFC
ηl = − ln⁡
(1 − )
4∗F 𝐼𝑙
Figure 7
The computed polarization curve of steady state
model of PEMFC is shown in Figure 6. NOMENCLATURE
𝑉𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑠𝑡 = 𝑉𝑟𝑒𝑣 =𝐸𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑜 = 𝐸 0 1𝑣
All simulations are carried out using MATLAB-
Nernst open cell voltage
SIMULINK tool. General SIMULINK block diagram
of PEMFC is shown in Figure 7. Constant 𝑁𝑡𝑟 = 𝑁𝑠𝑡 10
Time delay constant 𝑇𝐶 353ms
Transfer coefficient 𝛼𝑎 , 𝛼𝑐 0.5, 1.0
Current at anode and cathode 1.8E-3,2465.5
𝑖𝑐 , 𝑖𝑐
General Gas Constant 𝑅 8.314
Operating temperature 𝑇 343
Fraday’s constant 𝐹 96485
Exchange current density 𝑗𝑜 0.0001
Area specific resistance 𝐴𝑆𝑅 0.12 𝛺𝑐𝑚2
Pressure of Hydrogen 𝑃𝐻2 3 atm
Pressure of oxygen 𝑃𝑜2 3 atm
Constant 𝑚, 𝑛 0.00003,0.000008
Fuel cell current 𝐼𝐹𝐶 0: 0.01: 3000mA
Limiting current 𝐼𝑙 3000mA

Figure 6
III.CONCLUSION
The realized models can be used as a tool for the
design optimization of fuel cells, cell stacks and fuel
cell power systems. If these models are implemented
into an integrated framework, the synergies among
multiple technologies may also be predicted. Using
the models described in paragraph II, various
simulations in MATLAB-SIMULINK/M-Files have
been performed to find the efficient model of a PEM
fuel cell. Graphical result shows that the optimal
model of PEMFC is “Steady State Model” as
polarization curves are shown in Figure 1 and Figure
6. The model can be used in future applications for
the analysis of hybrid power systems.
IV.REFERENCES
[1].X.D. Xue, K.W.E. Cheng, D. Sutanto, “Unified mathematical
modeling of steady-state and dynamicvoltage–current
characteristics for PEM fuel cells”,p-1135, July 2006.
[2].Zehra Ural, MuhsinTunayGencoglu, “Mathematical Models of
PEM Fuel Cells”.
5th International Ege Energy Symposium and Exhibition (IEESE-
5) 27-30 June 2010.
[3].M. ELSayed Youssef, Khairia E.AL-NAdi, MoatazH.Khalil,
“Lumped Model for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell
(PEMFC)” Int. J. Electrochem. Sci., 5 (2010) 267 – 277.
[4].Wei Dong, Lu Yong-jun, Chu Lei-min, “Electrical
Characteristic Modeling and Simulation of PEMFC Based
onLeast-squares Parameter Estimation”. 8th WSEAS Int. Conf. on
Robotics, Control And Manufacturing Technology (Rocom '08),
Hangzhou, China, April 6-8, 2008.
[5].M.Salik,S,Mohsin,Dr.A.A.Bhatti,MashoodNasir,“ Dynamic
Modeling and Grid Integration of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell”.
International conference on energy and sustainability-2013(CES).
[6].Chiara Boccaletti, Gerardo Duni, GianlucaFabbri, EzioSantini,
“Simulation Models of Fuel Cell Systems”,p-283.

View publication stats