Project by – Shivranjan Jadhav

Fuel Cell Powered Model

Question :
For the 6 kW 45 Vdc Fuel Cell Stack built-in model in Matlab,
a. Explain the working priniciple of the model in detail
b. Simulate the model and explain the results
c. Explain the voltage and current characteristics in your resultant
graph

Aim :
Explain working principle of Fuel Cell Model simulation
and result.
Objective :
• Understand working of Fuel Cell
• Simulate MATLAB model and explain result

Fuel Cell:
A fuel cell is an electro-chemical device in which the
chemical energy of fuel is continuously converted into electric energy.
This conversion of energy takes place at constant pressure and
temperature.
To explain, fuel cell working principle, here we shall consider
a hydrogen (H2) — oxygen (02) called Hydrox fuel cell. The main
components of a fuel cell are:
• A fuel electrode (anode)

• An oxidant electrode (cathode)

 Project by – Shivranjan Jadhav

• An electrolyte (a solution of H2SO4 for acidic fuel cell and KOH

for alkali fuel cells)
• Additional components are container, separators, sealings, fuel
and oxidant supply etc.

It is possible to use the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to

generate electricity via a fuel cell. In the Apollo space program, such a
cell was used and served two distinct purposes: it was used as a source
of fuel and a source of drinking water.
The work of this fuel cell involved the transfer of hydrogen and
oxygen via carbon electrodes into a concentrated solution of sodium
hydroxide. The response of the cells can be written as follows:
Cathode Reaction - O2 + 2H2O + 4e– → 4OH–
Anode Reaction - 2H2 + 4OH– → 4H2O + 4e–
Net Cell Reaction - 2H2 + O2 → 2H2O
The reaction rate of this electrochemical response, however, is quite
low. With the aid of a catalyst such as platinum or palladium, this
problem is overcome. The catalyst is finely divided before being
incorporated into the electrodes to increase the effective surface
area.
 Project by – Shivranjan Jadhav

Fuel Cell Model:

Explanation of Model:
• This example shows the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM)
Fuel Cell Stack model feeding an average value 100Vdc DC/DC
converter.
• The nominal Fuel Cell Stack voltage is 45Vdc and the nominal
power is 6kW. The converter is loaded by an RL element of 6kW
with a time constant of 1 sec. During the first 10 secs, the
utilization of the hydrogen is constant to the nominal value
(Uf_H2 = 99.56%) using a fuel flow rate regulator.
• After 10 secs, the flow rate regulator is bypassed and the rate
of fuel is increased to the maximum value of 85 lpm in order to
observe the variation in the stack voltage. That will affect the
stack efficiency, the fuel consumption and the air consumption.
• Fuel cell voltage, current, DC/DC converter voltage and DC/DC
converter current signals are available on the Scope2. Fuel flow
rate, Hydrogen and oxygen utilization, fuel and air
consumption, and efficiency are available on the Scope1.
 Project by – Shivranjan Jadhav

Procedure:
1. Fuel Cell Stack:
The Fuel Cell Stack block implements a
generic model parameterized to represent most popular types of
fuel cell stacks fed with hydrogen and air.

2. Ramp:
The Ramp block generates a signal that starts at a
specified time and value and changes by a specified rate. The
block's Slope, Start time, and Initial output parameters determine
the characteristics of the output signal. All must have the same
dimensions after scalar expansion.
 Project by – Shivranjan Jadhav

3. Flow Rate Selector:

Create model using sample and hold
block , frequency regulator, add block and edge detector.
Flow rate selector maintain flow rate of fuel to cell.
 Project by – Shivranjan Jadhav

4. Flow Rate Regulator:

Create model using Fcn1, /current,
flow rates and saturation block and parameters. It helps
to regulate the flow of fuel to cell.

5. Boost DC/DC Converter:

The Average-Value DC-DC
Converter block represents a controlled average-value DC-DC
converter. We can program the block as a buck converter, boost
converter, or buck-boost converter by providing the duty cycle. The
above diagram shows the equivalent circuit for the block with a duty
cycle as input.
The converter contains a controlled current source and a controlled
voltage source. Use the duty cycle, the current reference, or the
voltage reference ports as a control input to convert the electrical
energy between the connected components on either side of the
converter.
 Project by – Shivranjan Jadhav

6. Scope :
Display output result signal generated during
simulation.
 Project by – Shivranjan Jadhav

Result:
Output graph of Scope 1: Internal Parameters

Fuel Flow Rate (lpm) -

▪ From 0 to 10 sec of the time, the flow rate starts increasing and
remains constant, until it reaches 50 lpm. After 10sec of the
time, the flow rate increases up to 95 lpm which is attained in
3.5 sec of the time.
▪ We are controlling the voltage and current required for the
system by changing the flow rate of hydrogen and oxygen.
Fuel Utilization (%) -
▪ The most noticeable observation is that oxygen has minimal
fluctuations and is constantly at about 60%. This could possibly
be because the fuel cell demands a standby supply of oxygen so
that the byproduct can be formed harmlessly.
▪ As the flow rate is increased to 95lpm, there can be seen a
reduction in the utilization of hydrogen 100% to 42% whereas
oxygen remains constant with the value of 60%
 Project by – Shivranjan Jadhav

Stack Consumption (lpm) -

▪ We can see in the plot that up to 10 sec, the oxygen and
hydrogen consumption gradually increases and remains
constant up to 10 sec again after 10 sec the hydrogen and
oxygen consumption decreases and remains constant.

Stack Efficiency (%) -

▪ At time t=0 due to transient state, the efficiency first increases
and then decreases and remains constant, with the constant
stack consumption, efficiency again, decreases and remains
constant after 10 sec.

Output graph of Scope 2: Voltage and current characteristics

 Project by – Shivranjan Jadhav

Voltage and Current -

▪ Both voltage and current change their value due to a transient
state. We can see the voltage gets down and remains constant,
whereas the current goes up gradually and remains constant up
to 10 sec of simulation.
▪ After 10 sec with the increase in flow rate voltage of the system
increases and to compensate for that current value got
decreased.

DC bus Voltage and DC bus Current -

▪ The only change in voltage and current can be seen at the
transient state of the system. Otherwise, there is no change in
the DC bus voltage as a DC/DC converter of 100 Vdc is taken
into consideration.

At time t=0 due to transient state, the efficiency first increases and
then decreases and remains constant, with the constant

References:
1. https://www.yourelectricalguide.com/2019/12/hydrogen-oxygen-fuel-
cell-working-principle.html
2. https://www.vedantu.com/chemistry/fuel-cell
3. https://americanhistory.si.edu/fuelcells/basics.htm
4. https://www.esru.strath.ac.uk//EandE/Web_sites/99-
00/bio_fuel_cells/groupproject/fuel-cell-performance/text.htm