Dynamic modeling, design, and simulation of a combined PEM fuel cell and ultracapacitor system for stand-alone residential applications

Author

Uzunoglu, M. ; Alam, M.S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng, Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile, AL

Volume

21

Issue

3

fYear

2006

Firstpage

767

Lastpage

775

Abstract

The available power generated from a fuel cell (FC) power plant may not be sufficient to meet sustained load demands, especially during peak demand or transient events encountered in stationary power plant applications. An ultracapacitor (UC) bank can supply a large burst of power, but it cannot store a significant amount of energy. The combined use of FC and UC has the potential for better energy efficiency, reducing the cost of FC technology, and improved fuel usage. In this paper, we present an FC that operates in parallel with a UC bank. A new dynamic model and design methodology for an FCand UC-based energy source for stand-alone residential applications has been developed. Simulation results are presented using MATLAB, Simulink, and SimPowerSystems environments based on the mathematical and dynamic electrical models developed for the proposed system

Keywords

fuel cell power plants; proton exchange membrane fuel cells; supercapacitors; MATLAB; SimPowerSystems; Simulik; combined PEM fuel cell; dynamic modeling; stand-alone residential applications; ultracapacitor banks; Costs; Design methodology; Energy efficiency; Fuel cells; MATLAB; Mathematical model; Potential energy; Power generation; Power system modeling; Supercapacitors; Combined system; dynamic modeling; fuel cell (FC); proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC); ultracapacitor (UC);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Energy Conversion, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0885-8969

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TEC.2006.875468

Filename

1677668