Nonlinear predictive control for the concentrations profile regulation in a PEM Fuel Cell anode gas channel

In this work, a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) strategy is proposed to regulate the concentrations of the different gas species inside a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) anode gas channel. The purpose of the regulation relies on the rejection of the perturbations that affect the system. The model of the anode channel is derived from the discretization of the Partial Differential Equations (PDE) that define the dynamics of the system, taking into account spatial variations along the channel. Forward and backward discretizations of the distributed model are employed to take advantage of the boundary conditions of the problem. Simulation results are presented to show the performance of the proposed control method over a given case study. Different cost functions are compared and the one with minimum error is identified. Suitable dynamic responses are obtained facing the different considered disturbances.