Study of a fuel cell power plant in power distribution system. Part I. Dynamic model

In this paper, dynamic simulation and control of a fuel cell power plant in a power distribution system are studied using MATLAB/SIMULINK. Part I presents the dynamic models of a prototype solid oxide fuel cell and a PWM-based inverter which serves as the interface between the fuel cell and the power distribution system. The configuration of the power distribution system used to study fuel cell impact is also presented as well as the open-loop response of the fuel cell power plant and the dynamic responses in the system when disturbances occur. A supplemental control scheme to improve the dynamic stability of the power distribution system is investigated in Part II.