Design and analysis of control system of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell directly connected with a DC motor

This paper presents the design and analysis of comprehensive control system of a fuel cell which is directly connected to a DC motor. The fuel cell system consists of a 63-cell 300 W proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), a 3-cell lead-acid battery and a conventional DC machine. The comprehensive controller design and analysis of the fuel cell are presented, including the design of the PEMFC generating system, the comprehensive control technique of the PEMFC based on advanced data acquisition hardware and LabVIEW software. Experimental results show that the fuel cell-based DC motor drive system can produce satisfactory performance.