Modeling and control of an interleaved boost DC-DC converter applied for PEM fuel cell

This paper presents an interleaved boost DC-DC converter taking advantages such as low ripple current delivered by the PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells), and the reduction of the stresses on the semiconductors since each converter carries 1/N of the current delivered by the PEMFC. Undeniably, the fuel cells are very sensitive to the high undulation currents created by power electronic converters. To improve the lifespan of PEMFCs, an interleaved boost convert is proposed in this paper in order to reduce the current undulation. Also in this paper a detailed modelisation of the DC-DC boost converter has been presented. The output voltage of the interleaved boost converter is regulated using a simple PI controller.Simulation results shows that the proposed structure of the interleaved boost converter offers good performances in reduction of the undulation of the current delivered by the PEMFC. Also the simple PI controller show good performances versus reference voltage variation, and load variation.