Proton exchange membrane fuel cell protection control for its hybrid power system application

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell converts electrochemical energy directly into DC electricity without contamination emission, and its hybrid power system can cope with various load demands based on the advanced control technique. In this paper, a fuel cell protection control strategy is proposed to manage hybrid PEM fuel cell/battery power system. Firstly, a control-oriented model of the hybrid power system, involving PEM fuel cell, battery, and converters, was presented on MATLAB/Simulink. According to different external load levels, the management methods based on coordinated current- voltage control, and cascade current-voltage control, were subsequently carried out on the converters to regulate PEM fuel cell stack current, and to condition DC-link voltage. PEM fuel cell is therefore protected by current regulation regardless of external load change. Finally, to test the performance of the developed approach, experimental validation was implemented by the prototype of LabVIEW-based hybrid PEM fuel cell/battery power system.