Efficient and life preserving power tracking control of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell using model predictive control

In this paper, a method for controlling the operation of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack in an automotive application using model predictive control (MPC) is proposed. As opposed to the conventional way, in which the stoichiometries, pressures or voltage are used as reference values, in this study, the control objective is to fulfill the vehicle power demand while not violating constraints such as exceeding a maximum pressure of cathode and anode, oxygen and hydrogen starvation, etc. which would, if violated, damage the fuel cell stack and thus, shorten its lifetime. With this approach, the MPC drives the pressures, masses and voltage to their optimal values and they do not have to be set by the engineer. A control oriented zero dimensional nonlinear model is used to conduct the research. Simulation analysis of transient power demand trajectories show that this approach can successfully draw the desired power from the fuel cell stack while adhering to various operational constraints.