Comparative study of control approaches of Li-ion battery/super-capacitor storage devices for fuel cell power plant

International audienceThis study presents energy management approaches for a fuel cell (FC) power plant for autonomous system applications. Two storage devices (supercapacitor (SC) and Li-ion battery) are used in the proposed structure. Linear proportional-integral (PI) and nonlinear flatness-based controllers for dc bus stabilization for power plants are compared. Experimental results with small-scale devices [namely, a PEMFC (1200 W, 46 A), a Li-ion battery module (11.6 Ah, 24 V), and a supercapacitor bank (100 F, 25 V)] illustrate the excellent energy-management scheme during motor drive cycles

Model based control of modified four-phase interleaved boost converter for fuel cell power source for mobile based station

3rd outstanding paper award.International audienceThis paper proposes a modified 4-phase interleaved converter for the FC power source for mobile based station applications. The ripple and harmonic content of the FC current is one of the various phenomena influencing FC lifetime. The main objective of this research is to minimize inductor size, capacitor, current/voltage ripples, and harmonic content. The main contribution is to presents a control law for a distributed dc generation supplied by a FC generator. Classically, to control the voltage, the current, or the power in the converter, a linearized technique is often used to study the stability and to select the controller parameters of the nonlinear converter. In this paper, a nonlinear-control algorithm based on the flatness property of the system is proposed. Utilizing the flatness property, we propose simple solutions to the system performance and stabilization problems. Design controller parameters are autonomous of the operating point. To authenticate the proposed control laws, a test bench is realized in the laboratory. The control algorithm is digitally implemented by dSPACE controller DS1104. Experimental results with small-scale device (a proton exchange membrane FC (PEMFC) of 1.2 kW, 26 V) substantiate the excellent performance during load cycles

Photovoltaic power control based on differential flatness approach of multiphase interleaved boost converter for grid connected applications

International audienceA proposed parallel power converter with interleaving algorithm is chosen to boost a low dc voltage of photovoltaic (PV) to a dc bus utility level and then follows by inverter. Converters are controlled by interleaved switching signals, which have the same switching frequency and the same phase shift. By virtue of paralleling the converters, the input current can be shared among the cells or phases, so that high reliability and efficiency in power electronic systems can be obtained. In this paper, a nonlinear-control algorithm based on the flatness property of the system is proposed. Flatness provides a convenient framework for meeting a number of performance specifications on the power converter. To validate the proposed method, a prototype PV power converter (1.2-kW two-phase boost converters in parallel) is realized in the laboratory. The proposed control law based on the flatness property is implemented by digital estimation in a dSPACE 1104 controller card. Experimental results in the laboratory corroborate the excellent control scheme

Performance investigation of high-energy high-power densities storage devices by li-ion battery and supercapacitor for fuel cell/photovoltaic hybrid power plant for autonomous system applications

International audienceThis study presents an energy management approach for a hybrid energy system comprised of a photovoltaic (PV) array and a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Two storage devices (a Li-ion battery module and a supercapacitor (SC) bank) are used in the proposed structure as a high-energy high-power density storage device. Multi-segment converters for the PV, FC, battery, and SC are proposed for grid independent applications. Nonlinear differential flatness-based fuzzy logic control for dc bus voltage stabilization for power plant are investigated. To validate the control approach, a hardware system is realized with analog circuits for the PV, FC, battery, and SC current control loops (inner controller loops) and with numerical calculation (dSPACE) for the external energy control loop. Experimental results with small-scale devices [a photovoltaic array (800 W, 31 A), a PEMFC (1200 W, 46 A), a Li-ion battery module (11.6 Ah, 24 V), and a SC bank (100 F, 32 V)] demonstrate the excellent energy-management scheme during load cycles