Cover
Vol. 21 No. 2 (2025)

Published: December 16, 2025

Pages: 20-31

Original Article

Modelling, Simulation and Control of Fuel Cell System

Mayyadah Salim 1 Ammar Aldair Osama Al-Atbee
1Electrical Engineering Department, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq
History
  • Received: October 19, 2023
  • Revised: November 17, 2023
  • Accepted: January 20, 2024
  • Available Online: January 16, 2025
DOI

https://doi.org/10.37917/ijeee.21.2.3

Abstract

The operational variables of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) such as cell temperature, hydrogen gas pressures, and oxygen gas pressures are highly effect on the power generation from the PEMFC. Therefore, the Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) should be used to increase the efficiency of PEMFC at different operational variables. Unfortunately, the majority of conventional MPPT algorithms will cause PEMFC damage and power loss by producing steady-state oscillations. This paper focuses on enhancing the efficiency of the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell through the utilization of advanced control methods: Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO), GWO with a PID controller and perturbation and observation (P&O) techniques. The objective is to effectively manage power output by pinpointing the maximum power point and reducing stable oscillations. The study evaluates these methods in swiftly changing operational scenarios and compares their performances. The obtained results show that the GWO with a PID controller increase generation power.

Keywords

References

  1. B. K. Bose, “Global warming: Energy, environmental pollution, and the impact of power electronics,” IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 6–17, 2010.
  2. V. Boscaino, R. Miceli, and G. Capponi, “Matlab-based simulator of a 5 kW fuel cell for power electronics design,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 38, no. 19, pp. 7924–7934, 2013.
  3. Z.-D. Zhong, H.-B. Huo, X.-J. Zhu, G.-Y. Cao, and Y. Ren, “Adaptive maximum power point tracking control of fuel cell power plants,” Journal of Power Sources, vol. 176, no. 1, pp. 259–269, 2008.
  4. P.-Y. Chen, K.-N. Yu, H.-T. Yau, J.-T. Li, and C.-K. Liao, “A novel variable step size fractional order incremental conductance algorithm to maximize power tracking of fuel cells,” Applied Mathematical Modelling, vol. 45, pp. 1067–1075, 2017.
  5. S. Ahmadi, S. Abdi, and M. Kakavand, “Maximum power point tracking of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell system using PSO-PID controller,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 42, no. 32, pp. 20430–20443, 2017.
  6. E. Akbari, A. R. Sheikholeslami, and F. Zishan, “Participation of renewable energy in providing demand response in presence of energy storage,” Renewable Energy Research and Applications, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 225–234, 2023.
  7. F. Gao, M. Kabalo, M. S. Rylko, B. Blunier, and A. Miraoui, “Fuel cell system,” in Power Electronics for Renewable and Distributed Energy Systems: A Sourcebook of Topologies, Control and Integration, pp. 185–234, 2013.
  8. N. Naseri, S. El Hani, A. Aghmadi, K. El Harouri, M. S. Heyine, and H. Mediouni, “Proton exchange membrane fuel cell modelling and power control by P&O algorithm,” in 2018 6th International Renewable and Sustainable Energy Conference (IRSEC), pp. 1–5, IEEE, 2018.
  9. M. H. Wang, M.-L. Huang, W.-J. Jiang, and K.-J. Liou, “Maximum power point tracking control method for proton exchange membrane fuel cell,” IET Renewable Power Generation, vol. 10, no. 7, pp. 908–915, 2016.
  10. N. Karami, L. El Khoury, G. Khoury, and N. Moubayed, “Comparative study between P&O and incremental conductance for fuel cell MPPT,” in International Conference on Renewable Energies for Developing Countries, pp. 17–22, IEEE, 2014.
  11. D. N. Luta and A. K. Raji, “Fuzzy rule-based and particle swarm optimisation MPPT techniques for a fuel cell stack,” Energies, vol. 12, no. 5, p. 936, 2019.
  12. J. Jiao and X. Cui, “Adaptive control of MPPT for fuel cell power system,” Journal of Convergence Information Technology, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 362–371, 2013.
  13. K. Afshar, N. Bigdeli, and S. Ahmadi, “A novel approach for robust maximum power point tracking of PEM fuel cell generator using sliding mode control approach,” International Journal of Electrochemical Science, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 4192–4209, 2012.
  14. M. Derbeli, O. Barambones, M. Y. Silaa, and C. Napole, “Real-time implementation of a new MPPT control method for a DC–DC boost converter used in a PEM fuel cell power system,” Actuators, vol. 9, p. 105, MDPI, 2020.
  15. J. C. Amphlett, R. Baumert, R. F. Mann, B. A. Peppley, P. R. Roberge, and T. J. Harris, “Performance modeling of the Ballard Mark IV solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell: II. Empirical model development,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society, vol. 142, no. 1, p. 9, 1995.
  16. J. M. Correa, F. A. Farret, and L. N. Canha, “An analysis of the dynamic performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells using an electrochemical model,” in IECON’01: 27th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, vol. 1, pp. 141–146, IEEE, 2001.
  17. Y. Chen and N. Wang, “Cuckoo search algorithm with explosion operator for modeling proton exchange membrane fuel cells,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 3075–3087, 2019.
  18. M. Derbeli, O. Barambones, M. Farhat, and L. Sbita, “Efficiency boosting for proton exchange membrane fuel cell power system using new MPPT method,” in 2019 10th International Renewable Energy Congress (IREC), pp. 1–4, IEEE, 2019.
  19. R. Abdul-Halem, H. A. Hairik, and A. J. Kadhem, “Experimental prototype for PWM-based sliding mode boost converter,” in 2010 1st International Conference on Energy, Power and Control (EPC-IQ), pp. 230–236, IEEE, 2010.
  20. S. Mirjalili, S. M. Mirjalili, and A. Lewis, “Grey wolf optimizer,” Advances in Engineering Software, vol. 69, pp. 46–61, 2014.
  21. F. Liu, Y. Kang, Y. Zhang, and S. Duan, “Comparison of P&O and hill climbing MPPT methods for grid-connected PV converter,” in 2008 3rd IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications, pp. 804–807, IEEE, 2008.
  22. M. A. G. De Brito, L. Galotto, L. P. Sampaio, G. D. A. e Melo, and C. A. Canesin, “Evaluation of the main MPPT techniques for photovoltaic applications,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 1156–1167, 2012.