Adaptive Power Transient Smoothing Control Considering Performance Degradation for Multistack Fuel Cell Hybrid Power Systems
Xiang Li, Qi Li, Tianhong Wang, Weirong Chen, Shicong Zhang
Abstract
To mitigate the detrimental impact of high-rate power fluctuations on the performance of multi-stack fuel cell (FC) and address the influence of varying performance degrees of individual proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) within the multi-stack FC on the overall system lifespan, this article introduces an innovative approach known as adaptive power transient smoothing control (APTSC) based on virtual inertia. APTSC not only mitigates power transients across the entire multi-stack FC but also dynamically regulates the level of power transient smoothing based on the performance of each PEMFC in the multi-stack FC. As a result, it ensures that the output power of the PEMFC with lower performance becomes smoother, ultimately leading to performance convergence among PEMFCs within the multi-stack FC. Simultaneously, APTSC enhances the ability of the battery pack to accommodate additional power transients. Finally, the feasibility and superiority of the proposed APTSC method are demonstrated through the RT-Lab hardware-in-the-loop test platform. The experimental results affirm the efficacy of APTSC in effectively mitigating power transients in the multi-stack FC, while also regulating the smoothing degree of the output power for PEMFCs experiencing varying degrees of performance degradation.