Performance enhancement of a grid-connected solid-oxide fuel cell using an improved control scheme

Among fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is great for power generation due to its efficiency and flexibility. However, it experiences a challenge due to its slow dynamic response during varying load, that its material has low durability. Thus to enhance its dynamic behavior in order to improve its life an essential requirement is to maintain proper physical and chemical stress on it. In this work, a single-input double-output fuel control scheme for the grid connected double-input single-output SOFC based system is developed and implemented in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. This scheme utilizes a proportional and integral (PI)-based controller to maintain the fuel utilization factor within limits by thrusting the optimized fuel inputs (hydrogen and oxygen) to the SOFC. It performs under varying load without affecting the operational feasibility and power-tracking capability of the fuel cell. As a result, the electrical output characteristics enhance for longer period of operation and SOFC's life expectancy increases for normal and quadruple degradation rates. Comparison of simulation results of proposed controlled operation in time-domain shows superiority in its physical dynamic performance in contrast to uncontrolled operation. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Aspects of Materials Science and Engineering.