Fuel Cell Lifespan Optimization by Developing a Power Switch Fault-Tolerant Control in a Floating Interleaved Boost Converter

In recent years, fault tolerance has gained a growing interest from the scientific community, particularly in DC/DC converters. Generally, fault-tolerance refers to a fault-tolerant topology and/or control for power converters. In this paper, a floating interleaved boost converter (FIBC) is used in order to meet the fuel cell requirements, particularly in terms of input current ripple reduction and reliability. In DC/DC converters, power switches are ranked as the most fragile components. The most common failures in power switches are open-circuit faults (OCFs), gating faults and short-circuit faults (SCFs). The loss of one leg in case of OCF or SCF (considering that the faulty leg is isolated before damaging the system) leads up to the drastic increase of the fuel cell current ripple and consequently fuel cell lifespan reduction. The purpose of this paper is to present a fast and efficient power switch open-circuit fault detection algorithm and fault-tolerant control (FTC). The performances of the developed fault detection algorithm and FTC are validated by carrying out experimental tests between a proton exchange membrane fuel cell and a FIBC topology. The experimental results demonstrate the ability of the developed FTC to reduce drastically the fuel cell current ripple while improving the fuel cell lifespan.