Hydrogen circulation system model predictive control for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell-based electric vehicle application

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the promising solutions overcoming future energy crisis and environment pollution in the automotive industry. However, PEMFC is vulnerable to the circulation of hydrogen mass flow rate and pressure, which may cause the degradation of the PEMFC's anode components and reduction of output performance over time. Thus, the control of the hydrogen supply system draws attention currently and is critical for the durability and stability of the PEMFC system. In this study, a model predictive control (MPC) approach for hydrogen circulation system is developed to regulate the hydrogen flow circulating. A model of the hydrogen supply system that contains a flow control valve, a supply manifold, a return manifold and a hydrogen circulating pump is firstly developed to describe the behavior of the hydrogen mass flow dynamics in the PEMFC. Subsequently, a hydrogen circulating pump MPC scheme is designed based on the piecewise linearized model of hydrogen circulation as well as the switched MPC controllers. By predicting the pressure of the return manifold and the angle velocity of the pump, the proposed MPC approach can manipulate the hydrogen circulating pump to achieve efficient and stable operation of the PEMFC.