A new control strategy of solid oxide fuel cell based on coordination between hydrogen fuel flow rate and utilization factor

In this paper, a new control strategy for rapid changing of output power level of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power plant is proposed based on the adaptive control strategy. In the proposed control strategy, the utilization factor (UF) of solid oxide fuel cell stack is kept constant in steady state by feeding hydrogen to the stack at its rate value. In transient state, the utilization factor of the stack changes in its allowable range by controlling the current drawn and power condition unit. This coordination returns the utilization factor of fuel cell (FC) system to its optimal value. The proposed control strategy will be very useful to protect SOFC stack from internal damage during large disturbances. In order to investigate the proposed control strategy and verify dynamic modeling, the MATLAB/SIMULIK software is used. The results show the capability of the proposed control strategy under rapid changes in load demand.