Fuel cell MPPT for fuel consumption optimization

In this paper a new approach to the minimization of fuel consumption in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell (FC) systems is presented. It is mainly based on the minimization of the current produced by the FC by means of an adaptive technique, namely the Perturb and Observe (P&O) approach. The controller works in conjunction with the dc/dc converter which processes the power produced by the FC system: the electrical power requested by the load is provided at the minimum current, so that the minimum hydrogen consumption is ensured. Simulation results obtained by means of an experimentally validated Ballard Nexa 1.2kW dynamic model put into evidence the effectiveness of the approach.