Cascade control of the moto-compressor of a PEM fuel cell via second order sliding mode

This paper presents a cascade control of the moto-compressor of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). The control objective is to optimize the net power by maintaining the oxygen excess ratio between 2 and 2.4. The proposed control strategy is based on two cascaded super twisting second order sliding mode controllers (Fig.1), which regulate the moto-compressor supplying air to the cathode side of the fuel cell. Simulation results show that the proposed controller has a good transient performance under load variations and parametric uncertainties.