Abstract
A proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is regarded as a highly efficient power generation device. The performance of PEMFC depends on various key operating parameters, such as pressure, flow rate and humidity of reactant gases, and cell temperature (60 - 100 °C). Generally, the cell temperature is known to have an importance on transportation within the PEMFC and its performance. The fuel cell temperature should be limited under a working temperature that does not affect the material properties of the components. Therefore, the aim of this study is to perform the control structure design of the PEMFC. The steady-state analysis is done to find the suitable operating conditions of the PEMFC. The effect of input parameters on cell voltage and cell temperature is analyzed to investigate the dynamic behavior of PEMFC that is important for control design. To obtain an efficient control system, the suitable controlled and manipulated variables of the PEMFC are determined via the control structure design approach. The selection of input-output pairings is based on the relative gain array (RGA) as a controllability index. The results show that the cell voltage and cell temperature depend on the inlet molar flow rates and temperatures of hydrogen and air, and operating current density. According to the RGA, the inlet molar flow rates of air and hydrogen are manipulated variables to regulate the cell temperature and partial pressure of hydrogen, respectively.
