A High Voltage Gain Interleaved DC-DC Converter Integrated Fuel Cell for Power Quality Enhancement of Microgrid

Abstract

Fuel cells have drawn a lot of interest in recent years as one of the most promising alternative green power sources in microgrid systems. The operating conditions and the integrated components greatly impact the quality of the fuel cell’s voltage. Energy management techniques are required in this regard to regulate the fuel cell’s power in a microgrid. The active/reactive power in the microgrid should be adjusted in line with US Energy Star’s regulations whereas the grid current needs to follow the standard set by IEEE 519 2014 to enhance the power quality of the electrical energy injected into the microgrid. Uncontrolled energy injection from the fuel cell can have serious impacts including superfluous energy demand, overloading, and power losses, especially in high power and medium voltage systems. Although fuel cells have many advantages, they cannot yet produce high voltages individually to compensate for the demand of a microgrid system. Due to these reasons, the fuel cell must be interfaced with a DC-DC converter. This research proposes a novel high voltage gain converter integrated 1.26 kW fuel cell for microgrid power management that can boost the fuel cell’s voltage up to 20 times. Due to this high voltage gain, the voltage and current ripple of the fuel cell is also reduced substantially. According to the analysis, the proposed converter demonstrated optimal performance when compared to the other converters due to its high voltage gain and extremely low voltage ripple. As a result, the harmonic profile of the microgrid current persists with a reduced THD of 3.22% and a very low voltage ripple of 4 V. To validate the converter’s performance, along with extensive simulation, a hardware prototype was also built. The voltage of the fuel cell is regulated using a simplified proportional integral controller. The operating principle of the converter integrated fuel cell along with its application in microgrid power management is demonstrated. A comparative analysis is also shown to verify how the proposed converter is improving the system’s performance when compared against other converters.

A Novel High-Gain Dc-Dc Converter Applied in Fuel Cell Vehicles

“…The research not only outlines the operating principles of the converterintegrated fuel cell but also showcases its application in microgrid power management. A comparative analysis demonstrates the significant performance improvements offered by the proposed converter when compared to other available options [6].…”

“…Meeting the DC bus voltage requirement in front of the inverter is challenging due to the fuel cell's low output voltage. Additionally, the fuel cell exhibits a "soft" output voltage characteristic, meaning that as the output current increases, the output voltage declines too quickly [5,6]. Designing DC-DC converters for fuel cell vehicles necessitates meeting specific criteria, including a broad input voltage range, compact size, and high gain to maintain DC bus voltage stability and elevate fuel cell voltage.…”

Fuzzy Approach for Managing Renewable Energy Flows for DC-Microgrid with Composite PV-WT Generators and Energy Storage System

“…Recent works of scientific literature propose efficient algorithms for the control and management of energy flow, ensuring maximum power transfer (through the use of maximum point power (MPPT) directly in the algorithms [15,16]), even in adverse or otherwise changing weather conditions [17][18][19][20]. However, it should be noted that the scale limitations and the limited capacity of the accumulator do not allow AC-MGs to provide long-term energy, so it is necessary to use modular FCs to guarantee adequate power with continuity and with rapid response to load variations (common diesel generators are to be excluded because they are polluting and characterized by reduced efficiency) [21,22]. Stationary FCs stand out among them as they can be used in contexts where the quantity of energy required is significant [23][24][25].…”

PEMFC Current Control Using a Novel Compound Controller Enhanced by the Black Widow Algorithm: A Comprehensive Simulation Study

“…However, renewable and sustainable energy sources, such as photovoltaic systems and fuel cells, necessitate a power conditioning system [11]. This is because the voltage produced by PEMFC is inherently low and must be elevated to a higher voltage level for various applications [12]. Typically, a DC/DC boost converter is employed for this purpose.…”