The effect of bias in gas temperature measurements on the control of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cells system

In this paper the effect of systematic errors in gas temperature measurements on the thermal control of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell system is demonstrated. Three control schemes were tested under two different conditions. First, the real gas temperature at the point of interest was used as input for the controller. Second, the reading of the thermocouple that takes the measurement at the same point was used as input. The second approach included the bias on the measurement due to radiation and heat conduction on the thermocouple. The results showed an overestimation of temperatures with important influence on the system control. Furthermore, in one case the system could not follow the required power demand and it failed. A successful solution to the problem was obtained by increasing the dimension of the system's heat exchanger. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[1]  Daniel R. Lewin,et al.  Model-based control of fuel cells (2): Optimal efficiency , 2007 .

[2]  D. Favrat,et al.  The Error in Gas Temperature Measurements with Thermocouples: Application on an SOFC System Heat Exchanger , 2012 .

[3]  Xiongwen Zhang,et al.  Nonlinear model predictive control based on the moving horizon state estimation for the solid oxide fuel cell , 2008 .

[4]  Faryar Jabbari,et al.  Novel solid oxide fuel cell system controller for rapid load following , 2007 .

[5]  Xin-Jian Zhu,et al.  Predictive control of SOFC based on a GA-RBF neural network model , 2008 .

[6]  G. Ellis.  Observers in Control Systems: A Practical Guide , 2002 .

[7]  Leonidas Tsikonis,et al.  Robust Real-Time Optimization of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack , 2011 .

[8]  Nigel P. Brandon,et al.  Anode-supported intermediate-temperature direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell. II. Model-based dynamic performance and control , 2005 .

[9]  Daniel R. Lewin,et al.  Model-based Control of Fuel Cells: (1) Regulatory Control , 2004 .

[10]  Fabian Mueller,et al.  On control concepts to prevent fuel starvation in solid oxide fuel cells , 2008 .

[11]  Leonidas Tsikonis.  Approaches on the Thermal Management and Parameter Estimation of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells and their Systems , 2011 .

[12]  Guang-yi Cao,et al.  Hybrid intelligent PID control design for PEMFC anode system , 2008 .

[13]  R. Longchamp.  Commande numérique de systèmes dynamiques , 1995 .

[14]  A. Chaisantikulwat,et al.  Dynamic modelling and control of planar anode-supported solid oxide fuel cell , 2008, Comput. Chem. Eng..