TY - GEN
T1 - Development of a Maximum-Power-Point Tracking Algorithm for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell and Its Realization in a Fuel Cell/Supercapacitor Hybrid Energy System
AU - Loo, K. H.
AU - Zhu, G. R.
AU - Lai, Y. M.
AU - Tse, Chi K.
PY - 2011/5
Y1 - 2011/5
N2 - Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) have been widely researched for applications in portable electronics due to their use of liquid fuel for easy storage and transportation compared to gaseous hydrogen. However, DMFC's performance is strongly affected by methanol crossover that significantly degrades the fuel conversion efficiency at low output power, and is characterized by an increasing efficiency at increasing output power. The maximum efficiency point (MEP) is inherently difficult to track due to the commonly unknown methanol crossover rate, but since it is typically located very close to the maximum power point (MPP), an alternative tracking approach based on the MPP is proposed. In this paper, a fuel-cell-oriented MPP tracking (MPPT) algorithm based on resistance matching is developed, implemented, and tested in the context of a DMFC/supercapacitor hybrid power system. To account for the generally slow fuel cell dynamics, the DMFC is constantly tracked at the MPP while any surplus or deficit power is absorbed or delivered by the supercapacitor bank. The detailed formulation of the algorithm and the power flow design and realization are also discussed. © 2011 IEEE.
AB - Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) have been widely researched for applications in portable electronics due to their use of liquid fuel for easy storage and transportation compared to gaseous hydrogen. However, DMFC's performance is strongly affected by methanol crossover that significantly degrades the fuel conversion efficiency at low output power, and is characterized by an increasing efficiency at increasing output power. The maximum efficiency point (MEP) is inherently difficult to track due to the commonly unknown methanol crossover rate, but since it is typically located very close to the maximum power point (MPP), an alternative tracking approach based on the MPP is proposed. In this paper, a fuel-cell-oriented MPP tracking (MPPT) algorithm based on resistance matching is developed, implemented, and tested in the context of a DMFC/supercapacitor hybrid power system. To account for the generally slow fuel cell dynamics, the DMFC is constantly tracked at the MPP while any surplus or deficit power is absorbed or delivered by the supercapacitor bank. The detailed formulation of the algorithm and the power flow design and realization are also discussed. © 2011 IEEE.
KW - bi-directional converter
KW - direct methanol fuel cell
KW - Fuel cell
KW - maximum power point tracking
KW - power management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80052080198&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-80052080198&origin=recordpage
U2 - 10.1109/ICPE.2011.5944478
DO - 10.1109/ICPE.2011.5944478
M3 - RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication)
SN - 9781612849560
T3 - 8th International Conference on Power Electronics - ECCE Asia: "Green World with Power Electronics", ICPE 2011-ECCE Asia
SP - 1753
EP - 1760
BT - 8th International Conference on Power Electronics - ECCE Asia: "Green World with Power Electronics", ICPE 2011-ECCE Asia
T2 - 8th International Conference on Power Electronics - ECCE Asia (ICPE 2011-ECCE Asia)
Y2 - 30 May 2011 through 3 June 2011
ER -
