Fuel-cell powered uninterruptible power supply systems: Design considerations

A 1-kVA fuel cell powered, line-interactive uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system that employs modular (fuel cell and power converter) blocks is introduced. Two commercially available proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (25–39 V, 500 W) modules together with suitable dc–dc and dc–ac power electronic converter modules are employed. A supercapacitor module is also used to compensate for the instantaneous power fluctuations and to overcome the slow dynamics of the fuel processor (reformers). Further energy stored in the supercapacitor is also utilized to handle a momentary overload such as 200% for a short duration. Due to the absence of batteries, the system satisfies the demand for an environmentally clean source of energy. A complete design that defines the amount of hydrogen storage required for a power outage of 1 h, and the sizing of the supercapacitors for transient load demand is presented for a 1-kVA UPS.