Power management and nonlinear control of a fuel cell-supercapacitor hybrid automotive vehicle with working condition algorithm

This paper deals with the problem of controlling a multi-source system applied in hybrid electrical vehicles. The system consists of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and a super capacitor (SC). Fuel cell (FC) provides energy for load as a main power source, and SC helps the system in a load peak or in fast transients. The system is modeled as Port controlled Hamiltonian (PCH), and interconnection and damping assignment passivity based controller (IDA-PBC) is used for a typical hybrid vehicle. The aim is first to support the load power in all circumstances without interruption by combination of FC and SC production, and second to control the DC bus voltage. The purposed system analyzed under standard driving cycle consists of off-load, over-load, and charging conditions of SC. Simulations are accomplished in MATLAB/Simulink software for validation of control strategy and new represented algorithm. The results illustrate that both control method and algorithm can manage power among PEMFC, SC, and the load whereas the DC bus voltage remains near its reference.