Modeling, state estimation and nonlinear model predictive control of cathode exhaust gas mass flow for PEM fuel cells

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells are efficient energy converters and provide electrical energy, water and oxygen depleted air with a low oxygen content as exhaust gas if fed with air. Due to their low emission of greenhouse gases and noise they are investigated as replacement for auxiliary power units currently used for electrical power supply on aircraft. Oxygen depleted air, called ODA-gas, with an oxygen concentration of 10–11% and a low humidity can be used for tank-inerting on aircraft. A challenging task is controlling the fuel cell system for generation of dehumidified ODA-gas mass flow while simultaneously keeping bounds and gradients on control inputs. This task is attacked by a nonlinear model predictive control. Not all system states can be measured and some states measured exhibit a significant time delay. A nonlinear state estimation strategy builds the entire system state and compensates for the delay. The nonlinear model predictive control and the state estimation are derived from the system model, which is presented. Simulation and experimental results are shown.