DESIGN AND CONTROL OF A POWER GENERATION SYSTEM FOR A FUEL-CELL POWERED AUTOMOBILE

In this paper, we consider design and control issues in a fuel-cell powered automobile that utilizes methane as a source of hydrogen. A power generation system is designed based on a steady state model of a PEM fuel cell that is capable of generating 50 kW of power. The transient behavior of the fuel cell is captured via a transfer function model and an appropriate adaptive controller is tuned to follow a time varying power profile that mimics realistic road conditions. Finally, a logic-based controller is designed and tested that switches to a battery backup that provides power to the electric motor when the fuel cell is unable to meet the necessary power demand.