Energy Storage: Fuel Cell, Battery & MATLAB Simulation

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Introduction

MATLABSolutions demonstrate how to use the MATLAB software for simulation of Fuel cell (FC) known as a high specific energy source, it is one of the possible alternative power sources for the future. Because it's efficiency, reliably and high power density, the FCs are a highly acceptable eco-friendly source for microgrids. Microgrids based on fuel-cells are getting more attractive, as a result of the combination of the fuel-cell technology with microgrids, which serve a mutual task.

Methodology

Currently, with the enormous demand for electricity, the research focus on integrating multiple power sources, such as oil, coal, nuclear or renewable energy. With the urgent necessity to balance fossil fuel depletion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the world is going towards on clean and efficient power sources, such as renewable (Photovoltaic, wind, biomass etc.) or fuel cells.Fuel cell installations worldwide are expected to increase more than tenfold, from the 262 MW installed in 2016 to more than 3000 MW after nine years. This would put the market for new fixed fuel cells at $ 16.2 billion in 2025, according to Navigant Research. It is wildly intercorporate with other sources under the management controller, such as which aims to reduce the fuel consumption based on an advanced manager.According to the research in the literature, the time constant is depended on the temperature and the injection system (compressor, valves and the hydrogen reformer). As a consequence, fast change in the demand will cause temporarily a drop voltage (stack starvation phenomenon). To avoid the drop voltage and supply the trainset period, the system must have at least one auxiliary source (storage device) forming a hybrid power system. Thus, to use the FC, it's recommended to employ a current control loop to prohibit the overloads and improve its performance.