Contribution to the control of a hybrid energy source based on fuel cell unit coupled to supercapacitors

Energy generation from fossil fuels combustion is predicted to have severe future impacts in the world's economy and ecology. Fuel cells and supercapacitors are an alternative power source, environmentally friendly. This dissertation presents a regulation architecture developed to coordinate a hybrid renewable source for typical solicitations of electric vehicles in a scaled operating range of 1 kW. The hybrid system is composed of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cell module, a supercapacitors bank and their respective power conditioning units. In order to optimize the overall operation, the proposed strategy is organized into three hierarchical levels, and the power demand for each energy source is determined in real time with a basis on a frequency distribution and a cutoff frequency, defined in accordance with the dynamical capabilities of the sources. Even if numerous researches have been reported on the subject, few studies have taken into account the proper dynamics of each source in order to optimize the global performance of the hybrid power supply. The goal of this work is to implement a complete simulator integrating not only dynamical models of each energy source, but also dynamical models of the power conditioning units. The control strategy consists of nested loops, arranged in three functional levels of hierarchy. The central idea is to find the optimal set point for each energy source, according to their own physical properties. Contrary to the existing control strategies, this strategy dynamically calculates the appropriate power demand for each energy source. Due to the complexity of the system, cascade control loops are proposed, organized into blocks, according to the system functionality and dynamics. A functional simulation is obtained, where the system ensures the adequate supercapacitor state of charge and soft current demands to keep the fuel cell working in its safe operating region. Thus, lower fuel consumption and rapid response to load demands are guaranteed to improve efficiency. Results demonstrate that the control strategy allows the regulation of the DC bus voltage under UDDS and ECE-15 driving cycles as load profiles. The fuel cell works within its maximum efficiency region, without falling in the degradation zone. In addition, the supercapacitor state of charge remains within the recommended range. (author)