On the framework of EE-TFRC, we have the pleasure to announce the third Ph.D. Thesis defense: Ms. Apinya Siangsanoh in topic of “Design and control of fuel cell management system with distributed supercapacitors storage element”
Members du jury
Président de jury :
Professor Dr. Babak Nahidmobarakeh, Université de Lorraine, France
Rapporteurs :
Professor Dr. Jean-Paul Gaubert, Université de Poitiers, France
Professor Dr. Yuttana Kumsuwan Chiang Mai University, Thailand
Examinateurs:
Professor Dr. Sophie Didierjean (Directeur de thèse), Université de Lorraine, France
Assoc.Prof.Dr.Jean-Philippe Martin (Co-directeur de thèse), Université de Lorraine, France
Professor Dr. Matheepot Phattanasak (Co-directeur de thèse), King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand
Assistant Professor Dr. Wattana Kaewmanee (Co-directeur de thèse), King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand
Invité:
Assistant Professor Dr. Panarit Sethakul, Welding Institute of Thailand, Thailand
Professor Dr. Serge Pierfederici, Université de Lorraine, France
The thesis is available online
Abstract: A fuel cell is a device that directly converts the chemical energy of fuel (H₂) to electricity through two electrochemical reactions. It consists of two electrodes (anode and cathode), two bipolar plates, gas diffusion layers, and an electrolyte. For Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), the electrolyte is a polymer membrane allowing protons transport from the anode to the cathode. It is sandwiched between two catalyst layers to form the Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA). Gas diffusion layers (GDL) allow the diffusion of hydrogen and oxygen from the channels machined in the bipolar plates to the catalyst layers. At the anode side, hydrogen splits into protons and electrons (hydrogen oxidation). Protons cross the membrane, and the electrons go from the anode to the cathode through the GDL and through an external circuit connected to the load. At the cathode, oxygen molecules react with electrons and protons to produce water (oxygen reduction reaction). Many factors affect the fuel cell performances such as materials, design, and operating conditions. Gas supply to the electrodes is one of the main operating parameters and it is strongly linked to water and thermal managements. Due to its high time response, gas flow also has a major influence on the fuel cell behavior during high frequency power variations, and gas starvation is one of the main mechanisms related to fuel cell degradations.As durability of PEMFC has a key role in the acceptance of it as a feasible power source, the objective of the thesis is to develop a fuel cell power source in order to reach better performances and to decrease the degradations related to the dynamic operations. The new power electronic architecture is based on a modular configuration in which the global fuel cell source is separated into several stacks each being composed with few cells.Each stack is connected to its own converter to form a modular system, and the output of several modular systems is connected in series to supply energy to the load. This configuration is expected to give better reliability and durability performance compared with the configurations involving a single converter. Since the power dynamics of the fuel cell is low, hybridization with a rapid power response storage device, such as supercapacitor (SC) is necessary for the high bandwidth load. In order to increase the efficiency of the global system and to allow an optimal utilization of SC, a serial topology for hybridization is proposed in this study, where isolated converter is placed in series between the fuel cell and SC. This hybridization is applied at the modular level, the SC being distributed into all modular hybrid system. The voltage across the series converter has to be controlled so that the energy transfer from the fuel cell to supercapacitor occurs smoothly. All the SC will supply energy to the load through an adapted DC/DC converter specially design to own power flow freedom degree which is a requirement for implementing a Fuel Cell Management system. The proposed system is validated through the simulation and experimental results.
EE-TFRC 