Design and Analysis of Power Converter Topologies in Fuel Cell Applications.

Abstract

The global transition from carbon-based fuel to cleaner energy sources has brought an application of hydrogen as fuel in multiple hybrid applications from backup power to onboard power sources, especially in the automobile industry. The application in the fuel cell hybrid system brings the integration of fuel cells with Lithium-Ion batteries and ultracapacitors. The efficient and reliable operation of the vehicle drivetrain highly depends on the power control mechanisms integrated with the system. Power converters play a significant role in converting the DC to DC or AC and AC to DC which maintains the power supply driving the hybrid power transmission system and other vehicle auxiliary loads. Fuel cell vehicles require high efficiency of the converters to optimize fuel consumption in various operating conditions. The paper introduces various topologies of Power electronic converters used in hybrid applications along with their pros and cons in various switching techniques adopted. The different power electronic converters are modeled in MATLAB-SIMULINK and comparative analysis has been performed to improve the efficiency and reliability of the system.