Observer Based Fuel Delivery Control for PEM Fuel Cells with a Segmented Anode Model

In the anode of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, the measurable outlet pressure is usually different with the actually utilized stack pressure. In this paper, the anode of PEM fuel cells is divided into three segments to reduce the modeling error between these two pressures and the impact of the spatial distribution of pressure, electrochemical reaction, and gas permeation. Specifically, we first model the fuel delivery system with anode recirculation and bleeding in a MIMO nonlinear compact form based on the segmented anode model. Then, a Lyapunov-based full state feedback controller is proposed based on the developed model to guarantee adequate hydrogen supply and maintain the anode hydrogen at a suitable concentration level. Moreover, a high order sliding mode observer is proposed to estimate the unmeasurable pressure and the partial pressure in the fuel delivery system with known disturbance. Furthermore, an output feedback controller based on the proposed observer is developed with guaranteed stability. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control and the estimation approaches.