Distributed Generation Applications of Fuel Cells
Caisheng Wang and M. Hashem Nehrir
Abstract - Fuel cells (FCs) are static energy conversion devices
that convert the chemical energy of fuel directly into DC electrical
energy. Among several types of fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cells
(SOFC), polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) and
molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) show great promise for
distributed generation (DG) applications. These fuel cells have
many advantages over conventional power plants. They have
higher efficiency, zero or lower emission of pollutant gases and
flexible modular structure, and they can be placed at desired sites
in a distribution system for system reinforcement.
This paper discusses the DG applications of the above three
types of fuel cells and introduces the controllers needed to regulate
the FC output voltage and control the real and reactive power flow
to the utility grid.
Index Terms-Distributed generation, dynamic model, fuel cell,
power management.
I. INTRODUCTION
HE ever increasing energy consumption, the rising price
1 and exhaustible nature of fossil fuel, and increasing public
awareness for environmental protection have created increasing
interest in fuel cell distributed generation (FCDG) systems.
Moreover, due to steady progress in power deregulation and
utility restructuring, and tight constraints imposed on the
construction of new transmission lines for long distance power
transmission, FCDG applications are expected to increase in the
future.
Fuel cells (FCs) are static energy conversion devices that
convert the chemical energy of fuel directly into DC electrical
energy. Among different types of fuel cells, solid oxide fuel Flow
cells (SOFC), polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells Channel Anode
(PEMFC) and molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) are most
likely be used for DG applications [I]-[7]. Compared with
conventional power plants, these FCDG systems have many $ HO
advantages such as high efficiency, zero or low emission (ofPMC
pollutant gases) and flexible modular structure. Fuel cell DGsr0
can be strategically placed at any site in a power system f4H
H2
(normally at the distribution level) for grid reinforcement,
deferring or eliminating the need for system upgrades, and
improving system integrity, reliability and efficiency.
Moreover, as a byproduct, high-temperature fuel cells also
generate heat that makes them suitable for residential,
commercial, or industrial applications, where electricity and
heat are needed simultaneously [6], [7].
the utility grid. The amount of power delivered to the utility
grid can be controlled through these interfacing devices. DC
voltage controllers are often used to control the DC voltage at
the FC terminals. The FC output voltage is a function of the
amount of power delivered by the FC. Controlled DCDC
converters are used to adapt the fuel cell output voltage within a
desired DC voltage range so that a fairly good input DC voltage
can be available to the fuel cell inverter.
This paper gives an overview of the above three types of fuel
cells, discusses their DG applications, and introduces the
controllers needed to regulate the FC output voltage and to
control the real and reactive power flow from the FCDG to the
utilty rid.
utility grid.
II. FUEL CELL OVERVIEW
A. PEMFC
PEMFC has a sandwich like structure, as shown in Fig. 1 [1].
Between two porous electrodes is a Teflon-like membrane,
which is an excellent conductor of protons and an insulator of
electrons [6], [7]. The hydrogen molecules are broken into
electrons and hydrogen protons at the anode with the help of
platinum catalyst. The hydrogen protons pass through the
membrane (electrolyte), reach the cathode surface and combine
with the electrons, which travel from anode to cathode through
the external load, to produce water. The reactions at the anode
and cathode side and the overall reaction are given in Fig. 1.
Electron La urrent
Flow Flow
CatalGst
as
Flow
Layers 1 Cathode Channel
+
H +
M
Membrane
2H2 + 02 2H20
60C and 80C), and because of this, the PEMFC has a quick 4 also shows the effect of temperature on the SOFC V-I
start, which is beneficial in automotive applications where the characteristic curve. The SOFC output voltage is higher at lower
quick start is necessary. temperature in the low current zone while the voltage is higher
40 at higher temperature in the high current region.
38
38 Anode 6athode
X 34 - Ohmic Region Electrode
0~

-~30 Region

Load Current (A) Electrolyte

Fig. 2 V-I characteristic of a 500W PEMFC stack [1]. Fg .Shmtcdarmo OC
0 2 02~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fig. 2 shows the output voltage vs. load current (V-i)
characteristic curve of a 500W PEMFC stack [1]. This 12C
characteristic curve, which is typical of other fuel cells, can be ,| 17
divided into three regions. The voltage drop across the fuel cell 100 1173K
associated with low currents is due to the activation loss inside 2
the fuel cell; the voltage drop in the middle of the curve (which a) 80
is approximately linear) is due to the ohmic loss in the fuel cell O \
stack; and as a result of the concentration loss, the output : 60 \\*
voltage at the end of the curve will drop sharply as the load a~
current increases [6], [7]. o 0
Fuel SOFCicnrFuel 90%H 1O%H
associated~~ ~ MCFCs low curet iste duer to thel actiaalo carbnat inies23
promising future. Based on a negative-ion conductive
electrolyte, SOFCs operate between 600 C and 1000 C, and E y150
convert chemical energy into electricity at high efficiency, Loadcurrent(A)
which can reach up to 6500 [2]. The overall efficiency of an
integrated SOFC-combustion turbine system can even reach Fig.4. V-Icharacteristiccofaa55kWMSOFCstackT[4].
70%r [2]. Despite slow start-up and more thermal stresses due to C. MCFC
the high operating temperature it allows for internal reforming MCC utete
fge fuel inside the fuel cell, which gives multi-fuel their electrolyte[6] [7] Athightemperatures(
capability to SOFCs [6], [7]. Moreover, their solid nature . ..
simplifies the system designs that the corrosion and tiso
management problems related to liquid electrolyte are of C03> ions. At the cathode, the oxygen and carbon oxide
eliminated [6]. These merits give SOFC a bright future to be combine with the electrons from the external circuit to produce
usedin stationaryapplications. Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of carbonate ions ( C03 ). At the anode, the C03 ions are
a SOFC. The reactions at the anode and cathode are also given deoxidized by hydrogen, and electrons are released at the same
in the figure. time. These electrons will have to go through the external circuit
The steady-state terminal V-I curves of a 5kW SOFC model and then reach the cathode surface. Fig. 5 shows the schematic
at different temperatures, which are typical of SOFCs, are diagram of a MCFC. The reactions at the anode and cathode
shown in Fig. 4 [4]. The activation voltage drop dominates the side are given in the figure.
voltage drop at low-current region. As load current increases,
the ohmic voltage drop increases fast and becomes the main
contribution to the SOFC voltage drop. When the load current
exceeds a certain value, the fuel cell output voltage will drop
sharply due to the concentration voltage drop inside SOFC. Fig.

245
 III. FCDG APPLICATIONS
Load
Anode Cathode In FCDG systems, power electronic interfacing devices are
Electrode Electrode required to convert the DC power, produced by FCs, to AC

power to be fed into a utility grid and to meet the system

7 C'_athode operational requirements. The interface is very important as it
.e
4e-

Fuel
Outlet 1 _ ° Outlet
H2O O 1ll- X O affects the operation of the fuel cell system as well as the power
X IIl-
1ll 2 grid. Various power electronic circuits have been proposed in
I +11-| co recent work to interface different energy sources with the utility
0~~~~~~ grid [9], [10]. Pulse-width modulated (PWM) voltage source
Fuel_Cathode
~ ~
Inlet ~ ~ ~ 7Inlet inverters (VSI) are widely used to interconnect a fuel cell
2nlet inventegy system (or
other electronically interfaced DGs) to a
Mo1 lten Carbonate utility grid for real and reactive power control purposes [9],
Electrolyte [10]. In addition, as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 6, fuel cell output
Fig. 5 Schematic diagram of a MCFC. voltage is a function of load current. Therefore, fuel cell systems
normally need DCDC converters to adapt the fuel cell output
Fig. 6 shows the V-I performance progress for MCFCs made voltage to desired inverter input voltage and smooth the fuel cell
from 1967 to 2002, [6]. During the 1980s, the performance of output current at the same time [9].
MCFC stacks made dramatic improvements. It is noted from In what follows, the interconnection and control of fuel cell
this figure that MCFCs normally operate in the range of DGs are discussed . The strategies are not fuel cell dependent
100-200 mAim 2 at 750-850 mV for a single cell [6]. MCFS and could be applied to different types of fuel cells discussed
have achieved efficiencies in the range of 50-60% before heat above. Fig. 7 shows the schematic diagram of a FCDG system
recovery, and with heat recovery their efficiencies could exceed [10]. A boost DCDC converter is used to adapt the fuel cell
70% [11]. output voltage to the DC bus voltage. The selection of the DC
bus voltage is mainly determined by the inverter AC output
voltage and the voltage drop across the LC filter on the AC side
0.9
>of the inverter. A 3-phase 6-switch inverter interfaces the DC
bus with an AC bus. The LC filter, connected to the output ofthe
- \\ 19N (1AIAtm) inverter, is to reduce the harmonics introduced by the inverter.
a l8 XA")1Atm (I
.q
g \
The AC bus is connected to a utility grid through a coupling
Ninductor and a short transmission line. A step-up transformer
-0 71976j1OAtm (IAMM may be needed to increase the voltage level before the system is
connected to the utility grid.
396V967 Atm) The controller for the boost DCDC converter is designed to
keep the DC bus voltage within an acceptable range. Therefore,
I.5 the input to the 3-phase inverter can be considered as a fairly
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 good constant voltage source. According to the IEEE Standard
Current Density, tnAcr2 1547 [8], in order to meet the requirements for interconnecting
the FCDG system to a utility grid and control the real and
Fig. 6. Progress in generic performance of MCFCs on reformate gas and air [6].
DC/DC: DC/AC:Culn idco
Converter DC BUS Inlverter AC BUS & linlertCopil
tranlsmissionl
rdce

FC Control Signal g g l lDI

Poxver Plant VD(9:fl DC/DC PControl Signalsl AC
[,------C:ontroller
Power Plant VI)CIV, DPQDC
ontolClontrollerer

Fig. 7. Block diagram of a FCDG system [10].

246
 o~ ~
reactive power flow between them, it is necessary to shape and - 700
control the inverter output voltage in amplitude, angle and ' 600 Desired Voltage= 480V
frequency. A sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) 5O
. <
controller can be used for the inverter to satisfy voltage >
regulation and achieve real and reactive power control. m
Fig. 8 shows the real and reactive power flows from a ° 300
480-kW PEMFCDG model to the utility grid, to which the Time (s)
FCDG is connected. The PEMFCDG was simulated using the Fig. 10. PFMFCDG: DC bus voltage.
model for a 500-W PEMFC stack reported in [1]. In Fig. 8 the
PEMFC power plant is set to deliver 300 kW and -1 10.8 kVar to Fig. 11 shows the real and reactive power flows from a
the grid. The power plant delivers the set amount of real power 480-kW SOFCDG model to utility grid, to which it is
to the grid and consumes the set reactive power from the grid connected. The model is based on a 5-kW SOFC model
after about 3.0 seconds from start up. reported in [4]. A scenario, where the SOFCDG delivers
X 105 (positive) real and reactive power to the utility grid is shown in
4 Fig. 1 1. The SOFCDG is set to deliver 350 kW and 1 10 kVar to
the utility grid with the ramp rates shown in the figure. Fig. 12
shows the corresponding output voltage and current curves of
0L LAlr/2W>H> Pref = 300 kW the SOFC power plant. It is noted that the SOFCDG reaches its
reference real and reactive power settings in about 3 seconds
-2 and delivers the pre-set amount of real and reactive power to the
0 1 2 3 4 5 utility grid.
x 104 X 1 05

0y Qref=-110.8kVar 2_4
> - Pref= 350 kW
0-Ic -fr~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0--
-15 -2
0 1 3 2 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 -
Time (s)
Fig. 8. PEMFCDG: P and Qelivered to the grid. x 10
4

Fig. 9 shows the corresponding output voltage and current Qref 110 kVar
curves of the PEMFC power plant. The DC bus voltage (output <
voltage of the boost DCDC converter) for this case is shown in a °
Fig. 10. Note that although the output voltage of the PEMFC
power plant (Fig. 9) falls from its open-circuit value of about -2
300 V to 235 V when the PEMFCDG is loaded, the DC bus 1 (s)
as shown in Fig. 10.
voltage recovers to its reference of 480 V, '
~~~~~~~Fig.
11. SOFCDG: P and (elivered to the grid.
Tote grd
The voltage ripple at the DC bus is about 1.25%.
350
2 400
_\
-i
300 i -
a 02M 350i
0
o 250 ll: -1\lu :g WM t S V 0 oL 300 ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~0
L)
u 200
Xc 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 1 2 3 4 5 1

2000 -1-000

-°1000 1i1'O 50X

o 0nL -5000 1 2 3 4 5 6

0 1
3 2
4 5 Fig. 12. SOFCDG: Outputvoltage and current ofthe fuel cellpowerplant.
Time (s)
Fig. 9. PEMFCDG: Output voltage and current of the fuel cell power plant.

247
The schematic diagram for DG operation of fuel cells shown in generic FCDG system block diagram is given in the paper,
Fug.7 is generic and applicable to different types of FCDGs, which could be applicable to different types of fuel cells that
including MCFCDG, the modeling of which is not discussed in have potential for DG applications. It has been shown that
this paper. controllers are needed to regulate the FC output voltage and
control the real and reactive power flow from the FCDG to the
IV. COMBINED HEAT AND POWIER APPLICATIONS OF FCs utility grid. Simulation results show that the real and reactive
The operation of fuel cells is more efficient when the exhaust power delivered from the FCDG to the utility grid can be
heat from the fuel cell is recovered and used in combined heat controlled as desired. The CHP operation of FCs that have
and power (CHP) applications. For a low-temperature fuel cell potential for DG applications have also been discussed.
like PEMFC, the hot water can be used directly for space
heating, for example. In high-temperature fuel cells (SOFC and
MCFC), the exhaust steam can be used to drive a steam power
plant or a micro gas turbine, for example. Doing so, the Compressor...
efficiency of PEMFC can exceed 5000, and that for SOFC and
MCFC can approach 700o. Fig. 13 shows the estimated
efficiency ranges of different power generating systems, Pressurized Recuperator C~hse AC

.E.l........cleandit jheat load

including FC CHP applicaigt1iSchmatcoblck dagra power system.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . . . . . . . . . . .

andgeneration
of..FCM.cominedhea
~~~~~~~~ GasTh~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~nwCc~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~m en lemC bus E~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~............................................

workwas suppor~Eleted cinatbyNSgrn ElcSt0ri22

This andd yh
20 hea~eSm~Ccl iE ulcllpoeta otaaSaeUiesty, oadedbs heUie

80

Fig 13 Estimatedceficiencybrangs ofathemcurent andTfutuebREFERENCE

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