Hybrid Feedback-Feedforward Fuzzy Control of PEM Fuel Cell Air Feed System with Electromagnetic Field Optimization

Optimal air feed control of PEM fuel cell system is a very important issue to prevent stack degradation and maximize the net power output of the fuel cell stack. The control objective is to adjust the oxygen excess ratio at the required reference value to avoid the oxygen starvation at sudden current demand preventing the fuel-cell stack damage. This paper proposes a new controller which combines fuzzy feedback and fuzzy feedforward to eliminate the effect of the disturbance. The feedback part comprises a fuzzy PID controller and the feedforward part comprises a single input single output fuzzy controller. Simultaneous optimization of the controller parameters is accomplished using a new optimization algorithm called electromagnetic field optimization (EFO). EFO is a new physics-inspired evolutionary algorithm with a high level of cooperation between population members. This paper is the first use of the EFO algorithm for control applications and fuzzy controller optimization with the application to PEMFC air feed system. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed controller by improving the transient response and regulating the oxygen excess ratio at the required value.