Controlling Transient Behavior of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Using an Invariant Property

该奖项的研究目标是解决提高sofc的负载跟踪能力和同时在剧烈功率波动下保持安全暂态运行这两个重要但相互矛盾的目标。负载跟随不足归因于运输延迟，这使得sofc在瞬态期间容易氢缺乏。氢短缺将通过限制燃料利用率来解决，燃料利用率是sofc的一个关键性能变量，在最佳范围内。通过直接测量燃料利用率的暂态控制由于其复杂和昂贵的传感要求是不切实际的。相反，所提出的方法将通过使用不变属性来实现这一目标。它对压力、温度和内外重整反应的不变性，允许简单的控制实施。该研究将揭示该属性存在的基本条件，并开发一种以模型独立的方式推导该属性的形式化方法。通过将该特性集成到包含储能元件的混合SOFC系统的鲁棒控制策略中，它将在实现上述暂态控制的同时提高SOFC的负载跟踪能力。如果成功，这项研究将把sofc的可用性从统一功率应用扩展到快速响应场景。它将提供可接受的瞬态响应，减少传感和有限的系统动力学知识，其中包括许多相互关联的物理现象。该研究将为sofc提供一种通用的瞬态控制方法，该方法适用于各种燃料类型、重整器类型、堆技术等。它将降低对模型识别和调优工作的需求，这在传统方法中是至关重要的。这项研究将通过研究生研究、合作实习机会等方式，让来自多个工程学科的研究生和本科生参与其中，并将努力增加女性和少数民族学生的参与。研究成果将透过大学和系内的外展活动，以及透过出版刊物和参加会议来传播。

The research objective of this award is to address the important yet conflicting goals of improving load-following ability of SOFCs and simultaneously maintaining safe transient operation under aggressive power fluctuations. Deficient load-following is attributed to transport delays that render SOFCs susceptible to hydrogen starvation during transients. Hydrogen starvation will be addressed by limiting fuel utilization, a critical performance variable in SOFCs, within an optimal range. Transient control through direct measurement of fuel utilization is impractical due to elaborate and costly sensing requirement. In contrast, the proposed approach will achieve this objective by using an invariant property. Its invariance with respect to pressures, temperatures, and internal and external reforming reactions, admits simple control implementation. The research will reveal the underlying conditions for existence of this property and develop a formal approach for deriving it in a model independent manner. By integrating the property within robust control strategies for hybrid SOFC systems containing an energy storage element, it will improve the load-following ability of SOFCs while achieving the aforementioned transient control.If successful, this research will extend the usability of SOFCs from uniform power applications to rapid response scenarios. It will provide acceptable transient response with reduced sensing and limited knowledge of the system dynamics, which consists of numerous interconnected physical phenomena. The research will open the possibility of a generalized transient control approach for SOFCs that is applicable across variations in fuel types, reformer types, stack technologies, etc. It will lower the need for model identification and tuning efforts that are crucial in traditional approaches. The research will involve graduate and undergraduate students from multiple engineering disciplines through graduate research, co-op opportunities, etc. and will attempt to increase the involvement of women and minority students. Research results will be disseminated through university and department-wide outreach activities, and through publications and conference participation.