The Performance of SOFC Model Under Different Three-phase Load Conditions

In this paper, the dynamic performance of a modified thermal based dynamic model of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is presented under different three-phase load conditions. The modified thermal based fuel cell model contains ohmic, activation and concentration voltage losses, thermal dynamics, methanol reformer and fuel utilization factor limiting stage. SOFC model and the power conditioning unit (PCU), which consists of a DC-DC boost converter, a DC-AC inverter, their controller, transformer and filter, are developed on Matlab/Simulink environment. The simulation results show that the real and reactive power management of the inverter is performed successfully in an AC power system with the proposed thermal based SOFC model under three-phase load conditions such as ohmic loads, switched ohmic-inductive loads and a three-phase induction motor. Finally, the three-phase induction motor is performed both no load and load conditions. The simulation results show that the modified thermal based fuel cell model provides an accurate representation of the dynamic and steady state behavior of the fuel cell under different three-phase load conditions.