• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.58 no.6
• /
• pp.1093-1099
• /
• 2009

Alternative energy sources such as renewable energy like solar power systems, wind power systems, or fuel cell power systems has been the rising issue in the electrical power system. This paper discusses an economic study analysis of fuel cells in the korean electricity market. It includes the basic concept of a fuel cell and the korean electricity market. It also describes the need of renewable energy and how the fuel cell is connected with the local grid. This paper shows the impact of production and recovering thermal energy of a grid-connected fuel cell power system. The profit maximization approach has been structured including electrical power trade with the local grid and heat trade within the micro-grid. The strategies are evaluated using a local load that uses electric and thermal power which has different patterns between summer and winter periods. The solution algorithm is not newly developed one, but is solved by an application called GAMS. Results indicate the need and usefulness of a fuel cell power system.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.16 no.11
• /
• pp.1013-1020
• /
• 2004

The hybrid system of gas turbine and fuel cell is expected to produce electricity more efficiently than conventional methods, especially in small power applications such as distributed generation. The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is currently the most promising fuel cell for the hybrid system. To realize the conceptual advantages resulting from the hybridization of gas turbine and fuel cell, optimized construction of the whole system must be the most important. In this study, parametric design analyses for pressurized GT/SOFC systems have been peformed considering probable practical limiting design factors such as turbine inlet temperature, fuel cell operating temperature, temperature rise in the fuel cell and soon. Analyzed systems include various configurations depending on fuel reforming type and fuel supply method.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.82-87
• /
• 2007

In the present study, the simulation on the annual performance evaluation of a renewable energy systems with fuel cell driven compound source hybrid heat pump systems is applied to the heating and cooling of large community building. The large community building has the economical advantage to apply heat pump cooling and heating systems the long period operation. If air and ground source hybrid heat pump systems are combined, COP of the system can be increased largely. Fuel cell driven compound source hybrid heat pump system can reduced the fuel cost as well as thermal storage tank sharply.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers A
• /
• v.50 no.6
• /
• pp.265-274
• /
• 2001

Recently, the operation of power systems has become more difficult because the peak demand load is increasing continuously and the daily load factor is getting worse and worse. Also, the consideration of deregulation and global environment in electric power industry is required. In order to overcome those problems, a study on the planning and operation in power systems of dispersed generating sources such as fuel cell systems, photovoltaic systems and wind power systems, has been performed energetically. This paper presents a method for determining an optimal operation strategy of dispersed co-generating sources, especially fuel cell generation systems, considering thermal supply as well as electric power supply. In other words, the optimal operation of those sources can be determined easily by the principle of equal incremental fuel cost and the thermal merit of those sources can be also evaluated quantitatively through Kuhn-Tucker's optimal conditions. In additions, an priority method using the comparison of total cost at the peak load time interval is presented in order ot select the optimal locations of those sources. The validity of the proposed algorithms is demonstrated using a model system.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.134-141
• /
• 2010

Small PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell systems do not require humidification and have great commercialization possibilities. However, methods for controlling small PEM fuel cell stacks have not been clearly established. In this paper, a control method for small PEM fuel cell systems using a dual closed loop with a static feedforward structure is defined and realized using a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). The fundamental elements that need to be controlled in fuel cell systems include the supply of air and hydrogen, water management inside the stack, and heat management of the stack. For small PEM fuel cell stacks operated without a separate humidifier, fans are essential for air supply, heat management, and water management of the stack. A purge valve discharges surplus water from the stack. The proposed method controls the fan using double control loops to quicken transient response of the fan thereby improving the supply rate of air. Feedback control to compensate for the voltage change in fuel cell stack improves the response characteristics in fuel cell to load variations. The feasibility of proposed method was proved by the experiments with a 60W small PEM fuel cell system and operation of a notebook computer using this system.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.143-151
• /
• 2008

This paper presents the operation of Fuel Cell Distributed Generation(FCDG) systems in distribution systems. Hence, modeling, controller design, and simulation study of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell(SOFC) distributed generation(DG) system are investigated. The physical model of the fuel cell stack and dynamic models of power conditioning units are described. Then, suitable control architecture based on fuzzy logic and the neural network for the overall system is presented in order to activate power control and power quality improvement. A MATLAB/Simulink simulation model is developed for the SOFC DG system by combining the individual component models and the controllers designed for the power conditioning units. Simulation results are given to show the overall system performance including active power control and voltage regulation capability of the distribution system.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.10 no.6
• /
• pp.2256-2261
• /
• 2015

In the power plant using high temperature fuel cells such as Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell(MCFC), and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell(SOFC), the generated electric power per area of power generation facilities is much higher than any other renewable energy sources. - High temperature fuel cell systems are capable of operating at MW rated power output. - It also has a feature that is short for length of the line for connecting the interior of the generation facilities. In normal condition, these points are advantages for voltage drops or power losses. However, in abnormal condition such as fault occurrence in electrical system, the fault currents are increased, because of the small impedance of the short length of power cable. Commonly, to minimize the thermal-mechanical stresses on the stack and increase the systems reliability, we divided the power plant configuration to several banks for parallel operation. However, when a fault occurs in the parallel operation system of power main transformer, the fault currents might exceed the interruption capacity of protective devices. In fact, although the internal voltage level of the fuel cell power plant is the voltage level of distribution systems, we should install the circuit breakers for transmission systems due to fault current. To resolve these problems, the SFCL has been studied as one of the noticeable devices. Therefore, we analyzed the effect of application of the SFCL on bus tie in a fuel cell power plants system using PSCAD/EMTDC.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2004

Hybrid power systems with fuel cells and batteries have the potential to improve the operation efficiency and dynamic response. A proper load management strategy is important to better system efficiency and endurance in hybrid systems. In this paper, a fuzzy logic algorithm has been used to determine the fuel cell output power depending on the external required power and the battery state of charge(SoC). If the required power of the hybrid system is small and the SoC is small, then the greater part of the fuel cell power is used to charge the battery pack. If the required power is relatively big and the SoC is big, then fuel cell and battery are concurrently used to supply the required power. These IF-THEN operation rules are implemented by fuzzy logic for the energy management system of hybrid system. The strategy is evaluated by simulation. The results show that fuzzy logic can be effectively used to optimize the operational efficiency of hybrid system and to maintain the battery SoC properly.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 1992.07b
• /
• pp.1035-1037
• /
• 1992

Generally, fuel cell has characteristics of low voltage, large current and voltage variation under load change. Therefore, DC output voltage of fuel cell is too low to convert into AC with high efficiency and good performance. For this reason, fuel cell generating system is composed of DC-DC converter and inverter in cascade. This paper used 2-phase boost DC-DC converter to obtain low distortion waveform and reduce input-output current ripple, and discussed inverter which can be operated in independent drive mode and utility line interface drive mode. Then, the change of modes can be achived smoothly.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.339-356
• /
• 2018

Although fuel cell systems have advantages in terms of electric efficiency and environmental impact compared with conventional power systems, fuel cell systems have not been deployed widely due to their low reliability and high price. In order to guarantee the lifetime of 10 years, which is the commercialization goal of Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs), it is necessary to improve durability and reliability through optimized operation and maintenance technologies. Due to the complexity of components and their degradation phenomena, it's not easy to develop and apply the diagnose and prognostic methodologies for PEFCs. The purpose of the paper is to show the current state on PEFC prognostic technology for condition based maintenance. For the prognostic of PEFCs, the model driven method, the data-driven, and the hybrid method can be applied. The methods reviewed in this paper can contribute to the development of technologies to reduce the life cycle cost of fuel cells and increase the reliability through prognostics-based health management system.