This paper presents a hybrid fuzzy-PID controller for air flow supply on a Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. The control objective is to adjust the oxygen excess ratio at a given setpoint in order to prevent oxygen starvation and damage of the fuel-cell stack. The proposed control scheme combines a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) and classical PID controller with a view to benefit the advantages of both controllers. The results show that the proposed technique performs significantly better than the classical PID controller and the FLC in terms of several key performances indices such as the Integral Squared Error (ISE), the Integral Absolute Error (IAE) and the Integral Time-weighted Absolute Error (ITAE) for the closed-loop control system.

Peer Reviewed