Development of a fuel cell system for Microgrids

Many countries which including Singapore are more aware of advantages of introducing different types of system into Microgrid. During utility grid disturbances, the Microgrid has ability to separate and isolate itself with no disruption to loads. It also helps to play important parts in the environmental aspects. For instance, it encourages the use of renewable energy sources, and carbon emissions are reduced. Inside the Microgrid, one of the system is the fuel cell system. Fuel cells are renewable energy devices. With the combination of hydrogen fuel and oxygen, electric power is produced. The fuel cell maximum output power rating is 5kW. The fuel cell system full setup is shown in Figure 1.2 (Chapter 1). Investigation, research and detailed study on the fuel cell have to be conducted. The aim of this project is to simulate the fuel cell, boost converter and inverter to study in depth the characteristics of the fuel cell. Further studies include incorporating a hydrogen flow meter to measure the amount of hydrogen gas being consumed for different power ratings of the fuel cell. Through all this data and characteristics collected, a detailed study on the cost and benefit analysis will be conducted. This report introduces the theories, design and development of the fuel cell characteristics. This includes three-phase VSI (Voltage Source Inverter) and DC-DC converter. The simulations achieved by using Matlab/SIMULINK.Bachelor of Engineerin