| Summary: | Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) topology is becoming one of the most reliable and promising alternative resource of energy for a wide range of applications. However, efficiency improvement and lifespan extension are needed to overcome the limited market of fuel cell technologies. In this paper, an efficient approach based on a super-twising algorithm (STA) is proposed for the PEMFC system. The control objective is to lengthen the fuel cell lifetime by improving its power quality, as well as to keep the system operating at an optimal and efficient power point. The algorithm adjusts the PEMFC operating point to the optimum power by tuning the duty cycle of the boost converter. The closed-loop system includes the Heliocentris hy-Expert<sup>TM</sup> PEMFC, DC−DC boost converter, DSPACE DS1104, dedicated PC, and a programmable electronic load. The practical implementation of the proposed STA on a hardware setup is performed using a dSPACE real-time digital control platform. The data acquisition and the control system are conducted together with the dSPACE 1104 controller board. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm, experimental results are compared with 1-order sliding mode control (SMC) under different load resistance. The obtained results demonstrate the validity of the proposed control scheme by ensuring at least 72% of the maximum power produced by PEMFC. In addition, it is proven that the STA ensures all the fundamental properties of the 1-order SMC, as well as providing chattering reduction of 91%, which will ameliorate as a consequence the fuel cell lifetime.
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