Grid-Forming Fuel Cell System for an Islanded AC Grid

João M. T. do Amaral; Janito S. Ramos; Carolina C. M. de Souza; Giulia J. da Silva; Emanuel L. van Emmerik; Robson F. S. Dias

doi:10.18618/REP.e202457

Authors

João M. T. do Amaral Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6245-9101
Janito S. Ramos Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9019-7443
Carolina C. M. de Souza Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5886-7530
Giulia J. da Silva Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3720-6981
Emanuel L. van Emmerik Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9067-3692
Robson F. S. Dias Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5281-9179

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18618/REP.e202457

Keywords:

Grid-Forming, Fuel Cell, Voltage-Source Converter, Hardware-in-the-Loop

Abstract

This paper proposes a two-stage converter that can black start an isolated AC Microgrid with a Fuel Cell (FC) as the primary energy source. The first stage is connected to the FC and employs a Three-Leg Interleaved Boost DC/DC Converter (IBC), while the second is a Three-Phase Voltage Source Converter (VSC). The DC/DC stage utilizes a Cascade Voltage Control (CVC) to mitigate voltage fluctuations in the DC-link caused by the variability of the FC voltage. For the DC/AC stage, three distinct grid-forming (GFM) strategies are implemented with two of them with multi-loop cascaded structure and one with a single-loop structure. The power circuit of the system is simulated using the Real-Time Simulator (RTS) HIL 602+ from Typhoon-HIL, with the control strategies embedded on the Digital Signal Processor (DSP) TMS320F28379D - F28379D LaunchPad from Texas Instruments (TI). The performance of the cases are verified through CHIL simulations for a balanced and unbalanced inductive load steps. The results demonstrate that for both tests the GFM single loop structure presents smoother transients and shorter recovery times. Additionally, for the unbalanced loads, all the cases present similar results for the DC variables with more pronounced differences at the AC side.

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Author Biographies

João M. T. do Amaral, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

born in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,in 1996. He received his B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering in 2021 and a M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering in 2024, both from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He is currently a D.Sc. student in Electrical Engineering at COPPE/UFRJ in the Power Electronics area. His areas of interest are Decarbonization of Electrical Systems, Real-Time Simulation applications, integration of Renewable Energy Systems to Electrical Power Grids and Grid-Forming Converters.

Janito S. Ramos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

born in Praia, Santiago, Cape Verde, in 1994. He received the B.Sc. in control and automation engineering from the Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais (CEFET – MG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 2018 and M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2021, where he is currently working toward the D.Sc. degree. His research interests include energy storage systems, renewable energy sources, and electrical machines.

Carolina C. M. de Souza, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

was born in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2000. She is an undergraduate research and is pursuing a B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Her areas of interests are Renewable Energy Sources, Power Electronics, Real-Time Simulation, Fuel Cell Storage Systems, and integration of Inverter-based sources to Electrical Power Grids.

Giulia J. da Silva, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

born in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,in 1999. She is an undegraduate research, pursuing the B.Sc. degree in electrical enginnering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Her areas of interests are: Renewable Energy Sources, Wind Power Plants, Power electronics and Real-Time Simulation. She is a member of IEEE.

Emanuel L. van Emmerik, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

is an electrical engineer and master (1991 Cum Laude) in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands. Since 2002, he is a researcher at COPPE/UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, where he received his D.Sc. in Electrical Engineering in 2018. His areas of interest are microgrids, distributed generation, BESS, electrical machines, FACTS, HVDC systems, power systems and drives.

Robson F. S. Dias, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

is graduated as an Electrical Engineer from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) in 2002. In the same year, he started his Master's degree in Power Electronics at COPPE/UFRJ and, in 2003, he was transferred to the PhD level without defending his master's thesis, which he defended in 2008. From 2008 to 2009, he remained at UFRJ as a Recent Doctoral Researcher, where he took part in the research group Optimization of transmission systems using non-conventional methodologies. From 2009 to 2010, he was part of the Center for Applied Power Electronics at the University of Toronto, Canada, as a post-doctoral researcher. He is currently a professor at UFRJ. His areas of interest are Power Electronics, Application of FACTS devices, Energy Transmission and Distribution, Renewable Energy Sources, Offshore Systems, Real-Time Simulation and Co-simulation.

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