This chapter consists of two sections, ‘Load Response Characteristics of a Fuel Cell Microgrid with Control of Number of Units’ and ‘Dynamic Characteristics of a PEFC System for Individual Houses’. The dynamic characteristics and generation efficiency of a microgrid structured from 17 houses are examined in the 1st section. The characteristics of the power quality of a fuel cell microgrid, and the generation efficiency of the fuel cell are examined by numerical analysis. In the 2nd chapter, the method of determination of the control variables for a system controller, which controls the electric power output of a solid-polymer-membrane fuel cell system (PEFC) during electric power load fluctuations, is considered.
TopGeneral Introduction
The summary of the 1st section is as follows. A gas engine generator with a power generation capacity of 3 kW installed in a house is made to correspond to the base load, and a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEFC) with a power generation capacity of 1 kW is installed in 16 houses. Moreover, when changing the load of a microgrid, the correspondence takes place by controlling the number of fuel cells. Using numerical analysis, the characteristics of the power quality of a fuel cell microgrid, and the generation efficiency of the fuel cell were examined. As a result, the relationship between the parameter of the controller and power quality and a fall in generation efficiency by a partial load were clarified.
The summary of the 2nd section is as follows. The operation was clarified for the response characteristics of electric power generation for setting the control variables of proportional action and integral action considered to be the optimal for the system controller. The power load pattern of an individual house consists of loads usually moved up and down rapidly for a short time. Until now, there have been no examples showing the characteristics of the power generation efficiency of a system that follows a load pattern that moves up and down rapidly. Therefore, this study investigates the relation of the control variables and power generation efficiency when adding change that simulates the load of a house to PEFC cogeneration. As a result, it was shown that an operation, minimally influenced by load fluctuations, can be performed by changing the control variables using the value of the electric power load of a system.