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High Efficiency Power Converter for a Doubly-fed SOEC/SOFC System
Tomas Manez, Kevin; Anthon, Alexander; Zhang, Zhe
Published in:Proceedings of 2016 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition
Link to article, DOI:10.1109/APEC.2016.7468026
Publication date:2016
Document VersionPeer reviewed version
Link back to DTU Orbit
Citation (APA):Tomas Manez, K., Anthon, A., & Zhang, Z. (2016). High Efficiency Power Converter for a Doubly-fedSOEC/SOFC System. In Proceedings of 2016 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (pp.1235 - 1242). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/APEC.2016.7468026
High Efficiency Power Converter for a Doubly-fedSOEC/SOFC System
Kevin Tomas-ManezTechnical University of Denmark
Department of Electrical EngineeringEmail: [email protected]
Alexander AnthonTechnical University of Denmark
Department of Electrical EngineeringEmail: [email protected]
Zhe ZhangTechnical University of Denmark
Department of Electrical EngineeringEmail: [email protected]
Abstract—Regenerative fuel cells (RFC) have become anattractive technology for energy storage systems due to their highenergy density and lower end-of-life disposal concerns. However,high efficiency design of power conditioning unit (PCU) forRFC becomes challenging due to their asymmetrical current-power characteristics that are dependent on the operation mode(energy storage / energy supply). This paper proposes a newPCU architecture for grid-tie RFC with which the RFC’s asym-metrical characteristic becomes less critical and thus a muchmore symmetrical power rating of the dc-dc converter for bothoperating modes is possible. This paper discusses the designconsiderations for this novel PCU, and verifies its operationprinciple with Matlab/Simulink simulations. Experimental resultson a tailored dc-dc converter confirm the design simplificationsfor high efficiency operation along the entire power operatingrange of the RFC as well as the utilization of the same controlstrategy design for the two RFC operating modes.
Keywords—Bidirectional fuel cells, power conditioning, Inter-leaved boost converter, renewable energies, grid tie
I. INTRODUCTION
Over the last years renewable energies have experienceda strong development to become alternatives for conventionalenergy resources, among others due to the global awarenesson limited fossil fuel resources and a widespread sensibilitytowards the environmental impacts. However, large scale in-tegration of renewable energy sources present an importantdrawback because of their highly irregular and mostly un-predictable production [1], which causes high dynamics onthe grid infrastructure and thus, electrical grid reliability islowered. Large scale energy storage systems are thereforea potential solution to improve grid system reliability andstability when supplied by renewable energy sources [2]. Withthe utilization of information technologies to the grid system,consumers’ behavior can become much more predictable,and therefore contribute to a better load regulation and anincreased grid reliability [1]. The combination of renewableenergy sources including energy storage systems and informa-tion technology systems can establish an equilibrium betweenenergy production and demand, because surplus energy fromrenewable energy sources can be stored for later use to supportthe grid demands when necessary [3].
Regenerative or bidirectional fuel cells (RFC) could be anattractive technology for such large scale energy storage sys-tems by means of hydrogen storage. Their particular benefitsover traditional batteries are their high energy density of thefuel and their lower environmental disposal concerns [4]. In
[5] an energy storage system based on RFC which couples theelectricity grid with the natural gas grid is presented showingthe potential of RFC for large scale energy storage.
Grid-tie energy storage systems based on RFC requirepower converter units to couple the grid with the RFC, toaccommodate voltage levels and to regulate the system powerflow. For traditional grid-tie fuel cell systems (not RFC),high efficiency PCU ranging from 96.8% to 98% have beendemonstrated [6]. However, RFCs present a very asymmetricalcurrent-power characteristic depending on the operating mode(i.e. energy storage or energy supply), leading to wide powerrating spans with which the power conditioning unit (PCU)has to operate at high efficiency.
Different approaches to improve system performance andefficiency have been addressed. For instance, it has beenverified in [7] that the efficiency of bidirectional dc-dc con-verters for grid-tie RFC systems can be greatly improvedwith the utilization of wide bandgap semiconductors such asSiC MOSFETs. Another way towards increasing efficiencyis to reduce the switching energies of power devices in theRFC bidirectional dc-dc converters by means of soft switchingas shown in [8]. Research on magnetics optimization basedon planar magnetics can further increase both efficiency andpower density [9]. Other investigations aim to compensatethe slow dynamics of RFC by the inclusion of auxiliarysources. For instance, in [10] a dc-dc converter for FCs withan additional battery-based energy storage and a bidirectionaldc-dc converter has proven to successfully support rapid loaddemand, and in [16] a grid-tie multiple port converter for fuelcells with super-capacitors as an auxiliary source has beenproven to clearly increase the dynamic response compared tosystems without auxiliary energy storage element.
Research performed to date is based on traditional PCUarchitectures for energy storage systems, as the one shown inFig. 3. However, they are limited to the power rating symmetrycharacteristic of the PCU itself. Power symmetry implies thatthe power rating of the system is equal regardless the powerflow direction. Considering the asymmetrical and wide powerrange of RFC, the design of high efficiency PCU for theentire operating area becomes very challenging. Furthermore,due to the power asymmetry of RFC, cooling effort for thePCU can be oversized depending on the operation mode,which greatly challenges high power density design. Due tothe aforementioned drawbacks with the RFC systems, thispaper presents a novel PCU architecture aiming for a muchmore symmetrical power rating of the dc-dc converter in both
operation modes in order to simplify the high efficiency con-verter design. Design considerations are discussed, principleoperation modes verified by simulations and experimentallyconfirmed on a 5 kW interleaved boost converter
II. BIDIRECTIONAL SOEC/SOFC TECHNOLOGY
Solid oxide electrolyzer cells/fuel cells (SOEC/-SOFC)are a kind of fuel cell technology which uses hydrogen asa fuel and takes advantage of the released energy duringthe reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity.It has been proven that solid oxide cells (SOCs) have thecapability to operate in bidirectional mode [11], also referredas regenerative mode. When hydrogen is used a fuel, reactionof hydrogen and oxygen is produced and an amount of energyis released generating electricity when connected to a load(SOFC operation). On the other hand, when current is forcedto flow through the SOCs the electrolysis of water is producedand hydrogen is generated (SOEC operation).
Design and system specifications of a grid-tie power con-ditioning units for SOEC/SOFC systems are defined accordingto the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the SOEC/SOFCsystem, which is set by the number of stacked cells. How-ever, I-V characteristics of SOEC/SOFC are highly dependenton operating temperature, fuel, pressure and degradation asexplained in [12], [13]. This dependency must be consideredin mature prototyping stages for long-term operation, speciallythe degradation ratio since it can strongly degrade the operatingvoltage ratings [12], [13]. The I-V characteristic for a singleSOEC/SOFC provided by SOCs manufacturers is shown inFig. 1, which will be the starting point of the PCU design.
As shown in the I-V curve from Fig. 1, SOCs operate atvery low voltage and high currents, and for that reason it isnecessary to stack many cells in series. Due to the immaturityof SOEC/SOFC technology, currently there are still mechanicallimitations to obtain high power SOEC/SOFC systems, amongothers due to the maximum number of stackable cells, currentdensity limitations, operating temperature, etc. Currently, themaximum current capability in SOEC mode is up to 60A andup to 30A in SOFC mode.
For the proposed system design in this work, fours stacksin series with 75 cells per stack has been chosen in agreementwith SOCs manufacturers. Fig. 2a shows the I-V characteristicsand Fig. 2b shows the current-power (I-P) characteristics forthe SOEC/SOFC stacks system, which has been extrapolatedfrom the I-V curve of a single cell Fig. 1. From the I-P curvein Fig. 2b, it can be seen that the power rating in SOFC modeis lower than in SOEC mode, which is due to the variation ofthe internal resistance and current direction [11]. This resultsin a very asymmetrical I-P characteristic, which leads to a wideoperating power range for the PCU and thus, high efficiencydesign for the whole power range becomes challenging.
III. GRID-TIE POWER CONDITIONING UNIT FORSOEC/SOFC SYSTEMS
A. Traditional PCU architecture for SOEC/SOFC systems
Several power conditioning topologies can be used torealize SOEC/SOFC systems, and may differ depending on theparticular application, system requirements and stacks structure
Current [A]
-60 -40 -20 0 15 30
Ce
ll V
olta
ge
[V
]
0.5
1
1.5
SOEC SOFC
Fig. 1. Current-voltage characteristics of a single Solid Oxide Elec-trolyzer/Fuel Cell
Current [A]
-60 -40 -20 0 15 30
Vo
lta
ge
[V
]
200
250
300
350
400
450
SOEC SOFC
(a) Current-voltage characteristics.
Current [A]
-60 -40 -20 0 15 30
Po
we
r [k
W]
0
10
20
30
SOEC SOFC
(b) Current-power characteristics.
Fig. 2. SOEC/SOFC stacks composed by 4 stacks in series with 75 cells/stack
[14]. However, the simplified architecture from Fig. 3 can bedefined as a basis. System configuration is based on the parallelconnection of an ac-dc converter, a dc-dc converter and theSOEC/SOFC stacks. Bidirectional power flow of the powerconverter units is required to allow the RFCs to operate inboth modes. In particular, power flows from the grid to theSOCs when operating in SOEC mode (energy storage) andfrom the SOCs to the grid when operating in SOFC mode(energy generation). The dc-dc converter regulates the SOCspower flow and sets the required voltage level for the dc-linkof the inverter.
TABLE I. TRADITIONAL PCU ARCHITECTURE: SOEC/SOFC ANDDC-DC CONVERTER SPECIFICATIONS
Specification SOEC SOFC dc-dc converterVoltage [V] 330 - 450 210 - 330 210 - 450Current [A] 0 - 60 0 - 30 0 - 60Power rating [W] 27000 6300 27000Power flow from the grid to the grid bidirectional
Fig. 3. Traditional PCU architecture for SOEC/SOFC systems.
According to the SOEC/SOFC stacks characteristics fromFig. 2, the system specifications for the dc-dc converter andthe SOEC/SOFC stacks using the traditional PCU architectureare specified in Table I. With the traditional architecture fromFig. 3, a 27 kW power rated dc-dc converter would be requiredto cover the whole power range in both operation modes.This clearly leads to an oversized dc-dc power converterwhen operating in SOFC mode, which only requires a 6.3 kWrated system. Therefore, a different PCU architecture thatcounteracts the SOEC/SOFC power asymmetry would greatlysimplify the converter design.
B. Novel doubly-fed SOEC/SOFC system
The novel PCU architecture presented in this work aims toachieve a much more symmetrical power operating range ofdc-dc converter. The architecture is based on a dynamic PCUwhich connection varies according to the operation mode bythe utilization of two single pole double through (SPDT) relaysas subsequently explained. The proposed PCU architecture forboth operation modes is shown in Fig. 4.
Under SOFC mode, shown in Fig. 4a, SOC stacks areconnected in parallel to the dc-dc converter, which is thesame scenario as with the traditional PCU architecture. Poweris transferred from the SOCs to the output of the dc-dcconverter Pout through the dc-dc converter. Therefore thepower rating of the dc-dc converter Pconv is equal to thepower generated by the SOFCs Psofc, and the dc-dc converterelectrical characteristics are defined as in equations 1, 2 and3.
Vconv(sofc) = Vsofc (1)
Iconv(sofc) = Isofc (2)
Pconv(sofc) = Psoc = Vsofc · Isofc (3)
Under SOEC mode, shown in Fig. 4b, SOC stacks areconnected in series with the dc-dc converter, and these twoare then connected in parallel with the ac-dc converter. Energyrequired for the electrolysis of water and hydrogen generationis supplied from the grid through the ac-dc converter. For thisoperating mode the power rating of the dc-dc converter Pconv
is the power difference between the output power of the dc-ac converter Pinv and the power consumed by the SOECsPsoec. The electrical characteristics of the dc-dc converter areexpressed with equations 4, 5 and 6. From these equations, itcan be inferred that in this scenario the power rating of the
dc-dc converter will be reduced compared to the traditionalPCU architecture. This is illustrated in the following designexample.
Vconv(soec) = Vinv − Vsoec (4)
Iconv,(soec) = −Isoec (5)
Pconv(soec) = Pinv − Psoec = Vconv(soec) · Isoec (6)
A 3-phase grid with Vline = 230V is considered. Then thevoltage at the output of the ac-dc converter is calculated withequation 7 as shown in [15].
Vinv =√2 ·√3 · Vline ≈ 560V (7)
According to the SOEC/SOFC stacks characteristics fromFig. 2, system specifications for the dc-dc converter and theSOEC/SOFC stacks using the proposed PCU architecture canbe redefined using equations 1-6 and with the specificationsfrom Table II. Calculations show that using a dc-dc converterrated at 6.6 kW, a 27 kW-SOEC/6.3 kW-SOFC system canbe realized using the proposed PCU architecture. In otherwords, in SOFC mode the dc-dc converter maximum power isPconv(sofc) = 6.3 kW while in SOEC mode maximum poweris Pconv(soec) = 6.3 kW, resulting not only in a much moresymmetrical dc-dc converter I-P characteristic, but also clearlya four times lower rated power system and thus a reducedcooling effort.
(a) SOFC mode
(b) SOEC mode
Fig. 4. Novel doubly-fed power conditioning architecture for SOEC/SOFC.
TABLE II. NOVEL PCU ARCHITECTURE: SOEC/SOFC AND DC-DCCONVERTER SPECIFICATIONS
Specification SOEC SOFC dc-dc converterVoltage [V] 330 - 450 210 - 330 110 - 330Current [A] 0 - 60 0 - 30 0 - 60Power rating [W] 27000 6300 6600Power flow from the grid to the grid unidirectional
Current [A]
0 20 40 60
Pow
er
[kW
]
0
10
20
30
40
70 cells/stack
75 cells/stack
85 cells/stack
90 cells/stack
ac-dc converter
(a) SOEC/SOFC and ac-dc converter
Current [A]
0 20 40 60
Pow
er
[kW
]
0
2
4
6
8
10
70 cells/stack
75 cells/stack
85 cells/stack
90 cells/stack
(b) dc-dc converter
Fig. 5. Current-power characteristics for different number of cells per stackwith four stacks in series.
The proposed system is subsequently analyzed whenoperating under SOEC mode with different number ofSOEC/SOFC cells by calculating the dc-dc converter speci-fications as previously shown. Fig. 5a shows the I-P charac-teristics of the SOEC/SOFC stacks and Fig. 5b shows the I-Pcharacteristics for the dc-dc converter. Fig. 5 shows that byincreasing the number of cells the power consumed by theSOEC stacks increases. Since the voltage across the SOECstacks moves towards the inverter voltage with an increasingnumber of cells, the voltage at the input of the dc-dc converterdecreases. This causes a significant reduction of the powerrating of the dc-dc converter.
In order to describe the circuit operation in more de-tail, simulations of the entire PCU including a closed-loopSOEC/SOFC current control have been performed with a fullbridge rectifier connected to the 3-phase grid and a boostdc-dc converter. Two ideal SPDT relays are used to switchfrom one operating mode to another, which occurs at verylow frequencies because the operating mode is related to thegrid power excess and power demand rather than conventionalPWM mode of the dc-dc converter itself. Simulations areperformed according to the specifications from Table II. Fig. 6ashows the current through the SOEC/SOFC system Iconv ,whereas Fig. 6b shows the inverter voltage Vinv , the voltageacross the SOEC/SOFC stacks Vsoec / Vsofc and the inputvoltage of the dc-dc converter Vconv . Fig. 6c shows the inverter
Time [s]
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
Curr
ent [A
]
-100
-50
0
50
100t1 t2 t3 t4 t5
(a) Current through the SOEC/SOFC stacks ((+) for SOEC and(-) for SOFC)
Time [s]
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
Voltage [V
]
0
200
400
600t1 t2 t3 t4 t5
Vsoc
Vconv
Vinv
(b) Voltage at the rectifier output, SOCs and input of dc-dcconverter
Time [s]
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
Pow
er
[kW
]
-40
-20
0
20
40t1 t2 t3 t4 t5
Psoc
Pconv
Pinv
(c) Power at the rectifier output, SOCs and dc-dc converter input
Fig. 6. Simulation results
power Pinv , the power of the SOEC/SOFC stacks Psoec / Psofc
and the power of the dc-dc converter Pconv .
Step 1 (before t1): System is in steady state, operating inSOEC mode, as depicted in Fig. 4b. Current reference is reg-ulated to the maximum SOEC current capability Isoec,max =−60A. The input voltage of the dc-dc converter Vconv is thedifference between inverter voltage and SOEC stacks voltageas expressed by equation 4, and thus Pconv corresponds to
Fig. 7. Three stages interleaved boost converter schematic operating in SOECmode.
Pinv − Psoec (Eq. 6). Note that Psoec is negative in Fig. 6c,because SOCs are consuming power.
Step 2 (t1 − t2): Before switching the operating mode,current reference decreases to zero with a certain slope toprevent any over-voltages on the SOEC/SOFC stacks. At theend of this period, voltage across the SOEC/SOFC stacksreaches the open-circuit voltage.
Step 3 (t3): The SPDT relays are switched, and the systemconnection is changed to SOFC mode as shown in Fig. 4a. Astep variation of Vconv occurs since the input voltage conditionchanges from Eq. 4 to Eq. 1.
Step 4 (t3 − t4): Due to the Vconv step variation, voltageoscillations occur across SOEC/SOFC stacks and Vconv . Ashort period of time with zero current is held to stabilize thesystem.
Step 5 (t4 − t5): Current reference is driven with a certainslope to the maximum SOFC current capability Isofc,max =30A.
Step 6 (t5 − end): Systems is in steady state, operatingin SOFC mode, where Vconv= Vsofc and Pconv=Psofc, asexpressed with Eq. 1 and Eq. 3, respectively.
IV. DC-DC CONVERTER
The main focus of this paper is the verification of thefeasibility of the proposed PCU, for that reason a tailored dc-dc converter with a closed-loop control has been implementedfor the defined SOEC/SOFC system in table II.
A. Power stage
A three-stages Interleaved Boost Converter (IBC) is usedin this work as shown in Fig. 7 to test the proposed PCUarchitecture. The IBC topology is a widely accepted topologyfor fuel cell power conditioning systems due to its benefits[17]-[20]. SOCs lifetime can be dramatically reduced withlarge ripple current [21], thus by means of interleaving theinductor currents, the input current ripple amplitude can bereduced [20], thus greatly improving the lifespan of SOCs.Moreover, the output voltage frequency is also increased,therefore reducing the voltage ripple and allowing a reductionof dc-link capacitors [20].
Fig. 8. Block diagram of the double-loop control strategy.
Converter’s component details are given in Table III. Out-put voltage is set to 600V in order to reach a proper dc-link voltage level to feed energy to the grid and the switchingfrequency is 25 kHz.
TABLE III. CONVERTER’S COMPONENT DETAILS
Inductors L1 − L3 1mH KoolMµ coreDC-Link cap. (I) CDC 20 µF/800V Film Cap.: 2 in parallelDC-Link cap. (II) CDC 12 nF/800V Film Cap.: 3 in parallelInput cap. Cin 50 µF/800V Film Cap.IGBTs Q1 −Q3 IKW25N120H3 1200V/25ADiodes D1 −D3 IDH08S120 1200V/7.5A
B. Closed-loop control strategy
A DSP-based closed-loop control system has been imple-mented. It is intended to design and apply the establishedcontrol loop strategy for both operating modes (SOEC andSOFC) by considering the input-output I-V characteristics ofthe dc-dc converter in the design process.
The closed-loop control strategy is designed in order toreach and keep the 600V output voltage and to keep the inputpower of the dc-dc converter inside the allowed limits of theSOC stacks.
The classical double-loop control strategy represented inFig. 8 is applied [22], where Gid refers to the duty cycle-to-input current transfer function and Gvd refers to the duty cycle-to-output voltage transfer function. This controller requires themeasurement of two variables, i.e. the dc output voltage andcurrent at the input of the converter, which are filtered bysecond-order filters from the measurement circuits, Hi andHv , such that the high frequency components are properlyattenuated. Classical proportional-integral (PI) controllers Cv
and Ci are used for voltage and current compensation. Inaddition, a soft start-up procedure has been integrated tothe control system, so during the converter turn-on voltageovershoots are avoided. The soft start-up consists of a referencesignal vref with a certain slope from 0 to the desired reference.
Referring to the double-loop control, the fast inner loop isused to regulate the average input current using the controllerCi. The output voltage is regulated with the slower outerloop with the controller Cv . To obtain the closed-loop systemstability, the inner loop bandwidth has to be larger than theouter loop [22]. Due to the slow dynamics of the SOCs the
(a) Current loop gain. (b) Closed-loop response
Fig. 9. Control system Bode Plots
outer loop bandwidth has to be kept small and the inner currentloop needs to assure reaching the faster transient response ofthe dc-dc converter.
State-space average model for the IBC is developed asperformed in [23], [24], to thereafter calculate the systemtransfer functions shown in Eq. 8 and Eq. 9.
Gid =iin(s)
d(s)
∣∣∣∣vconv(s)=0
=Vconv
R ·D′2·
1 + s 1R·Cdc
1 + s LR·D′2 + s2 L·Cdc
D′
(8)
Gvd =vc(s)
d(s)
∣∣∣∣vconv(s)=0
=Vconv
D′·
1− s LR·D′2
1 + s LR·D′2 + s2 L·Cdc
D′
(9)Where D′ = 1−D, R = Vout/Iout and L = L1 = L2 = L3.
PI controller for inner current loop is designed for full loadcondition obtaining the bode diagram shown in Fig. 9a. Theloop is closed at the cross-over frequency fc = 1.25 kHz witha phase margin of 83◦ for the SOEC mode at full load andat fc = 2.26 kHz with a phase margin of 86◦ for the SOFCmode on full load condition. Once the stability of the innercurrent loop is obtained, the outer voltage loop controller iscalculated for full load condition and the closed-loop responseshown in Fig. 9b is obtained.
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Experimental tests have been carried out independentlyfor each operating mode. Tests under SOFC mode have beenexecuted simply using a laboratory power supply at the dc-dc converter input and an output resistive load emulating thepower demand from the dc-link side. Tests under SOEC modehave been carried out using a dc source to supply the ac-dcconverter output voltage and an electronic load in fixed voltagemode with a dynamic resistance emulating the SOEC stackspower consumption. Fig. 10 shows the diagrams representingthe experimental set-up.
Interleaved inductor currents and input current waveformsare shown in Fig. 11. From these results it is verified that theinput current ripple is greatly reduced with the interleavingtechnique, therefore demonstrating an attractive topology forRFC systems.
A. Efficiency measurements
Efficiencies of the dc-dc converter are measured by using apower analyser PPA5530 from N4L. The efficiencies have beenmeasured under SOEC and SOFC operating modes indepen-dently according to dc-dc converter I-P and I-V characteristicsderived from the SOEC/SOFC stacks characteristics fromFig. 2. The results are shown in Fig. 12, clearly demonstratingthat since the dc-dc converter can be rated for a similar powerlevel in both operation modes, high efficiencies in both modesare possible. Note that efficiency curves are close to each otherresulting in similar thermal stress for both modes which cansimplify the heat sink design.
(a) SOFC tests
(b) SOEC tests
Fig. 10. Experimental set-up
Fig. 11. Experimental results: 3 stages IBC inductors current (IL1,IL2 andIL3 and input current Iin.
Power(W)
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Effic
iency(%
)
92
94
96
98
(a) SOFC mode
Power(W)
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Effic
iency(%
)
92
94
96
98
(b) SOEC mode
Fig. 12. Experimental and theoretical efficiency curves
Fig. 13. Soft start-up test
Fig. 14. 10% load step-up
B. Closed-loop tests
To verify the proposed PCU including its control design issuitable for both operating modes, closed-loop measurementsare performed.
Fig. 13 shows the main converter waveforms during thesystem turn-on when a step from 0-120V occurs at the inputvoltage. Steady-state condition is reached in approximately 4 s,with a very smooth output voltage response having a smallovershoot of 20V. Fig. 14 shows the system response foran output load step of 10% of the rated load, where theoutput voltage and input current have no oscillations and asmall undershoot is appreciated. Fig. 15 shows the systemresponse for SOFC voltage (Vin) 80V step-up, where the inner
Fig. 15. SOFC voltage 80V step-up
Fig. 16. SOEC voltage 50V step-up
current loop suffers oscillations but the outer voltage loophas negligible oscillations and in 2 s steady-state is reached.Fig. 16 shows the system response for SOEC voltage 50Vstep-up. Notice that the inverter voltage has been limited to450V to protect the voltage supply from over rated current.Similarly as with the previous test, few oscillations in thecurrent are present at the step time, but the output voltage has asmooth response without noticeable oscillations, and reachinga steady-state condition within 2.2 s. As explained throughoutthe system operation principle and simulations, the invertervoltage is shared across the SOEC and the dc-dc converter,leading to a reduced power rating of the dc-dc converter.
VI. CONCLUSION
This paper has presented the design considerations for anovel PCU for grid-tie SOEC/SOFC system. A 6.7 kW dc-dc converter has been implemented which aims to be able toregulate 27 kW-SOEC/6.3 kW-SOFC stacks, with efficienciesof up to 97% in SOEC mode and 97.3% in SOFC mode. Fur-thermore, it has been verified that the power rating reduction ofthe dc-dc converter in SOEC mode leads to a more symmetricalI-P characteristic of dc-dc converter which eases the design fora high efficiency converter, leading to similar efficiency curvesfor both operation modes of the SOEC/SOFC system. Thisnot only results in similar losses in both modes, but can alsobe beneficial in terms of simplified heat sink design of thedc-dc converter power stage. Closed-loop experimental testsshow that with a dual-loop control strategy, system robustnessin terms of steady-state and transient performance is reliableunder both operating modes SOEC and SOFC at the same time.Thus, the proposed PCU architecture can be a very attractivealternative for high efficiency RFC systems.
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