Optimized energy conversion in fuel cells using the 2P6O converter with small inductors and capacitors Academic Article in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • Renewable energy sources are critical to addressing global energy challenges, offering sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. Among these, fuel cells are gaining attention with applications spanning transportation, stationary power, and portable devices. Power electronics play a vital role in enabling the integration of fuel cells into practical systems. Specifically, DC-DC converters are indispensable for transforming energy, regulating voltage levels, and optimizing the performance of the systems. This paper presents the design and evaluation of an energy conversion system for a Fuel Cell Stack based on a recently introduced DC-DC converter. The two-phase six-order (2P6O) has shown to be a feasible converter with a good performance. In this article, the 2P6O converter was designed to convert the electrical energy from a fuel cell stack. The main objective of this study is to explore the performance of the 2P6O converter in the discussed application. Using a comparative analysis approach, the 2P6O converter was integrated into a standard fuel cell system, and its operation and storage demands were meticulously analyzed. The findings indicate that the system that incorporates the 2P6O converter requires less energy storage; specifically in the study, the 2P6O converter required 74% of the energy stored in inductors compared to the multiphase boost converter, a very competitive topology and 57% of the energy stored in capacitors. Reducing 26% of the stored energy in inductors and 43% of the energy stored in capacitors compared to the multiphase boost converter. Compared to the traditional boost and the multiphase boost, experimental results are provided. © 2025 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC

publication date

  • January 1, 2025