Design and Control Strategy of PEM Fuel Cell for a Small Scale Rainwater Harvesting System

Abstract

This work design a domestic rainwater harvesting system located in Alexandria, Egypt. The considered rainwater harvesting system consists of; roof surface, conveyance system, storage tank and pump. A fuel cell system is used to feed the electrical load of the rainwater harvesting system. Neural Network Controller (NNC) is developed for achieving the desired fuel cell output power and energy management among the fuel cell and the load. A simulation model for the fuel cell has been developed using MATLAB/SMULINK. The evaluation of the controller is based on the time response characteristics of the system. The simulation results show that the system performance under different conditions has been verified using a load demand profile for both constant and step variation loads.