Control and Power Management of Battery-PEM Fuel Cell Hybrid Power System for Marine Propulsion Systems

To reduce the air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in harbors and coastal areas, the propulsion systems of maritime transport, and harbor operations, and services, should be driven by zero-emission power systems. Hence, the development of a zero-emission systems, such as, a hybrid battery-fuel cell system, with an appropriately designed control system is essential to accurately manage the energy between the proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), batteries, and loads. In this work, a hybrid power system based on PEMFCs and lithium-ion batteries for marine propulsion systems is proposed. An energy management strategy (EMS) based on a fuzzy logic approach and rule-based technique is developed to stabilize the DC bus voltage at the required constant value, properly control the power distribution between the hybrid system components to meet the required power demand of the loads and minimize fuel cell degradation. The overall system is modeled under MATLAB/Simulink environment. Finally, the results are discussed, and the suitability of the suggested hybrid power system and EMS is justified.