Research Article Open Access

A Power Estimation Model for Wind— Hydrogen—Fuel-Cell—Inverter Hybrid Power Generation System

Abstract

This paper presented a power estimation model in a wind/hydrogen/fuel-cell/inverter system for green energy generation. An abundant amount of energy is in motion in the form of wind caused by differential heating of the earth’s surface and its rotation. This energy source can be tapped in a pollutant-free generation process through a wind turbine, and then used to produce hydrogen from the electrolysis of water in an electrolyzer. Hydrogen produced and stored is re-convertible to electrical power through a fuel-cell/inverter arrangement. A mathematical estimation model of power produced as a function of wind speed and system’s components efficiency is presented. A simulation of the system in MATLAB/SIMULINK show that not all energy contained in the wind can be extracted due to turbine components characteristics leading to a performance coefficient (efficiency) less than 100%. The characteristic behavior of the turbine efficiency results in a non-linear output of proportional deviation with wind speed variations. Furthermore, power output at the inverter end shows that more than half of power extracted from the wind could be lost to hydrogen production and power conversion processes in the fuel-cell and inverter section given today’s conventional technologies. These losses are due to low efficiencies that must be improved upon or carefully selected for particular applications. A power distribution and control algorithm for load connection to the wind—hydrogen—fuel-cell— inverter hybrid power generation system is also presented.

Uzedhe O. Godwin, Ohia C. Callistus, Iloh John Paul

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