Predictive Control Scheme for Fuel Cell Air Compressor Efficiency Enhancement with Surge‐ and Choke‐Constrained Awareness

Abstract The efficiency and dynamic response of air compressors are crucial for stability and lifespan of hydrogen fuel cells. A predictive control scheme with surge‐ and choke‐constrained awareness is proposed to ensure safe and efficient operation of air compressors in this study. The proposed scheme consists of an efficiency enhancement model predictive control (EE‐MPC), and an improved active disturbance rejection control (IADRC). Surge‐ and choke‐constrained awareness is achieved by comparing predicted air flow with surge and choke limitations. Simultaneously, the EE‐MPC is constrained with oxygen excess ratio (OER) and obtains optimal solution by searching active set. The reference flow and supply manifold pressure trajectories for IADRC are generated by EE‐MPC. A designed piecewise differentiable nonlinear smoothing function is embedded in IADRC. The disturbances are estimated for coordinating flow and pressure control. Under China heavy‐duty commercial vehicle test cycle for bus conditions, root‐mean‐squared errors (RMSEs) of flow and pressure are 3.27 g s −1 and 1.88 × 10 3 Pa, respectively, and the mean efficiency can be enhanced by 13.4% compared to the MPC with fixed OER. Finally, a controller hardware‐in‐the‐loop test is conducted, with flow and pressure RMSEs of 2.48 g s −1 and 4.28 × 10 3 Pa between the test and simulation, respectively.