A New Adaptive Lead-Lag Control Scheme for High Current PEM Hydrogen Electrolyzers

Abstract

This paper aims at researching the design of a current controller for an interleaved Buck converter used to feed a high current 5 kW Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer representing a module stack level. The main challenge is to design a robust controller that ensures operation over a wide range of electrolyzer operating points while guaranteeing control requirements and current sharing between the converters. The developed control scheme ensures responsiveness to the requirements of the grid's ancillary services and control over the dynamics of the electrolyzer. MATLAB/Simulink simulation results with dSPACE compatible models are presented to validate the lead-lag controller, designed using root locus, achieving a ripple current of 0.1 A, a 0.3% steady-state error, and a settling time of 50 ms for a step response.