JP2005243248A - Flow control device of stationary fuel cell system and its design method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flow control device of a stationary fuel cell system capable of balancing a robust property with responsiveness. <P>SOLUTION: This flow control device 10 is provided with: a driver circuit 12 for driving a pump or an air blower 13 provided for the stationary fuel cell system; and a PID controller 11 for finding an operation amount of the driver circuit 12 by PID control so that an actual flow rate of a fluid flowing out from the pump or the air blower 13 coincides with a target value. By employing closed loop control with the PID control adopted to feedback compensation, the pump or the air blower 13 can stably be operated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a flow control device for a stationary fuel cell system and a design method thereof, and more particularly to an improved technique for achieving both robustness and responsiveness.

FIG. 8 shows a configuration of a flow rate control device of a stationary fuel cell system used at home or the like. When the stationary fuel cell system receives an instruction of the amount of electric power required by the load, city gas, water, and water supplied to the reformer or the fuel cell stack 32 with reference to a fuel supply instruction value map 31 prepared in advance. A target flow rate such as air is supplied to the flow control device 20. The flow control device 20 includes a pump or air blower 23 for supplying city gas, water, air or the like to the reformer or fuel cell stack 32, a driver circuit 22 for driving the pump or air blower 23, and city gas, water. And a controller 21 that calculates an operation amount to the driver circuit 22 so that an actual flow rate of air or the like matches a target flow rate. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-23669 discloses a configuration in which the air flow rate supplied to the combustor of the fuel cell system is PID controlled.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-23669

  In the flow control device 20 described above, it is a technical problem to stably operate the flow control of city gas, water, air, etc., while compensating for manufacturing variations that occur during mass production (ensuring robustness), The control tuning procedure was formulated, and it was necessary to design the controller 21 so that the response control can be operated even after mounting.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to propose a flow control device for a stationary fuel cell system capable of achieving both robustness and responsiveness, and a design method thereof.

  In order to solve the above problems, a flow control device of the present invention is a flow control device for controlling the flow rate of a fluid supply device provided in a stationary fuel cell system, and a driver circuit for driving the fluid supply device And a PID controller that obtains the operation amount of the driver circuit by PID control so that the actual flow rate of the fluid flowing out from the fluid supply device matches the target flow rate. By adopting closed loop control that incorporates PID control in feedback compensation, the fluid supply apparatus can be operated stably.

  Here, the PID controller obtains a minute operation amount corresponding to the difference between the previous operation amount and the current operation amount, and adds or subtracts the previous operation amount to / from the minute operation amount to obtain the current operation amount. A vessel is preferred. By using the speed type PID controller, it is possible to set an upper limit value or a lower limit value for the operation amount, and it is possible to suppress a steep change in the operation amount.

  The speed type PID controller preferably includes a limiting means for limiting the value of the minute operation amount when the value of the minute operation amount exceeds a predetermined upper limit value or lower limit value. By restricting the value of the micro operation amount when the micro operation amount exceeds a predetermined upper limit value or lower limit value, a sudden change in the operation amount is suppressed, and fluid supply is performed without switching the control method or the PID control gain. The flow control of the device can be stabilized.

  A design method for a flow control device of the present invention is a method for designing a flow control device for controlling the flow rate of a fluid supply device provided in a stationary fuel cell system, and the operation of the fluid supply device is determined by a system identification experiment. A step of deriving a mathematical model describing the characteristics, a step of deriving a reference model of a control system showing a desired target response based on the mathematical model, and a closed loop control system comprising the mathematical model and the PID controller. A step of deriving a PID control gain of the PID controller by a partial model matching method so that the frequency characteristic of the control system substantially matches the frequency characteristic of the reference model. According to this method, it is possible to design a PID controller having a target performance in a short period of time compared to a method of adjusting the PID control gain or the like to a dark cloud.

  According to the flow control device of the present invention, the fluid supply device can be stably operated by employing the closed loop control in which the PID control is incorporated in the feedback compensation. In particular, by limiting the value of the minute operation amount when the minute operation amount exceeds a predetermined upper limit value or lower limit value, it is possible to suppress a steep change in the operation amount without switching the control method or the PID control gain. The flow control of the fluid supply device can be stabilized. Further, according to the design method of the present invention, it is possible to design a PID controller having a target performance in a short period of time as compared with a method of adjusting a PID control gain or the like to a dark cloud.

  FIG. 1 shows a flow rate control device of a stationary fuel cell system used for household power generation and the like according to this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the flow control device 10 drives a pump or air blower (fluid supply device) 13 for supplying city gas, water, air, etc. to a reformer or a fuel cell stack, and the pump or air blower 13. Driver circuit 12 and the operation amount (duty) of driver circuit 12 by PID (proportional integral derivative) control so that the actual flow rate (real_flow) of the fluid flowing out from the pump or air blower 13 matches the target flow rate (ref_flow). The PID controller 11 to be obtained is provided. The flow control device 10 is configured as a closed loop control system, and by incorporating PID control into feedback compensation, the actual flow (real_flow) of city gas, water, air, etc. flowing out from the pump or air blower 13 and the target The operation amount (duty) is obtained so that the deviation (dv) from the flow rate (ref_flow) becomes zero. When the pump or air blower 23 is motor driven by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control, the operation amount (duty) input to the driver circuit 22 is the duty ratio of the drive voltage.

  As the PID controller 11, for example, a minute operation amount (dmv) corresponding to the difference between the previous operation amount (duty_old) and the current operation amount (duty) is obtained, and the previous operation amount is calculated as the minute operation amount (dmv). A speed type PID controller that calculates the current operation amount (duty) by adding and subtracting (duty_old) is preferable. By using a speed type PID controller, it is possible to set an upper limit or a lower limit for the operation amount (duty), and it is possible to suppress a sharp change in the operation amount (duty). The figure shows an example of a PID filter when the PID controller 11 is configured as a speed type PID controller. Here, Pb is a proportional band, Ti is an integration time, Td is a differentiation time, Ts is a sampling time, and 1 / Z is a delay element. The PID filter is provided with a limiter 14 for limiting the value of the minute operation amount (dmv) when the value of the minute operation amount (dmv) exceeds a predetermined upper limit value or lower limit value. This limiter 14 limits the value of the minute manipulated variable (dmv) to the upper limit when the value of the minute manipulated variable (dmv) exceeds the upper limit, or the value of the minute manipulated variable (dmv) falls below the lower limit. Sometimes it is a limiting means for limiting the value of the minute operation amount (dmv) to the lower limit value. The minute operation amount (dmv) whose upper limit or lower limit is limited by the limiter 14 is added or subtracted with the previous operation amount (duty_old) delayed by one sampling by the delay element, and then the driver circuit 12 as the current operation amount (duty). Is output.

  FIG. 2 shows a control routine describing the control logic of the PID controller 11. When the PID controller 11 receives the target flow rate (ref_flow) of city gas, water, air, etc. (S11), it detects the actual flow rate (real_flow) of these fluids (S12) and calculates the deviation (dv = ref_flow-real_flow). Obtain (S13). Next, a minute operation amount (dmv) is obtained by dmv = C (z, Pb, Ti, Td) · dv (S14). Here, C (z, Pb, Ti, Td) is a PID filter for generating a minute manipulated variable (dmv). When the value of the minute operation amount (dmv) exceeds the predetermined upper limit value (uplimit), the value of the minute operation amount is limited to the upper limit value (dmv = uplimit), and the minute operation amount (dmv) When the value is below a predetermined lower limit (downlimit), the value of the minute manipulated variable is limited to the lower limit (dmv = downlimit). When the range of the minute operation amount (dmv) is limited in this way (S15), the previous operation amount (duty_old) one sampling before and the minute operation amount (dmv) are added and subtracted to determine the current operation amount (duty). (S16) and output to the driver circuit 12 (S17).

  The control performance was compared between when the limiter 14 was added to the PID controller 11 and when it was not added. The comparison results are shown in FIGS. Here, FIG. 4 shows the flow rate change when the pump or air blower is operated in various operation modes without adding the limiter 14 to the PID controller 11, and FIG. 5 shows the limiter in the PID controller 11. 14 shows a change in flow rate when the pump or air blower is operated in various operation modes with 14 added. As shown in these figures, it can be confirmed that the PID controller 11 to which the limiter 14 is not added is uneven in the control performance due to the difference in the operation mode. On the other hand, it can be confirmed that the PID controller 11 to which the limiter 14 is added can ensure uniform control performance regardless of the difference in the operation mode. FIG. 6 shows the duty ratio when the pump or air blower is operated in various operation modes without adding the limiter 14 to the PID controller 11, and FIG. 7 shows the addition of the limiter 14 to the PID controller 11. The duty ratio when the pump or the air blower is operated in various operation modes in the above state is shown. As shown in these figures, it can be confirmed that the PID controller 11 to which the limiter 14 is not added has an operation mode in which the change in the duty ratio is steep, and the control performance is deteriorated in the operation mode. On the other hand, it can be confirmed that the PID controller 11 to which the limiter 14 is added does not have an operation mode showing a steep change in the duty ratio. From the above results, if the upper limit and the lower limit of the minute operation amount (dmv) are limited by adding the limiter 14 to the PID controller 11, it is possible to suppress a sudden change in the operation amount (duty). It was confirmed that stable flow rate control can be realized in various operation modes.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart describing a procedure for designing the PID controller 11 with the limiter 14. First, a mathematical model (physical model) describing the dynamic characteristics (dynamics) of these controlled objects (processes) with the actual valve flow of the pump or air blower as input and the actual flow rate of city gas, water, air, etc. as output Derived by an identification experiment (S21). In the system identification experiment, a mathematical model is derived by waveform fitting of time response or frequency response using experimental data. Next, a mathematical model (normative model) of the control system showing a stable target response is derived in consideration of the arrival time to the target flow rate or the behavior to the target flow rate (for example, how to change the air input amount). (S22). Next, a closed loop control system is configured using the control target and the PID controller 11, and a PID control gain of the PID controller 11 is derived so that the frequency characteristic of the closed loop control system substantially matches the frequency characteristic of the reference model. (S23). If the PID control gain is obtained, the PID controller 11 is discretized by differential approximation of differential equations or Z conversion (S24). At this time, the speed type PID controller is configured as shown in FIG. 1, and the limiter 14 is further added. When the frequency characteristic of the closed loop control system configured by the control target and the PID controller 11 does not match the frequency characteristic of the reference model (when the evaluation performance is not satisfied) (S25; NO), the steps of S22 to S24 are performed. repeat. On the other hand, when the frequency characteristic of the closed loop control system matches the frequency characteristic of the reference model and satisfies the evaluation performance (S25; YES), the program is installed in the PID controller 11 (S26), and the design is finished.

  According to the flow control device 10 of the present embodiment, the pump or the air blower 13 can be stably operated by employing the closed loop control in which the PID control is incorporated in the feedback compensation. In particular, when the micro manipulated variable (dmv) exceeds a predetermined upper limit (uplimit) or lower limit (downlimit), the micro manipulated variable (dmv) is limited to make a sharp change in the manipulated variable (duty). And the flow control of the pump or air blower 13 can be stabilized without switching the control method or the PID control gain. Moreover, according to the design method of the flow control device 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to design the PID controller 11 having the target performance in a short period of time compared to the method of adjusting the PID control gain or the like to the dark clouds. It becomes possible.

It is a system configuration figure of the flow control device of this embodiment. 3 is a flowchart describing a PID control routine. It is a flowchart describing the design procedure of the PID controller. It is a figure which shows the flow volume change of a pump or an air blower (without a limiter). It is a figure which shows the flow volume change of a pump or an air blower (with a limiter). It is a figure which shows the change of the duty ratio of a pump or an air blower (without a limiter). It is a figure which shows the change of the duty ratio of a pump or an air blower (with a limiter). It is a system block diagram of the conventional flow control apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Flow control apparatus 11 ... PID controller 12 ... Driver circuit 13 ... Pump or air blower 14 ... Limiter

Claims (4)

A flow rate control device for controlling the flow rate of a fluid supply device provided in a stationary fuel cell system,
A driver circuit for driving the fluid supply device;
A flow rate control device comprising a PID controller that obtains an operation amount of the driver circuit by PID control so that an actual flow rate of the fluid flowing out from the fluid supply device matches a target flow rate. The flow control device according to claim 1,
The PID controller obtains a minute operation amount corresponding to the difference between the previous operation amount and the current operation amount, and adds and subtracts the previous operation amount to the minute operation amount to obtain a current operation amount. A flow control device. The flow control device according to claim 2,
The PID controller includes a limiting unit that limits a value of the minute operation amount when the value of the minute operation amount exceeds a predetermined upper limit value or lower limit value. A method for designing a flow rate control device for controlling a flow rate of a fluid supply device provided in a stationary fuel cell system, comprising:
Deriving a mathematical model describing the dynamic characteristics of the fluid supply device by system identification experiments;
Deriving a reference model of a control system that exhibits a desired target response based on the mathematical model;
A closed loop control system is configured by the mathematical model and the PID controller, and a PID control gain of the PID controller is derived by a partial model matching method so that the frequency characteristic of the closed loop control system substantially matches the frequency characteristic of the reference model. A method for designing a flow control device, comprising the step of:

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