• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2016

Thermal management of a fuel cell is important to satisfy the requirements of durability and efficiency under varying load conditions. In this study, a linear state feedback controller was designed to maintain the temperature within operating conditions. Due to the nonlinearity of automotive fuel cell system, the state feedback controller results in marginal stable under load condition from $0.5A/cm^2$ to $0.7A/cm^2$. A PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) and the modified state feedback controller are applied to control the temperature under the load condition from $0.5A/cm^2$ to $0.7A/cm^2$. The cooling system model is composed of a reservoir, radiator, bypass valve, fan, and a water pump. The performance of the control algorithm was evaluated in terms of the integral time weighted absolute error (ITAE). Additionally, MATLAB/SIMULINK$^{(R)}$ was used for the development of the system models and controllers. The modified state feedback controller was found to be more effective for controlling temperature than other algorithms when tested under low load conditions.