World Congress on Software Engineering
Interface Design and Software Development for PEM Fuel Cell Modeling
based on Matlab/Simulink Environment
Yancheng Xiao
School of Computer Science and Technology
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wuhan, China
e-mail: yancheng.xiao@hotmail.com
Abstract—This paper is dealing with the interface design and
software development for proton exchange membrane (PEM)
fuel cell modeling based on Matlab/Simulink environment.
Three models used in the software, steady-state mode,
dynamic model and thermodynamic model, are described
first. These models are then implemented through the graphic
user interface (GUI) programming by Simulink, and the
simulation results are visualized. There are voltage overshoots/
undershoots appearing in the results, which is come from the
combination of electrical dynamic model and thermodynamic
model. For the interface design and software development, a
GUI file(*.fig) is designed in Matlab interactively, a main
program (*.m) is coded using Matlab language, and a
Simulink model (*.mdl) is designed based on the fuel cell
model in the work. The Matlab main program calls Matlab
GUI file and Simulink diagram to complete the fuel cell
simulation. The software are applied to PEM fuel cell and
solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) successfully.
Keywords—software development; interface design; fuel cell;
modeling; Matlab; Simulink
I. INTRODUCTION
The proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is
widely researched recently for solving the problem of
energy and environment[1]. Three models used in the
software, steady-state mode[2], dynamic model[3] and
especially thermodynamic model, are fundamental and
important for the simulation.
These models are implemented by Simulink, and the
simulation results are visualized. The activation loss, ohmic
loss and concentration loss can be clearly seen in
polarization curves. Further there are maximum power
points appearing in the P-I curves, which is useful for
maximum power point tracking control of fuel cell[4].
Although Simulink itself is a graphic user interface
(GUI) programming environment[5], we need make GUI for
packing Simulink model to let the user more easy to use the
software. The Matlab main program calls Matlab GUI file
and Simulink diagram to complete the fuel cell simulation.
The software are applied to PEM fuel cell and also solid
oxide fuel cell (SOFC) successfully.
978-0-7695-3570-8/09 $25.00 © 2009 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/WCSE.2009.344
Kodjo Agbossou
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres
Trois-Rivieres, Canada
e-mail: kodjo.agbossou@uqtr.ca
The voltage overshoots/undershoots are not easy to
simulated by using a electrochemical model[6] but can be
modeled by combining a computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) model[7]. This paper have the voltage overshoots/
undershoots appearing in the results, which is come from the
combination of the well known electrical dynamic model
and the new developed thermodynamic model.
II. MODELS OF PEM FUEL CELL
A. Steady-State Model
The cell voltage of a PEM fuel cell can be represented
by a polarization curve, which can be obtained from the
open circuit voltage E by substituting some polarization
losses, such as activation loss Vact , ohmic loss Vohm and
concentration loss Vcon , so we have
V = E − Vact − Vohm − Vcon , (1)
where Vact , Vohm and Vcon are in the form of voltage drop
(better for representing losses). We can also write the cell
voltage equation (1) as
V = E + η act + ηohm + η con , (2)
where η act , η ohm and η con are in the form of voltage gain,
so we have
η act = −Vact , ηohm = −Vohm , ηcon = −Vcon . (3)
The open circuit voltage in Equation (2) can be
expressed by Nernst potential:
E = 1.229 − 8.5 × 10 −4 (T − 298.15) + 4.308
(
× 10−5 T ln pH 2 + 0.5 ln pO2 ) ,
and the polarization losses are
η act = −0.9514 + 3.12 ×10 −3 T − 1.87 ×10−4 T ln i
,
+ 7.4 × 10 −5 T ln CO2
ηohm = −iRint and ηcon = B ln (1 − i / ilim ) .
where T is cell temperature, i is current, ilim is limit
current, and B = 0.016 .
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 The partial pressures of hydrogen and oxygen are III. SIMULINK MODEL AND SIMULATION RESULTS
⎡ ⎛ 1.635i / A ⎞ pa ⎤ A. Simulink Diagram
pH 2 = 0.5 pHsat2O ⎢exp⎜ − 1.334 ⎟ sat − 1⎥ ,
⎢⎣ ⎝ T ⎠ pH 2O ⎥⎦ There are a main simulation system and some
subsystems in the model. Decomposing the simulation into
⎡ ⎛ 4.192i / A ⎞ pc ⎤ different parts made the algorithm and the diagram more
pO2 = pHsat2O ⎢exp⎜ − ⎟ − 1⎥. clear and easier to find out and solve the bugs. Main
⎣⎢ ⎝ T 1.334 ⎠ pHsat2O ⎦⎥ simulation system and some subsystems are shown in Fig.1
The concentration of oxygen can be calculated by to Fig.3.
pO2 ⎛ 498 ⎞
CO2 = exp⎜ 6 ⎟. PEM Fuel Cell Modeling

5.08 × 10 ⎝ T ⎠
i

i VI Graph
Current Vohm

sat
The saturation pressure of water pH 2O can be obtained from
T
Vohm

Ohmic Loss
Ra PI Graph

sat −2
log10 p H 2O = −2.18 + 2.95 × 10 TC i Vcon

,
Vcon
T Pstack Power

−5 2 −7 3
− 9.18 × 10 TC + 1.44 × 10 TC Vact0
Concentration Loss

24
Ra

TC = T − 273.15 . The internal resistance is

Vstack Voltage

where i T0
T

i Vact0
Ra

Vact
Vcell
PO2 i

Rint = 1.605 × 10 −2 − 3.5 × 10 −5 T + 8 × 10 −5 i . Steady State

Temperature
Steady State
Activation Loss
Dynamic
Activation Loss
Vact Vcell
Current

B. Dynamic Model T0
i PH2
T Temperature

PH2 E

For the dynamic model of PEM fuel cell, the transient i

E-V
T T PO2 PO2

Nernst Potential
E Total Loss
Pressure H2
Partial Pressure

activation loss Vact will be the solutions of the following Dynamic

Temperature
Pressure O2

differential equation:
Figure 1. Main simulation system
dVact i Vact
= − , (4)
dt C RaC 3

C is the charge double layer capacitance, Ra is the

i
where Division 1
Vact
1
1 Subtract s
xo
equivalent resistance:
Vact
C

V +V
1 Integrator
2
Ra
Ra = act 0 con , Product V0

i
Figure 2. Dynamic model subsystem
and Vact 0 = −η act is the steady-state activation loss and is
used as the initial condition of the differential equation. 2

Equation (4) is solved by using a Matlab/Simulink i 24

1/10 T
Heat Ncell 1

integrator.
3 Subtract s
E-V 1/(mC)
xo

30+273.15 1
C. Thermodynamic Model 10 1 Integrator
T0 T
Tf
T-Tf hA

For the thermodynamic model of PEM fuel cell, the

transient temperature T will be the solutions of the
following differential equation:
dT
Ct = i (E − Vcell ) − H (T − T f )
dt
where Ct is total thermal capacitance for all the volume or
mass of fuel cell, J/K, and H is total heat transfer
coefficient for all the surface of fuel cell, W/K, T f is
reference temperature of environment, K, T is lumped
temperature of fuel cell, K. The initial temperature T0 for
the differential equation can be obtained from the steady-
state thermal model. The differential equation (5) is also
solved by using a Matlab/Simulink integrator.
Figure 3. Thermodynamic model subsystem
B. Steady-State Simulation Results
(5) Parameters used in the simulation are: Number of cells:
24; Anode partial pressure: 2.0 atm; Cathode partial
pressure: 1.0 atm; Temperature: 80 ℃; Limit current: 25.1A;
Capacitance: 1F.
The ramp current is a current form 0A to 25A with a
slop of 5, the steady-state voltage and power of fuel cell are
shown in Fig.4 and Fig.5.
The activation loss, ohmic loss and concentration loss
can be clearly seen in polarization curves. And there are
maximum power points appearing in the P-I curves.

319
 Figure 4. Steady-state voltage of fuel cell Figure 6. Dynamic temperature of fuel cell

Figure 5. Steady-state power of fuel cell Figure 7. Dynamic voltage of fuel cell

C. Dynamic Simulation Results B. Graphic User Interface (GUI) Design

The dynamic temperature and dynamic voltage of fuel
cell are shown in Fig.6 and Fig.7. There are voltage
overshoots/ undershoots appearing in the results, which is
come from the combination of electrical dynamic model
and thermodynamic model.
IV. GUI DESIGN BASED ON MATLAB ENVIRONMENT
A. Simple Fuel Cell Model
To illustrate the graphic user interface design, a simple
fuel cell model for simulating the cell voltage of a PEM fuel
cell or solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) can be represented by a
polarization curve, which can be obtained from the open
circuit voltage E by substituting some polarization losses,
such as activation loss, ohmic loss and concentration loss,
i.e.[1]
⎛ i + in ⎞ ⎛ i + in ⎞
V = E − (i + in )r − A ln⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ + B ln⎜⎜1 − ⎟ .(6)
⎝ i0 ⎠ ⎝ il ⎟⎠
The graphic user interface (GUI) for above fuel cell
model is designed by means of Matlab GUI Application
function. The interface for input parameters and output
graphics is show as Fig.8. This GUI uses only the Plot
button callback. When a user clicks the Plot button, the
callback performs three basic tasks: it gets user input from
the edit text components, calculates data, and creates the
graphic plot.
V. MATLAB GUI FOR SETTING SIMULINK PARAMETERS
A. Connection of Matlab GUI with Simulink Diagram
For illustration, the above simple fuel cell model
expressed with equation (6) is implemented by Simulink
diagram. The parameters for above Simulink diagram will
come form the edit texts of graphic user interface (GUI) in
Fig.8. Users of the software can directly input the
parameters though the GUI, the software will transfer them
into Simulink.

320
 Figure 8. GUI for a simple fuel cell model
B. Application of GUI for PEM Fuel Cell and SOFC
Now we have designed a GUI file(*.fig) in Matlab
interactively, a main program (*.m) using Matlab language,
and a Simulink model (*.mdl) based on the fuel cell model.
Run the Matlab file (*.m), the GUI of the software will
be pop up. The parameters for PEM fuel cell have been
already set in the GUI. Press button “Plot” in the GUI, the
Matlab interface will call Simulink model with the
parameters transferring and the software begins to simulate.
The parameters in edit texts of the Matlab GUI has been
passed to Simulink model successfully. The results for PEM
fuel cell is shown as Fig.9.
For SOFC, the parameters need to change by inputting
to the edit texts in GUI. Then, press the Plot button, the
voltage-current graphics of SOFC comes out. The
parameters for SOFC modeling have been changed from
PEM fuel cell in above GUI, and passed to Simulink model
automatically, as shown in Fig.10.
Figure 9. Application of GUI to PEM Fuel Cell
321
Figure 10. Application of GUI to SOFC
VI. CONCLUSIONS
(1) Three models used in the simulation software,
steady-state mode, dynamic model and thermodynamic
model, are described first. These models are then
implemented by Simulink, and the simulation results are
visualized.
(2) A GUI file(*.fig) is designed in Matlab
interactively, a main program (*.m) is coded using Matlab
language, and a Simulink model (*.mdl) is designed based
on the fuel cell model in the work.
(3) The Matlab main program calls Matlab GUI file and
Simulink diagram to complete the fuel cell simulation. The
software are applied to PEM fuel cell and SOFC
successfully.
(4) The activation loss, ohmic loss and concentration
loss can be clearly seen in polarization curves. Further there
are maximum power points appearing in the P-I curves,
which is useful for maximum power point tracking control
of fuel cell.
(5) The results of dynamic simulation show that the
activation loss is highly relative with the charge double
layer capacitance. There are voltage overshoots/
undershoots appearing in the results, which is come from
the combination of electrical dynamic model and
thermodynamic model.
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