Dynamic Analysis and Multiple Model Control of Continuous Microbial Fuel Cell (CMFC)

Publication date: Available online 12 June 2019Source: Chemical Engineering Research and DesignAuthor(s): Ashish Yewale, Ravi Methekar, Shailesh AgrawalAbstractWater and energy scarcity are among the most serious challenges currently faced by the society. Microbial fuel cell is one such a technology, which simultaneously produces water and energy from waste water or organic matters. A robust control strategy is needed for smooth and continuous operation of cell. In this paper, first principle based model of microbial fuel cell is simulated and validated with experimental data from the literature. Selection of the manipulated variable is carried out by analyzing the dynamic and steady state response of the cell. It is found that the inlet substrate flow rate is the most suitable manipulated variable among all the considered variables. A multiple model based control strategy is developed using various switching criteria such as recursive Bayesian, k-nearest neighbour, and Hotelling’s T2 methods. An efficacy of the proposed control scheme is tested on servo and regulatory problems and comparison of switching methods are presented. Settling time for positive and negative set points is found to be 133 and 93 hours, respectively and shows 47.3% improvement over the single model linear controller. This work helps in understanding the dynamics of the cell and development of robust nonlinear control for the microbial fuel cell.Graphical abstract

Source: Chemical Engineering Research and Design - June 13, 2019 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research