Modeling and analysis of aluminum/air fuel cell

The technical and scientific challenges to provide reliable sources energy for US
and global economy are enormous tasks, and especially so when combined with strategic
and recent economic concerns of the last five years. It is clear that as part of the mix of
energy sources necessary to deal with these challenges, fuel cells technology will play
critical or even a central role. The US Department of Energy, as well as a number of the
national laboratories and academic institutions have been aware of the importance such
technology for some time. Recently, car manufacturers, transportation experts, and even
utilities are paying attention to this vital source of energy for the future. In this thesis, a
review of the main fuel cell technologies is presented with the focus on the modeling, and
control of one particular and promising fuel cell technology, aluminum air fuel cells. The
basic principles of this fuel cell technology are presented. A major part of the study
consists of a description of the electrochemistry of the process, modeling, and simulations
of aluminum air FC using Matlab Simulink™. The controller design of the proposed
model is also presented. In sequel, a power management unit is designed and analyzed as an alternative source of power. Thus, the system commutes between the fuel cell output
and the alternative power source in order to fulfill a changing power load demand. Finally,
a cost analysis and assessment of this technology for portable devices, conclusions and
future recommendations are presented.