Real-Time State of Health Estimation for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Based on Unscented Kalman Filter

Abstract

The evolution of performance degradation has become a major obstacle to the long-life operation of the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) system. The feasibility of employing degradation resistance to assess the State of Health (SOH) is proposed and verified. In addition, a real-time Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) based SOH estimation method is further proposed to eliminate the disturbance of calculating the SOH directly utilizing measurement and electric balance model. The results of real-time SOH estimation with an UKF under constant and varying load conditions demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the SOFC performance degradation assessment method.