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Simulation of Fuel-Cell Stacks Using a
Computer-Controlled Power Rectifier
With the Purposes of Actual
High-Power Injection Applications
Jeferson M. Corrêa, Student Member, IEEE, Felix A. Farret, Jonas R. Gomes, and
Marcelo Godoy Simões, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—This paper presents the guidelines for simulation of
fuel-cell (FC) stacks by using a computer-controlled high-power
converter, which drives actual electric loads, or injects power to the
grid. The FC output static and dynamic characteristics are closely
reproduced in such a way the actual loads are seamlessly driven
as if they were supplied by the simulated FC. The simulator characteristics include the membrane temperature and humidity, efficiency, flow of the reactants, cooling air fan and water pumps,
the actual air environmental temperature and humidity, and the
regimen of operation of the actual electrical load. Any type of FC
of ordinary size can be simulated without having to use hydrogen
with improved safety, variety of tests, flexibility, and demo facilities. Those features allied to the low cost of this FC simulator contribute for market analysis and life-cycle studies of a site installation.
Index Terms—Alternative energy, computer control, fuel cells
(FCs), interconnection, modeling, rectifiers, simulation.
I. INTRODUCTION
F
UEL-CELL (FC) generation systems have been receiving
more attention in the last years because of their high
efficiency, low aggression to the environment, no moving
parts and superior reliability and durability. In particular,
proton exchange membrane FCs (PEMFCs) seem to be a good
alternative source for distributed generation (DG) systems.
The PEMFC has promising characteristics for such systems:
1) the by-product waste is water; 2) low-temperature operation
allowing a fast startup with improved dispatchability; and 3)
Paper IPCSD 03–053, presented at the V IEEE IAS INDUSCON, Salvador,
Brazil, July3–5, 2002, and approved for publication in the IEEE TRANSACTIONS
ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS by the Industrial Power Converter Committee of
the IEEE Industry Applications Society. Manuscript submitted for review October 1, 2002 and released for publication May 3, 2003. This work was supported by the Coordination for Improvement of Advanced Education Personal
(CAPES), by the National Council of Research and Development (CNPq), by
the Foundation of Research Support of the Rio Grande do Sul State (FAPERGS),
by the AES-Sul Distribution Company, and by the National Science Foundation
under Grant ECS 0134130.
J. M. Corrêa is with the Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria
97050-460, Brazil, and also with the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO
80401-1887 USA (e-mail: jcorrea@mines.edu).
F. A. Farret and J. R. Gomes are with the Federal University of
Santa Maria, Santa Maria 97050-460, Brazil (e-mail: farret@ct.ufsm.br;
jonasrg@ct.ufsm.br).
M. G. Simões is with the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401-1887
USA (e-mail: msimoes@mines.edu).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIA.2003.814548
Fig. 1.
FC-Sim block diagram.
they use a solid polymer as the electrolyte, which reduces concerns related to construction, transportation, and safety issues.
However, the present high costs of FC stacks make research
and development of such generation systems a difficult task,
especially for developing countries and schools in general.
There are still some concerns about the FC dynamic behavior
in generating systems, such as its response to fast load changes,
response to nonlinear loads, peak power, and peak current
capabilities. There are also some safety concerns about storage
and utilization of hydrogen, besides its current high price and
lack of ready supplying facilities.
In order to deal with all these matters and restrictions, this
paper presents a prototype of a PEMFC stack power system
simulator (FC-Sim) that allows an easier and cheaper development and demonstration schemes of FC generation systems. The
main components of the simulator presented in the diagram of
Fig. 1 are: 1) ac–dc controlled power converter; 2) microcomputer for control and data acquisition; 3) passive L–C low-pass
filter; 4) electrical load or grid connection; and 5) graphical user
interface. The FC-Sim control program and the user interface
were developed in a LabView platform. More details about the
FC-Sim operation are given in Section IV.
II. MOTIVATIONS TO EMULATE AN FC SYSTEM
The FC-Sim emulates, on the actual load terminals, the same
characteristics as the simulated stack. In principle, any load or
0093-9994/03$17.00 © 2003 IEEE
CORRÊA et al.: SIMULATION OF FC STACKS USING A COMPUTER-CONTROLLED POWER RECTIFIER
the grid can be connected to the FC-Sim. Several tests can be accomplished with the simulator, prior to the use of the real stack.
This simulator can be used in a microgrid with the following
motivations.
• The generation site scheme can be economically evaluated
at the design stage prior to the real system final configuration, allowing for cost reduction and energy optimization.
• It is possible to develop the system without using hydrogen, which has some safety concerns and still high cost
for low-volume use.
• It is possible to make a scenario study and evaluate what
should be expected from the FC stack in this market.
• It is possible to expand the simulator to other FC models
and stack configurations, by only changing the mathematical model (computer software).
• The simulator can be expanded to other FC sizes and arrangements, by only changing the output converter.
• This simulator represents only a cost fraction of the real
FC stack.
• It is possible to know the requirements of hydrogen supply,
environmental conditions, and secondary effects on the
microgrid.
In addition to the stack voltage, the FC-Sim delivers to the
load a similar current and efficiency allowing a complete analysis of the generation system including all on-site electrochemical variables. The subject of simulating FCs and FC stacks can
be found in the literature [2]–[6], [9], [10]. Most of these previous works deal with computer simulation and screen animations. In [9] is presented an FC plant simulator, but the authors
address more the overall system and the authors do not intend
to reproduce the FC characteristics (such as voltage, power, and
efficiency) to supply real electrical loads. In [10], the authors
present an FC dynamical modeling for DG. The work deals only
with computational modeling and it does not present any hardware to actually supply the real emulated power. In addition, the
previous papers do not deal with evaluation of reaction/cooling
humidity and temperature.
The hardware simulator presented in this paper allows real
load tests to be conducted in the laboratory, contributing to a
more detailed understanding of the power system interaction
and improvement of overall performance. An electrochemical
model is used in this paper to predict the stack dynamic performance in deeper detail. This model allows the evaluation of the
situations commonly encountered in electrical power generation
systems, such as load insertion and rejection, determination of
the efficiency, and the best generating point [1]. Special attention is given to the FC dynamic response, which is fundamental
for small-sized generation systems. For a practical evaluation,
several simulation results are presented, using the model of a
500-W BCS Technologies stack. The polarization curve and the
power characteristic of the real stack are compared with the simulation results with a very good agreement.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows.
Section III presents a summary of the dynamic model (more
details can be found in [1]). Section IV presents a detailed
description of the simulator. Section V presents some practical
results. Finally, Section VI concludes our work.
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TABLE I
PARAMETERS OF THE 500-W BCS STACK
III. MODEL FORMULATION
Hydrogen is introduced into a PEMFC through a porous conductive electrode. Hydrogen can be extracted from some hydrocarbon fuel, such as natural gas, methanol, or liquid petroleum,
or from any component rich in the element . The ions (or protons) flow through the electrolyte and the electrons produced at
the anode must pass through an external electrical circuit, producing electrical energy. The overall FC reaction is represented
by (1) [7]
heat
electrical energy
(1)
In order to model an FC stack some parameters are required
to fit our model. Although most of the parameters are obtained
from the manufacturer’s datasheet, a few are still required from
experimentation and from the available literature. In this paper,
a model for a 500-W stack, manufactured by BCS Technologies,
is used. The parameters for this particular model are presented
in Table I. All these parameters must be defined in such a way
as to represent a specific FC stack.
The parameters listed in Table I can be described by the
following:
number of FCs used in the stack;
membrane temperature used in the tests (K);
membrane active area (
);
membrane thickness ( );
oxygen partial pressure (atm);
hydrogen partial pressure (atm);
membrane equivalent contact resistance ( );
parametric coefficient, used in the calculation of the
concentration losses (V) [7];
(
): parametric coefficients, based on electrochemical, kinetics, and thermodynamic laws [2];
parametric coefficient, used to model the membrane
resistance (minimum 14, maximum 23) [2];
current density representing the fuel crossover and
internal currents (A cm ) [7];
maximum current density (A cm );
equivalent electrical capacitance, used to model the
stack dynamic behavior (F) [7].
The output voltage of a single cell can be defined as the result
of the following expression [1], [2], [7]:
(2)
is the thermodynamic potential of the cell and
In (2),
is the voltage drop due
it represents its reversible voltage;
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 39, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 2003
to the activation of the anode and of the cathode;
is the
ohmic voltage drop, a measure of the ohmic voltage drop associated with the conduction of the protons through the solid electrolyte and electrons through the internal electronic resistances;
represents the voltage drop resulting from the concenand
tration or mass transportation of the reacting gases [7]. The first
term of (2) represents the FC open circuit voltage, while the
three last terms represent reductions in this voltage to supply the
, for a certain operating condition.
useful voltage of the cell,
Each one of the terms in (2) can be calculated by the following
equations, using the parameters listed in Table I [1]:
Fig. 2.
Polarization curve of the 500-W BCS stack.
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
where
Fig. 3. Power characteristic of the 500-W BCS stack.
concentration of oxygen in the catalytic interface of the
cathode (mol cm );
concentration of hydrogen in the catalytic interface of
the anode (mol cm );
FC actual current (A);
equivalent membrane resistance ( );
actual FC current density (A cm ).
The gas concentration can be calculated using the following
equation. For oxygen, for example, we have
where
represents the FC dynamic voltage, is the equivalent electrical capacitance (F), and is the FC electrical time
constant (s), defined as
(11)
is an equivalent resistance.
where
Including this electrical dynamic behavior term, the resulting
FC voltage is then defined by
(7)
(12)
The equivalent membrane resistance can be calculated by [2]
The polarization curve of an FC represents its output voltage
against the load current density (or against the load current).
This curve is important because it shows how the FC voltage
behaves when the load current changes. However, it is important
to note that the polarization curve represents just the cell static
operation, because each voltage point in this curve is obtained
only after it reaches its steady-state value.
Using (2)–(12) and the data in Table I, the polarization curve
presented in Fig. 2 was established for the 500-W BCS stack,
which also allows a comparison between the manufacturer’s [8]
and the simulated data. This stack is composed of 32 unit cells,
with a membrane active area of 64 cm . Hydrogen and air are
supplied at the atmospheric pressure (1 atm). For this test, the
stack runs at a temperature of 60 C. The maximum current for
this stack is 30 A.
For most parts of the curve in Fig. 2 the results show good
agreement. However, at the beginning and at end of the simulation, there is only a poor agreement. The reason for this is the
difficulty of finding out the right parameters set for the FC stack.
Fig. 3 presents the stack output power against current, again
for the manufacturer’s data and for the simulated data. Except
for the end of the simulation, the results again show a good
agreement.
Other points of interest in an FC model are the hydrogen flow
rate, flow rate of reactants, and flow rate of products. With such
(8)
is the membrane specific resistivity (
where
can be obtained by
cm), which
(9)
is the specific resistivity (
where the term
cm) at no current and at temperature of 30 C; the exponential
term in the denominator is the temperature factor correction if
the cell is not at 30 C. The parameter was defined in Table I
and it is considered an adjustable parameter, with a possible
minimum value of 14 and a maximum value of 23 [2].
To consider the FC dynamics, one needs to address a phenomenon known as “charge double layer” [7]. This phenomenon means that there is a first order delay in the dynamic operation of FCs, affecting the activation and concentration voltages
[1], [7]. The differential equation stating this dynamic relationship is represented by
(10)
CORRÊA et al.: SIMULATION OF FC STACKS USING A COMPUTER-CONTROLLED POWER RECTIFIER
1139
valuable information, the designer may have a good idea of what
to expect as operating conditions when using the real stack.
In an FC stack supplied with pure hydrogen, the fuel consumption can be obtained by [7]
(13)
is the hydrogen mass flow rate (kg/s);
is the FC
where
is the stack electrical
voltage (V), obtained from (12); and
power (W), obtained from
(14)
where is the number of cells used on the stack.
The air mass flow rate (kg/s) can be obtained using
(15)
(a)
where is the stoichiometric rate.
Finally, the rate of water production, in kg/s, in a stack operation is calculated by
(16)
IV. POWER CIRCUIT HARDWARE SIMULATOR
The block diagram presented in Fig. 1 was implemented in
the laboratory; the FC load was a resistor bank (the dc/ac grid
tied subsystem is under development). Fig. 4 shows photographs
of our system; the main elements are the ac–dc power converter, the passive L–C filter, the load, and the computer used
to model the FC stack and to control the power converter. All
the software routines were implemented in National LabView
software. The actual load current is sensed and used in the control program to establish the new stack voltage based on the
FC model. This voltage is used as a reference for the power
converter closed-loop control system. For the purposes of control, the converter output voltage is measured and compared to
the reference voltage. The resulting signal is used as the input
of a proportional–integral (PI) controller. The PI output signal
is then used to drive the power converter, which is fed by a
three-phase stand-alone power supply.
According to Fig. 1, the converter output voltage and the load
current must be measured for control purposes. Fig. 4(a) shows
the measurement circuitry used in the simulator: the voltage
measurement uses an isolator amplifer and the current measurement uses a Hall-effect device. Fig. 4(a) also shows the
gate drivers board, which is used to turn on the thyristors. The
three-phase power rectifier is basically a Graetz bridge, with six
thyristors. The gate drivers are implemented using standard circuits. The computer send a voltage control signal that is used to
change the delay angle .
The actual FC output voltage is a pure dc voltage. In this
way, it is necessary to use a low-pass filter on the converter
output terminals, as shown in Fig. 4(b), to reduce the voltage
ripple. The filter used is an L–C passive filter, with an inductor
of 17.5 mH and a capacitor of 820 F. The resulting corner
frequency is 42 Hz.
Fig. 5 shows the FC-Sim Graphical User Interface, developed
in LabView. The interface allows the user to control the simula-
(b)
Fig. 4. FC-Sim laboratory prototype. (a) Measurement and gate drivers’
circuitry. (b) Output L-C filter.
Fig. 5. Fuel-cell simulator—graphical interface.
tion start and simulation end times and it also presents important
data online. The data that are shown in the graphs are updated
every 100 ms and they are also saved in files. Using these data
it is possible to have information about the hydrogen needed for
the test, the generated heat, the FC temperature and humidity,
besides electrical variables, such as voltage, current, power, and
efficiency. The main idea is to use this valuable information to
evaluate the real conditions for FC usage, prior to the real tests.
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Fig. 6.
Actual load current for insertion/rejection test.
Fig. 7.
Reference voltage, representing the stack output voltage.
Fig. 8. Converter output voltage.
Fig. 9.
Controller output signal.
V. PRACTICAL RESULTS
The FC-Sim can be used to reproduce the FC stack behavior
against actual electrical loads at very high power levels. Despite
that, low power levels can also be simulated with very reasonable voltage and current waveforms. The following results are
based on the loading insertion/rejection tests, using the 500-W
BCS stack modeling. An overall test was run in order to analyze the stack performance against variations of an ordinary real
load.
The load used in the following tests consists of a variable resistance at a maximum value of 750 , which allows the simulator output power to vary from practically no load to full load.
The load current waverform of the test is shown in Fig. 6. The
maximum value is about 1.5 A and it was applied for a period of
about 20 s. Fig. 7 shows the computer simulated stack voltage,
which is the reference voltage. Fig. 8 shows the converter output
voltage, which corresponds to the voltage applied to the load.
Figs. 7 and 8 show that there is a voltage drop when the load
current increases. This voltage drop is about 6 V, from a no-load
condition to a current load of 1.5 A. This dynamic behavior was
considered by using (1)–(12). Also, it should be noted that, even
for this small load current, there is a significant voltage drop.
Comparing the two curves, one can see that the converter output
voltage presents a good agreement with the reference voltage.
The signal of the converter controller is shown in Fig. 9. The
curve presents a soft shape, showing relatively good control performance. Fig. 10 presents the simulated stack output power for
this test. The maximum power is about 40 W. The resulting stack
efficiency for this power is about 52%. It can be considered a
high efficiency, but one should note that the power in this case
is just 8% of the full power.
The following results were obtained for a higher load current,
to evaluate the stack behavior in such a situation. The load current for this test is shown in Fig. 11 and the comparison between
the simulated stack voltage and the converter output voltage is
presented in Fig. 12. For this test it is possible to observe that
Fig. 10.
Simulated stack output power.
Fig. 11.
Actual FC load current.
Fig. 12. Output voltage from simulated stack and from converter.
the converter voltage presents some more noticeable oscillation
at instants of quick load changes, about 160 and 270 s. This
CORRÊA et al.: SIMULATION OF FC STACKS USING A COMPUTER-CONTROLLED POWER RECTIFIER
1141
REFERENCES
Fig. 13.
Simulated FC output power.
response is characteristic of the passive LC filters used in controlled power converters working as a voltage source to supply
resistive loads.
The power supplied to the load in this test is presented in
Fig. 13, with a maximum value of about 180 W, corresponding
to 36% of the full load. Even at this higher power, the stack
behaves almost the same as for the lower current. Therefore,
the FC-Sim can be used to evaluate low-power and high-power
situations, making it a versatile tool for analysis of FC systems.
[1] J. M. Corrêa, F. A. Farret, and L. N. Canha, “An analysis of the dynamic
performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells using an electromechanical model,” in Proc. IEEE IECON’01, 2001, pp. 141–146.
[2] R. F. Mann, J. C. Amphlett, M. A. I. Hooper, H. M. Jensen, B. A. Peppley, and P. R. Roberge, “Development and application of a generalized steady-state electrochemical model for a PEM fuel cell,” J. Power
Sources, vol. 86, pp. 173–180, 2000.
[3] J. J. Baschuck and X. Li, “Modeling of polymer electrolyte membrane
fuel cells with variable degrees of water flooding,” J. Power Sources,
vol. 86, pp. 181–196, 2000.
[4] J. C. Amphlett, R. F. Mann, B. A. Peppley, P. R. Roberge, and A. Rodrigues, “A model predicting transient responses of proton exchange
membrane fuel cells,” J. Power Sources, vol. 61, pp. 183–188, 1996.
[5] J. Padullés, G. W. Ault, and J. R. McDonald, “An integrated SOFC plant
dynamic model for power systems simulation,” J. Power Sources, vol.
86, pp. 495–500, 2000.
[6] D. Chu and R. Jiang, “Performance of polymer electrolyte membrane
fuel cell (PEMFC) stacks – Part I. Evaluation and simulation of an airbreathing PEMFC stack,” J. Power Sources, vol. 83, pp. 128–133, 1999.
[7] J. E. Larminie and A. Dicks, Fuel Cell Systems Explained. Chichester,
U.K.: Wiley, 2000, p. 308.
[8] “Data sheet of a 500 w fuel cell stack,” BCS Technology, Bryan, TX,
2001.
[9] M. Yamaguchi et al., “Analysis of control characteristics using fuel cell
plant simulator,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 37, pp. 378–386, Oct.
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[10] J. Paddulés, G. W. Ault, and J. R. McDonald, “An approach to dynamic
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VI. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has presented a computer-controlled power converter with a LabView graphical interface system suitable to emulate a realistic FC response. The user interface permitted online
electric evaluation as well as electrochemical information.
The power converter acted as a voltage-controlled source,
supplying the load with the same power as the actual simulated
FC stack. The simulated results agreed within less than 3% with
the results presented in the current manufacturer’s datasheet for
the polarization curve. The dynamic behavior of a specific set
of FC stacks was analyzed using the FC-Sim simulator. Results
for the – characteristic showed clearly the expected output
voltage dependence on the load current. The converter output
voltage has shown good agreement with the stack reference
voltage, as a result of the PI controller performance. However,
at points of quick load changes, some voltage oscillation across
the load terminals was noticed. These oscillations were caused
by the natural converter response. Taking the results presented
in this paper into account, the developed simulator prototype
seemed to be suitable for laboratory tests as it may help development of stack power control algorithms, dedicated power
converters for power injection into the grid, online market analysis, as well as being an aid in developing FC operation control
methods.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors extend their special thank to L. N. Canha,
J. B. Parizzi, and A. S. Padilha for their help with this work.
The authors also recognize and appreciate the strong support
from the Federal University of Santa Maria for allowing all
of the tests to be performed in their laboratories (LHIPAE,
NUDEMI, and NUPEDEE), and the Engineering Division,
Colorado School of Mines.
Jeferson M. Corrêa (S’95) was born in Augusto Pestana, Brazil, in 1972. He received the B.Sc. degree in
electrical engineering in 1997 and the M.Sc. degree
in 2002 from the Federal University of Santa Maria,
Santa Maria, Brazil,where he is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree.
He is currently conducting research at the
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, working with
integration of renewable energy sources and with
power quality improvement. He has been supported
by the National Science Foundation and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES-Brazil).
His experience as a Manufacturing and Maintenance Engineer includes the
companies General Motors do Brasil Ltda, Philip Morris Brasil SA, and WEG
Automação Ltda., where he was mainly developing factory automation systems
and predictive and preventive maintenance coordination. His research interests
include control systems, renewable energy sources, modeling and simulation,
industrial automation, and power electronics.
Mr. Corrêa has received distinctions for his higher performance in graduation, from the Brazilian agency CACISM, and from the Brazilian company CRT.
He also received awards for paper presentations and the IEEE Student Travel
Grant to attend the 2002 IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting
in Pittsburgh, PA.
Felix A. Farret received the B.E. and M.Sc. degrees
in electrical engineering from the Federal University
of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil, in 1972 and
1986, respectively, and the M.Sc. degree from the
University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K., and
the Ph.D. degree from the University of London,
London, U.K.
Since 1974, he has been with the Department of
Electronics and Computation, Federal University
of Santa Maria. He works in an interdisciplinary
educational background related to power electronics,
power systems, nonlinear controls, and renewable energy conversion. He is
currently committed to undergraduate and graduate teaching and to research
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activities. His first book, in Portuguese, is Use of Small Sources of Electrical
Energy (Santa Maria, Brazil: UFSM Press, 1999). Energy engineering systems
are the focus of his present interests for industrial applications. He has been a
Visiting Professor with the Engineering Division, Colorado School of Mines,
Golden. In recent years, he has coordinated several technological projects in renewable sources of energy which were transferred to Brazilian enterprises such
as AES-South Energy Distributor, Hydro Electrical Power Plant Generation of
Nova Palma, and CCE Power Control Engineering Ltd., related to integration
of micro power plants from distinct primary sources; voltage and speed control
by the load for induction generators; and low-power PEM fuel-cell applications
and their models development. Injection of electrical power into to the grid is
currently his major interest. In Brazil, he has been developing several intelligent systems for industrial applications related to injection, location, and sizing
of renewable sources of energy for distribution and industrial systems, including
fuel cells, hydropower, wind power, photovoltaic applications, and other ac–ac
and dc–ac links.
Jonas R. Gomes received the B.Eng. and M.Sc.
degrees in electrical engineering in 1996 and 1999,
respectively, from the Federal University of Santa
Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil, where he is currently
working toward the Ph.D. degree in a project
of harmonic minimization through firing angle
modulation to be tested in the 2.5-GW dc link of
Garabi, São Borja, between Brazil and Argentina.
He is an experienced engineer in design of highpower controllers and automation of industrial systems and remote surveillance of power systems. His
research interests include minimization of harmonics in HVDC converters and
high-power controllers.
Marcelo Godoy Simões (S’89–M’95–SM’98)
received the B.E. and M.S. degrees from the
University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, in 1985
and 1990, respectively, the Ph.D. degree from the
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1995, and the
D.Sc. degree (Livre-Docência) from the University
of São Paulo, in 1998.
He joined the faculty of the Colorado School of
Mines, Golden, in 2000, and has been working to
establish research and education activities in the development of intelligent control for high-power electronics applications in renewable and distributed energy systems.
Dr. Simões was a recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF)
Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in 2002. It is the NSF’s
most prestigious award for new faculty members, recognizing activities of
teacher/scholars who are considered most likely to become the academic
leaders of the 21st century. He is currently serving as IEEE Power Electronics
Society Intersociety Chairman, Associate Editor for Energy Conversion as well
as Editor for Intelligent Systems of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE
AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS, and also serving as Associate Editor for Power
Electronics and Drives of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS.
He has been actively involved in the Steering and Organization Committee of
the IEEE/DOE/DOD 2003 International Future Energy Challenge.