Fuel cell control solutions

One way of ensuring succesful integration of new energy sources and technologies is to offer a plug-and-play solution where the end user experience is not drastically changed. Fuel cell solutions not only need to be clean and safe; they also need to be user-friendly to ensure successful adoption.

The answer is to design control solutions that are easy to use, even for end users who are accustomed to other energy sources. DEIF devices give you that user friendliness, optimised control and integration features, and the robustness and scalability you need to deploy net-zero fuel cell solutions that evolve with your requirements, minimise your carbon footprint, and speed up the energy transition.

Five good reasons for working with DEIF

Full range of controllers (including the AGC-4 Mk II, AMC 600, and iE 250) that enable full control of your fuel cells and enable integration with other energy sources

Easy integration with existing assets and existing controllers, ensuring speedy extension or adaptation of your existing fleet

Extensive experience and in-depth knowledge, for example on power management and hybrid microgrids

Short lead times and timely delivery thanks to proactive procurement and strong logistics setup

Global presence providing application support and expert consultancy on all continents

Flexible control options

DEIF controllers provide all the features you need to control your fuel cells efficiently. You can use our AGC-4 Mk II to interface with your fuel cell’s control unit, or you can develop customised control logic to control your fuel cell directly with our AMC 600 PLC. And our iE 250 controller combines built-in factory logic with a customisable PLC, giving you the best of both worlds.

Our controllers can be configured or programmed to handle a wide range of control strategies and priorities to ensure uninterrupted power, for example in prime power, peak shaving, and backup power applications, on land and on ships and offshore rigs.

Integration with other energy sources

Our decades of experience in power and energy management help you develop integrated control solutions for land and marine applications. With our devices, you can integrate fuel cells in new or existing power solutions, interfacing with renewables, battery storage systems, engines and generators, and the grid. You can use them in a wide range of applications on land and at sea, including power rental, ship propulsion, offshore rig power, microgrids, and hybrid power plants.

You can design PMS/EMS solutions for land and marine applications with individual fuel cells or entire arrays. Our controllers can be configured for any fuel cell running on hydrogen, ammonia, or other fuels, and our controllers give you the flexibility to scale and reconfigure your solutions quickly and easily as your requirements change. You can even program DEIF PLCs for use as safety PLCs or for monitoring sensors, maximising onsite safety.

Ensuring easy adoption with a user-friendly UI

Some end users will be more likely to adopt and use fuel cells if doing so is not harder than controlling a generator. DEIF offers flexible and highly configurable user interfaces like the AGI 400 series that give your end users the information and control options they need, no matter if they need to control a single fuel cell or a hybrid power plant with a combination of energy sources. By offering a user-friendly interface, you remove an important obstacle to fast adoption.

Automatic genset controller AGC-4 Mk II

Automatic Mains Failure sequence
Multi-master Power Management
Power Management Core (32dg)
Power Management Extended (>32dg)
RMB Transformer maintenance with up to 32 gensets
PLC
Engine CANbus
Din rail mount
Flexible Hardware
Additional CANbus based I/O (9 x CIO modules)
Redundant controller
Redundant CANbus for Power mamangement
N+X configuration
Close Before Excitation / Run-up synchronization from 6 seconds
DEIF digital AVR DVC550 support
Multi purpose PID´s
Gridcode compiant with: VDE AR-N 4110/4105 (Medium voltage, Germany, VDE AR-N 4105 (low voltage, Germany, EN 50549-1:2019 (Europe), ENA EREC G99 (United Kingdom)
Touch Screen Supported (TDU107)
Tier4 final/stage5
Emulation for easy training and FAT
Hybrid EMS support (1)
Heavy consumer (via ALC-4)
Fuel optimisation
Fully compatible with AGC 150 and ASC-4
TÜV pending and UL approved

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Programmable automation controller with EtherCAT based I/O AMC 600

Cold start-up/Operating temperature: -40 to 70 °C
Storage temperature: -40 to 85 °C
Climate: 55 °C 97 % RH condensing
Altitude: < 4000 m
Vibration : 2.1 g (3.2 to 50 Hz) 1.0g (13.2 to 100 Hz)
Shock: 50 g, 11 ms, half sine
Bump: 25 g, 6 ms, half sine

New platform formfactor – height of just 122 mm; depth 114 mm
Design lifetime of no less than 10 years at 40 ºC surrounding temperatures
Backplane mounted rack ensuring stable inter-module communication during operation in the entire products lifetime
Fully production tested control system units lowering in-sourcing costs for series production at customer
Suitable for Stationary, mobile, wind turbine retrofit
Increased mechanical robustness
Increased electrical protection levels ; ESD up to 6kV, up to 4kV on power inputs and 2kV on all signal and communication power for fast transients protections
Designed the input circuits with protections against failure connections
Cold start up in very low-temperature without pre-heating
Proven electronics design for demanding condensing climates
Built-in standard EtherCAT as native communication protocol for use as distributed I/O
High density IO modules
- 24V DC Digital Inputs, Digital Outputs, Voltage / Current Analogue Inputs, PT-100 inputs
Condition monitoring modules with High Frequency Analogue Inputs
Support for most widely used fieldbusses : CAN/CANopen, PROFINET, RS-422/485, TCP/IP ( OPC UA, Modbus TCP etc. )

Warranty: 2 years (not including wearable parts) with option to 5 totally years

Operating system software with fail-safe update
- DEIF In-house maintained OS
- Real-time Patched Linux
- Web based configuration
- Simplified update procedures (no special tools, same for OS and firmware)
- Secured Certificated based access by standard protocols
- Customer manages all users (Operator, Service and Administrator), rights and credentials
- Network configuration of the 2 independent network interfaces.
- Network Time protocol support as Client
- Fail-safe system software start up with two OS images (active and fault-back)
- Fault-tolerant file system
Web based configuration
User management
Programming with CODESYS V3.5 and C/C++
- Regular updates to newest CODESYS V3.5 Service Packs
Secure Web based visualization