Fuel Cell Modeling Albert Wong

Background and Objectives  To produce a easy to use user interface for modeling the fuel used in a fuel cell.  Port Mathcad worksheets to Matlab and build a user interface. MCFC Image from FCE.com

Mathcad  Worksheet based math solver.  Can make worksheets with notes, formulas, charts and graphs all in one place.  Does not have a very user friendly interface, simplistic and not interactive.  Worksheets are confusing to most users.  Uses a slightly strange syntax making it harder to modify and create worksheets.

Mathcad Interface This is how a user changes and enters variables. Click on a variable with := and change the value. Notes and formulas all in one neat worksheet.

Mathcad Interface Formulas are somewhat interactive and retains units Able to generate charts and graphs embedded in the worksheet.

Matlab  Command line based user interface.  M programming language.  GUIDE GUI editor.  Able to do almost everything Mathcad can do.

Matlab interface Command line interface can define values and test calculations. Most of the documentation is written for this and often is not compatible with the M programming.

Matlab Editors GUIDE GUI creator similar to what VB allows a user to create. Editor showing a snippet of code of the fuelCell.m file

fuelCell GUI Combined all the values and calculations of the worksheets to produce this interface.

GUI Features More intuitive interface defines the variables clearly and allows a user to easily select and modify values.

GUI Features Summarizes all of the results in charts and graphs all in one pageSummarizes all of the results in charts and graphs all in one page Results can updated with a click of calculateResults can updated with a click of calculate Values in the table can be selected and copiedValues in the table can be selected and copied

Implementation Issues  Learning and understanding both programs.  Built in functions operate and work differently  The programs are different and likely uses different algorithms to calculate results  Difficulty in handling rounding and units

Learning and Understanding  Unfamiliar with the use and functionality of both programs  Limited time to read and learn  Much of the documentation for Matlab was written for command line use  fsolve(function, initial guess)

Different results Despite days of debugging the results were different MatlabMathcad

Just Another Answer Solutions were manually calculated and compared.

Just Another Answer Graphs and table match as close as I was able to get them.

Final Words  This was a great introduction to programs used in the industry  Needs a little refinement and a little more time  Appreciate the help and support from Professor Blekhman and Professor Abbott