An electrochemically assisted AC/DC microgrid configuration with waste water treatment capability

•A standalone AC/DC microgrid with waste water treatment capability is proposed.•Hybrid fuel cell configuration including Microbial Electrolysis Cell is introduced.•Microgrid design is based on local available renewable sources in Southeast Texas.•A control strategy is suggested to ensure optimal power management in disasters.•Real-time HIL experimental setup confirms the system performance during disasters. This paper presents the design and implementation of an innovative standalone AC/DC microgrid configuration with focus on electricity water nexus. The proposed configuration includes photovoltaic (PV) generator, hybrid fuel cell system, storage system, and both DC and AC loads. One of the most important advantages of this microgrid is waste water treatment which enhances the microgrid resilience during natural/climate disasters or in remote areas. Purified water is produced by Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) which also generate cheap and sustainable Hydrogen as a viable fuel for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEM fuel cell) with considerable power density. A dynamic control strategy is also suggested to ensure optimal power management during microgrid stand-alone operation. To verify the proposed configuration and control strategy, the AC/DC microgrid is modeled and simulated in MATLAB/Simulink and the system power balance behavior during different scenarios is evaluated. A real-time Hardware-In-The-Loop (HIL) based experimental setup with physical power component and LabVIEW-based control system is designed and tested with the same scenarios to confirm the simulation results. By considering the natural/climate disasters in the last decades and the availability of the vast waste water supplies in Southeast Texas, which is the target area of this paper, the proposed AC/DC microgrid is a viable choice to increase the power system resilience.