A study of the loss characteristics of a single cell PEM electrolyser for pure hydrogen production

Merwe, Jan van der; Uren, Kenneth R.; Schoor, George van; Bessarabov, Dmitri

doi:10.1109/icit.2013.6505751

Cited by 9 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Experimental data are required to model the selected water electrolysis processes as shown in [13], [28], [29]. The electrolytic cell voltage is a sum of the reversible voltage and additional overvoltages appearing in the electrolytic cell…”

Section: Methods Of Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Converter Topology on the Specific Energy Consumption of Alkaline Water Electrolyzers

Koponen

Ruuskanen

Kosonen

et al. 2019

IEEE Trans. Power Electron.

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Water electrolysis will be used to produce renewable hydrogen for energy storage and Power-to-X applications in the future renewable-energy-based energy systems. Therefore, the energy efficiency of hydrogen production will probably become a major issue. In this study, the effect of practical supply power converters on the specific energy consumption of MW-scale alkaline electrolyzers is studied and compared with an ideal DC power supply. The current quality and the stack specific energy consumption are studied in the case of traditional thyristor rectifiers and a transistor-based converter. The stack specific energy consumption is analyzed based on the simulated current waveforms and the electrical equivalent circuit of the electrolyzer stack. It is found that the transistor-based converter offers up to 14% lower electrolyzer stack specific energy consumption than the 6-pulse thyristor rectifier and up to 9.2% lower electrolyzer stack specific energy consumption than the 12-pulse thyristor rectifier as the current varies between 5000 A and 1000 A. The simulated change in the stack specific energy consumption of the MW-scale alkaline water electrolyzer outweighs the losses occurring in the rectifiers. Further, selection of the AC voltage level may have a more adverse effect on the stack specific energy consumption with the thyristor rectifier topologies compared with the transistor-based topologies.

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Section: Methods Of Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Converter Topology on the Specific Energy Consumption of Alkaline Water Electrolyzers

Koponen

Ruuskanen

Kosonen

et al. 2019

IEEE Trans. Power Electron.

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“…By knowing the cathodic Tafel slope from the electrolysis cell, it is possible to identify the anodic Tafel slope. The latter is possible because in PEMWE cells the Tafel slope has been related to the sum of the corresponding Tafel slope seen in the anodic and cathodic reactions. ,− The resulting anodic slopes are 38 mV dec –1 for Pt/C and 36 mV dec –1 for the Mo-based catalysts. These values are close to the previously reported value for nanoparticulated RuO 2 of 40 mV dec –1 , confirming that RuO 2 exhibits the same limiting step (proton desorption) irrespective of the cathode electrocatalyst.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We are aware of the complications that arise when evaluating experimental Tafel slopes and identifying the cathodic and anodic contributions. ,− Several factors can influence the value of the Tafel slope, such as the ohmic overpotential calculated either by high frequency resistance (HRF) or the low frequency resistance (LFR), the selected current density region, , and the effect of mass transport overpotential that could be present even at low current density . However, the suggested methodology allows to study the intrinsic catalytic activity of noble-metal free cathode electrocatalysts in PEMWE cells, and similar approaches can be used when studying anodic electrocatalysts while retaining Pt as cathode electrocatalysts.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benchmarking Molybdenum-Based Materials as Cathode Electrocatalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis: Can These Compete with Pt?

García

Perivoliotis

et al. 2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is a promising technology to produce high-purity renewable hydrogen gas. However, its operation efficiency is highly dependent on the usage of expensive noble metals as electrocatalysts. Replacing, decreasing, or simply extending the operational lifetime of these precious metals have a positive impact on the hydrogen economy. Mo-based electrocatalysts are often praised as potential materials to replace the Pt used at the cathode to catalyse the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Most electrocatalytic studies are performed in traditional three-electrode cells with different operational conditions than those seen in PEM systems, making it difficult to predict the expected material’s performance under industrially relevant conditions. Therefore, we investigated the viability of using three selected Mo-based nanomaterials (1T′-MoS2, Co-MoS2, and β-Mo2C) as HER electrocatalysts in PEMWE systems. We investigated the effects of replacing Pt on the catalyst loading, charge transfer resistance, kinetics, operational stability, and hydrogen production efficiency during the PEMWE operation. In addition, we developed a methodology to identify the individual contribution of the anode and cathode kinetics in a PEMWE system, allowing to detect the cause behind the performance drop when using Mo-based electrocatalysts. Our results indicate that the electrochemical performance in three-electrode cells might not strictly predict the performance that could be achieved in PEMWE cells due to differences in interfaces and porosity of the macroscopic catalyst layers. Among the catalysts studied, 1T′-MoS2 is truly an excellent candidate to replace Pt as an HER electrocatalyst due to its low overpotential, low charge transfer resistance, and excellent durability, reaching a high efficiency of ∼75% at 1 A cm–2 and 1.94 V. Our study highlights the importance of a continuous development of efficient noble-metal free HER electrocatalysts suitable for PEMWE systems.

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“…Hydrogen, the reductant considered in this study, is currently mainly produced from non-renewable sources, e.g., coal, oil, and natural gas, while water electrolysis accounts for approximately 4% of the globally produced hydrogen [31]. Nevertheless, numerous processes can be employed for generating hydrogen, e.g., thermochemical [32,33], photocatalytic [34,35], photochemical [36,37], photo-electrochemical [38,39], metal and metal hydride hydrolysis [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48], electrochemical [49][50][51][52][53][54], and ammonia and formic acid decomposition [55][56][57] processes, as well as various biological processes [58][59][60]. In this investigation, the hydrogen reductant was generated on-site at Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) Infrastructure, Potchefstroom, South Africa, through proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Pre-Oxidation on the Reducibility of Chromite Using Hydrogen: A Preliminary Study

et al. 2022

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The majority of ferrochrome (FeCr) is produced through the carbothermic reduction of chromite ore. In recent years, FeCr producers have been pressured to curve carbon emissions, necessitating the exploration of alternative smelting methods. The use of hydrogen as a chromite reductant only yields water as a by-product, preventing the formation of carbon monoxide (CO)-rich off-gas. It is however understood that only the Fe-oxide constituency of chromite can be metalized by hydrogen, whereas the chromium (Cr)-oxide constituency requires significantly higher temperatures to be metalized. Considering the alternation of chromite’s spinel structure when oxidized before traditional smelting procedures, the effects on its reducibility using hydrogen were investigated. Firstly, the effect of hydrogen availability was considered and shown to have a significant effect on Fe metallization. Subsequently, spinel alternation induced by pre-oxidation promoted the hydrogen-based reducibly of the Fe-oxide constituency, and up to 88.4% of the Fe-oxide constituency was metallized. The Cr-oxide constituency showed little to no reduction. The increase in Fe-oxide reducibility was ascribed to the formation of an exsolved Fe2O3-enriched sesquioxide phase, which was more susceptible to reduction when compared to Fe-oxides present in the chromite spinel. The extent of Fe metallization of the pre-oxidized chromite was comparable to that of unoxidized chromite under significantly milder reduction conditions.

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A study of the loss characteristics of a single cell PEM electrolyser for pure hydrogen production

Cited by 9 publications

References 9 publications

Effect of Converter Topology on the Specific Energy Consumption of Alkaline Water Electrolyzers

Effect of Converter Topology on the Specific Energy Consumption of Alkaline Water Electrolyzers

Benchmarking Molybdenum-Based Materials as Cathode Electrocatalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis: Can These Compete with Pt?

The Effect of Pre-Oxidation on the Reducibility of Chromite Using Hydrogen: A Preliminary Study

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