Experimental study on the external electrical thermal and dynamic power characteristics of alkaline water electrolyzer

Abstract

Summary As hydrogen production with a water electrolyzer is an effective way for renewable energy consumption, understanding the external electrical characteristics of water electrolyzer is of great significance for the modeling and simulation, system configuration, and control strategy of the system for hydrogen production by renewable energy. However, there are relatively fewer studies in this area. This paper presents the establishment of an experimental platform to conduct an experimental study on the static and dynamic voltage‐current characteristics and analyze the adjustability of the electric power of the traditional alkaline water electrolyzer, the relationship between the electrical characteristics and the electrolyte temperature, and operating point of the alkaline water electrolyzer. In addition, the mathematical fitting problem of the electrical characteristics of the alkaline water electrolyzer is discussed. The work could supply a reference to alkaline water electrolyzer intergrated application in renewable energy.

Alkaline Water Electrolysis Powered by Renewable Energy: A Review

“…The most-used electrolyte for alkaline water electrolysis is an aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) with 20 to 30 wt.% KOH, as the specific conductivity is optimal at the typical temperature range from 50 to 80 • C [25]. A cheaper alternative would be a diluted sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH), which has a lower conductivity [52].…”

“…At lower energy demands, hydrogen can be produced and converted back into energy when it is needed. As conventional alkaline water electrolyzers are designed for operation at constant conditions, occurring fluctuations may be damped by additional energy storage devices like batteries, supercapacitors, or flywheels [25,28,82]. When excess energy is available, this energy storage can be charged to be fully available when needed.…”

“…To ensure safety and high efficiency, alkaline water electrolyzers must be optimized for dynamic operation. Hence, the process needs to be analyzed for how the dynamics will affect the system performance and what aspects should be considered when fluctuating renewable energy is used instead of a constant load [25]. Thus, this contribution shows model descriptions for alkaline water electrolysis, photovoltaic panels, and wind turbines to identify the limitations when combining all components into a hydrogen energy system.…”

Structure design and control strategy of a new alkaline water electrolyzer based on heat exchange

“…It is found that the advantages of the new two non‐independent modules are obvious. For the traditional single module, the test object in Shen et al is used as an example, and the basic performance parameters of the device are shown in Table . Modules A and B are the same in structure and capacity.…”

Mathematical modeling and simulation for external electrothermal characteristics of an alkaline water electrolyzer

“…In the early stage, researchers established a test platform with 2 traditional AWEs manufactured by Suzhou Jing Li Hydrogen Equipment Co, Ltd as research objects and carried out studies on the static and dynamic volt-ampere characteristics of AWE and its preliminary power regulation characteristics. 26 Test object 1 was in multipole series with the number in series (n s ) being 10, the working temperature range 50°C to 80°C, the working voltage range 16 to 21 V, and the test environment temperature T c = 6°C. Test object 2 was also in multipole series, with the number of series (n s ) being 8, the working temperature range 50°C to 80°C, the working voltage range 12.8 to 18.4 V, and the test environment temperature T c = 20°C.…”