A virtual lab as a complement to traditional hands-on labs: Characterization of an alkaline electrolyzer for hydrogen production

Abstract

Laboratories are commonly included as part of university courses as a way to relate theoretical lectures with experimental processes. In this sense, an excellent tool widely employed in academic teaching is the use of simulation software as a link between theory and traditional hands-on practice. This work is focused on the use of a virtual lab, i.e., a simulation, to study the electrolysis of water for hydrogen production, as a complement to traditional hands-on labs to help students comprehend the basics of this industrial process. At Complutense University of Madrid, students perform this laboratory as part of an engineering course included in the program of the chemical engineering bachelor’s degree during their junior year. First, in this work, the hands-on lab is described as one of the cases proposed. Three more cases involving the virtual lab are also included as part of the laboratory experience. The last proposed case is focused on the theoretical background that students should have acquired during the hands-on and virtual lab sessions: three questions have to be addressed by the students. This work also includes a section where the opinions of students, their feedback after performing the labs, and the opinions of their professors (the authors) are incorporated to finally report some ideas for future work and conclusions about the ongoing teaching experience. A peculiarity of the use of virtual labs is that, in this case, they are performed after the hands-on labs, and therefore, they do not aim to prepare students for the laboratory by presenting the necessary theory for the experiment. The motivation of this virtual lab is to provide students with knowledge of the physical/chemical phenomena that govern the electrolysis process through the use of a theoretical model in order to reduce the limitations of the hands-on labs, such as the operating conditions, i.e., time, temperature, and number of cells, and to provide them with values for the parameters of a real system that can help with a critical discussion of the measured results.