Internal Microscopic Diagnosis of Accelerated Aging of Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis Cell Stack.

Chi-Yuan Lee,Shih-Chun Li,Guo-Bin Jung,Yi-Zhen Zeng,Chia-Hung Chen

doi:10.3390/mi11121078

Chi-Yuan Lee, Shih-Chun Li + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11121078

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Journal: Micromachines	Publication Date: Dec 4, 2020
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Yuan Ze University

Abstract

The hydrogen production reaction of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis cell stack is the reverse reaction of the fuel cell, but the water electrolysis operation requires high pressure, and the high pressure decomposes hydrogen molecules, thus aging or causing failure in the water electrolysis cell stack. In addition, there are five important physical parameters (current, voltage, flow, pressure and temperature) inside the water electrolysis cell stack, which can change the performance and shorten the life of the cell stack. However, the present techniques obtain data only by external simulation or single measurement; they cannot collect the internal real data in operation instantly and accurately. This study discusses the causes for aging or failure, and develops an internal real-time microscopic diagnosis tool for accelerated aging of the PEM water electrolysis cell stack. A flexible integrated (current, voltage, flow, pressure and temperature) microsensor applicable to the inside (high voltage and electrochemical environment) of the PEM water electrolysis cell stack is developed by using micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology; it is embedded in the PEM water electrolysis cell stack for microscopic diagnosis of accelerated aging, and 100-h durability and reliability tests are performed. The distribution of important physical parameters inside the PEM water electrolysis cell stack can be measured instantly and accurately, so as to adjust it to the optimal operating conditions, and the local aging and failure problems are discussed.

Highlights

With the progress of human civilization, as energy becomes more and more important, the demand increases greatly, and people use fossil fuels, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal, to meet the huge demand, so that a lot of CO2 is emitted, which induces global warming
In comparison to prior water electrolysis, the proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis cell stack has many advantages, such as less corrosivity, it can be operated at lower voltage, higher current density and higher temperature and pressure, so as to increase efficiency (80–90%)
The perfluorinated membrane material used in the PEM water electrolysis has high acidity, so expensive noble metals or their oxides are required (platinum for hydrogen evolution reaction or HER for the cathode and Iridium or oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for the anode [8]

Summary

Introduction

With the progress of human civilization, as energy becomes more and more important, the demand increases greatly, and people use fossil fuels, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal, to meet the huge demand, so that a lot of CO2 is emitted, which induces global warming. In comparison to prior water electrolysis, the proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis cell stack has many advantages, such as less corrosivity, it can be operated at lower voltage, higher current density and higher temperature and pressure, so as to increase efficiency (80–90%). If the input voltage of the PEM water electrolysis cell is too high, the resistance is likely to be too high, and the nonuniform current density causes the hot spot to generate waste heat, so that the system temperature rises, the decomposition of hydrogen molecules is accelerated, the hydrogen concentration drops, the runner plate is damaged, and the aging and performance decay of water electrolysis cell are accelerated.

Results

Conclusion