(Invited) Dynamic Modeling of Liquid Alkaline Water Electrolyzers: From Laboratory Cells to Industrial-Sized Stacks

Abstract

The transition of the energy system towards renewable energies creates an enormous demand for green hydrogen produced by water electrolysis [1]. Among the available processes, alkaline water electrolysis (AEL) is already well-developed and cost-effective, as it does not require expensive or critical membrane and electrode materials [2]. If the liquid alkaline electrolyte is maintained at sufficient reaction temperature (60-90 °C), efficient operation of AEL systems is possible with rapid response to fluctuating renewable power supply [3]. However, a critical phenomenon for all low-temperature water electrolysis technologies is the increased gas impurity – especially for hydrogen in oxygen – during part-load operation [4]. This decreases the process efficiency and is safety-relevant as electrolysis systems must shut down when exceeding 50% of the lower explosive limit. These impurities become dominant at low current density since gas production decreases while the contamination mechanisms (diffusion through the separator and convective transport through electrolyte cycles mixing) are almost load-independent. We have developed a comprehensive dynamic model to properly describe the performance of an AEL system, including cell voltage, electrolyte temperature, electrolyte concentration, and gas purity [5]. With this model, it is possible to describe the dynamic operation of a laboratory AEL system with high accuracy. However, if this model is employed for an industry-sized shortstack with more than 1 m2 cell size, predictions and experimental results are in lesser agreement. This is most probably because the present model assumption of perfectly mixed half-cells no longer holds in large cells with a pronounced dependency of the gas fraction over the cell height. Thus, an improved model including this height dependence must be developed.[1] M. Wappler, D. Unguder, X. Lu, H. Ohlmeyer, H. Teschke, W. Lueke, Int. J. Hydrogen Energ. 47 (2022) 33551[2] J. Brauns, T. Turek, Processes 8 (2020) 248[3] J. Brauns, T. Turek, Electrochim. Acta 404 (2022) 139715[4] P. Trinke, P. Haug, J. Brauns, B. Bensmann, R. Hanke-Rauschenbach, T. Turek, J. Electrochem. Soc. 165 (2018) F502[5] J. Brauns, T. Turek, J. Electrochem. Soc. 170 (2023) 064510