Effect of flow regime of circulating water on a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer

Ito, Hiroshi; Maeda, Tetsuhiko; Nakano, Akihiro; Hasegawa, Yasuo; Yokoi, N.; Hwang, Chul Min; Ishida, M.; Kato, Atsushi; Yoshida, Tetsuya

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.06.103

Cited by 148 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Quite naturally, parallel channels seem to be preferred over serpentine patterns due to a better water and temperature distribution and a lower pressure drop. 44 But also parallel channel structures may result in non-uniform water flow rate and temperature distributions over the active area. 45 Considering that BPPs make up a significant share of the stack cost (cf.…”

Section: Materials and Componentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…78 Thus the gas bubbles grow at the electrode surface until the buoyancy and shear forces acting on a bubble exceed the adhesion force. 44 In an electrolyzer, larger pores in the PTL tend to change the flow regime in the channels of the flow field from a preferred dispersed bubbly into a slug flow, 75 meaning that the gas bubbles coalesce, which can be avoided by higher water velocities in the channel. 79 Using high-speed photography and an optically transparent cell, Dedigama et al 79 noticed a transition from bubble to slug flow in the channels of the flow field at higher current densities and with progressive channel length, which was associated with improved mass transport.…”

Section: Transport Processes (2-phase)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Critical Review—Identifying Critical Gaps for Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolysis Development

Babic

Suermann

Büchi

et al. 2017

J. Electrochem. Soc.

415

347

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Although polymer electrolyte water electrolyzers (PEWEs) have been used in small-scale (kW to tens of kW range) applications for several decades, PEWE technology for hydrogen production in energy applications (power-to-gas, power-to-fuel, etc.) requires significant improvements in the technology to address the challenges associated with cost, performance and durability. Systems with power of hundreds of kW or even MWs, corresponding to hydrogen production rates of around 10 to 20 kg/h, have started to appear in the past 5 years. The thin (∼0.2 mm) polymer electrolyte in the PEWE with low ohmic resistance, compared to the alkaline cell with liquid electrolyte, allows operation at high current densities of 1-3 A/cm 2 and high differential pressure. This article, after an introductory overview of the operating principles of PEWE and state-of-the-art, discusses the state of understanding of key phenomena determining and limiting performance, durability, and commercial readiness, identifies important 'gaps' in understanding and essential development needs to bring PEWE science & engineering forward to prosper in the energy market as one of its future backbone technologies. For this to be successful, science, engineering, and process development as well as business and market development need to go hand in hand. In 2015, the global primary energy consumption was 153 PWh, 1 corresponding to an average rate of energy conversion of 17 TW. About 30% (∼6 TW) of this is used for electricity generation, which yields around 2.8 TW of electrical power (24 PWh per year). Around two thirds of the electricity is generated from fossil fuels, hydropower contributes 16%, nuclear power 11%, and other renewables (such as solar and wind) only 6.7%.1 Solar (photovoltaics) and wind power have a combined installed capacity of about 660 GW (in 2015).2 Electricity supply based on a significant share of these "new renewables" is associated with large discrepancies between supply and demand, owing to the intermittent nature of these primary energy sources. Hence, solutions for the grid-scale storage of electricity need to be developed and implemented. The electrochemical splitting of water (electrolysis) is a clean and efficient process offering interesting prospects to store large amounts of excess electricity in form of chemical energy ('power-to-gas' concept). 3,4 The produced hydrogen and oxygen can be used to regenerate electricity in periods of low production and high demand or serve as clean transportation fuel for fuel cell electric vehicles. Therefore, water electrolysis is a key technology in future sustainable energy scenarios, since hydrogen as an energy 'vector', i.e., as a universal energy carrier, could promote the decarbonization of the energy economy, or even become its backbone in the context of a 'hydrogen economy'.5 Moreover, the produced hydrogen can be used to methanate CO 2 from suitable sources, such as biogas plants, to produce synthetic natural gas (SNG), which can be injected and stored in the natural gas network. 6...

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Section: Materials and Componentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Transport Processes (2-phase)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Review—Identifying Critical Gaps for Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolysis Development

Babic

Suermann

Büchi

et al. 2017

J. Electrochem. Soc.

415

347

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, the extensive consumption of fossil fuels and large scale emission of greenhouse gases over the last century has led to renewed interest in this technology when considering renewable energy sources for hydrogen production. The importance of PEMWE technology is highlighted in the European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell programme as a key process for transforming zero-carbon electricity sources into the supply of zero-carbon hydrogen and oxygen for miscellaneous end uses (3).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Study and Two Phase Flow Analysis of the Anode of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Water Electrolyser

et al. 2015

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The effect of water flow rate on the performance of a polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyser (PEMWE) was studied using an unpressurised lab-scale (25 cm 2 ) cell. The linear polarisation curves obtained showed a voltage increase at higher current densities that increased with water flow rate. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that while lower water flow rates lead to higher cell temperatures and reduced membrane resistance, mass transport losses dominate at high current density. As the water flow is exclusively in the bubbly regime, increase in mass transport limitation is attributed to bubble formation dynamics and reduced gas void fraction at higher water flow rates.

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“…Because the overpotential in anode is generally dominant among overpotential in PEMWE (10)(11)(12)(13), researches on the impact of current collector concentrate on the anode side (13)(14)(15)(16)(17). It is also suggested that cathode current collector can impact the cell performance (15).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Cathode Current Collector on High Temperature PEM Water Electrolysis

Inada

Nakajima

et al. 2015

ECS Trans.

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The effect of cathode current collectors on polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) was evaluated with I-V and I-high frequency resistance (HFR) characteristics. Results reveal that cathode current collectors can impact water electrolysis performance by controlling the amount of water accumulation there, which is proved with overpotential analysis and systematic operation such as feeding additional nitrogen gas to cathode. The hydrophilic cathode current collectors invited better performance than hydrophobic ones, because the hydrophilic ones gives less water accumulation there and enough water content in catalyst coated membrane (CCM). The thickness of cathode current collector did not impact the performance.

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Effect of flow regime of circulating water on a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer

Cited by 148 publications

References 42 publications

Critical Review—Identifying Critical Gaps for Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolysis Development

Critical Review—Identifying Critical Gaps for Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolysis Development

An Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Study and Two Phase Flow Analysis of the Anode of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Water Electrolyser

Impact of Cathode Current Collector on High Temperature PEM Water Electrolysis

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