Mathematical Modeling and Experimental Validation for a 50 kW Alkaline Water Electrolyzer

Abstract

Due to its high maturity and low cost, alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) technology has been widely integrated with large-scale renewable energy systems (RESs) for green hydrogen (H2) production. Here, to evaluate the operational performance of a 50 kW AWE electrolyzer under different operation conditions, we developed an empirical modeling and experimental validation approach. The model particularly focuses on the polarization curve and the hydrogen to oxygen ratio (HTO). The relevant parameters of the empirical model were obtained by fitting the experimental data with MATLAB. The validity and accuracy of the established model and parameters were verified by comparing the fitted values with experimental values, and a good correlation was found. Since the experiments were performed in the sub-cell of 5 MW scale AWE electrolyzers, this model can also predict the performance of industrial MW-scale AWE electrolyzers and serve as a tool for the optimal design and control of industrial AWE electrolyzers. The results demonstrated that the models can achieve an accuracy with an R2 value exceeding 0.95 across a range of operational conditions.