Experimental investigation of hydrogen production performance of PEM electrolyze

Abstract

As global awareness of environmental protection increases, hydrogen is seen as a promising solution due to its high energy density and zero-emission combustion. The PEM electrolyze combined with renewable energy power generation is an effective method to solve the problem of hydrogen production. The market competitiveness of PEM electrolyte will be enhanced in the future, and the equipment cost can be reduced by 35.8%. The fast dynamic response performance of PEM electrolyzes, especially during start-up and shutdown, affects system flexibility and stability. The 190 Nm3/h test platform is established to study the fast dynamic response performance, considering the cold start-up, thermal start-up and shutdown behaviors. The results shown that the 190 Nm³/h PEM electrolyze required 6340 s to achieve cold start-up, 1100 s to achieve thermal start-up, and 855 s to complete shutdown. When operating stably, the temperature fluctuation of the PEM remains below 5 °C, demonstrating the excellent temperature control performance. However, during cold start-up and shutdown, the concentrations of hydrogen and oxygen fluctuate significantly which can easily lead to a decrease in system performance. These findings provide guidance for optimizing the design and operating parameters of PEM Electrolyze systems.