Dynamic Electric Simulation Model of a Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer System for Hydrogen Production

Abstract

An energy storage system based on a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer system, which could be managed by a nanoGrid for Home Applications (nGfHA), is able to convert the surplus of electric energy produced by renewable sources into hydrogen, which can be stored in pressurized tanks. The PEM electrolyzer system must be able to operate at variable feeding power for converting all the surplus of renewable electric energy into hydrogen in reasonable time. In this article, the dynamic electric simulation model of a PEM electrolyzer system with its pressurized hydrogen tanks is developed in a proper calculation environment. Through the calculation code, the stack voltage and current peaks to a supply power variation from the minimum value (about 56 W) to the maximum value (about 440 W) are controlled and zeroed to preserve the stack, the best range of the operating stack current is evaluated, and hydrogen production is monitored.