Experimental investigation of bio-inspired flow field design for AEM and PEM water electrolyzer cells

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 4, 809 - 829, 22.12.2023

Abdullah Emre Avcı , Mehmed Selim Çögenli , Selahattin Çelik , Hasan Özcan

https://doi.org/10.58559/ijes.1364651

Öz

Hydrogen is the strongest candidate to become the future fuel of the world to meet net-zero targets while it cannot be found in nature in pure form and the most major occurrence is in water or carbon-based forms. Therefore, external energy is needed to retrieve hydrogen in pure form where natural gas reforming is the most common method for over 90% of hydrogen production worldwide with carbon footprint followed by water electrolysis which is environmentally friendly. As clean methods PEM and AEL electrolysis are mature technologies while AEM takes increased attention with its unique dry cathode technology. This study examines how a nature-influenced (Bioinspired) and a serpentine flow channel design affects PEM electrolyzer and AEM electrolyzer cell functionality. The performance of the electrolyzers is assessed in terms of experimental polarization curves. It was decided to utilize Sustainion® XA-9 Alkaline Ionomer Powder as the ionomer solution and Fumasep FAS-50 as the membrane. The laminar flow analysis is performed using COMSOL Multiphysics. The efficiency of the PEM electrolyzer is 71% with the serpentine flow, while the efficiency is 73% with the biomimetic flow. The efficiency of the AEM water electrolyser is 25% using the same design. The low performance in AEM was interpreted as the inability to distribute the catalyst homogeneously on the membrane surface.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Renewable energy, Hydrogen, Electrolysis, Electrolyzer, AEM water electrolysis, Bio-inspired flow field design, PEM water electrolysis.

Destekleyen Kurum

Tübitak 2209-B

Teşekkür

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of TUBITAK 2209-B. Corresponding author would also like to thank “Lentatek Uzay Havacılık ve Teknoloji A.Ş.” and its employees for helping conduct these experiments by making its infrastructure available.

Kaynakça

• [1] Xu Q, Zhang L, Zhang J, Wang J, Hu Y, Jiang H, Li C. Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer: Electrode Design, Lab-Scaled Testing System and Performance Evaluation. EnergyChem. 2022; 4(5): 100087.
• [2] Park JE, Kang SY, Oh SH, Kim JK, Lim, MS, Ahn CY, Cho YH, Sung, YE. High-performance anion-exchange membrane water electrolysis. Electrochimica Acta 2019; 295: 99-106.
• [3] Ito H, Miyazaki N, Sugiyama S, Ishida M, Nakamura Y, Iwasaki S, Hasegawa Y, Nakano A. Investigations on electrode configurations for anion exchange membrane electrolysis. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry 2018; 48: 305-316.
• [4] Rho KH, Na Y, Ha T, Kim DK. Performance analysis of polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer using openfoam®: Two-phase flow regime, electrochemical model. Membranes 2020; 10(12): 441.
• [5] Ozden A, Ercelik M, Ouellette D, Colpan CO, Ganjehsarabi H, Hamdullahpur F. Designing, modeling and performance investigation of bio-inspired flow field based DMFCs. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2017; 42(33): 21546-21558.
• [6] Toghyani S, Afshari E, Baniasadi E, Atyabi SA. Thermal and electrochemical analysis of different flow field patterns in a PEM electrolyzer. Electrochimica Acta 2018; 267: 234-245.
• [7] Kahraman H, Orhan MF. Flow field bipolar plates in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell: Analysis & modeling. Energy Conversion and Management 2017; 133: 363-384.
• [8] Lim BH, Majlan EH, Daud WRW, Rosli MI, Husaini T. Numerical analysis of modified parallel flow field designs for fuel cells. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2017; 42(14): 9210-9218.
• [9] Friess BR, Hoorfar M. Development of a novel radial cathode flow field for PEMFC. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2012; 37(9): 7719-7729.
• [10] Faid AY, Barnett AO, Seland F, Sunde S. Highly active nickel-based catalyst for hydrogen evolution in anion exchange membrane electrolysis. Catalysts 2018; 8(12): 614.
• [11] Pavel CC, Cecconi F, Emiliani C, Santiccioli S, Scaffidi A, Catanorchi S, Comotti M. Highly Efficient Platinum Group Metal Free Based Membrane-Electrode Assembly for Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis. Angewandte Chemie 2014; 53(5): 1378-1381.
• [12] Ahmed KW, Jang MJ, Habibpour S, Chen Z, Fowler M. NiFeOx and NiFeCoOx Catalysts for Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis. Electrochem 2022; 3(4): 843-861.
• [13] Gatto I, Patti A, Carbone A. Assessment of the FAA3-50 Polymer Electrolyte for Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. ChemElectroChem 2023; 10(3): e202201052.
• [14] Gatto I, Caprì A, Vecchio CL , Zignani S, Patti A, Baglio V. Optimal operating conditions evaluation of an anion-exchange-membrane electrolyzer based on FUMASEP® FAA3-50 membrane. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2023; 48(32): 11914-11921.
• [15] Vincent I, Kruger A, Bessarabov D. Development of efficient membrane electrode assembly for low cost hydrogen production by anion exchange membrane electrolysis. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2017; 42(16): 10752-10761.