Pressurized electrolyzer

Roy A, Watson S, Infield D (2006) Comparison of electrical energy efficiency of atmospheric and high-pressure electrolyzers, Int J Hydrogen Energy 31 1964-1979... 

Electrolyzer. Data for a PEM type pressurized electrolyzer has been used for the SHES simulation. The same electrolyzer has been used for both cases with a total of 25 cells and each cell is assumed to have an area of 279 cm2. The electrolyzer operates at a pressure of 1000 psi and an efficiency of approximately 75%, producing approximately 0.48 kg/h (90 slpm) ofhydrogen at 500 A. 

Alkaline high pressure electrolyzer. Fuel cell (eff. 

Alkaline pressurized electrolyzers in the MW range and up to a pressure of 30 bar were only built by Lurgi at the time [7]. 

Fig. 11.6 Lurgi pressurized electrolyzer for 760 Nm h hydrogen, and a plant in Zimbabwe for fertilzer production with 28 electrolyzers and a total output of 21,000 Nm h H2...

The Lurgi pressurized electrolyzer shown in Fig. 11.6 (left) produces 760 Nm h hydrogen which is the equivalent to approximately 3.6 MW electrical power. The cell stack consists of up to 560 cells with a diameter of 1.60 m and, depending on the number of cells, can measure up to 10 m in length. 

Table 11.3 gives an overview of the most important manufacturers/developers of alkaline electrolysis systems [9]. The costs for alkaline electrolyzers in the MW class are approximately 1000 /kW [9, 47]. These are electrolyzers operating at atmospheric pressure or pressurized electrolyzers operated at 30 bar. For the stack, lifetimes of up to 90,000 h are specified, meaning that alkaline electrolyzers usually require a complete overhaul and the electrodes and diaphragms must be exchanged every 7-12 years [9]. 

Streicher, R., Oppermann, M. Results of an R D program for an advanced pressure electrolyzer (1989-1994), pp. 641-646. Florida Solar Energy Center, Miami (1994)... 

However, it was not until 1948 that we would see the first pressurized industrial electrolyzer, developed by Ewald Amo Zdansky for the Swiss group Lonza, and 1951 saw the commercialization of the first high-pressure electrolyzer (30 bars) by the German company Lurgi, who had acquired Lonza s patent. 

BDD electrodes are applied in a typical closed, pressurized electrolyzer (DiaCell ), and its technology has been successfully tested for Legionella inactivation in several water compositions and under various working conditions. 

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