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Membranes
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Modeling, Degradation Study, Failures Diagnosis and Faulty Operating Management of...
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Modeling, Degradation Study, Failures Diagnosis and Faulty Operating Management of Electrolyzers

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Analysis and Characterization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2021) | Viewed by 21272

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Damien Guilbert

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
GREAH, Université Le Havre Normandie, 76600 Le Havre, France
Interests: electrolyzer; fuel cell; power electronics; characterization; modeling; control; fault-diagnosis; aging; energy management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Georgios Papakonstantinou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Process Systems Engineering, Sandtorstr.1, D-39106 Magdeburg, Germany
Interests: electrocatalysis; chemical energy conversion; electrochemical systems; hydrogen technologies (fuel cells, electrolyzers)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrogen is considered an effective solution to deliver or store energy. It is characterized by a high energy density (120 MJ/kg) compared to classical energy storage devices (e.g. batteries). In the energy delivery process, it can supply fuel cells (FCs) for electricity, power, or heat production. In the energy storage process, hydrogen can be generated using technics such as fossil fuel reforming, direct solar water splitting, or water electrolysis. Among these techniques, water electrolysis is an attractive option due to its low carbon emissions impact. In this electrochemical process, an electrolyzer (EL) is used to split de-ionized, pure, or distilled water into hydrogen and oxygen. This process can be done using different technologies such as solid oxide, alkaline, and proton exchange membrane (PEM). Because of its operational characteristics, PEM technology is the most promising and attractive solution to cope with the intermittency of renewable energy sources, since it can respond fast to variations in the injected power, enabling absorbing the energy during fast dynamics. However, under dynamic operations, the membrane may be subjected to degradations. Besides, the operating conditions (pressure, temperature, current density) and power electronics may cause degradation as well in the membrane.

Finally, the reliable operation of ELs is a challenging task due to the presence of several types of failures that can lead up to premature equipment replacement and operation shutdowns. For example, in ELs, the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) can be subjected to different failures: membrane break, internal gas leakage, cell flooding or drying, poisoning of the catalyst areas.

Since these systems are exposed to several types of failures and degradation according to their operating conditions, modeling, degradation study, failures diagnosis, and faulty operation management must be considered. Only by enhancing EL technologies, hydrogen will be introduced as a safe and sustainable energy carrier.

This Special Issue aims at attracting original high-quality papers and review articles focused on hydrogen technologies related to their modeling, degradation, failure diagnosis, and faulty operation management. Prospective authors may submit contributions dealing with (but are not limited to):

Membrane electrode assembly modeling of electrolyzers; Impacts of dynamic operating conditions on the materials and components degradation of electrolyzers; Influence of the operating conditions (temperature, pressure, current density) and power electronics on the degradation of electrolyzers; Failure mechanisms in the electrolyzer; Development of failure diagnosis methods; Development of faulty operation management to enhance the performance of the system.

Dr. Damien Guilbert
Dr. Georgios Papakonstantinou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Modeling
  • Power electronics
  • Failure mechanism
  • Dynamic operating conditions
  • Influence of operating conditions (pressure, temperature, current density)
  • Failure diagnosis
  • Faulty operation management

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

3 pages, 217 KiB  
Editorial
Modeling, Degradation Study, Failures Diagnosis and Faulty Operating Management of Electrolyzers
by Damien Guilbert and Georgios Papakonstantinou
Membranes 2022, 12(12), 1195; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12121195 - 27 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2764
Abstract
Hydrogen is considered an effective solution to deliver or store energy [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling, Degradation Study, Failures Diagnosis and Faulty Operating Management of Electrolyzers)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

14 pages, 4048 KiB  
Article
Impact of Power Converter Current Ripple on the Degradation of PEM Electrolyzer Performances
by François Parache, Henri Schneider, Christophe Turpin, Nicolas Richet, Olivier Debellemanière, Éric Bru, Anh Thao Thieu, Caroline Bertail and Christine Marot
Membranes 2022, 12(2), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12020109 - 19 Jan 2022
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 5621
Abstract
In this study, an endurance test of 3000 h was conducted on four equivalent proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers to identify and quantify the impact of an electric ripple current on their durability. Three different typical power converter waveforms and frequencies were explored. [...] Read more.
In this study, an endurance test of 3000 h was conducted on four equivalent proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers to identify and quantify the impact of an electric ripple current on their durability. Three different typical power converter waveforms and frequencies were explored. Signals were added to the same direct current carrier and also tested for reference. Performance comparison based on polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis revealed that the ripple current favors degradation. Triangular waveform and a frequency of 10 kHz were identified as the most degrading conditions, leading to a sharp increase in high-frequency resistance (HFR) and the emergence of mass transport limitations due to the enhanced degradation of titanium mesh. Moreover, reversible losses were observed and further explorations are needed to decorrelate them from our observations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling, Degradation Study, Failures Diagnosis and Faulty Operating Management of Electrolyzers)
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12 pages, 8936 KiB  
Article
X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography: A Powerful Device to Analyze the 3D Microstructure of Anode-Electrolyte in BaZr0.8Y0.2O3 Protonic Ceramic Electrochemical Cells and the Reduction Behavior
by Victoire Lescure, Morgane Gelin, Mélanie François, Mohammad Arab Pour Yazdi, Pascal Briois, Frédéric Demoisson, Lionel Combemale, Solène Valton and Gilles Caboche
Membranes 2022, 12(1), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12010068 - 4 Jan 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2504
Abstract
New advanced fuel cell technologies are moving towards high-temperature proton conductors (HTPCs) to meet environmental issues. Their elaboration remains a challenge and micro-computed tomography (µCT) is an innovative way to control their quality. NiO-BZY anodic supports of a protonic ceramic electrochemical cell (PCEC), [...] Read more.
New advanced fuel cell technologies are moving towards high-temperature proton conductors (HTPCs) to meet environmental issues. Their elaboration remains a challenge and micro-computed tomography (µCT) is an innovative way to control their quality. NiO-BZY anodic supports of a protonic ceramic electrochemical cell (PCEC), elaborated by co-tape casting and co-sintered at 1350 °C, were coated with a BZY20 electrolyte layer by DC magnetron sputtering. The µCT allowed to observe defects inside the volume of these PCEC half-cells and to show their evolution after an annealing treatment at 1000 °C and reduction under hydrogen. This technique consists in obtaining a 3D reconstruction of all the cross-sectional images of the whole sample, slice by slice. This allows seeing inside the sample at any desired depth. The resolution of 0.35 µm is perfectly adapted to this type of problem considering the thickness of the different layers of the sample and the size of the defects. Defects were detected, and their interpretation was possible thanks to the 3D view, such as the phenomenon of NiO grain enlargement explaining defects in the electrolyte, the effect of NiO reduction, and finally, some anomalies due to the shaping process. Ways to anticipate these defects were then proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling, Degradation Study, Failures Diagnosis and Faulty Operating Management of Electrolyzers)
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30 pages, 2033 KiB  
Article
Model-Based Analysis of Low Stoichiometry Operation in Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis
by Christoph Immerz, Boris Bensmann and Richard Hanke-Rauschenbach
Membranes 2021, 11(9), 696; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11090696 - 9 Sep 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2892
Abstract
Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis cells are typically operated with high water flow rates in order to guarantee the feed supply for the reaction, the hydration of the ionomer phase and to homogenize the temperature distribution. However, the influence of low flow rates [...] Read more.
Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis cells are typically operated with high water flow rates in order to guarantee the feed supply for the reaction, the hydration of the ionomer phase and to homogenize the temperature distribution. However, the influence of low flow rates on the cell behavior and the cell performance cannot be fully explained. In this work, we developed a simple 1+1-dimensional mathematical model to analyze the cell polarization, current density distribution and the water flow paths inside a cell under low stoichiometry condition. The model analysis is in strong context to previous experimental findings on low water stoichiometry operations. The presented analysis shows that the low water stoichiometry can lead to dry-out at the outlet region of the anode channel, while a water splitting reaction is also present there. The simulation results show that the supply with water in this region is achieved by a net water transport from the cathode to the anode catalyst layer resulting in higher local proton resistances in the membrane and the anode catalyst layer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling, Degradation Study, Failures Diagnosis and Faulty Operating Management of Electrolyzers)
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17 pages, 5018 KiB  
Article
Self-Discharge of a Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer: Investigation for Modeling Purposes
by Ángel Hernández-Gómez, Victor Ramirez, Damien Guilbert and Belem Saldivar
Membranes 2021, 11(6), 379; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11060379 - 22 May 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3691
Abstract
The self-discharge phenomenon results in a decrease of the open-circuit voltage (OCV), which occurs when an electrochemical device is disconnected from the power source. Although the self-discharge phenomenon has widely been investigated for energy storage devices such as batteries and supercapacitors, no previous [...] Read more.
The self-discharge phenomenon results in a decrease of the open-circuit voltage (OCV), which occurs when an electrochemical device is disconnected from the power source. Although the self-discharge phenomenon has widely been investigated for energy storage devices such as batteries and supercapacitors, no previous works have been reported in the literature about this phenomenon for electrolyzers. For this reason, this work is mainly focused on investigating the self-discharge voltage that occurs in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. To investigate this voltage drop for modeling purposes, experiments have been performed on a commercial PEM electrolyzer to analyze the decrease in the OCV. One model was developed based on different tests carried out on a commercial-400 W PEM electrolyzer for the self-discharge voltage. The proposed model has been compared with the experimental data to assess its effectiveness in modeling the self-discharge phenomenon. Thus, by taking into account this voltage drop in the modeling, simulations with a higher degree of reliability were obtained when predicting the behavior of PEM electrolyzers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling, Degradation Study, Failures Diagnosis and Faulty Operating Management of Electrolyzers)
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11 pages, 8374 KiB  
Communication
PEMWE with Internal Real-Time Microscopic Monitoring Function
by Chi-Yuan Lee, Chia-Hung Chen, Guo-Bin Jung, Yu-Xiang Zheng and Yi-Cheng Liu
Membranes 2021, 11(2), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11020092 - 27 Jan 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2389
Abstract
In recent years, various countries have been paying attention to environmental protection issues, believing that climate change is the main challenge to the developed countries’ energy policies. The most discussed solution is renewable energy. The energy storage system can reduce the burden of [...] Read more.
In recent years, various countries have been paying attention to environmental protection issues, believing that climate change is the main challenge to the developed countries’ energy policies. The most discussed solution is renewable energy. The energy storage system can reduce the burden of the overall power system of renewable energy. The hydrogen energy is one of the optimal energy storage system options of renewable energy at present. According to these policies and the future trend, this study used micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology to integrate micro voltage, current, temperature, humidity, flow and pressure sensors on a 50 μm thick polyimide (PI) substrate. After the optimization design and process optimization, the flexible six-in-one microsensor was embedded in the proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) for internal real-time microscopic monitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling, Degradation Study, Failures Diagnosis and Faulty Operating Management of Electrolyzers)
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