Electrolytic Hydrogen Production Workshop

NREL, Golden, Colorado

February 27-28th, 2014

High Pressure
PEM Electrolysis
Status, Key Issues, and Challenges

Monjid Hamdan
Director of Engineering

Giner, Inc.
89 Rumford Ave,
Newton, Ma. 02466
High Pressure PEM Electrolysis
High cost of compression is making it Advantages of High Pressure
difficult for all hydrogen production PEM Electrolysis
pathways to match the energy cost of
gasoline…  Eliminates one or more stages of
mechanical compression
Hydrogen compression
dominates refueling costs  Reduces system complexity
 Lower drying requirements

 Low maintenance
 No moving parts
Hydrogen  No contaminants
Remainder
Compression of Station
 Permits hydrogen generation at user end-
53% 47%
site

 …ross-cutting technology, applicable to

C
Electrochemical Hydrogen Compressors

CSD Costs Advancements in

Refueling Station (2011 Technology)1 Membrane, Stack, & System
1http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/12021_csd_cost_

projections.pdf, May 14th, 2012 required for commercial viability

1
Membrane Challenges: High Pressure Operation
Mechanical
Strength

 Membrane creep
 Loss of Stack Seals
 Membrane extrusion into fluid ports
 Hardware leakage (internal & external)
 There is a need to improved strength without adversely impacting conductivity
Durability
Chemical

 Membrane degradation increases with operating pressure

 Significant increase in chemical degradation rate under high pressure operation

 High back diffusion

 Thin membranes have low resistance, allowing efficient operation at high current
Efficiency

densities. Drawback is high back diffusion.

 Similar faradaic losses in PEM fuel cells and electrochemical H2 compressors under
same operating conditions & membrane selection
 Need to synthesize new low EW ionomers to meet new performance targets
 Membranes with high conductivity and low permeability needed

2
Membrane Efficiency
Performance Status of Current PEM Technology 12,688 psia
 Combined effect of iR-losses, Nernstian (H70 Refueling)
Penalty, Catalytic Activity, Ionic conductivity,
and Back diffusion
 Increased power consumption due to gas 6,250 psia
permeation at high operating pressure
(H35 Refueling)

300 psia

10x Conductivity/Perm.
Improvement

1100EW Membrane, 50°C

Differential Pressure

3
Stack Hardware
Future Challenges
 Increase hardware capability for high pressure
applications (H35 and H70 refueling)
 Scale-up: Increased output
 Increase active area/number of cells
 Material strength:
 Conductive anode/cathode membrane
support structures with high yield strength
 Improved sealing:
 Material creep (vs. time, pressure, & temp
cycles)

 Reduce stack cost

Hydrogen at  The repeating cell unit comprises >90% of
5,000 psig electrolyzer stack cost
(Ambient O2)  Reduce labor/material requirements
Generated  Anode support structure now dominates cost
directly in PEM of the electrolyzer stack
Electrolyzer  High tolerance requirements of cell
components increases manufacturing cost
 Improved chemical stability of cell components (H 2
embrittlement)
 Long term endurance testing & validation (5,000+
Hours)
4
System Challenges

Internal/External Challenges

 Increasing electrolyzer pressure leads to

system simplification but requires higher
cost BOP components
 Innovative system component
development required
 Hydrogen dryers
 Gas-phase separators
 Level sensing

 Extended durability testing/validation

 Full optimization studies

 Hydrogen safety codes and standards:

Collaborators such as NIST or national
laboratories, needed to help in
standardizing the process

5
Economic Feasibility: Cost of H2 Compression in PEM

Truth Table
Forecourt H2A Model
(Ver. 3.0)1
Cost of Compression
H2 Production in PEM Electrolyzer ($/kg)
Cost Current Cost of Compression
Contribution Status $1.03/kg-H2 Increased
($/kg) Feed Stock
Comp. Costs Total
Capital Costs 0.70 (Efficiency
Remainder
Fixed O&M 0.30 of Station Losses)4
Refrigeration
$0.14
Feedstock Costs 3.00
$0.16
300 psia 1.03 0.00 1.03
Dispenser 0.31 +0.31 0.62
Variable Costs 0.10 $0.10
6,250 psia
12,688 psia 0.12 +0.49 0.61
Total Hydrogen
4.10
Production Cost Compression
3
$1.03

2
Delivery (CSD) 2.50
Storage ~$0.40 (40%) cost reduction
Total Hydrogen $1.04 compared to mechanical
Production Cost 6.60 compression
($/kg)  Largest $ contributor is Feedstock
1  Improving membrane efficiency
2012 DOE Multi-Year Research,
and reducing electric cost are key
Development and Demonstration Plan
to future cost reductions
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenan
dfuelcells/mypp/pdfs/production.pdf  Higher cost of Stack/BOP may
2
2015-2020 DOE Target is $1.70/kg offset gains: Low cost
3
300 psia H2 feed source stack/system designs required
4
Based on electrical cost of $0.061/kWh