A new analysis of two phase flow on hydrogen production from water electrolysis

It is clear that the entire world have to research, develop, demonstrate and plan for alternative energy systems for shorter term and also longer term. As a clean energy carrier, hydrogen has become increasingly important. It owes its prestige to the increase within the energy costs as a result of the equivocalness in the future availability. Two phase flow and hydrogen gas flow dynamics effect on performance of water electrolysis. Hydrogen bubbles are recognized to influence energy and mass transfer in gas-evolving electrodes. The movement of hydrogen bubbles on the electrodes in alkaline electrolysis is known to affect the reaction efficiency. Within the scope of this research, a physical modeling for the alkaline electrolysis is determined and the studies about the two-phase flow model are carried out for this model. Internal and external forces acting on the resulting bubbles are also determined. In this research, the analytical solution of two-phase flow analysis of hydrogen in the electrolysis is analyzed.     

The dynamic effect of Micro-MHD convection on bubble grown at a horizontal microelectrode

Relatively low efficiency is the biggest obstacle to the popularization of water electrolysis, which is a particularly feasible way to produce super-pure hydrogen. Imposing a magnetic field can increase the hydrogen production efficiency of water electrolysis. However, the enhancement's detailed mechanism still lacks an insightful understanding of the bubbles' micro vicinity. Our recent work aims to understand why the micro-magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) convection hinders single bubbles' detachment on the microelectrode. A water electrolysis experiment by microelectrode is performed under an electrode-normal magnetic field, and dynamic analysis of the single bubble growing on microelectrodes is performed. The variation of bubble diameter with time in the presence or absence of the magnetic field was measured, and the forces acting on the bubble were quantified. The result shows that the micro-MHD convection, induced by Lorentz force, can give rise to a downward hydrodynamic pressure force that will not appear in large-scale MHD convection. This force can be of the same magnitude as the surface tension, so it dramatically hinders bubbles' detachment. Besides, the Kelvin force provides a new potential way for further improving the efficiency of water electrolysis.     

铜电解精炼添加剂生产实践与精细化管理探索

添加剂是铜电解精炼生产管理的最关键要素,合适的添加剂使用方案可以有效保障电解生产系统长期稳定。结合添加剂生产实践和其它电解厂添加剂管理优点,提出探索添加剂精细化管理,进一步保障和提升铜电解添加剂管理实效。     

浅谈不同给液方式在铜电解车间的应用

不同给液方式对铜电解过程中有重要的影响,不同的循环方式会影响槽内温度分布、电解液成分及阳极泥沉降等,因此,根据铜电解生产不同情况的需要,分析对比了多种给液方式在贵冶电解车间的应用,总结了这几种给液方式的优缺点和适用条件。     

优化作业方式提高始极片质量

针对某厂铜电解种板工序存在的始极片质量波动较大的问题,从种板系统体积控制和添加剂匹配的角度出发,分析各种因素对始极片质量的影响,做出了相应的改进措施,使种板系统运行更加稳定,始极片质量得到进一步提升。     

旋流分离-颗粒床耦合气固分离装备旋流场静压分布

针对一种集旋风分离器和内置颗粒床优势于一体的新型耦合气固分离装备在无灰负荷及固定床操作条件入口环形空间、分离空间和灰斗内静压场进行研究。结果表明，静压沿周向为非对称分布，轴向为非均匀分布，径向则呈中心低两侧高分布；且存在着静压分布的降压区(0?~180?，以入口处为0?)和增压区(180?~360?)；装备中心的负压及旋流作用在轴向高度H=6.41D(D为旋风壳体内径)以下对静压的影响不再显著；内置颗粒床外壁附近存在“滞留层”，有利于提高装备的分离性能。根据实验数据给出了静压周向分布和静压轴向分布的经验公式。     

Additive manufacturing of bipolar plates for hydrogen production in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis cells

Water electrolysis is a process that can produce hydrogen in a clean way when renewable energy sources are used. This allows managing large renewable surpluses and transferring this energy to other sectors, such as industry or transport. Among the electrolytic technologies to produce hydrogen, proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis is a promising alternative. One of the main components of PEM electrolysis cells are the bipolar plates, which are machined with a series of flow distribution channels, largely responsible for their performance and durability. In this work, AISI 316L stainless steel bipolar plates have been built by additive manufacturing (AM), using laser powder bed fusion (PBF-L) technology. These bipolar plates were subjected to ex-situ corrosion tests and assembled in an electrolysis cell to evaluate the polarization curve. Furthermore, the obtained results were compared with bipolar plates manufactured by conventional machining processes (MEC). The obtained experimental results are very similar for both manufacturing methods. This demonstrates the viability of the PBF-L technology to produce metal bipolar plates for PEM electrolyzers and opens the possibilities to design new and more complex flow distribution channels and to test these designs in initial phases before scaling them to larger surfaces.     

Hydrogen from wet air and sunlight in a tandem photoelectrochemical cell

A solid-state photoelectrochemical (SSPEC) cell is an attractive approach for solar water splitting, especially when it comes to monolithic device design. In a SSPEC cell the electrodes distance is minimized, while the use of polymer-based membranes alleviates the need for liquid electrolytes, and at the same time they can separate the anode from the cathode. In this work, we have made and tested, firstly, a SSPEC cell with a Pt/C electrocatalyst as the cathode electrode, under purely gaseous conditions. The anode was supplied with air of 80% relative humidity (RH) and the cathode with argon. Secondly, we replaced the Pt/C cathode with a photocathode consisting of 2D photocatalytic g-C₃N₄, which was placed in tandem with the photoanode (tandem-SSPEC). The tandem configuration showed a three-fold enhancement in the obtained photovoltage and a steady-state photocurrent density. The mechanism of operation is discussed in view of recent advances in surface proton conduction in absorbed water layers. The presented SSPEC cell is based on earth-abundant materials and provides a way towards systems of artificial photosynthesis, especially for areas where water sources are scarce and electrical grid infrastructure is limited or nonexistent. The only requirements to make hydrogen are humidity and sunlight.     

FeOOH–CoS composite catalyst with high catalytic performances for oxygen evolution reaction at high current density

Water electrolysis is an efficient approach for high-purity hydrogen production. However, the anodic sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) always needs high overpotential and thus brings about superfluous electricity cost of water electrolysis. Therefore, exploiting highly efficient OER electrocatalysts with small overpotential especially at high current density will undoubtedly boost the development of industrial water electrolysis. Herein, we used a simple hydrothermal method to prepare a novel FeOOH–CoS nanocomposite on nickel foam (NF). The as-prepared FeOOH–CoS/NF catalyst displays an excellent OER performance with extremely low overpotentials of 306 and 329 mV at 500 and 1000 mA cm⁻² in 1.0 M KOH, respectively. In addition, the FeOOH–CoS/NF catalyst can maintain excellent catalytic stability for more than 50 h, and the OER catalytic activity shows almost no attenuation no matter after 1000 repeated CV cycles or 50 h of stability test. The high catalytic activity and stability have exceeded most non-noble metal electrocatalysts reported in literature, which makes the FeOOH–CoS/NF composite catalyst have promising applications in the industrial water electrolysis.     

硫酸根对离子膜电解工艺影响及处理

离子膜电解工艺中,硫酸根的影响有:硫酸根易与钙离子结合,降低氯气纯度,降低电解槽电流效率。提出去除硫酸根的方法有:钡法,钙法,碳酸钡法,树脂吸附法,膜法,以及膜法+冷冻结晶法。