Structural design and analysis of a high temperature solid oxide steam tubular electrolyser.

Kurushina, Victoria; Somon, Ajith; Rajendran, Vinooth; Prathuru, Anil; Hossain, Mamdud; Horri, Bahman; Cai, Qiong; Faisal, Nadimal

Abstract

The hydrogen production is an active area of the innovation and development in the perspective of the next decade, with the relative dominance of the alkaline, proton exchange and solid oxide (SO) technology. The gradual maturity of the latter technology in terms of the cell efficiency and reduced degradation is expected to lead to a wide commercial use by 2030s. Challenges to the SO technology at present are related to the cell design development for high-temperature conditions and the Multiphysics nature of functioning of the electrolysis cell (SOEC). Majority of innovations in this area are currently targeting the arrangement of functional layers of the cell, including type of mechanical support, materials for each layer, geometrical layout, configuration of fluid channels, etc., and also multiple aspects of manufacturing a specific design and integrating cells into a stack or a higher order hierarchical level of the system. The present study focuses on the development of a metal-supported solid oxide steam electrolysis cell, including an optimization of the tubular cell arrangement and the design of a 4-5 cells stack, operating at high temperature conditions. The design optimization is intended to consider the fluid dynamics, electrochemical side of the process, mechanical strength, high-temperature operation mode and robustness of the manufacturing process, while maintaining the cell efficiency. The research involves CAD modelling, CFD analysis with the unresolved electrolyte model, mechanical stability assessments, with the main outcome as a model of a fully functioning stack system with a perspective of upscaling the hydrogen production process.

Citation

KURUSHINA, V., SOMAN, A., RAJENDRAN, V., PRATHURU, A., HOSSAIN, M., HORRI, B., CAI, Q. and FAISAL, N. 2023. Structural design and analysis of a high temperature solid oxide steam tubular electrolyser. Presented at the 2023 All things hydrogen conference (ATH23) [online], 14 March 2023, Aberdeen, UK. Available from: https://tinyurl.com/56ut5jjb

• Presentation Conference Type: Lecture
• Conference Name: 2023 All things hydrogen conference (ATH23)
• Conference Location: Aberdeen, UK
• Start Date: Mar 14, 2023
• Deposit Date: Mar 30, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 30, 2023
• Keywords: High temperature steam line; Oxide steam tubular electrolyzer; Water electrolysis (WE); Hydrogen production
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1924818
• Publisher URL: https://tinyurl.com/56ut5jjb