Semi-empirical model and experimental validation for the performance evaluation of a 15 kW alkaline water electrolyzer

Abstract

This paper presents a semi-empirical mathematical model for predicting the electrochemical behavior of an alkaline water electrolysis system, based on the polarization curve and Faraday efficiency as a function of the current density under different operating conditions, such as, temperature and pressure. Also, the gas impurities of hydrogen in oxygen have been modeled for safety reasons due to its importance when the electrolyzer is dynamically operated using renewable energy sources. The different parameters defined in the model have been calculated by MATLAB, using a non-linear regression, on the basis of experimental data obtained in a 15 kW alkaline test bench.