Advanced pressurized alkaline water electrolysis at high temperatures up to 130 °C
Nikolaos P. Sakkas, Frank Gillung, Krunalkumar Thummar, Roger Abang, Lars Röntzsch
Abstract
Operating alkaline water electrolysers above 100 °C improves electrolyte conductivity and reaction kinetics significantly. To examine alkaline water electrolysis in this area in more detail a high-temperature pressurized test rig is designed and constructed. Nickel (Ni) foam electrodes coated with Raney nickel (Raney Ni) or nickel manganese (NiMn) and expanded Ni mesh electrodes coated with nickel(II) oxide (NiO) are utilized and the effect of electrolyte flow rate, electrode structure, pressure and temperature variation on the cell performance at temperatures up to 130 °C and pressures up to 16 bar are investigated. At the maximum current density of 1.67 A/cm 2 , 110 °C and 16 bar the electrode combination of Raney Ni coated Ni foam as cathode and NiO coated expanded Ni mesh electrode as anode attain the best outcome with a cell voltage of 2.29 V. In a 70 h duration test three-dimensional (3D) Ni foam electrodes with Raney Ni cathode and NiMn anode catalyst show a moderate cell degradation of 9.26 μV/h.