international journal of hydrogen energy 35 (2010) 928935

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Stand-alone PEM water electrolysis system for fail safe operation with a renewable energy source
R.E. Clarke, S. Giddey, S.P.S. Badwal*
CSIRO Energy Technology, CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship, Private Bag 33, Clayton South, VIC 3169, Australia

article info
Article history: Received 27 August 2009 Received in revised form 18 November 2009 Accepted 26 November 2009 Available online 17 December 2009 Keywords: Electrolysis balance-of-plant PEM electrolyser Hydrogen generation Renewable energy PV array

abstract
A complete stand-alone electrolyser system has been constructed as a transportable unit for demonstration of a sustainable energy facility based on hydrogen and a renewable energy source. The stand-alone unit is designed to support a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) stack operating at up to w4 kW input power with a stack efciency of about 80% based on HHV of hydrogen. It is self-pressurizing and intended for operation initially at a differential pressure of less than 6 bar across the membrane electrode assembly with the hydrogen generation side being at a higher pressure. With a slightly smaller stack, the system has been operated at an off-site facility where it was directly coupled to a 2.4 kW photovoltaic (PV) solar array. Because of its potential use in remote areas, the balance-of-plant operates entirely on 12 V DC power for all monitoring, control and safety requirements. It utilises a separate high-current supply as the main electrolyser input, typically 3040 V at 100 A from a renewable source such as solar PV or wind. The system has multiple levels of built-in operator and stack safety redundancy. Control and safety systems monitor all ows, levels and temperatures of signicance. All fault conditions are failsafe and are duplicated, triggering latching relays which shut the system down. Process indicators monitor several key variables and allow operating limits to be easily adjusted in response to experience of system performance gained in the eld. 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu.

1.

Introduction

Currently most hydrogen (w95%) is produced from fossil fuels such as natural gas (steam reforming or partial oxidation) and coal (via gasication). The total global hydrogen generation capacity is over 600 billion m3/Y and is equivalent to about 55 million tons per year [1]. If all this capacity is used as an energy source, it will account for less than 2% of total global energy consumption. However, hydrogen is used for ammonia and fertiliser production (about half), in oil reneries for impurity removal and upgrading of heavy oil fractions into lighter and more valuable products (w35%) with most of the balance being used for methanol production, and in chemical and

metallurgical industries. Only about 1% of the total generation capacity is used as a direct energy source and that too mainly in the space programs. Due to the high cost of hydrogen production, its use for power generation or as an alternative transport fuel has been very limited. This is further exacerbated by the lack of hydrogen transportation, distribution and storage infrastructure. However, fossil fuel resources, especially liquid fuels are declining rapidly and major developed and developing World economies are relying more and more on oil imports. Soon there will be global shortage of oil with oil peak production looming around the corner [2,3]. Along with concern over rising CO2 and other pollutant emissions linked to fossil fuels, there is a requirement to have clean,

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 61 3 9545 2719; fax: 61 3 9545 2720. E-mail address: sukhvinder.badwal@csiro.au (S.P.S. Badwal). 0360-3199/$ see front matter 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2009.11.100

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Nomenclature A bar BOP DC HAZOP current in amps atmospheric pressure unit balance-of-plant direct current hazard and operability study (see standards such as IEC 61882)

HHV kW nm3 PEM PV V Y

high heating value kilowatt normal m3 polymer electrolyte membrane photovoltaic PV output voltage, electrolyser voltage, V year

sustainable and low (or zero) emission fuels and technologies. Hydrogen as an energy carrier and storage media is expected to play a key role in future power generation and with the development of the fuel cell technology as a transport fuel. Hydrogen can be generated by a range of technologies such as reforming of natural gas, liqueed petroleum gas, gasoline, etc.; gasication of coal and biomass; electrolysis of water using nuclear, fossil or renewable energy sources; photo electrochemical/photo catalytic splitting of water; thermolysis and thermo-chemical cycles [48]. In the near future, it is likely that fossil fuels (natural gas and coal) would meet a large percentage of the hydrogen demand and for central or large-scale plants, technologies for CO2 capture and sequestration may be incorporated. However, in terms of greenhouse gas reduction potential, renewable energy offers the best possible solution for hydrogen production. As the mandated renewable energy targets increase, there will be much greater emphasis on developing new renewable energy capacity and technologies. Most renewable energy sources (solar, wind, tidal, wave, etc.) are intermittent and variable in nature. In the absence of energy storage, renewable systems must be grossly overdesigned in order to meet instantaneous capacity requirements. Hydrogen offers a exible energy storage solution for accommodating load variability of long duration (Fig. 1). Water electrolysis is considered to be one of the key technologies for hydrogen generation as it is compatible with existing and future power generation technologies and a large number of renewable technologies (solar, biomass, hydro, wind,

tidal, wave, geothermal, etc.). Other proposed technologies, such as photo-electrolytic, photo-biological, thermolysis and thermo-chemical processes are considered to be well short of meeting the technical and commercial targets at this stage, and in addition, suffer from severe material-related problems [48]. Currently most of the commercial water electrolysis technologies use acidic or alkaline electrolyte systems for hydrogen generation. Typical efciencies quoted are in the 55 74% range with most commercial systems having efciencies below 65% [9,10]. The current density is typically around 0.3 0.4 A/cm2 and there are technical difculties in maintaining the electrolyte balance and keeping hydrogen and oxygen separated. More recently a solid state water electrolysis technology based on polymer electrolyte membrane has been under development and is being commercialised [1113]. Its operation can be considered to be reverse to that of a PEM fuel cell. The PEM electrolysis systems can respond rapidly to varying power inputs and therefore can be easily integrated with renewable energy systems. PEM electrolysers operate at relatively low temperatures, typically at 80  C or below and are generally composed of numerous cells stacked in series. Whilst the stack itself may be a compact unit, a laboratory installation will include numerous support components, as well as external connections for electrical supply, water supply and drain, hydrogen and oxygen removal. The assemblage of these components is generally referred to as the balance-of-plant (BOP). Commercialization of electrolyser units requires the development of appropriate packaging for the BOP and all of its

Electricity Water H2 & O2 gases

Water

Load Demand (Electric & Hot Water)

Water Storage

H2 Storage Wind Energy Generator Control System Electrolyser Fuel Cell

Power Management

O2 Storage

PV Array

Fig. 1 The sustainable energy concept based on renewable energy and hydrogen storage solution.

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functionality. From a marketing perspective, the appropriate conguration would almost certainly be a single stand-alone unit, a black box that simply performs the function of generating hydrogen and oxygen gases when it is supplied with water and electricity. Moving to this form of packaging is also an appropriate step in the overall development and commercialization of capability for hydrogen generation based on water electrolysis. A single package demonstrates successful integration of all aspects of the design, including safety and control systems, into a single functioning entity. Such a system can be transportable, allowing it to be moved to other locations for performance demonstration and it can be sealed for reasons of safety as well as for security. In a previous paper we had described the operation of Oreion Alpha directly coupled to a 2.4 kW solar PV array [14]. This paper describes in detail the construction, sub-system description and commissioning of such a system, the Oreion Alpha.

2.

System overview

The Oreion Alpha is a transportable stand-alone electrolysis unit complete with a balance-of-plant incorporating extensive features to ensure the safety of the electrolysis stack as well as those operating the equipment. It uses a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) stack to electrolyse water and is designed to operate over a wide range of input powers, allowing it to utilise renewable power sources which are often quite variable in nature. PEM electrolysers utilise a stack of electrochemical cells in which a pair of electrodes (generally planar in shape) is separated by a proton-conducting polymer membrane. A power source applies a potential to the cell whilst at the same time, water is made available at the positive electrode. Oxidation and reduction reactions occur at the electrodes in the presence of appropriate catalysts and the applied electrical potential. On the positive side of the cell, water is oxidised to protons (hydrogen ions), leaving oxygen which evolves as a gas. Electrical current supplied by the power source provides the potential and the energy to drive the protons across to the other side of the membrane. There they regain the missing electron and evolve as hydrogen gas. The rate of production of hydrogen and oxygen is determined by the amount of DC current that is supplied to the unit. The number of cells and the cell area determine the respective voltage and current capabilities of the electrolyser. The Oreion Alpha is designed for operation from a power supply with a capability of up to 100 A and up to 38 V corresponding to a power input of 3.8 kW at full load. It is selfcontained within a oor-standing equipment cabinet about 1.4 m high, requiring a minimum of external facilities to be operational. It does require a source of deionised water (at a pressure of at least 2 bar). Product gases would generally be stored. In case the gases are to be vented for some reason, an extraction system for dilution and dispersal is required. The system is intended for operation at up to 1 bar on the oxygen side and 6 bar on the hydrogen side. Hydrogen generation at higher pressures is possible but has not been assessed. When running at full load, the PEM electrolysis stack is designed to operate at up to 80  C, which is an optimum

temperature for a PEM-based system. The stack is self-heating due to internal resistive cell losses, although the heat available may be quite variable. At a typical efciency of 80% at full load, the remaining 20% of the supplied electrical energy is released as heat and contributes to the stack achieving the optimum operating temperature. On part load, the stack operates at lower temperatures. Auxiliary heating is not used because the small efciency improvement would not justify the energy costs of this heating. The system has an extensive monitoring, control and safety system which encompasses all process values relevant to its safe operation. These include pressures, temperatures, ow rates and water levels at various locations, stack voltage and stack current, and hydrogen gas leakage detection. The system is highly congurable but the usual consequence of detecting any abnormal value or fault is to remove power and shut down the system. Design details of the electrolysis stack itself are not considered in this paper. Instead, the stack is considered as a generic unit, with performance characteristics as described. The stack employed is a CSIRO in-house design, known to have these characteristics [15].

3.
3.1.

Oreion Alpha design details

Design overview

The core support requirements of a PEM electrolyser stack are little more than a supply of pure water at the anode and a supply of electrical current to each cell. If these are present, each PEM cell will consume water and generate oxygen at the anode (which will bubble through the water) and hydrogen at the cathode. However, for commercial (or near commercial) systems, safe operation requires a signicant number of additional features to appropriately handle the gases and liquids that are present on both sides of membrane electrode assemblies. One particular complication arises from the fact that conventional PEM membranes allow a signicant amount of liquid water to carry across the membrane along with the ow of hydrogen ions, resulting in a steady accumulation of water on the hydrogen generation side. The main operational components of the stand-alone electrolyser system are shown in Fig. 2. This is a simplied process diagram and shows only the key functional elements. A pair of small pressure vessels acts as reservoirs and liquid/ water separators to handle the gas-liquid mixtures that exit on each side of the stack membranes. Water is supplied from an external source to the separator on the oxygen side and maintained at a controlled level. This separator may be pressurized but in the design shown, it is operated at atmospheric pressure. Water is pressurized and circulated at a fairly low rate (several litres/min) by a small pump. It ows through the stack and exits as a 2-phase stream of water and oxygen gas. A back-pressure regulator controls the operational pressure. The water/oxygen stream then returns to the separator, from which the oxygen can be collected or vented away. The hydrogen side operates in dead-end mode. Hydrogen gas and a small amount of water evolve from the stack and ow together to the hydrogen/water separator. The

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Water Supply Non-return valve

Oxygen Delivery Pressure relief valve

El ec trolysis Power Supply Temperature sensor

Hydrogen Delivery Non-return Back pressure valve regulator

Solenoid valve

Safety Control System

Back pressure regulator Flow Pump switch

Diff. pressure switch O2 / Water Separator H2 / Water Separator

Pump

Solenoid valve

Non-return valve

Fig. 2 A simplied process diagram showing the main operational components of the stand-alone electrolyser system.

water level is controlled so that excess water is recirculated to the oxygen side (or partially/selectively discarded) by a pump and/or a solenoid valve. The hydrogen/water separator is connected to an external hydrogen gas storage vessel. A pressure regulator is used on the output line in order to provide controlled pressure in the separator and for testing and operational purposes. In typical operation with a storage vessel connected, hydrogen gas pressure varies according to the quantity of hydrogen resident in the vessel. The hydrogen and oxygen output streams are saturated with water. In the present design on-board drying capability has not been incorporated but may be included in future designs.

A lower front panel contains the back-pressure regulator controls and analogue gauges to display the pressure in each of the separators. The back of the cabinet contains an electrical panel with terminals for the connection of the main stack power and the 12 V DC auxiliary power. This panel also includes connectors for data logging and an external safety circuit (i.e. ventilation alarm). A higher back panel contains all plumbing connections, which include oxygen and hydrogen gas outlets, water inlet and drains for each separator vessel. A separate hydrogen gas monitoring outlet is also provided. All plumbing is in stainless steel with Swagelok-type ttings.

3.3. 3.2. Oreion Alpha housing

Power supply requirements

The complete assembly of stack and BOP is housed in a standard commercial 19-inch equipment cabinet (Fig. 3). The cabinet is 1350 mm high and is mounted on castors for manoeuvrability. The upper front panel contains six Eurotherm indicators which display the values of key system variables. These indicators allow for electronic setting of upper and lower limits for the process variables that they monitor, tripping an alarm relay if the values are exceeded. An additional ten status conditions are monitored by sensor switches, for pressure, ow and gas detection, all of which are set to control latching relays. Ten red illuminated switches, also on the front panel, provide display and resetting of these relays. Latching is the default mode, so that a manual reset is required to cancel a fault signal and resume operation. For operational exibility, relays and indicators can be alternatively congured to operate in non-latching mode.

The BOP system has been designed to support an electrolyser stack operating at an output level of up to 3 kW and a current of up to 100 A. PEM electrolysis cells characteristically operate between about 1.5 V at zero current and 1.9 V at full current. The lower voltage denes the energy required for electrochemical hydrogen conversion whilst voltages greater than that may be associated with internal resistive cell losses and consequent heat dissipation. These characteristics suggest a design conguration of 20 cells operating in series at 100 A, with a peak dissipation of 3.8 kW to achieve an efciency of approximately 80%, with a 38 V total stack voltage. For commissioning of the system and its evaluation with a directly coupled renewable energy source (photovoltaic array), a smaller 14-cell stack was used. At 100 A this represents a potential output in terms of hydrogen generation of approximately 2 kW and a hydrogen generation capacity of approximately 0.585 nm3 per hour.

Pressure switch

Electrolysis Stack

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available stacks [15]. The pressure capability of the stack itself is generally the limiting factor and future developments may see this pressure increased. In many electrolyser applications, if the oxygen that is generated is not required, it is simply vented. However, for optimum management of the stack, the oxygen side may also be operated at a pressure approaching that on the hydrogen generation side. The two gas/water separators have been manufactured as small pressure vessels and may be operated at pressures up to 15 bar. They have an internal volume of approximately 2 l.

3.6.

Water supply sub-system

The Oreion Alpha has been designed to be supplied with highpurity water at a pressure in the range of 0.25 bar2 bar. At full power (100 A input current), usage is approximately 500 ml per hour for the 2 kW electrolysis stack. This can be supplied either from a reticulated main-pressure source (via a purication system and a pressure regulator) or from a gravity-fed supply tank. Typically a combination of activated charcoal ltering and mixed-bed deionization lters has been found to be adequate. It is generally suggested that PEM electrolysis water supply should have a resistivity of greater than 1 megohm-cm.

3.7.
Fig. 3 A photograph of the completely assembled Oreion Alpha a stand-alone system for distributed hydrogen generation.

Auxiliary power supply

3.4.

Stack efciency and heat management

The BOP system operates from an external 12 V, 8 A power supply, to facilitate operation which may be remote from mains power. This could be via a 12 V lead-acid battery at a remote location, or a general-purpose 12 V DC main-operated power supply for situations where main power is available. The average current requirement is approximately 5 A.

For a stack operating at 80% efciency, the remaining 20% of the supplied electrical energy is converted to heat. This heat may be useful, since the stack operates more efciently at elevated temperature. Experimental work has shown that a relatively simple but effective control of temperature can be achieved by operation of the electrolyser without cabinet ventilation up to 70  C stack temperature, after which four axial ventilation fans are switched on automatically. These fans are mounted on rear panels of the cabinet, two at a lower level delivering air into the cabinet and two at the top which extract warm air. This regime is intended to maintain the stack temperature in the 7080  C region (except at lower operational currents), which is close to that required for optimum efciency.

3.8.

Monitoring, safety and control sub-systems

3.5.

Operating pressures

PEM electrolysis stacks may operate at a wide range of pressures and are self-pressurizing up to quite high values. Although it is possible to post-pressurize (compress) the output streams, allowing the pressurization to be performed by the electrolyser itself may be advantageous since it is thermodynamically efcient and avoids the requirement for a mechanical compressor. The stand-alone electrolyser is intended to generate pressures of up to 6 bar of hydrogen initially, since this matched the capability of currently

Several monitoring, safety and control systems are built into the Oreion Alpha. These are located around the key operational components, which also include the liquid/water separators. Water from the oxygen separator is circulated through the stack by a small stainless-steel pump and returns as a mixed stream of water and oxygen gas. A back-pressure regulator controls the operational pressure on this side of the stack. The separator itself may be operated at atmospheric pressure, from which the oxygen is vented off or collected. On the other side of the stack, operation is basically in deadend mode, with hydrogen gas produced within the stack being transferred to the hydrogen gas separator. Liquid water carried across the membrane in association with the transport of hydrogen ions, is also transferred to the separator. The water level is controlled and excess water is recirculated to the oxygen side, via a pump and solenoid valve. Hydrogen exits from this separator via a back-pressure control valve, which may be set to operate the hydrogen generation side (including the hydrogen separator) at up to 6 bar. Water circulation on the oxygen side is monitored by a ow-switch which signals a fault if the ow is below a set value. Water exiting from the stack is monitored for temperature, as is the temperature of the stack surface. Process indicators allow for maximum values of these temperatures

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30

28

26

24

22

20 0 20 40 60 80 100

Stack Current, A

threshold values (on the following morning, in the case of solar PV), a system restart is initiated. This requires a temporary bypass of the alarm system for circulating water ow, which would otherwise prevent such a restart. If circulating water ow is re-established within a short period of time, the latching alarm is automatically reset and operation continues. The Oreion Alpha was designed to accommodate data logging instrumentation as required. Voltage taps are provided for measuring individual cell voltages. Calibrated shunts have been incorporated to facilitate current measurement. Outputs from the pressure measurement sensors and from thermocouples for temperature measurement are available.

Fig. 4 A representative VI curve for the complete Oreion Alpha housing a 2 kW stack consisting of 14,100 cm2 cells.

Stack Voltage, V

4.

Commissioning and demonstration

to be set before the process is interrupted. Upstream of the back-pressure regulator, pressure is also monitored by a pressure switch and protected from exceeding a maximum value by a relief valve which will vent oxygen directly. The separator also has a pressure relief valve that would vent oxygen directly if the set pressure was exceeded. The gas outlet line from the hydrogen/water separator is also monitored by pressure switches which shut down the electrolyser if it exceeds a preset value. These switches have been duplicated in order to provide failsafe operation. The hydrogen outlet line also incorporates a ashback arrestor. A process indicator is also used to monitor the differential pressure across the stack. This allows for variable minimum and maximum values to be set. Stack current, stack voltage and inlet water pressure are monitored by individual indicators which allow limits for each to be set. Each gas separator contains a set of oat switches which control water level at about half of the vessel volume, but also incorporate high and low safety switches. The cabinet also contains a pair of hydrogen leak detectors. As described above, the monitoring and control system incorporates six process indicators and 10 process switches. An alarm indication from any of these results in interruption of the supply of current to the electrolyser stack via a highcurrent relay. In addition, power is disconnected to the pumps and solenoid valves (which manage water levels in the two separators). The process switches are all adjustable to some degree (mechanically or electrically), and have been congured to provide a process alarm signal at preset levels. The six Eurotherm indicators allow for high and low levels to be optionally programmed and easily modied in software. They are Eurotherm Model 2408i, classied as an indicator but they operate effectively as a compact controller when utilising the alarm outputs as system control signals. An additional control system has been incorporated to allow the unit to shut down and consume minimal energy when the power supplied by the external source (wind, solar PV, etc.) is too low for the electrolysis stack to operate. Power to pumps and solenoids is removed, leaving just the standby power of the control system. When the correct combination of voltage and current climb back above set

A formal HAZOP analysis was undertaken as part of the process of specifying a process ow diagram and the detailed plumbing design. A number of safety-related components were introduced as a result of this analysis. In addition, the plumbing layout and the specication of all signicant components were conrmed. The Oreion Alpha was constructed in accordance with the detailed design specication arising from the HAZOP analysis. It incorporated all of the safety and monitoring features that were part of this from the inception. Initial operation was without a stack, using temporary piping connections to complete or bridge the ow circuits. This enabled conrmation that all systems (particularly those related to ow control) operated correctly and also allowed for preliminary settings, such as pump speed and ow-switch set-point, to be made. The 14-cell stack was then installed and operated, starting with lower powers and increasing gradually to full power. In general the system operated extremely well although a number of issues did arise. Pressure losses were initially excessive in some lines. This was remedied by a combination of increased tubing diameter and more-streamlined routing where required. The 12 V pumps proved to have excess capacity and a step-down voltage converter was incorporated to run them more efciently at 78 V. Some ne tuning was also required for mechanical components (such as oat switches and ow sensors) and for Eurotherm control setpoints (pressure, temperature voltage and current) and delay timing (as used in the auto-start feature). The 14-cell PEM stack had already been used in a xed test station but was further tested in the Oreion Alpha in order to verify its satisfactory system operation as installed. Fig. 4 shows a representative VI curve obtained with Oreion Alpha for the 2 kW electrolysis stack linked to a laboratory power supply. For this trial, readings were taken fairly rapidly, starting at a low current, without allowing time for the system to equilibrate in temperature between current values. It therefore represents the response to a current surge, which produces higher than normal stack voltage and higher power dissipation temporarily, because the stack is initially cool and operating less efciently. Current was kept constant at 100 A for a short period until the stack temperature approached normal operating value, by which time the stack voltage had fallen from above 29 V (as shown) to below 28 V.

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1600
Solar Irradiance, W/m2

50

1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 0

y = 17.435x - 9.451 2 R = 0.947

Current Solar Irradiance Sunny Days

1200

40

30

10

20

30

40

50

60

Current, A

800

20

Cloudy Days
400

10

0 300

320

340

360

380

0 400

Time, Hours
Fig. 5 A representative diagram showing correlation between the electrolyser stack current and widely varying solar irradiance on different days.

The Oreion Alpha has since been used for a demonstration study at RMIT University which operates a 2.4 kW PV array in association with the Solar Laboratory at its Bundoora East campus. To facilitate comprehensive monitoring, a Doric Digitrend 245 data logging system was employed, using a pair of 20-channel front end modules located inside the cabinet. Each of these modules communicates with the external data logger mainframe via a single data/power cable and may be congured channel by channel for measurement of voltage, temperature and other variables. The system operated for several months and was a successful demonstration of the use of direct coupling between electrolyser and PV array [14,16]. There were some initial difculties, mostly associated with failures of some commercial components, after which the BOP system performed extremely well. It was also necessary to ne-tune the auto-start system to match the characteristics of the PV array. In the early morning sun, the array produced quite high voltages but negligible current capacity. It was therefore necessary to set a relatively high voltage as the trigger value for starting up the electrolyser stack. Safe operation of the stack required that the pressure across the MEA be maintained at less than 6 bar. The regulator valves performed this function adequately although there was more uctuation than desirable and a signicant dependence on gas and water ow rates. Since both gases were vented for this demonstration program, it proved expeditious to operate the stack with a pressure of approximately 2 bar on the hydrogen side and 1 bar on the oxygen side, well away from the pressure limits. Fig. 5 shows electrolyser current as a function of solar irradiance on four representative days during the fourmonth demonstration period. Also included in this gure (as inset) is a graph of solar irradiance versus current. The correlation between solar irradiance and current and the rapid response of the electrolyser to variation in the solar irradiance and thus the current input is clearly evident. It is

also apparent that the electrolyser operated successfully over a wide range of currents and adapts well to the supply variability. In fact the system accommodated the complete spectrum of weather, ranging from cool and cloudy days to very hot and sunny days when the ambient temperature was above 40  C. There were no failures of the BOP system over this period. The 14-cell stack used for this study proved to be less durable than expected and degraded signicantly through the course of the project [14,17]. Even during initial trials, the voltage of a number of individual cells had risen above the target 1.9 V at 100 A. However, the BOP was sufciently exible that this did not impede operation, apart from the requirement to set a higher value of stack voltage than would be appropriate for a stack in good condition. The relatively conservative approach taken in the specication of the Oreion Alpha did not place emphasis on compactness or economy of design. Certainly, the relatively spacious cabinet and layout meant that construction was simple and access to components was relatively easy. Subsequent implementations of the same basic design might be considerably more compact, aided additionally by a rationalization of some components that contribute little to the overall functionality of the system. For example, using a pair of high-current solenoids in series may have enhanced safety but a single solenoid would have been adequate. The relatively large water/gas separators were convenient to set up but could be substantially reduced in size.

5.

Conclusions

A stand-alone system complete with 2 kW electrolysis stack and balance-of-plant incorporating multiple levels of operator and stack safety redundancy has been built for integration with a renewable energy source. With the use of an AC/DC

Solar Irradiance, W/m2

Current, A

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converter the system can also be connected to main power for distributing hydrogen generation at end-use sites. The balance-of-plant required to operate a PEM electrolysis stack as an independent stand-alone facility operating at an output power of approximately 2 kW has been successfully demonstrated both in the laboratory during its commissioning phase and also at an external site directly coupled to a 2.4 kW solar PV power source. Housed, along with the stack, in an equipment cabinet of modest size, the balance-of-plant incorporated a relatively sophisticated control and monitoring system providing emphasis on exible operation and high levels of safety and redundancy. With early careful consideration to control, safety and monitoring sub-systems, the balance-ofplant proved to be relatively straightforward to set up and commission. As a stand-alone system, the only external inputs required were a supply of pure water (tap water through an ion exchange resin column); an auxiliary 12 V DC power supply (possibly a battery) for the control, safety and monitoring system; a DC power source for the electrolysis (up to 100 A, variable voltage in the 2040 V range to suit the number of cells in the stack). A PV array has proved to be an excellent power source. It is suitable for direct coupling for optimum simplicity and requires only that it is well-matched by having compatible voltage and current characteristics. Product gases (hydrogen and oxygen) were generated over a period of four months in conditions ranging from cool and cloudy days to hot and sunny days when the ambient temperature exceeded 40  C. The system, including all safety systems, operated very effectively and satisfactorily over this period mostly unattended, providing high level of user comfort with relatively new technology for hydrogen generation. In future such a system can be operated with other sources of renewable energy or main power as a distributed hydrogen generator. Coupled to a fuel cell, it has the potential to meet electricity and hot water demands of isolated dwellings. Little attempt was made to achieve a compact package at this stage, resulting in a cabinet of generous size which was straightforward to assemble and is easy to service. Considerable size reduction would be possible in future designs.

references

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Fabio Ciacchi for reviewing this manuscript, and Dr John Andrews, Dr Biddyut Paul and Fabio Ciacchi for assistance with evaluation of the Oreion Alpha at RMIT. The project has been supported by CSIROs Energy Transformed Flagship.

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