This is a cross-departmental project with ECES with two pre-allocated students.
The other supervisor from ECES is Seho Kim, and the student is Thea Larsen.
There is a growing demand in the green energy environment for energy storage systems, and one potential solution is PEM hydrogen electrolysis cells. Currently, this technology is quite novel and requires further research into both improving efficiency and lifespan. One new development is an input current waveform that decreases the cell voltage, thus improving efficiency.
This project aims to develop a power conditioning system to supply the optimal input current waveform and a control scheme to find and keep the electrolysis cell at peak efficiency. In addition, the project aims to examine the effects of this current waveform on the degradation of the electrolysis cell. The project will then aim to account for any change in degradation in the control scheme by periodically checking the efficiency of the cell.
This project will also examine the use of this system with a variable renewable source by mimicking the output of a photovoltaic cell.
Undergraduate
- Development of a power conditioning system to supply the electrolysis cell with the optimal input current waveform
- Using a previously developed model of the cell, evaluate the effect on the system efficiency
- Using theoretical simulations examine how the system behaves when connected to a variable renewable source
- Evaluate the effects of this control scheme on the degradation of the electrolysis cell
None
No lab has been assigned to this project