Open Access

ARTICLE

Enhancing the Efficiency of Multi-Electrolyzer Clusters with Lye Mixer: Topology Design and Control Strategy

Mingxuan Chen¹, Jun Jia², Baoping Zhang¹, Leiyan Han³, Mengbo Ji^3,4, Zhangtao Yu¹, Dongfang Li¹, Wenyong Wang¹, Hongjing Jia¹, Huachi Xu^2,*
1 China Three Gorges Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, 101199, China
2 Sichuan Energy Internet Research Institute, Tsinghua University, Chengdu, 610000, China
3 China Three Gorges Renewables (Group) Co., Ltd., Beijing, 101125, China
4 Ordos City Hanxia Renewables Co., Ltd., Ordos, 014300, China
* Corresponding Author: Huachi Xu. Email:

Energy Engineering https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2024.051524

Received 07 March 2024; Accepted 16 May 2024; Published online 13 June 2024

Abstract

The rise in hydrogen production powered by renewable energy is driving the field toward the adoption of systems comprising multiple alkaline water electrolyzers. These setups present various operational modes: independent operation and multi-electrolyzer parallelization, each with distinct advantages and challenges. This study introduces an innovative configuration that incorporates a mutual lye mixer among electrolyzers, establishing a weakly coupled system that combines the advantages of two modes. This approach enables efficient heat utilization for faster hot-startup and maintains heat conservation post-lye interconnection, while preserving the option for independent operation after decoupling. A specialized thermal exchange model is developed for this topology, according to the dynamics of the lye mixer. The study further details startup procedures and proposes optimized control strategies tailored to this structural design. Waste heat from the caustic fully heats up the multiple electrolyzers connected to the lye mixing system, enabling a rapid hot start to enhance the system’s ability to track renewable energy. A control strategy is established to reduce heat loss and increase startup speed, and the optimal valve openings of the diverter valve and the manifold valve are determined. Simulation results indicate a considerable enhancement in operational efficiency, marked by an 18.28% improvement in startup speed and a 6.11% reduction in startup energy consumption in multi-electrolyzer cluster systems, particularly when the systems are synchronized with photovoltaic energy sources. The findings represent a significant stride toward efficient and sustainable hydrogen production, offering a promising path for large-scale integration of renewable energy.

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Keywords

Alkaline water electrolyzer; hydrogen production; control strategy; system modeling

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