Optimizing oxygen transport in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis through tailored porosity configurations of porous transport layers

Qing Li, Yuting He, Luteng Zhang, Liangming Pan, Wan Sun, Zaiyong Ma, Longxiang Zhu, Qiang Lian and Simiao Tang

Applied Energy, 2024, vol. 370, issue C, No S0306261924010043

Abstract: Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) exhibits significant promise in generating hydrogen from intermittent renewable resources. However, the performance of PEMWE at high current densities is restricted by the significant loss in mass transfer in the porous transport layer (PTL). Here, nine porosity configurations of PTLs were utilized to investigate the impact of PTL structure on the oxygen-water transport performance and mechanism in PEMWE operated at 5 A/cm2. The lattice Boltzmann model is improved by integrating the electrochemical reaction boundary condition, which can more accurately describe the mass transformation and the oxygen-expelling caused by reaction-induced pressure than the previous methods using injection boundary conditions. The results suggest that the porosity configuration does not change the capillary fingering pattern of the expelling process. The PTLs with small to large gradient porosity achieve the lowest average oxygen saturation of 0.24 in PTL and 0.39 on the catalyst layer (CL) surface. Oxygen transport from small pores to large pores releases pressure and can be accompanied by the dynamic behavior of snap-off, accelerating the expulsion of oxygen, and conversely, oxygen may be trapped in large pores and block the water transport pathway. Notably, the PTL/CL interface saturation positively correlates to the breakthrough pressure. The study can facilitate the design and development of PTL structure.

Keywords: Pore-scale simulation; PEM water electrolysis; Porous transport layer; Two-phase flow (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123621

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