Dynamic behaviour and control strategy of high temperature proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (HT-PEMECs) for hydrogen production

A fast and safe dynamic process is a key issue during the start-stop and adjustment of high temperature proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (HT-PEMECs). In the paper, a 2D multi-physics model is developed to investigate the dynamic process in an HT-PEMEC. First, the dynamic responses of step scheme, multistep scheme and diagonal scheme are compared. It is found that the step scheme has the fastest dynamic response, but it may cause the problem of reactant starvation. The dynamic response speed of diagonal scheme is slower than the step scheme, but it can prevent the problem of reactant starvation. Subsequently, the dynamic process is optimized with a fast dynamic response without reactant starvation. This paper proposes a fast and safe dynamic process adjustment scheme and forms a basis for subsequent control of the HT-PEMEC stack and system.