Consumption Modeling and Influencing Factors Analysis of Alkaline Water Electrolyzer

Hydrogen is considered to be the main form of energy in the future, alkaline water electrolysis is the most mature method for producing green hydrogen at present, but the method has the problem of high energy consumption. In this paper, we study the energy consumption modeling of alkaline electrolyzer and analyze the influence rule and sensitivity of related factors on energy consumption. The DC energy consumption model of alkaline water electrolyzer is established in COMSOL software. Considering the coupling effect between multiple physical fields, including the influence of electrochemical field, two-phase flow field, concentration field and temperature field, the simulation effect of electric-heat-chemical-liquid multi-physical field is realized. On this basis, the relative sensitivity of each factor is studied by response surface experiment. The results show that the model can reflect the influence rule of various factors, and the sensitivity of each factor is the electrode material, working pressure, temperature, and electrolyte concentration in descending order. The work done in this paper is helpful to adjust the working condition of alkaline water electrolyzer to reduce energy consumption and enhance the practicability of alkaline water electrolysis technology.