Increasing the efficiency of water electrolysis for renewable hydrogen production

Nathan Burton

doi:10.25918/thesis.543

The combination of growing human populations and increasing anthropogenic activity has resulted in a surge in global energy consumption. As the majority of energy generation is presently produced with fossil fuels, such increases in energy consumption are accompanied by an increase in the production of the toxic by-products as well as the environmentally harmful activities which are often associated with energy resource exploitation. The production of hydrogen gas utilising renewable energy generation presents an opportunity to assist in the transition towards more sustainable energy generation and enhance the sustainability of anthropogenic activities due to hydrogen’s versatility in its application. However, the efficiency of industrial scaled hydrogen production from electrolysis will need to be increased to improve the commercial viability of renewable hydrogen’s use as an energy carrier. As such, investigation into novel techniques to enhance the efficiency of water electrolysis will be essential. The information presented herein provides a summary of the contemporary approaches to utilising solar powered water electrolysis as well as some of the novel applications presently used to enhance the efficacy of water electrolysis. Including, the application of pulsing electric fields, magnetic fields, and light energy fields. This thesis also presents a novel insight into the mechanisms which may be driving enhancements in electrolyser efficiencies by analysing the changes in the electrical, electrochemical, and molecular dynamics as a result of the application of such energy fields. The results found that pulsing electric fields can increase electrolysis efficiency by 20% at lower power inputs, while also increasing hydrogen gas production rates with higher power inputs by 279% without compromising efficiency. The results also found that the application of magnetic fields can increase efficiency by 7.6% when applied with a bar magnet, and 21% when applying a linear magnetic field with a Helmholtz coil. While the application of a light energy field was able to increase efficiency by 15%, with the combination of a magnetic field and light energy field resulting in an increase of up to 18% while simultaneously increasing the hydrogen production rate by 70% at lower power inputs. Furthermore, all applied energy fields enabled an enhanced load adaptability of the electrolyser. Perhaps most importantly, the results highlight that the application of the pulsing electric fields, magnetic fields and light energy fields all resulted in an increase in molecular energy, which reduces the number of hydrogen bonds and weakens the inter and intra molecular bonds throughout the bulk water. As such, this study provides a novel perspective on the importance of the influence that water’s variable molecular energy has on the efficacy of water electrolysis, while providing a new insight into why the application of energy fields influence the efficiency of water electrolysis, accentuating the importance of further investigation into enhancing the proficiency of such applications.

Increasing the efficiency of water electrolysis for renewable hydrogen production

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Increasing the efficiency of water electrolysis for renewable hydrogen production

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