Core equipment for electrolysis of water and hydrogen production

Core equipment for electrolysis of water and hydrogen production

Hydrogen production by electrolysis of water means passing direct current into an electrolytic tank filled with electrolyte. Water molecules undergo an electrochemical reaction on the electrodes and can be decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen. The entire process can achieve zero emissions.

In the entire manufacturing process, the core equipment carrier is the electrolyzer. Usually, the structure of an electrolytic cell is composed of three parts, namely the electrolyzer body, the anode, and the cathode.

When direct current passes through the electrolytic cell, an oxidation reaction occurs at the interface between the anode and the solution, and a reduction reaction occurs at the interface between the cathode and the solution.

At present, electrolytic water hydrogen production equipment is mostly used in photovoltaics and wind power, and hydrogen production from renewable energy is the main direction. Among them, alkaline water electrolysis for hydrogen production has lower investment costs and has been fully industrialized. It is the best choice for large-scale green hydrogen production and is also the most mature technology and commercialization method.

How alkaline electrolyzers work
Alkaline water electrolysis (AWE), as the most mature electrolysis technology, is widely used in some large-scale projects. The diaphragm of the electrolytic cell for hydrogen production through alkaline water electrolysis is mainly composed of polymer materials and plays the role of gas separation. The cathode and anode are mainly composed of metal alloys, such as Ni-Mo alloy, etc.

The principle is that water molecules are decomposed into H+ and OH- at the cathode. H+ obtains electrons to generate hydrogen atoms, and further generates hydrogen molecules (H2); OH- passes through the porous material under the action of the electric field force between the cathode and the anode. The diaphragm reaches the anode, where it loses electrons to generate a water molecule and an oxygen molecule.

The core product of the alkaline electrolysis device is the electrolyzer. Before the electrolyzer, a transformer and a rectifier cabinet are required to convert high-voltage alternating current into direct current used by the electrolyzer, which can be used to electrolyzer water in the electrolyzer.