PEM electrolysis system performance and system safety integration

In this paper, the performance and design of hydrogen production system using two commercial 4.2 kW proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis stacks embedded in a custom-designed electrolyser is described. The PEM electrolyser system has multiple levels of construction which include, stack section, cooling unit, Balance of Plant (BOP), power electronics and system safety, all integrated with aid of PLC controller. Particular system alarms and fault conditions trigger the emergency mode, which safely shuts down the system. A crucial aspect of design and operation protocols around hydrogen safety application in the whole integration process is applied. The system integrated with in-house built metal hydride compressor supplies high pressure hydrogen (up to 200 bar, 5 Nm(3)/h) to SAIAMC testing facilities.