Among the three major technical routes of hydrogen production from alkaline water (AWE), hydrogen production from PEM and hydrogen production from SOEC, PEM hydrogen production technology has high operating current density, low energy consumption, and high hydrogen production pressure, which adapts to the volatility characteristics of renewable energy power generation. , Easy to combine with renewable energy consumption, is considered to be a suitable solution for hydrogen production by electrolysis of water.
With the increase of renewable energy hydrogen production projects, China's demand for electrolyzed water hydrogen production equipment has blown out this year, and PEM hydrogen production is progressing rapidly. ZGCB hydrogen energy technology, ZKDL hydrogen energy technology, SDSK hydrogen energy technology, ZJGC hydrogen energy technology, GDCH hydrogen energy technology, SZLH and many other companies` orders for PEM hydrogen production equipment have increased to varying degrees year-on-year.
The main components of the PEM electrolyzer are proton exchange membrane, cathode and anode catalyst layer, cathode and anode gas diffusion layer, cathode and anode end plates, etc. from the inside to the outside. The structure is similar to that of a fuel cell stack, but the material system is different. Under the situation where the market opportunities of PEM hydrogen production equipment are highlighted, a few PEM fuel cell stack companies have begun to enter the development of PEM electrolyzers, and membrane electrode and bipolar plate companies are also following up.
The technical threshold is quite high
PEM electrolyzed water and PEM fuel cell are reverse reactions to each other. The former is the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen, and the latter is the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to produce water. The structure of the PEM electrolyzer is similar to that of the PEM fuel cell stack, but the material system of the PEM electrolyzer is quite different from that of the stack, and it is not easy to make a good product of the PEM electrolyzer.
Dr. Li, CTO of GDCH Hydrogen Technology Coporation, said: “Due to the difference in working environment, PEM electrolyzers have higher requirements for the durability and life of core components and materials. To make a PEM electrolyzer, catalysts and membrane electrode materials are required. Have a deep understanding and need to seal the electrolytic cell well."
In terms of electrocatalysts, the research on electrocatalysts of PEM electrolyzers is mainly about Ir, Ru and other precious metals/oxides and their binary and ternary alloys/mixed oxides, supported catalysts with titanium materials as carriers, non-precious metal catalysts or non-metallic catalysts. The development of catalysts is difficult.
In terms of membrane electrodes, the anode of PEM electrolyzed water needs to be resistant to acidic environment corrosion and high potential corrosion, and should have a suitable pore structure to allow gas and water to pass. The membrane electrode materials commonly used in PEM fuel cells (such as carbon materials) cannot be used for water electrolysis anodes. For this reason, 3M company has developed a nanostructured thin film (NSTF) electrode. The anode and the anode use Ir and Pt catalysts respectively, with a loading capacity of 0.25mg/c㎡.
Regarding the bipolar plate, in the harsh working environment of the anode of the PEM electrolytic cell, if the bipolar plate is corroded, it will cause the leaching of metal ions, which will pollute the PEM. Therefore, the commonly used protective measure for the bipolar plate is to prepare a layer of anticorrosive coating on the surface. Layer, its corrosion resistance requirements are higher than that of PEM fuel cells.
Powerful enterprises set out to lay out
Because of the high technical difficulty, in the context of the obvious increase in PEM electrolyzer market demand, the current research and development follow-up of PEM electrolyzer and core component products are only individual head stacks, membrane electrodes and bipolar plate companies. Some listed companies with strong comprehensive strength have also begun technical research and industrial layout for PEM electrolyzed water hydrogen production equipment.
As the head enterprise of China's hydrogen fuel cell membrane electrode, GDCN Hydrogen Energy Technology Co., Ltd. formally signed the "Investment Cooperation Agreement" on the industrialization project of fuel cell high-performance membrane electrode in May this year. The project plans to invest 600 million yuan to build a fuel cell membrane electrode and PEM water electrolysis hydrogen production membrane electrode industrialization base. PEM water electrolysis hydrogen production membrane electrode is a new project of Hongji Chuangneng. The pilot test will be completed within this year and mass production will be realized at the base.
SHZZ, a leading Chinese metal bipolar plate company, exhibited samples of PEM electrolytic cell bipolar plates at the FCVC2021 held in June.
In addition, AHYG Power Supply, one of the Chinese photovoltaic inverter giants, launched China's first SEP50 PEM hydrogen electrolyzer with a maximum power of 250kW in March this year. The core components of the PEM hydrogen production electrolyzer are all made in China. In order to meet market demand, AHYG has begun planning to build a fully automated electrolyzer assembly line.
In March this year, SHDQ Electric Group and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences inaugurated the establishment of the PEM Hydrogen Production Technology R&D Center by electrolysis of water, and signed a project cooperation agreement on "Megawatt Modular High-Efficiency PEM Hydrogen Production Equipment and System Development".
JL Electric Technology Group recently stated on the investor interaction platform that the pilot project of the Changchun Hydrogen Energy Industry Base is the research and development and manufacturing of PEM electrolytic hydrogen production equipment; WXWF New Energy High-Tech Group also publicly stated that the company will PEM electrolyzed water hydrogen production system business It is planned to be incorporated into the business scope of the planned hydrogen energy division.
Current domestic and foreign market structure
Before more companies choose to enter the field of PEM electrolyzed water hydrogen production equipment, it is necessary to thoroughly understand the market structure and technical level of the existing PEM electrolyzed water hydrogen production equipment to avoid risks.
The international commercialization of pure water hydrogen production equipment started as early as 20 years ago. Companies such as NEL-Proton, SIEMENS, ITM Power, and Hydrogenics have almost covered the world's PEM electrolysis hydrogen production equipment market. In the past 10 years, the world has accelerated the construction of renewable energy PEM water electrolysis hydrogen production demonstration projects. The number of demonstration projects and monomer scales have shown a trend of increasing year by year. At present, PEM water electrolysis hydrogen production has entered the 10 MW level demonstration application stage.
Specifically, NEL-Proton PEM water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment has deployed more than 2,000 sets (distributed in 72 countries and regions), has 70% of the global PEM water electrolysis hydrogen production market share, and has integrated hydrogen production systems of more than 10MW. Capability: Cummins, which acquired Hydrogenics, announced in May this year that it plans to invest 50 million euros to build a 500MW/year PEM electrolyzer plant in Spain for the production of green hydrogen.
In China, companies and scientific research institutions focusing on PEM water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment mainly include ZGCB hydrogen energy technology, ZKDL hydrogen energy technology, SDSK hydrogen energy technology, ZJGC hydrogen energy technology, GDCH hydrogen energy technology, SZLH…
In the first half of the year, ZGCB had a high market share in the field of hydrogen production from electrolyzed water in China. Currently, it mainly produces hydrogen from alkaline water. Its customers include Shell, National Energy, GCL, and Baowu Qingneng. At this stage, ZGCB is focusing on PEM electrolyzed water hydrogen production. It has expanded the capacity and built two new plants, of which the annual production capacity of PEM electrolyzed hydrogen production equipment is 120 units/set.
"The PEM water electrolysis equipment orders that the company has delivered are all small electrolyzers." ZGCB CTO Dr. Liu told us that the PEM electrolyzers that the company has delivered are all below 20m^3, and 4 units of 50m are received in the first half of this year. ^3 Orders for PEM stack tanks are expected to be delivered before the end of September.
In the first half of the year, SDSK's sales of electrolyzed water hydrogen production equipment reached 160 million yuan, and the sales of small PEM electrolyzed water hydrogen production equipment reached 6,000; orders for large-scale equipment continued to increase, including export to the international market.