【Ten Years of Great Progress in Chemical Engineering Technology】065 – From 2006 to 2023, the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics developed a prototype for hydrogen production using solid oxide electrolyzers

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Ten years of rapid development in chemical engineering technology – praise for the prosperous and strong China. This is just a starting point; more participation from everyone will make things even more lively. HaiChuan becomes even better with you here; we welcome everyone to engage more in discussions on this forum. Everyone should pay attention to safety and know how to handle emergencies. ********************************************* The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics has developed a prototype hydrogen production system using solid oxide electrolyzers. Recently, the Fuel Cell System Science and Engineering Research Center (Group DNL0301) within the Fuel Cell Research Department of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics created a prototype for hydrogen production using solid oxide electrolyzers, with a rated hydrogen production capacity of 2 Nm3/h. A Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell (SOEC) is the reverse process of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC); it can convert electrical and thermal energy into chemical energy in the form of fuel at medium to high temperatures (700 to 900°C). It offers advantages such as high energy conversion efficiency and the absence of the need for precious metal catalysts. SOEC utilizes excess renewable energy electricity, as well as industrial waste heat generated in industries such as nuclear power, chemicals, and steel manufacturing, to produce hydrogen through electrolysis; the efficiency achieved can exceed 90%, making it one of the key technologies for large-scale hydrogen production in the future. Compared with foreign countries, China’s development of SOEC technology started later, and there are significant gaps in areas such as stack and system fabrication. In recent years, the team has made a series of advancements in areas such as key materials for SOECs, stack development, and system integration. The team developed a symmetric sealing technology that exhibits excellent sealing performance, ensuring no significant decrease in the open-circuit potential of the stack even after multiple restarts ； Gas distribution technology for high-power stacks has been developed, with the power of a single stack reaching the 10 kW level ； Highly integrated water supply units, gas supply units, and heat management units were designed independently to create a SOEC hydrogen production system with a rated hydrogen production capacity of 2 Nm3/h; the direct current energy consumption is approximately 3.30 kWh/Nm3, and the steam conversion rate exceeds 70%. The relevant results are expected to lay a technical foundation for the further development of large-scale solid oxide electrolyzer hydrogen production systems. The above work was supported by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics Innovation Fund.