Additive Manufacturing of Bipolar Plates in PEM Electrolyzer

for Green Hydrogen Generation

Hari Pavan Sriram Yalamati (21RPE006)
Supervisor: Dr. R.K. Vij, Co-Supervisor: Dr. Rohit Srivastava
Department of Petroleum Engineering, PDEU, Gandhinagar, Gujarat

Brief Motivation Challenges & Objective

• Green hydrogen has the potential to be the enabler of transition to OBJECTIVES: CHALLENGES:
sustainable energy. • To develop low-cost, High yield hydrogen from • Price of the commercially available bipolar
• According to Paris Agreement, by 2050 try to reduce CO2 a small PEM Electrolyzer using ordinary tap plates with design complexities.
emission and reach net zero. Hydrogen is one of the renewables as water. • To reduce production cost and to maintain
one of the replaceable energy. • To design and fabricate a bi-polar using metal high efficiency.
• Hydrogen produced via electrolysis can result in zero GHG additive manufacturing that can increase the • Design complexities of a bipolar plate for
emissions. efficiency of the PEM electrolyzer with commercialization ready manufacturing
• Hydrogen fuel have more energy by weight not by volume, and SS316L. techniques.
hydrogen fuel storage by compressed at high pressure than • To reduce the weight and cost of the Bipolar • Preventing loss of pressure inside the
Fig-1: Alkaline and PEM Electrolyzer in US
ethanol. Courtesy: Global Green Hydrogen Market Size Report, 2022-2030
plates in the PEM electrolyzer. electrolyzer.

Methodology

Assembly
Modelling Simulation Prototyping Fabrication
& Testing

(A) Single serpentine (B) Parallel flow (C) Interdigitated (D) Pin type or column
• In the first phase, design of flow patterns will be modelled and configured using SolidWorks software. Fig-2: Various Flow Ptterns
• In second phase i.e. the simulation phase all the parameters that have been designed will be verified using
Compositional Fluid Dynamics software like Ansys Fluid Fow Fluent.
• Simulation allows better understanding of factors like velocity distribution throughout the configuration,
pressure distribution, temperature of the flowing fluid (here, in this case, water), losses due to friction and
pressure, turbulence inside the grooves, etc.
• In the third phase simulated model will be prototyping using Polymer printing in the 1:1 ratio which will
allow better grasp on the model.
• In the next phase, after validating all the parameters final material for the actual model will be selected. And
after deciding tolerances it will be getting ready for fabrication. Once the fabrication is done, then all the
parts will be assembled and again tested for tolerances and other parameters.

Fig-3: Fluid flow through grooves

Expected Results
• The production of hydrogen increases as the area exposed to water flowing inside is
increased. Good water management and handling of water flow which allows better
Cost effective development of Bi-polar splitting of water.
plates • Though PEM electrolyzer stack configuration is costlier at small scale than alkaline
electrolyzer but is almost half compared to Solid Oxide Electrolyzer (SOEC) can
produce pure hydrogen, but it costs too high.
Reduced weight of Bi-polar plates • Green Hydrogen production via electrolyzer results in low energy consumption
which will be suitable for industrial applications.

Better Stack Performance & Lifetime

Less interface area in between stack

results more production

High Thermal Stability and High current

density Fig-4: Efficiency and Current Density comparison of different electrolyzer
Courtesy: Airflow Management in Solid Oxide Electrolyzer (SOE) Operation: Performance Analysis, Nov
2017

Expected Outcomes References

❑ Maric, Radenka, and Haoran Yu. “Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis as a Promising Technology for Hydrogen
• Highly dynamic control enables ideal combination with renewable energy sources. Production and Energy Storage.” Nanostructures in Energy Generation, Transmission and Storage, March 20, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.78339.

• Limit oxygen permeation towards the hydrogen side.

❑ Li, Xiao, Lili Zhao, Jiayuan Yu, Xiaoyan Liu, Xiaoli Zhang, Hong Liu, and Weijia Zhou. “Water Splitting: From Electrode to Green

• High pressure and high temperature electrolyzer water splitting with high performance at a low cell Energy System.” Nano-Micro Letters 12, no. 1 (June 17, 2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-020-00469-3.

❑ Peng, Yande, Kun Jiang, Winfield Hill, Zhiyi Lu, Hongbin Yao, and Haotian Wang. “Large-Scale, Low-Cost, and High-Efficiency
voltage and long-term stabilities. Water-Splitting System for Clean H2 Generation.” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 11, no. 4 (January 3, 2019): 3971–77.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.8b19251.
• In order to maximize the cell stack interface, eliminate a gap between the electrolyzer components,
❑ Ahmad Kamaroddin, Mohd Fadhzir, Nordin Sabli, Tuan Amran Tuan Abdullah, Shamsul Izhar Siajam, Luqman Chuah Abdullah,
and will provide high energy efficiency. Aishah Abdul Jalil, and Arshad Ahmad. “Membrane-Based Electrolysis for Hydrogen Production: A Review.” MDPI, October 24,
2021. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/11/11/810.

• A low-cost, large-scale water splitting system may be used as a proof of concept for practical
❑ Esposito, Elisa, Angelo Minotti, Enrica Fontananova, Mariagiulia Longo, Johannes Carolus Jansen, and Alberto Figoli. “Green H2
www.postersession.com
Production by Water Electrolysis Using Cation Exchange Membrane: Insights on Activation and Ohmic Polarization Phenomena.”
applications in the storage and use of renewable energy. MDPI, December 23, 2021. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/12/1/15.