The subject matter disclosed herein relates to an electrochemical system for providing hydrogen.
Hydrogen is widely used in a variety of applications, including as a fuel for combustion, a chemical reactant, and in situations where a reducing environment is needed such as for various types of material surface treatments. Hydrogen is produced on an industrial scale by the reformation of natural gas, and the traditional approach for commercial users of hydrogen such as described above whose hydrogen needs do not justify large-scale industrial hydrogen production has been simply to maintain a hydrogen storage system on-site to provide fresh hydrogen for processes such as metal heat treatments. However, effective storage of pure hydrogen can be costly and complex, requiring high pressures and/or low temperatures. On-site hydrogen production through the use of PEM electrolysis cell stacks that separate water into hydrogen and oxygen gas provides an alternative to purchase and storage of hydrogen from commercial producers. However, the electricity costs associated with producing hydrogen through PEM electrolysis can be significant. Additionally, such on-site PEM electrolysis systems must either be sized to handle peak load demands (often necessitating that the system must be over-sized compared to typical demand loads) or a hydrogen storage system is needed to have extra hydrogen available for peak load situations, both of which can significantly drive up the cost and difficulty of providing hydrogen.
Accordingly, while existing hydrogen systems are suitable for their intended purposes, the need for improvement remains.