Multi-condition sensitivity analysis of proton exchange membrane electrolysis cell using a segmented diagnostic method

Understanding the distributions of electrochemical reaction, current density and temperature is important to improve the performance of proton exchange membrane electrolysis cell (PEMEC). Therefore, this study developed a PEMEC testing platform based on a segmented diagnostic technique and systematically analyzed the performance sensitivity and uniformity distribution of the electrolysis cell under varying water flow rates, operating temperatures, and bolt torques. The results indicate that the operating temperature exhibits the highest performance sensitivity while the water flow rate has lowest sensitivity to the PEMEC performance. Increasing water flow rate improves the bubble removal and uniformity distributions of current density and temperature, resulting in improved performance at high current density. A high bolt torque reduces contact resistance and increases uniformity distributions inside electrolyzer, thereby reducing the ohmic losses and output voltage. The elevated temperatures enhance electrochemical kinetics, heat production and uniformity distributions of current density and temperature, indicating performance improvement. The current study consolidates the understanding of influencing mechanisms of different operating conditions on distribution characteristics of multiple physical fields, contributing to enhance electrolyzer performance.