Abstract
As an energy storage medium, hydrogen has drawn the attention of research
institutions and industry over the past decade, motivated in part by developments in
renewable energy, which have led to unused surplus wind and photovoltaic power.
Hydrogen production from water electrolysis is a good option to make full use of the
surplus renewable energy. Among various technologies for producing hydrogen,
water electrolysis using electricity from renewable power sources shows great
promise. To investigate the prospects of water electrolysis for hydrogen production,
this review compares different water electrolysis processes, i.e., alkaline water
electrolysis, proton exchange membrane water electrolysis, solid oxide water
electrolysis, and alkaline anion exchange membrane water electrolysis. The ion
transfer mechanisms, operating characteristics, energy consumption, and industrial
products of different water electrolysis apparatus are introduced in this review.
Prospects for new water electrolysis technologies are discussed.
Graphical Abstract
With the increment trend of abandoned wind power and PV power show increasing
trend, water electrolysis is becoming promising. Different water electrolysis
technologies have been discussed in this review.
Introduction
As global warming and related environmental issues become more
serious the development of renewable energy sources has become
more important. Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar
power, have transient characteristics, which require proper energy
management and storage. From data reported by the National
Energy Administration, the surplus unused wind power in China
accounted for 497 × 108 kWh in 2016, and unused solar power in
the northwest totaled more than 7 × 106 kWh; the total photovoltaic
(PV) power output was 28.7 billion kWh, which means that
approximately 20% of photovoltaic power was unused [1]. The
installed photovoltaic capacity in the northwest area of China, i.e.,
Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai and Ningsia, is greater than 5 000 000
kW. The distributed photovoltaic capacity in the middle east of
China (i.e., Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Anhui) is greater than
1 × 106kW. In some areas (i.e., Xinjiang and Gansu) the unused
photovoltaic energy respectively accounts for 32.23% and 30.45% of
the total energy produced, as reported by the National Energy
Administration [2]. Hydrogen is a more suitable energy storage
medium than other fuels, owing to the high heat value of hydrogen.
The energy density of hydrogen is 140 MJ/kg, which is more than
twice as high as that of typical solid fuels (50 MJ/kg). Hydrogen
burns to produce water, making hydrogen an environmental
friendly energy store. In terms of hydrogen storage, gaseous and
liquid hydrogen can be stored in pressurized tanks, or in the solid
state as metal hydrides. Therefore, the advantages of hydrogen as
an energy carrier are not only its high energy density, but also that
hydrogen and electricity can be interconverted through water
electrolysis. Furthermore, hydrogen could be used in a grid when
hydrogen production is scaled-up.
There are several technologies available for hydrogen production,
including reforming, decomposition, and hydrolysis of fossil fuels.
Approximately four billion tons of hydrogen are required annually,
with 95% of hydrogen production derived from fossil fuel, which
also produces CO2. Water electrolysis powered by renewable energy
sources, is expected to enable the scale-up of hydrogen production,
and zero CO2 emissions are produced in water electrolysis
processes. Typical characteristics of main electrolysis technologies
are listed in Table 1. Hence, storing surplus solar and wind energy
as hydrogen shows great promise. Hydrogen generated from water
electrolysis has high purity (99.9%), and can also be used as a
reactant for many industrial processes.
Section snippets
Water electrolysis for hydrogen
production
In the water electrolysis process, water is the reactant, which is
dissociated to hydrogen and oxygen under the influence of direct
current.
Anode: H2O → 1/2O2 + 2H+ + 2e−
Cathode: 2H+ + 2e− → H2
Overall: H2O → H2 + 1/2O2
Different electrolytes systems developed for water electrolysis
include alkaline water electrolysis (AWE), proton exchange
membranes (PEMs), alkaline anion exchange membranes (AEMs),
and solid oxide water electrolysis (SOE). Different materials and
