Enhancing polymer exchange membrane water electrolyser's performance and efficiency by utilising electromagnetic solar radiation and magnetic field applications : Hydrogen production

Abstract

The demand for producing high-purity hydrogen gas at low cost and environmental-friendly is an on going topic. The polymer exchange membrane water electrolysis is a technology which can supply that demand. The technology of polymer exchange membrane water electrolysis is advancing through fields of physics exploiting electromagnetic solar radiation and magnetic fields, among others. Exper imental laboratory research has significantly shown performance and efficiency improvements by ap plying electromagnetic solar radiation and magnetic fields separately. Electromagnetic solar radiation can excite the electrons in the water molecules to higher energy levels. Magnetic fields can remove oxygen bubbles from the electrode, reduce concentration polarisation, and enforce the proton transfer. A combination of electromagnetic solar radiation and magnetic fields has yet to be tested and docu mented. This work investigates experimentally the effects of electromagnetic radiation and magnetic fields separately and combined for a polymer exchange membrane water electrolysis system. The ex perimental work is limited to Horizon Educational Groups’ polymer exchange membrane reversible fuel cell. The theoretical framework is based on photolysis, photoactive cells, photon-electron interac tions, magnetic fields, magnetohydrodynamics, and Lorentz force. Former research on electromag netic radiation and magnetic fields related to polymer exchange membrane water electrolysis is discussed. The experimental results from this work showed an enhanced current density performance for the electromagnetic solar radiation configuration and electromagnetic solar radiation and magnetic fields configuration, at 31.46% and 13.81%, respectively, compared to the standard condition. The magnetic field configuration excelled at system efficiency by 71.98% compared to the standard condi tion’s 70.22%. Electromagnetic solar radiation has been found to increase the performance of hydro gen production by adding more energy to the system, while magnetic fields are efficient in the trans fer and distribution of particles. Further research in polymer exchange membrane water electrolysis design is needed to align with the theory and principles of electromagnetic solar radiation and magnetic fields.