Device, system and method for simulating volt-ampere characteristics of electrolytic cell

Abstract

The invention discloses an electrolytic bath volt-ampere characteristic simulation device, system and method, relates to the technical field of electrolytic hydrogen production, is used for realizing accompanying test simulation of a hydrogen production power supply, and aims to solve the problems of cost and safety caused by using electrolytic bath prototype equipment and poor simulation effect caused by using a pure resistance scheme. According to the electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device, different volt-ampere characteristics of a hydrogen production electrolytic cell in various scenes are simulated through the combination of the DC / DC converter and the variable load module. Therefore, the device can replace real hydrogen production electrolytic cell equipment to participate in hydrogen production power supply system testing, related water treatment equipment and gas treatment equipment required in the actual operation process of a real hydrogen production electrolytic cell are omitted, and the construction investment of the testing system and the cost and safety risk in the testing process are reduced. And electrical characteristics of electrolytic bath equipment with different power levels can be simulated based on the combination of modular devices to meet the load performance assessment test of the hydrogen production power supply.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of electrolytic hydrogen production, and in particular to a device, system and method for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, the development of domestic hydrogen energy technology has received great attention, and the solution of consuming green electricity on-site to power hydrogen electrolyzers has become an emerging research and exploration direction in the industry. The industry has not yet reached a consensus on what solution to use for the accompanying test equipment of hydrogen power supply. Currently, there are mainly the following two technical solutions:

[0003] 1) Prototype scheme of hydrogen production electrolyzer.

[0004] This solution is to use the prototype hydrogen electrolyzer equipment to participate in the hydrogen production power supply test, and it needs to be equipped with water treatment equipment and gas treatment equipment to ensure safety. The problem with this solution is that the prototype hydrogen electrolyzer has high investment cost and high operation and maintenance cost, and the supporting treatment equipment will also bring additional costs; due to the special electrical characteristic curve of the electrolyzer equipment and the fixed power characteristics, the hydrogen electrolyzer equipment is not universal.

[0005] 2) Resistor replacement solution.

[0006] This scheme uses resistors to simulate the load of the hydrogen production electrolyzer, thereby replacing the prototype hydrogen production electrolyzer equipment to participate in the hydrogen production power supply test. The problem with this scheme is that the electrical characteristic curve of the pure resistance scheme is different from that of the hydrogen production electrolyzer. The electrical characteristic curve of the pure resistance scheme is fixed, while the voltage-current (UI) curve of the real hydrogen production electrolyzer is related to its cold and hot operating states. Therefore, the pure resistance cannot completely replace the hydrogen production electrolyzer to participate in the test.

[0007] Therefore, technicians in this field are in urgent need of an electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device to solve the problems existing in the current common testing schemes. Summary of the invention

[0008] The purpose of the present application is to provide a device, system and method for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell to solve the problems existing in the current common testing schemes.

[0009] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present application provides an electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device, comprising: a DC / DC converter, a variable load module and a control module;

[0010] Wherein, the input end of the DC / DC converter is connected to the hydrogen production power supply, and the output end of the DC / DC converter is connected to the variable load module;

[0011] The control module is connected to the controlled end of the DC / DC converter and the variable load module, and is used to control the output voltage and output current of the DC / DC converter and the resistance of the variable load module to simulate the volt-ampere characteristics of the hydrogen production electrolyzer.

[0012] In a possible embodiment, the variable load module is a plasma arc load generating device;

[0013] The plasma arc load generating device comprises: a positive electrode rod, an arc starting needle, a motion actuator, an arc starting device and a control unit;

[0014] The control unit is used to control the positional relationship between the arc-starting needle and the positive electrode rod through the motion actuator to adjust the arc length and arc width of the arc generated under the drive of the arc-starting device, so as to control the electrical characteristics of the plasma arc load generating device.

[0015] In a possible embodiment, it further includes: a cooling module;

[0016] The cooling module is used to control the temperature of the plasma arc load generating device.

[0017] In a possible embodiment, the cooling module is a liquid cooling system;

[0018] The device also includes: a sensor detection module connected to the control module;

[0019] The sensor detection module includes: a current sensor, a voltage sensor, a temperature sensor, a position sensor, a flow sensor and a water pressure sensor;

[0020] Among them, the current sensor is used to collect the current values ​​on the input side and output side of the DC / DC converter and the current value on the input side of the plasma arc load generating device; the voltage sensor is used to collect the voltage values ​​on the input side and output side of the DC / DC converter and the voltage value on the input side of the plasma arc load generating device; the temperature sensor is used to collect the temperature value of the plasma arc load generating device; the position sensor is used to collect the position information between the positive electrode rod and the arc starting needle; the flow sensor and the hydraulic sensor are used to collect the flow and hydraulic pressure of the coolant in the liquid cooling system.

[0021] In a possible embodiment, the DC / DC converter includes: an input cabinet, a power cabinet and an output cabinet;

[0022] The input cabinet and the output cabinet are used to realize the input / output control, operation voltage, operation current information collection and operation mode control of the DC / DC converter; the power cabinet is used to realize DC voltage level conversion;

[0023] Therein, the number of the power cabinets is one or more. When there are multiple power cabinets, the power cabinets are connected in parallel.

[0024] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present application also provides an electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation system, comprising: the electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device as described above, as well as an external power supply, a hydrogen production power supply and a test console;

[0025] Wherein, the external power supply is connected to the input end of the hydrogen production power supply, and is used to provide power input for the hydrogen production power supply;

[0026] The output end of the hydrogen production power supply is connected to the electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device, so as to provide power input for the electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device;

[0027] The test console is in communication connection with the external power supply, the hydrogen production power supply and the electrolyzer volt-ampere characteristic simulation device, and is used for controlling the volt-ampere characteristic test of the hydrogen production electrolyzer.

[0028] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present application also provides a method for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell, which is applied to the volt-ampere characteristics simulation device of an electrolytic cell as described above. The method comprises:

[0029] Obtaining an initial input current reference value of the DC / DC converter;

[0030] Based on a predetermined UI curve of the hydrogen production electrolyzer, determining an input voltage value and an input power value of the DC / DC converter according to the initial input current reference value;

[0031] Based on the operating efficiency of the DC / DC converter, determining the output power value of the DC / DC converter according to the input power value;

[0032] Acquiring a current load value of a variable load module, and determining an output voltage value of the DC / DC converter according to the current load value and the output power value;

[0033] Determining an output current value of the DC / DC converter according to the output voltage value and the inverter output power value;

[0034] According to the input voltage value and the output voltage value, the buck-boost mode and the voltage conversion ratio of the DC / DC converter are controlled; according to the output voltage value and the output current value, the target load value is determined, and the load value of the variable load module is adjusted to the target load value.

[0035] In a possible embodiment, the DC / DC converter includes: an input cabinet, a power cabinet and an output cabinet; the input cabinet and the output cabinet are used to realize input / output control, operation voltage, operation current information collection and operation mode control of the DC / DC converter; the power cabinet is used to realize DC voltage level conversion; wherein the number of the power cabinets is one or more, and when the number of the power cabinets is multiple, the power cabinets are connected in parallel;

[0036] Then, after determining the output power value of the DC / DC converter according to the input power value based on the operating efficiency of the DC / DC converter, the method further includes:

[0037] The number of the power cabinets is determined according to the power level of the output power value.

[0038] In a possible embodiment, when the DC / DC converter starts to work, it further includes:

[0039] Controlling the output of the DC / DC converter by means of an output voltage-current dual closed-loop control mode following the input current;

[0040] The output voltage and current dual closed-loop control modes include: a constant voltage output control mode, a constant current output control mode and a constant power output control mode.

[0041] In a possible embodiment, controlling the output of the DC / DC converter by using an output voltage-current dual closed-loop control mode following the input current includes:

[0042] Setting the limiting conditions of the control loop of the DC / DC converter according to the operating boundary conditions of the hydrogen production electrolyzer;

[0043] Wherein, the operating boundary conditions include: an operating current range, an operating power range, a current loading rate range and a power loading rate range.

[0044] The present application provides an electrolyzer volt-ampere characteristic simulation device, which can simulate different volt-ampere characteristics of different hydrogen-producing electrolyzers in various scenarios (such as hot and cold states) through a combination of a DC / DC converter and a variable load module. This allows the device to replace the real hydrogen-producing electrolyzer equipment to participate in the test of the hydrogen-producing power supply system, and also eliminates the relevant water treatment equipment and gas treatment equipment required for the actual operation of the real hydrogen-producing electrolyzer, reducing the construction investment cost of the test system and the cost and safety risks during the test. In addition, the electrical characteristics of electrolyzer equipment of different power levels can be simulated based on the modular device combination to meet the load performance assessment test of the hydrogen-producing power supply.

[0045] The electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation system and method provided in the present application correspond to the above-mentioned device and have the same effect as above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0047] Figure 1 A structural diagram of a device for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell provided by the present invention;

[0048] Figure 2 A structural diagram of a DC / DC converter provided by the present invention;

[0049] Figure 3 A structural diagram of a variable load module provided by the present invention;

[0050] Figure 4 A structural diagram of a plasma arc load generating device provided by the present invention;

[0051] Figure 5 A structural diagram of a volt-ampere characteristic simulation system for an electrolytic cell provided by the present invention;

[0052] Figure 6 A flow chart of a method for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell provided by the present invention;

[0053] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a volt-ampere characteristic curve of an electrolytic cell provided by the present invention;

[0054] Figure 8 A DC / DC converter control flow chart provided by the present invention;

[0055] Fig. 9 A voltage-current dual closed-loop control strategy diagram of a DC / DC converter following input current provided by the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0057] The core of this application is to provide a device, system and method for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell.

[0058] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present application, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0059] At present, there is no consensus on what kind of efficient and low-cost solution to use for the test equipment of hydrogen power generation. There are mainly two technical solutions:

[0060] 1. Prototype scheme of hydrogen production electrolyzer.

[0061] This solution is to use a real hydrogen production electrolyzer prototype to participate in the hydrogen production power supply test, and it needs to be equipped with water treatment equipment and gas treatment equipment to ensure safety. The problem with this solution is that the prototype hydrogen production electrolyzer has high investment cost and high operation and maintenance cost, and the supporting treatment equipment will also bring additional costs; due to the special electrical characteristic curve of the electrolyzer equipment and the fixed power characteristics, the hydrogen production electrolyzer equipment is not universal.

[0062] 2. Resistor alternative.

[0063] This scheme uses resistors to simulate the load of the hydrogen production electrolyzer, thereby replacing the prototype hydrogen production electrolyzer equipment to participate in the hydrogen production power supply test. The problem with this scheme is that the electrical characteristic curve of the pure resistance scheme is different from that of the hydrogen production electrolyzer. The electrical characteristic curve of the pure resistance scheme is fixed, while the voltage-current (UI) curve of the real hydrogen production electrolyzer is related to its cold and hot operating states. Therefore, the pure resistance cannot completely replace the hydrogen production electrolyzer to participate in the test.

[0064] In order to solve the problems existing in the above two common testing schemes, the present application provides an electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device, such as Figure 1 As shown, the device includes: a direct current / direct current (DC / DC) converter 11 , a variable load module 12 and a control module 13 .

[0065] The input end of the DC / DC converter 11 is connected to the hydrogen production power source, and the output end of the DC / DC converter 11 is connected to the variable load module 12 .

[0066] The control module 13 is connected to the controlled end of the DC / DC converter 11 and the variable load module 12, and is used to control the output voltage and output current of the DC / DC converter 11 and the resistance of the variable load module 12 to simulate the volt-ampere characteristics of the hydrogen production electrolyzer.

[0067] Specifically, the DC / DC converter 11 in the device is used to receive the power signal output by the hydrogen production power supply. The power signal passes through the internal circuit of the DC / DC converter 11 to power the variable load module 12 at the rear end, forming a basic test architecture consisting of the hydrogen production power supply and its accompanying test load.

[0068] As for the implementation method of the DC / DC converter 11, since the DC / DC converter 11 is a currently mature voltage conversion device, there are many feasible implementation methods, and this embodiment does not limit this. However, this embodiment also provides a possible implementation method, such as Figure 2 As shown, the DC / DC converter 11 includes: an input cabinet, a power cabinet and an output cabinet.

[0069] The input cabinet and the output cabinet are used to realize the input / output control, operation voltage, operation current information collection and operation mode control of the DC / DC converter 11; the power cabinet is used to realize the DC voltage level conversion.

[0070] There are one or more power cabinets. When there are multiple power cabinets, the power cabinets are connected in parallel.

[0071] Specifically, the input / output cabinet mainly includes secondary devices such as soft start circuit, input / output circuit breaker and main controller, which realize the functions of input / output control, operation voltage and current information collection and operation mode control of DC / DC converter 11, and the power cabinet includes the main components of power conversion circuit such as power module, reactor and capacitor, which realizes DC voltage level conversion. This bidirectional DC / DC converter 11 can be flexibly adjusted to buck / boost mode according to the field test power supply conditions and the voltage of electronic variable load. The input side power supply of DC / DC converter 11 needs to fit the input volt-ampere characteristic (UI) curve according to the electrical characteristics of different electrolytic cells.

[0072] And in Figure 2 In the example, the number of power cabinets is 2, and the two power cabinets are connected in parallel to achieve the expansion of the power level of the DC / DC converter 11. It is not difficult to know that when the power cabinets used in parallel are exactly the same, connecting more power cabinets in parallel can increase the power level of the DC / DC converter 11, thereby adapting to the simulated load needs of the electrolyzer in higher power scenarios. The DC / DC converter 11 provided in this embodiment is implemented using a modular design, with a flexible structure and easy expansion, which is convenient for testers to configure a corresponding number of power cabinets according to the power level of the actual hydrogen production electrolyzer to be simulated, so that the DC / DC converter 11 can support the power level required for the simulation.

[0073] After that, for the variable load module 12. It is easy to know that the role of the variable load module 12 in this device is to adjust its own load value according to the simulation needs to simulate the load conditions of the hydrogen production electrolyzer in different scenarios. In addition, in order to ensure the degree of automation of the test process, the module used in this device to simulate different loads as needed is a variable load module 12 based on electrical signal control.

[0074] Regarding the specific implementation of the variable load module 12, in a possible implementation scheme, as shown in FIG. Figure 3 As shown in the figure, the variable load module 12 includes a plurality of parallel load branches, each of which is provided with a branch switch (KM1-KMn) and at least one branch resistor (R1-Rn). The control module 13 controls the number of resistors connected in parallel in the variable load module 12 by controlling the switch state of the branch switch on each load branch, thereby realizing the resistance value control of the variable load module 12.

[0075] The variable load module 12 provided in the above embodiment is simple to implement, but the adjustable resistance range and granularity are affected by the number of load branches and the resistance of the branch resistance. If you want to achieve a larger resistance adjustment range and finer adjustment granularity, you need to use a large number of load branches, and the energy density of the entire device is poor. Moreover, this method of replacing the hydrogen production electrolyzer completely based on equivalent resistance does not support power adjustment, and the test effect needs to be improved.

[0076] Based on the problems existing in the variable load module 12 of the previous embodiment, this embodiment also provides another more optimal implementation scheme of the variable load module 12: the variable load module 12 is a plasma arc load generating device.

[0077] Among them, the plasma arc load generating device is as follows Figure 4 As shown, it includes: a positive electrode rod, an arc-starting needle, a motion actuator, an arc-starting device and a control unit.

[0078] The control unit is used to control the positional relationship between the arc-starting needle and the positive electrode rod through the motion actuator to adjust the arc length and arc width of the arc generated under the drive of the arc-starting device, so as to control the electrical characteristics of the plasma arc load generating device.

[0079] Specifically, the plasma arc variable load device accepts the DC power input provided by the front-end DC / DC converter 11, and the control module 13 establishes communication with the control unit in the plasma arc load generating device, and the control unit controls the number of plasma arcs with equivalent power generated by the plasma arc load generating device. Among them, the plasma arc variable load device is mainly composed of a plasma arc load generating part and a control part, and the plasma arc load generating part includes: a positive electrode rod, an arc ignition needle, a motion actuator and an arc ignition device, and the control part is also a control unit. The control unit can control the positional relationship between the positive electrode rod and the arc ignition needle through the motion actuator, and different power / voltage / current characteristics can be simulated based on the different positional relationships between the positive electrode rod and the arc ignition needle. Specifically, when approaching the positive electrode rod, an arc is generated under the drive of the arc ignition device, and the operating power of the device increases; when the arc ignition needle moves away from the positive electrode rod and stabilizes at a certain distance, the arc remains stable and the operating power of the device decreases; when it is away from the positive electrode rod and greater than a certain distance, the arc disappears and the arc ignition device exits operation. Therefore, the control unit can adjust the power / voltage / current characteristics by controlling the arc length and arc width to simulate the electrical characteristics of the variable resistor of the hydrogen production electrolyzer.

[0080] In this embodiment, the plasma arc variable load device is used as the above-mentioned variable load module 12. Compared with the variable load module 12 realized by pure resistance, its energy density is greater, and the adjustment range and adjustment granularity are better than the pure resistance solution. In addition, in addition to simulating the load of the hydrogen production electrolyzer, the plasma arc variable load device can also simulate its power / voltage / current characteristics to achieve a better simulation effect of the volt-ampere characteristics of the hydrogen production electrolyzer.

[0081] Afterwards, the control module 13 can be implemented by a control device with data processing function, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a digital signal processor (DSP), and other hardware forms, which are not limited in this embodiment.

[0082] Furthermore, in order to ensure that the operating power of the plasma arc variable load device in the above embodiment is continuously stable and reliable, this embodiment further provides an implementation scheme based on the above embodiment, such as Figure 1 As shown, the device further includes: a cooling module 14.

[0083] The cooling module 14 is used to control the temperature of the plasma arc load generating device.

[0084] The cooling module 14 is used to provide cooling water for the plasma arc variable load device to ensure that the internal temperature of the plasma arc variable load device is stable below the protection value, that is, to ensure the safe and reliable operation of the plasma arc variable load device.

[0085] For the specific implementation of the cooling module 14, there are currently a variety of cooling systems such as air cooling and liquid cooling. This embodiment can select a suitable method as the implementation scheme of the cooling module 14 in this embodiment according to actual needs. In practical applications, a liquid cooling system can generally be used as the cooling module 14 in this embodiment.

[0086] Furthermore, this embodiment also provides another possible implementation scheme based on the above embodiment: the above cooling module 14 is a liquid cooling system.

[0087] The device also includes: a sensor detection module connected to the control module 13 .

[0088] The sensor detection module includes: current sensor, voltage sensor, temperature sensor, position sensor, flow sensor and water pressure sensor.

[0089] Among them, the current sensor is used to collect the current values ​​on the input and output sides of the DC / DC converter 11 and the current value on the input side of the plasma arc load generating device; the voltage sensor is used to collect the voltage values ​​on the input and output sides of the DC / DC converter 11 and the voltage value on the input side of the plasma arc load generating device; the temperature sensor is used to collect the temperature value of the plasma arc load generating device; the position sensor is used to collect the position information between the positive electrode rod and the arc starting needle; the flow sensor and the hydraulic sensor are used to collect the flow and hydraulic pressure of the coolant in the liquid cooling system.

[0090] That is, in this embodiment, the device is ensured to operate stably and reliably based on multiple sensor detections. The sensors in the sensor detection module include, but are not limited to, current, voltage, temperature, position, flow, water pressure and other detection sensors, and there is no limit on the number of each sensor. The corresponding sensors can be set at any number of suitable positions according to actual detection needs. The control module 13 can achieve real-time data interaction through communication with the test bench as the main control center of the entire test. The console controls the entire system to simulate the actual operating condition of the hydrogen production power supply, and performs test data acquisition and system protection control.

[0091] In summary, the above embodiments of the present application provide an electrolyzer volt-ampere characteristic simulation device, which can simulate different volt-ampere characteristics of different hydrogen-producing electrolyzers in various scenarios (such as hot and cold states) through the combination of a DC / DC converter 11 and a variable load module 12. The electrolyzer volt-ampere characteristic simulation device provided by the present application can replace the real hydrogen-producing electrolyzer equipment to participate in the test of the hydrogen-producing power supply system, thereby eliminating the need for related gas processing equipment during the actual operation of the real electrolyzer, reducing the construction investment cost of the test system and the safety risks during the test. At the same time, the operation and maintenance contents of the device, such as operation and maintenance operations, are consistent with other tested equipment, reducing the risk of misoperation of test personnel during the test process, and reducing the operation and maintenance costs of the test system. In addition, as a pure load and volt-ampere characteristic simulation device, the device can also be separated from the test system when idle to participate in the volt-ampere characteristic test of other types of equipment, thereby improving the utilization rate of the device. In one embodiment, the device uses a plasma arc variable load device as a load power consumption device. Compared with a conventional electronic load, its power range has a larger power adjustment range and its energy density is greater than that of a conventional electronic load. At the same power level, the plasma load generating device occupies a smaller area.

[0092] In the above embodiment, a device for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell is described in detail. The present application also provides an embodiment corresponding to a system for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell. Figure 5 As shown, a system for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolyzer provided in this embodiment includes: the device for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolyzer 10 provided in the above embodiment, as well as an external power supply 20, a hydrogen production power supply 30 and a test console 40.

[0093] Among them, the external power supply is connected to the input end of the hydrogen production power supply to provide power input for the hydrogen production power supply; the output end of the hydrogen production power supply is connected to the electrolyzer volt-ampere characteristic simulation device to provide power input for the electrolyzer volt-ampere characteristic simulation device; the test console is communicatively connected with the external power supply, the hydrogen production power supply and the electrolyzer volt-ampere characteristic simulation device to control the volt-ampere characteristic test of the hydrogen production electrolyzer.

[0094] Since the embodiments of the system part correspond to the embodiments of the above-mentioned device part, please refer to the description of the embodiments of the device part for the embodiments of the system part, which will not be repeated here.

[0095] On the other hand, the present application also provides a method embodiment adapted to the electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device of the above embodiment, such as Figure 6 As shown, a method for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell is applied to the volt-ampere characteristics simulation device of an electrolytic cell provided in the above embodiment, comprising:

[0096] S11: Obtaining an initial input current reference value of the DC / DC converter.

[0097] S12: Based on a predetermined UI curve of the hydrogen production electrolyzer, an input voltage value and an input power value of the DC / DC converter are determined according to an initial input current reference value.

[0098] S13: Based on the operating efficiency of the DC / DC converter, determine the output power value of the DC / DC converter according to the input power value.

[0099] S14: Obtain a current load value of the variable load module, and determine an output voltage value of the DC / DC converter according to the current load value and the output power value.

[0100] S15: Determine the output current value of the DC / DC converter according to the output voltage value and the inverter output power value.

[0101] S16: Control the buck-boost mode and voltage conversion ratio of the DC / DC converter according to the input voltage value and the output voltage value; determine the target load value according to the output voltage value and the output current value, and adjust the load value of the variable load module to the target load value.

[0102] It should be noted that the execution body of the above steps can be implemented by the control module in the electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device. However, in some possible embodiments, some steps can also be implemented by other components in the electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device. For example, step S12 can be implemented by a DC / DC converter. In this case, the control module only needs to send the initial input current reference value I to the DC / DC converter. inref Similarly, step S16: controlling the buck-boost mode and voltage conversion ratio of the DC / DC converter according to the input voltage value and the output voltage value can also be implemented by the DC / DC converter. The control module only needs to send the input voltage value U to the DC / DC converter. inref And the output voltage value U ref Step S16: determining the target load value according to the output voltage value and the output current value, and adjusting the load value of the variable load module to the target load value, in the embodiment provided by the above device embodiment using the plasma arc load generation module as the variable load module, can be specifically implemented by the control unit in the plasma arc load generation module, and the control module only needs to send the output voltage value and the output current value or the target load value to the control unit.

[0103] In order to explain this method more clearly, the complete process of this method is further explained below in combination with a specific calculation formula:

[0104] Before executing the method, the target hydrogen production electrolyzer at different input voltage values ​​(V1, V2, ..., V n ) corresponding to the input current (I1, I2, ..., In ). The obtained voltage-current data is processed to obtain the input UI curve of the hydrogen production electrolyzer. The more voltage-current point values ​​are obtained in this process, the closer the drawn UI curve will be to the real input electrical characteristic curve of the electrolyzer. In a possible embodiment, the input UI electrical characteristic curve of a certain type of alkaline electrolyzer drawn through the above steps is as follows: Figure 7 shown.

[0105] Afterwards, based on the UI curve obtained in the previous step, the relationship between the input voltage and input current of the hydrogen production electrolyzer can be obtained through fitting calculation:

[0106] U inref =k1α1(k2I inref )+k3α2(k4I inref )+…+k i α n (k i+1 I inref ) (1);

[0107] Among them, U inref is the input voltage value; I inref is the initial input current reference value; k1, k2...k i+1 is the weight coefficient; α1, α2, ... α n The initial input current reference value I inref is a function of a variable, and these functions may not be the same in different scenarios. For example, in a possible embodiment, α1 is a logarithmic function = -ln(815.4*I inref +1); α2 is a linear function -0.03616I inref ; α n Where n = 3, α3 is a constant, which is I inref The 0th power function.

[0108] Afterwards, the control module can determine an initial input current reference value I according to the actual test requirements before starting the entire test system (i.e. before the hydrogen production power supply outputs electrical energy). inref Then, based on the UI curve or formula (1), the initial input current reference value I is determined. inref The corresponding input voltage value U inref According to I inref and U inref , the input power P of the DC / DC converter can be calculated at this time in :

[0109] P in =U inref I inref (2);

[0110] Then, based on the operating efficiency of the DC / DC converter (e.g., 99%), the input power P of the DC / DC converter can be in Determine the output power P of the DC / DC converter out In one possible example, the operating efficiency of the DC / DC converter is 99%, so it is approximately assumed that the DC / DC converter output power P out =P in . Based on the output power P of the DC / DC converter out , and the current resistance value R of the rear variable load module, the output voltage value U of the DC / DC converter can be determined by the following formula ref :

[0111]

[0112] The above output voltage value U ref The control process is as follows Figure 8 As shown. Among them, F(I ref ) is the above formula (1), where I inref As variable I ref Substitute F(I ref ) can get the input voltage U in ; According to the input voltage U in With input current I ref The input power P can be obtained in ;Finally, according to the input power P in And the back-end resistance value R gets the output voltage value U ref .

[0113] At this point, the input / output characteristics of the DC / DC converter can be determined, and the DC / DC converter can be controlled accordingly based on the electrical parameters determined above. Subsequent calculations also need to determine the control parameters of the variable load module:

[0114] According to the output power P of the DC / DC converter out Calculate the rated input voltage U of the variable load module L , input current value I L Among them, the input voltage value U L It can be roughly regarded as the output voltage value U of the DC / DC converter ref , input current value I L Based on the output power P out And the input voltage value U L Based on the above determined input voltage value U L And the input current value I L, the input voltage / current characteristics of the variable load module, as well as the load value and power characteristics can be determined. The control module can control the corresponding parameters of the variable electronic load based on the electrical characteristics determined above to simulate the actual hydrogen production electrolyzer equipment.

[0115] When the variable load module is a plasma arc load generating device, the control unit can determine the target power value P according to the output voltage and output power sent by the control module. in , and control the mobile actuator to adjust the positive electrode rod to the specified position.

[0116] At this point, the control parameters of the variable load module have been determined, and the test process can begin. It should be noted that if there are different needs in the test process, other electrical parameters can still be recalculated based on the above process from the first step involving the parameters that have changed, and the DC / DC converter and the variable load module can be controlled accordingly.

[0117] It is not difficult to see from the above that this method can freely simulate the electrical parameters of the hydrogen production electrolyzer including voltage, current, power, and load as needed by using the electrolyzer volt-ampere characteristic simulation device provided by the above embodiment, thereby simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of different types of electrolyzers in different scenarios and completing the test of the hydrogen production power supply. The test scheme implemented by this method eliminates the need for related gas processing equipment during the actual operation of the real electrolyzer, reducing the construction investment cost of the test system and the safety risks during the test.

[0118] Furthermore, this embodiment also provides a possible implementation scheme:

[0119] When the DC / DC converter includes: an input cabinet, a power cabinet and an output cabinet; the input cabinet and the output cabinet are used to realize the input / output control, operating voltage, operating current information collection and operating mode control of the DC / DC converter; the power cabinet is used to realize DC voltage level conversion; wherein the number of power cabinets is one or more, when the number of power cabinets is multiple, the power cabinets are connected in parallel.

[0120] After step S13, the above method further includes:

[0121] S21: Determine the number of power cabinets according to the power level of the output power value.

[0122] As described in some embodiments of the above device, the DC / DC converter can be connected in parallel based on any number of power cabinets to achieve expansion of the power level. When the power level of the DC / DC converter does not meet the simulation requirements during the test, the power level can be increased by connecting new power cabinets in parallel. This method also determines the power level required by the DC / DC converter based on the predetermined power level required for the simulation before the formal simulation, and determines the number of power cabinets required to be connected in parallel based on this, to ensure that the DC / DC converter can support this simulation test.

[0123] Furthermore, this embodiment provides another possible implementation scheme, which further includes:

[0124] S22: Control the output of the DC / DC converter by using an output voltage and current dual closed-loop control mode that follows the input current.

[0125] Among them, the output voltage and current dual closed-loop control mode includes: constant voltage output control mode, constant current output control mode and constant power output control mode.

[0126] The output voltage and current double closed-loop control process following the input current is as follows: Fig. 9 As shown. Among them, the two proportional-integral (PI) links correspond to two control closed loops. The first control closed loop corresponds to the voltage closed loop control, which is based on the input voltage value U of the variable electronic load. l Perform PI closed-loop control on the output voltage value of the DC / DC converter to obtain the intermediate result i ref Intermediate result i ref Then the second PI link is used to realize the output current value I L The closed-loop control is finally performed to obtain a PWM signal D for controlling the power circuit part of the DC / DC converter, thereby realizing a dual closed-loop control of the output voltage and current of the DC / DC converter following the input current. In addition, the above-mentioned dual closed-loop control can select three different output control modes such as constant voltage, constant current and constant power according to actual test needs, and this embodiment does not limit this.

[0127] On the other hand, for the DC / DC converter control of the above embodiment, this embodiment also provides another possible implementation scheme, in which the output control implemented in the above step S22 further includes:

[0128] The limiting conditions of the control loop of the DC / DC converter are set according to the operating boundary conditions of the hydrogen production electrolyzer.

[0129] Among them, the operating boundary conditions include: operating current range, operating power range, current loading rate range and power loading rate range.

[0130] It should be noted that the specific values ​​of the above-mentioned operating boundary conditions are not limited in this embodiment and can be freely determined according to actual needs. However, as shown in Table 1 below, this embodiment provides a possible example of operating boundary conditions.

[0131] Table 1 500kW alkaline cell simulation test device DC / DC converter operation boundary parameters

[0132]

[0133] It should be noted that, for the boundary conditions 3 and 4 in Table 1 above, their limitations can be realized in the step of determining the UI curve of the hydrogen production electrolyzer in step S12. Figure 7 As shown, the voltage upper limit U is limited in the UI curve. MAX And the voltage lower limit U min In the above embodiment, when the DC / DC converter is subjected to dual closed-loop control of output voltage and current following the input current, the current, voltage and power of the DC / DC converter cannot exceed the corresponding limit range to ensure the reliability and stability of the simulation test.

[0134] The above is a detailed introduction to a device, system and method for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell provided by the present application. The various embodiments in the specification are described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. The same and similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other. For the device disclosed in the embodiment, since it corresponds to the method disclosed in the embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the method part description. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, without departing from the principles of the present application, several improvements and modifications can be made to the present application, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0135] It should also be noted that, in this specification, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "comprise", "include" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the statement "comprises a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element.

Claims

1. A device for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell, characterized in that: include: DC / DC converter, variable load module and control module; Wherein, the input end of the DC / DC converter is connected to the hydrogen production power supply, and the output end of the DC / DC converter is connected to the variable load module; The control module is connected to the controlled end of the DC / DC converter and the variable load module, and is used to control the output voltage and output current of the DC / DC converter and the resistance of the variable load module to simulate the volt-ampere characteristics of the hydrogen production electrolyzer.

2. The electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The variable load module is a plasma arc load generating device; The plasma arc load generating device comprises: a positive electrode rod, an arc starting needle, a motion actuator, an arc starting device and a control unit; The control unit is used to control the positional relationship between the arc-starting needle and the positive electrode rod through the motion actuator to adjust the arc length and arc width of the arc generated under the drive of the arc-starting device, so as to control the electrical characteristics of the plasma arc load generating device.

3. The electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device according to claim 2, characterized in that: Also includes: Cooling module; The cooling module is used to control the temperature of the plasma arc load generating device.

4. The electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The cooling module is a liquid cooling system; The device also includes: a sensor detection module connected to the control module; The sensor detection module includes: a current sensor, a voltage sensor, a temperature sensor, a position sensor, a flow sensor and a water pressure sensor; Among them, the current sensor is used to collect the current values ​​on the input side and output side of the DC / DC converter and the current value on the input side of the plasma arc load generating device; the voltage sensor is used to collect the voltage values ​​on the input side and output side of the DC / DC converter and the voltage value on the input side of the plasma arc load generating device; the temperature sensor is used to collect the temperature value of the plasma arc load generating device; the position sensor is used to collect the position information between the positive electrode rod and the arc starting needle; the flow sensor and the hydraulic sensor are used to collect the flow and hydraulic pressure of the coolant in the liquid cooling system.

5. The electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The DC / DC converter comprises: an input cabinet, a power cabinet and an output cabinet; The input cabinet and the output cabinet are used to realize the input / output control, operation voltage, operation current information collection and operation mode control of the DC / DC converter; the power cabinet is used to realize DC voltage level conversion; Therein, the number of the power cabinets is one or more. When there are multiple power cabinets, the power cabinets are connected in parallel.

6. A system for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell, characterized in that: include: The electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, as well as an external power supply, a hydrogen production power supply and a test console; Wherein, the external power supply is connected to the input end of the hydrogen production power supply, and is used to provide power input for the hydrogen production power supply; The output end of the hydrogen production power supply is connected to the electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device, so as to provide power input for the electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device; The test console is in communication connection with the external power supply, the hydrogen production power supply and the electrolyzer volt-ampere characteristic simulation device, and is used for controlling the volt-ampere characteristic test of the hydrogen production electrolyzer.

7. A method for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell, characterized in that: Applied to the electrolytic cell volt-ampere characteristic simulation device as claimed in claim 1, the method comprises: Obtaining an initial input current reference value of the DC / DC converter; Based on a predetermined UI curve of the hydrogen production electrolyzer, determining an input voltage value and an input power value of the DC / DC converter according to the initial input current reference value; Based on the operating efficiency of the DC / DC converter, determining the output power value of the DC / DC converter according to the input power value; Acquiring a current load value of a variable load module, and determining an output voltage value of the DC / DC converter according to the current load value and the output power value; Determining an output current value of the DC / DC converter according to the output voltage value and the inverter output power value; According to the input voltage value and the output voltage value, the buck-boost mode and the voltage conversion ratio of the DC / DC converter are controlled; according to the output voltage value and the output current value, the target load value is determined, and the load value of the variable load module is adjusted to the target load value.

8. The method for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell according to claim 7, characterized in that: The DC / DC converter includes: an input cabinet, a power cabinet and an output cabinet; the input cabinet and the output cabinet are used to realize input / output control, operation voltage, operation current information collection and operation mode control of the DC / DC converter; the power cabinet is used to realize DC voltage level conversion; wherein the number of the power cabinets is one or more, and when the number of the power cabinets is more than one, the power cabinets are connected in parallel; After determining the output power value of the DC / DC converter according to the input power value based on the operating efficiency of the DC / DC converter, the method further includes: The number of the power cabinets is determined according to the power level of the output power value.

9. The method for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell according to claim 7, characterized in that: When the DC / DC converter starts to work, it also includes: Controlling the output of the DC / DC converter by an output voltage-current dual closed-loop control mode following the input current; The output voltage and current dual closed-loop control modes include: a constant voltage output control mode, a constant current output control mode and a constant power output control mode.

10. The method for simulating the volt-ampere characteristics of an electrolytic cell according to claim 9, characterized in that: The controlling the output of the DC / DC converter by the output voltage and current dual closed-loop control mode following the input current comprises: Setting the limiting conditions of the control loop of the DC / DC converter according to the operating boundary conditions of the hydrogen production electrolyzer; Wherein, the operating boundary conditions include: an operating current range, an operating power range, a current loading rate range and a power loading rate range.

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