Electrolysis Arrangement Bypass Cooling Water Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electrolysis processes consume significant energy, leading to high cooling water usage, particularly in areas with high solar radiation where clean water is scarce, and existing methods inefficiently convert energy to low-grade heat.
Innovation Solution
An electrolysis arrangement with multiple stacks, a pump unit, anode and cathode separators, and a primary cooler with a bypass system that reduces cooling water consumption by using an air cooler and a secondary cooler to manage medium flow and temperature effectively, allowing for efficient energy recovery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If cooling water is used to remove heat from electrolysis process, then temperature control is improved, but cooling water consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cooling function from the traditional cooling water system by introducing a vapor compression cycle. The heat from electrolysis is transferred to a refrigerant in the evaporator, which then absorbs this heat and is compressed by the compressor, condensing the refrigerant in the condenser to release heat to the environment. This extraction eliminates the need for large quantities of cooling water while maintaining effective temperature control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical cooling water circulation system with a vapor compression refrigeration system. Instead of using pumps and heat exchangers that require cooling water, the system uses a compressor to compress refrigerant vapor, which then condenses and releases heat through the condenser. This substitution achieves the same cooling effect with significantly reduced water consumption.
2Loss of energy
If cooling water is used to remove heat from electrolysis process, then heat removal efficiency is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent recovers waste heat from the electrolysis process by directing it to the condenser of the vapor compression cycle. Instead of simply discarding this heat through cooling water, the system recovers it to condense the refrigerant, which then circulates back to the evaporator. This heat recovery approach improves overall energy efficiency by utilizing the waste heat for the refrigeration cycle rather than losing it to the environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful waste heat from electrolysis into a beneficial resource for the refrigeration cycle. The heat that would normally be discarded is instead used to drive the condensation process in the vapor compression cycle, effectively turning a waste product into a useful energy source that reduces the overall energy consumption of the system.
3Reliability
If cooling water is used in electrolysis process, then process stability is improved, but water availability becomes a constraint
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cooling function from the water-based system and implements it through a vapor compression cycle that uses refrigerant instead of cooling water. This extraction maintains process stability through effective heat removal while eliminating the constraint of water availability, allowing the system to operate in regions with limited water resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of the cooling medium from water to refrigerant in a vapor compression cycle. This parameter change allows the system to maintain stable operating conditions through controlled heat transfer while being independent of water availability, thereby improving adaptability to different environmental conditions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system significantly reduces cooling water consumption while maintaining efficient hydrogen and oxygen production, achieving precise pressure control and energy efficiency in industrial-scale electrolysis.
Implementation Method 1
multiple stacks of electrolysis cells, wherein each stack comprises a respective stack inlet connected to the pump unit, a respective anode outlet and a respective cathode outlet, wherein the stacks are configured to obtain by electrolysis of the medium introduced into the respective stack inlet an anode product provided together with the medium at the respective anode outlet and a cathode product provided together with the medium at the respective cathode outlet
Implementation Method 2
a primary cooler for cooling the medium arranged between the pump unit and the stack inlets
Implementation Method 3
an anode separator having an anode separator medium outlet that is connected to the pump unit, wherein each of the anode outlets of the stacks is connected to a respective anode separator inlet of the anode separator, and wherein the anode separator is configured to separate the anode product from the medium introduced into the anode separator inlets such that the anode product is provided at an anode separator product outlet and the medium is provided at the anode separator medium outlet
Implementation Method 4
a cathode separator having a cathode separator medium outlet that is connected to the pump unit, wherein each of the cathode outlets of the stacks is connected to a respective cathode separator inlet of the cathode separator, and wherein the cathode separator is configured to separate the cathode product from the medium introduced into the cathode separator inlets such that the cathode product is provided at a cathode separator product outlet and the medium is provided at the cathode separator medium outlet
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
Electrolysis arrangement (1) comprising: - a pump unit (2), - multiple stacks (3), - an anode separator (9), - a cathode separator (13), - a primary cooler (22) for cooling the medium arranged between the pump unit (2) and the stack inlets (4a,4b), and - a bypass (18) from between the pump unit (2) and the primary cooler (22) to the anode separator (9) and/or to the cathode separator (13).