MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYZES OF HYDROGEN PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES BY ELECTROLYSIS
LITEN, strongly involved in electrolysis technologies, wishes to compare via a multi-criteria analysis all electrolysis technologies currently available commercially (AEL, PEMEL), in the pre-industrialization phase (SOEL), or in R&D (AEMEL and PCCEL).
Our previous studies were based on specific use cases (fixed hypotheses on the size of the factory, the source of electricity, the technology, etc.).
The objective of this new work is to be able to position the different electrolysis technologies according to parameters which will be defined at the start of the project, these parameters being of a contextual type (e.g. number of operating hours, expected flexibility), technical ( ex yield, lifespan) or technical-economic (ex CAPEX OPEX) and environmental (ex GHG impacts, materials). The aim here will be to develop an original methodology which makes it possible to define the areas of relevance of each of the electrolysis technologies according to these parameters, depending for example on the cost of the hydrogen produced and its environmental impact
HPC simulations for PEM fuel cells
The goal is to improve TRUST-FC software -a joint development between LITEN and DES institutes at CEA- for detailed full 3D simulation of hydrogene PEM fuel cells and to run simulations on whole real bipolar plate geometries. Funded by AIDAS virtual lab (CEA/Forshungs Zentrum Juelich), a fully coupled electro-chemical, fluidic and thermal model has been built, based on CEA software TRUST. The model has been benchmarked against its FZJ counterpart (Open fuelcell, based on OpenFoam). The candidate will adapt the software and toolchain to larger and larger meshes up to billion cells meshes required to model a full bipolar plate. Besides, he will introduce two phase flow models in order to address the current technological challenges (local flooding or dryout). This ambitious project is actively supported by close collaboration with CEA/DES and FZJ.
Simulation of PEMFC flooding phenomena
The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is now considered as a relevant solution for carbon-free electrical energy production, for both transport and stationary applications. The management of the fluids inside these cells has a significant impact on their performance and their durability. Flooding phenomena due to the accumulation of liquid water are known to impact the operation of the cells, causing performance drops and also damages that can be irreversible. With the use of thinner channels in ever more compact stacks, these phenomena are becoming more and more frequent. The objective of this post-doc is to progress in the understanding of flooding in PEMFCs. The work will consist in analyzing the link between the operating conditions, the design of the channels and the materials used in the cell. It will be based on a two-phase flow modeling approach at different scales, from the local scale at the channel-rib level, up to, via an upscaling approach, the level of the complete cell. The study will also be based on numerous experimental results obtained at the CEA or in the literature.
Production of green hydrogen and ammonia from offshore energy
This subject is dedicated to the high potential of offshore wind power in the high seas, where it seems extremely complicated and expensive to install an electric transmission to a continental grid. In addition, the IMO, a United Nation agency that is responsible for environmental impacts of ships, adopted ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from marine shipping. The IMO plan regulates carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions from ships and requires shipping companies to halve their GHG emissions by 2050 (compared to 2008 levels).
Different ways are being explored in order to identify the best low-carbon fuel that will be able to power new marine propulsion systems without GHC emissions (and others polluants like Sox, Nox…).
Hydrogen combined with a fuel cell is a good option for small application (fishing boat…). However, issues associated with hydrogen storage and distribution (low energy density) are currently a barrier for its implementation for large and massive marine application which drivess 80–90% global trade, moving over 10 billion tonnes of containers, solid and liquid bulk cargo across the world’s oceans annually.
Hence, other indirect storage media are currently being considered. Of these, ammonia is a carbon free carrier which offers high energy density. First studies and demonstration projects show that it could be used as a fuel coupled with a new generation of high-temperature fuel cells (SOFC) or internal combustion engines.
This project focuses on the green ammonia production on a high seas platform including an offshore wind farm that use renewable electricity to first generate hydrogen from water (via electrolysis) and nitrogen from air and then combine both in a Haber-Bosch process to synthesize ammonia. The objective is to develop modeling tools (Modelica / Dymola environment) in order to build, simulate and optimize "wind to ammonia" systems and energy management solutions to minimize the production cost of ammonia.