PtX activities at the Institute for Electrical Energy Storage Technology

TUM.PtX News |

For several years, the es chair has been involved in the modeling and validation of component models for the power-to-X storage chain, in particular PEM electrolyzer, PEM fuel cell and H2 storage tank. The goal is to reproduce the behavior of the system components with respect to efficiency and aging as accurately as possible and to integrate an image of the system components into the storage system modeling.

In the publication: "Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis at high current densities: Investigation of thermal limitations" [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.11.144], research associate Maximilian Möckl uses measurements to demonstrate novel high-current-capable PEM electrolysis units with current densities of up to 25 A/cm². Series of measurements on prototype cells also validate a model of the heat balance of the future-oriented PEM cell. Further current research on test vehicles is now focusing in particular on the aging and long-term stability of PEM electrolyzers.

In addition to the experimental work, the chair has also recently made significant progress in model development: For example, the open source modeling tool SimSES was extended to include a representation of the power-to-gas storage chain: In the currently available release of the freely accessible software tool, a corresponding storage configuration can be selected, and the techno-economic performance in a concrete grid application can be compared with other storage systems (for example, the lithium-ion battery and redox flow battery).