Paper No 349 – Analysis of the operating characteristics of electrochemical hydrogen compressors through parametric study – 13th IEA Heat Pump Conference, Jeju, Korea
As the supply of hydrogen energy increases, the need for development of hydrogen storage technology is emerging. In the case of the existing mechanical hydrogen compressor, there are many problems such as low compression efficiency and high power consumption, huge volume and noise due to parts of the driving part, and high maintenance cost due to corrosion. As an alternative to this, an electrochemical hydrogen compressor that compresses hydrogen using an electrochemical reaction has been proposed. In this study, an analysis of the operating characteristics of an electrochemical hydrogen compressor was performed through a parametric study in consideration of the factors affecting the compression of the electrochemical hydrogen compressor. First, the performance change of the compressor due to the change of activation loss and resistance loss according to the change of current density was measured. Second, the performance change of the compressor due to the difference in potential energy according to the temperature change was measured. Finally, the performance change of the compressor due to the difference of inlet pressure was measured. Through this study, it is possible to understand the optimum driving conditions and efficiency of the electrochemical compressor. This study will serve as a guideline for introducing electrochemical compressors into the industry.