HyAxiom - PEM Electrolyzer
PEM electrolyzers generate hydrogen by breaking up water molecules through an electrochemical process called electrolysis. When powered by renewable sources of energy, such as solar or wind, electrolyzers can produce clean hydrogen for various on-site applications such as blending with natural gas to serve as feedstock for combined cycle power plants or as a means of storage for electricity, thus acting as a viable alternative to conventional batters but with a lower environmental footprint, such as those arising from dead batteries. Our PEM electrolyzers are also expected to have a load-following capability—the ability to adjust hydrogen output as electricity fluctuates throughout a day—making it suitable for utilizing electricity generated by wind and solar.
Since many governments provide significant subsidies to clean hydrogen users, we expect our PEM electrolyzers to experience substantial growth in demand from countries with substantial wind and solar assets, such as Europe, Australia and the United States.
To capture the large commercial opportunity for on-site clean hydrogen production, we are developing a 1-megawatt PEMEC that is scalable. We are designing our electrolyzer system (both for the 1-megawatt and other multi-megawatt configurations) to offer unique advantages for deployment across a broad range of hydrogen applications, such as hydrogen fueling station for vehicles, hydrogen supply to combined cycle power plants. Currently, we are taking part in two South Korean government-funded R&D initiatives and we are developing PEM electrolyzers with both demand-following capability and load-following capability. Please contact us for more information.
CATHODE
At the cathode, the hydrogen ions that pass through the electrolyte combine with electrons to form hydrogen gas molecules.
ELECTROLYTE
In a PEM electrolysis stack, the function of the polymer electrolyte is to allow only the hydrogen ions to pass through it to the cathode. The membrane also serves as a physical barrier to prevent mixing of the hydrogen and oxygen gas products.
ANODE
At the anode, water is split to hydrogen ions that pass through the cell membrane and oxygen ions that combine at the catalyst to form oxygen gas.
ELECTRICITY
Electrons combine with hydrogen ions to generate the gaseous hydrogen product.