Cost Reduction Strategies for PEM Electrolysis E Anderson IEA-AFC ANNEX 30 MEGAPEM Workshop 21 April 2015 Proton, Proton OnSite, Proton Energy Systems, the Proton design, StableFlow, StableFlow Hydrogen Control System and design, HOGEN, and FuelGen are trademarks or registered trademarks of Proton Energy Systems, Inc. Any other brands and/or names used herein are the property of their respective owners.
Historical Cost Breakdown Flow field, membrane electrode assembly, and labor are high impact cost areas Catalyst represents ~6% of total cost Electronics Cell stacks System vs. stack breakdown Page 2
Flow Field Development Prototype plates for commercial platform and large active area Chemical/Electrochemical Etching Stamping Diffusion bonding Hydrogen Uptake vs. Baseline 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Accelerated H 2 Exposure (100 hrs 10 yr operation) Baseline Post Annealed Nitrided 0 100 200 300 400 500 Time (h) Cross-section of part with coating Conceptual part made with new manufacturing process/nitride coating Page 3
Continuous Design Improvements Stack on the right makes 15% more hydrogen and is 40% less expensive Page 4
Improved Cell Stack Design 40% reduction in stack cost Additional reduction with scale GEN1 GEN2 Page 5
Current Status MEA becoming larger fraction of cost PGM content contributes 50% of material cost Also sensitive to PGM price volatility Labor cost in catalyst application also significant Higher current density operation largest opportunity for cost reduction Page 6
Catalyst Strategies Performance: Increase OER activity through composition and process to enhance electronic structure Improve conductivity with improved electrode structure Cost: Decrease noble metal content through engineered structures Key challenge for anode is stable non-carbon support Manufacturability is as important as demonstration Decrease labor costs through higher automation and improved quality control methods Page 7
Combinatorial Approach Partnership with Parkinson group at U. Wyoming Modified measurement technique for electrolysis Examined combinations of metals such as Ir, Al, Pt, Ru, Sn, Rh, and Pd Schematic and results from PEC combinatorial work Printer used in electrode fabrication Electrolysis results based on ph fluorescence measurement Page 8
Catalyst Approaches Several routes showing promise for <10% of current loading Nanostructured thin films Reactive spray deposition Core shell catalysts 3M NSTF electrode UConn RSDT method BNL Core Shell Page 9
Remaining Catalyst Challenges Significant focus still needed on the anode Non-carbon supports Re-formulation for spray deposition Refinement of composition Durability testing and accelerated protocols Manufacturing scale up Combination of catalyst advancements with membranes developing in parallel
Membrane Modification Approaches Approaches to change polymer behavior Polymer backbone Branching level Fluorination vs. hydrocarbons Reinforcement Blending Synthesis method (e.g. electrospinning vs. casting) Variables Impacted Tensile strength IEC T g, creep properties Elongation to break (brittleness) Conductivity Water uptake Dimensional change F- release rate Accelerated testing of new membrane materials would be beneficial in shortening development Page 11
Membrane Advancements Some approaches have demonstrated 10,000 hours of durability at 80C Cell Potential (Volts) 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.1 2 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.4 70% LHV 75% LHV Baseline, 50C Advanced membrane, 80C Reinforced Hydrocarbon Advanced cell design, 80C 4x increase in output at 70% efficiency (LHV) 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 Current Density (A/cm 2 ) >400 mv improvement at 2 A/cm 2 Page 12 Hickner lab membranes, PSU
Scale-up/Cost Reduction Experience HOGEN S-Series HOGEN H-Series HOGEN C-Series Product Type Product Launch 2000 2004 2011 Cells/stack 10-20 34 65 Stacks/system 1 1-3 1-3 H 2 Output (Nm 3 /hr) 1.05 6 30 $/kw vs. S-series 100% 43% 28% Input Power 7kW 40 kw 175 kw Order-of-magnitude scale up resulted in greater than 70% cost reduction ($/kw basis) 13
System Scale-Up Needs MW Cost Trajectory System cost improves considerably with scale Significant technology de-risking already complete Engineering scale-up activities remain Page 14 11th International Hydrogen & Fuel Cells Conference
Summary and Future Work Technology pathways are well-defined and being pursued: short and long term in parallel Promising technology already developed beyond feasibility stage Strong collaborations with industry, labs, and universities Significant potential exists for continuing cost and efficiency improvements in PEM electrolysis 15