Transient Operation of Tubular H-SOECs for Hydrogen Production in CCU Processes

Since the utilization of wind and solar energy is constantly growing, the demand for technologies for temporal and spatial decoupling of energy provision and consumption is steadily increasing. The application of proton-conducting solid oxide electrolysis cells (H-SOECs) has been a main concern of recent research activities since they offer an environmentally friendly and efficient technique for the conversion of excess energy and steam into hydrogen. An appropriate coupling of stationary carbon dioxide (CO2) emitters and consumers offers a promising option for chemical energy storage and the production of valuable chemicals (e.g. methanol). Using electrolytic hydrogen production together with suitable downstream syntheses units as combined power-to-liquid technologies, a promising method for the recycling of carbon dioxide (CCU) can be provided. Since renewables occur intermittently, SOECs have to be capable of withstanding harsh operating conditions and the knowledge of their dynamic behavior is crucial for their future system application. This work studies the transient behavior of a single tubular, proton conducting SOEC during rapid load variations through 2D-FEM single cell and quasi-2D system scale simulations and evaluates the usability of the cell in combination with fluctuating loads.