TITLE:
Hydrogen Production from an Alkali Electrolyzer Operating with Egypt Natural Resources
AUTHORS:
Mohamed H. Shedid, S. Elshokary
KEYWORDS:
Alkali Electrolyzer, Hydrogen Production, Sea Water, Photovoltaic, Egypt Climate, Egypt Resources
JOURNAL NAME:
Smart Grid and Renewable Energy,
Vol.6 No.1,
January
19,
2015
ABSTRACT: Egypt is bordered by
coastal sea2450 km,
while incident solar radiation is in the order of magnitudes of 1900-2200 W/m2 in that area of the world. The present work is aimed to assess the hydrogen
production from the solar-hydrogen system composed of photovoltaic cell
motivated by solar energy and supplies electricity to alkali electrolyzer. The
electrolyzer uses sea and Nile water as electrolytes. Indoor tests are done to
identify the optimum concentration ratio of the sea water to produce hydrogen. Experimental results showed that stand-alone
sea water gives a higher production rate. The results of the outdoor
tests revealed the need for about seven units of electrolyzer working with the
sea water to produce the same amount of hydrogen that KOH solution electrolyte
would provide. However, the efficiency of solar-hydrogen units working with the
sea water gives a lower constant efficiency of about 0.13%, followed by
Photovoltaic/electrolyzer unit using Nile water of approximately 0.005%. The
KOH solution electrolyte provides an efficiency of approximately 8% at solar
noon. The sea water is recommended to be used instead of KOH solution in all
coming electrolyzers.