Development and validation of pressurised high temperature steam electrolysis stacks (Solid Oxide Electrolysis)
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (hereinafter “EuroHPC JU”), will contribute to the ambition of value creation in the Union with the overall mission to develop, deploy, extend and maintain in the Union an integrated world class supercomputing and quantum computing infrastructure and to develop and support a highly competitive and innovative High Performance Computing (HPC) ecosystem, extreme scale, power-efficient and highly resilient HPC and data technologies.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
Proposals for this topic should set out a credible pathway to contribute to the development and validation of pressurised SOEL with technological breakthroughs aiming at designing and operating a stack at an optimal pressure with eventual assistance of a downstream compression process to reach higher delivery pressure. Electrochemical compression in the stack can also be considered.
Detailed Call Description
Solid Oxide Electrolysis (SOEL) operating at 650-850°C, can be improved with pressurised operation. Additional efforts should focus on system integration and on defining optimal boundary operations for dedicated user cases in order to maximise the efficiency of the integrated scenarios (e.g. taking into account thermal integration and possible side stream products).
Proposals should focus on system and stack design, as well as fabrication, assembly and testing of stack in the conditions suitable for the relevant business cases as follows:
- System design should be defined based on optimal integration of SOEL in selected application(s) taking into account the operating limits of the SOEL;
- A techno-economic evaluation of the SOEL integrated in given application(s) will provide Levelised Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) of the pressurised SOEL system taking into account economy of scale and will be used to evaluate the impacts of the various modes of operation (e.g. atmospheric SOEL + pressurisation afterwards, pressurised SOEL, and combination of modes). The proposals will furthermore aim at reaching the capital costs below 2,000 €/(kg/d). The project should also compare the efficiency gains between pressurised electrolyser and unpressurised with compressor for various system sizes;
- Stack designed for high current density (SOEL: 0.85 A/cm²) should be successfully operated over one long term test of at least 2,000 hours and 4,000 hours of aggregated testing time in relevant pressurised operating conditions at a minimum of 5 bar and conforming to the envisaged use case;
- Degradation mechanisms and boundary operation of the stack and its components should be identified with respect to pressure, temperature, load, in stationary and transient conditions;
- Modelling should be used to support the development of cells and/or stacks.
- The stack(s) should be tested at scale of minimum 10 kW; the considered pressure will be selected in relation to the targeted use case (s) to minimise energy loss;
- The stack should be operated in representative conditions to evaluate its, as well as its durability during a 2,000 hours long term test. This should include some pressurisation/depressurisation cycles;
The applicants should provide thorough analysis of safety aspects, such as safety shut-off, and focus on establishing smooth operation modes including pressurisation and depressurisation.
Call Total Budget
Thematic Categories
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
Eligibility For Participation Notes
- Consortia are expected to build on the expertise from the European research and industrial community to ensure broad impact by addressing several of the aforementioned items.
- Activities developing test protocols and procedures for the performance and durability assessment of electrolysers and fuel cell components proposals should foresee a collaboration mechanism with JRC.