Electrolysis of water for hydrogen production is a technology that uses electricity to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen, and is a green and renewable way of hydrogen production. At present, the mainstream electrolysis technologies for hydrogen production include alkaline water electrolysis, proton exchange membrane water electrolysis, solid oxide water electrolysis, and anion exchange membrane water electrolysis. Different electrolysis water hydrogen production technologies have different characteristics and advantages and disadvantages, but they all face problems such as high cost, low efficiency, and poor stability. Therefore, how to optimize the hydrogen production power supply, improve the performance and economy of electrolytic water hydrogen production, is an important research topic.

Hydrogen production power refers to equipment or systems that provide electrical energy for electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen, including generators, transformers, rectifiers, inverters, controllers, etc. The selection and design of hydrogen production power sources directly affect the efficiency, quality, and safety of electrolytic water hydrogen production. Generally speaking, hydrogen production power sources should meet the following requirements:

-Adapt to different types of electrolytic water hydrogen production technologies and meet their different working parameters, such as working temperature, working pressure, working voltage, working current, etc;

-Adapt to different types of power generation methods, such as thermal power generation, nuclear power generation, wind power generation, solar power generation, etc., especially renewable energy generation, to achieve efficient integration with renewable energy;

-Has good regulation performance, can quickly respond and adjust according to load changes and market demand, ensuring supply-demand balance and stable operation;

-Has good energy-saving performance, can reduce line loss and conversion loss, improve overall efficiency and reliability;

-It has good safety performance and can prevent faults such as overvoltage, overcurrent, and short circuit, ensuring the safety of personnel and equipment.

At present, optimization schemes for hydrogen production power sources have been proposed and implemented for different types of electrolytic water hydrogen production technologies. For example:

-For alkaline water electrolysis technology, due to its relatively stable working parameters, traditional AC-DC converters can be used as hydrogen production power sources. In order to reduce costs and improve efficiency, high-frequency switching converters can be used instead of low-frequency transformer rectifiers to achieve high efficiency, low loss, small size, and lightweight. Meanwhile, modular design and parallel connection can be adopted to improve reliability and flexibility.

-For proton exchange membrane water electrolysis technology, due to its flexible working parameters, a DC-DC converter can be used as the hydrogen production power source. In order to adapt to the volatility and intermittency of renewable energy generation, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) technology and energy storage devices (such as supercapacitors or lithium-ion batteries) can be used to achieve efficient integration with renewable energy. At the same time, digital signal processors (DSP) or microcontrollers (MCU) can be used for intelligent control and monitoring, improving regulation performance and safety.

-For solid oxide water electrolysis technology, due to its high operating temperature, high efficiency, and low energy consumption, an AC-AC converter can be used as the hydrogen production power source. In order to utilize the high-temperature steam provided by waste heat or renewable energy, multi-stage series or parallel frequency converters can be used to achieve multi-channel voltage and current output and control. Meanwhile, multiple protection and isolation measures can be adopted to improve stability and safety.

-For anion exchange membrane water electrolysis technology, due to its working parameters being between alkaline water electrolysis and proton exchange membrane water electrolysis, AC-DC converters or DC-DC converters can be used as hydrogen production power sources. To reduce the performance loss and material corrosion of anion exchange membranes, constant pressure or constant current modes can be used for output and control. Meanwhile, soft switching and filtering techniques can be used to reduce switching losses and harmonic interference.

In summary, the optimization of hydrogen production power supply for electrolysis water hydrogen production technology is a comprehensive issue that requires comprehensive consideration and design based on different electrolysis water hydrogen production technologies, power generation methods, application scenarios, and other factors. By optimizing the hydrogen production power supply, the efficiency, quality, and safety of electrolytic water hydrogen production can be improved, costs and energy consumption can be reduced, and the development of green hydrogen production can be promoted.