Energy consumption of the electrolytic hydrogen production using Ni–W based activators—Part I

The aim of this work is to investigate the energy consumption of alkaline electrolyser with the in situ added ionic activators. Several concentrations of nickel and tungsten based ionic activators were used in the same alkaline electrolyser, and the energy consumption was calculated and compared to conventional electrolyte. The electrolyser operated at several current densities and temperatures, in order to obtain the optimal concentration of the ionic activators. We have obtained lowering of the energy needed to produce certain amounts of hydrogen for about 15% compared to standard electrolyte, just using simplified process of the in situ activation with Ni and W based ionic activators. Alkaline electrolyser operated with the selected concentration of d-metals has shown long term stability under industrial conditions.

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► Investigation on the energy consumption at Ni–W catalyst for the HER.
► Ni–W catalyst electrodeposited in situ under working conditions of the industrial electrolyser.
► Ni–W catalyst reveal lowering of the energy consumption compared to industrial nickel electrodes.