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EP-4736307-A1 - ENERGY SUPPLY DEVICE FOR AN ELECTROLYZER, ELECTROLYSIS DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE ENERGY SUPPLY DEVICE

EP4736307A1EP 4736307 A1EP4736307 A1EP 4736307A1EP-4736307-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an energy supply device (1) for an electrolyzer (10). The energy supply device (1) has an input circuit (2) and a transformer (3). The input circuit (2) is designed to be connected to an energy source (4) or an energy supply network. In order to improve the energy supply device (1), the input circuit (2) is additionally designed to provide at least two different electric potentials at contacts (5), and the converter (3) is electrically connected to at least one of the contacts (5) on the input side by means of a respective conductor (6). The energy supply device (1) is designed to change the contact (5) connected to the converter (3) by reconnecting at least one conductor (6) of the energy supply device (1). The invention additionally relates to an electrolysis device comprising such an energy supply device (1) and an electrolyzer (10) and to a method for controlling such an energy supply device (1) or such an electrolysis device (100), wherein the converter (3) is operated using a voltage level produced by the input circuit, and at least one conductor (6) of the energy supply device (1) is manually reconnected from a first contact of the contacts (5) to a second contact of the contacts (5) in order to change the voltage level.

Inventors

  • Lobmeyer, Stefan
  • SCHWIMMBECK, FRANZ

Assignees

  • Innomotics GmbH

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240514

Claims (8)

  1. 1. Energy supply device (1) for an electrolyzer (10), wherein the energy supply device (1) has an input circuit (2) and a power converter (3), wherein the input circuit (2) is designed to be connected to an energy source (4) or a power supply network and to provide at least two different electrical potentials at contacts (5), wherein the input circuit comprises a transformer (7) for adjusting the voltage level, wherein on the power converter side the transformer (7) is connected to an autotransformer (8), wherein the autotransformer has at least two contacts for providing different electrical potentials, wherein the power converter (3) is electrically connected on the input side by means of a respective conductor (6) to at least one of the contacts (5), wherein the energy supply device (1) is designed such that a change of the contact (5) connected to the power converter (3) takes place by manually re-clamping at least one conductor (6) of the energy supply device (1).
  2. 2. Electrolysis device (100) comprising a power supply device (1) according to claim 1 and an electrolyzer (10), wherein the power converter (3) is electrically connected on the output side to the electrolyzer (10).
  3. 3. Electrolysis device (100) according to claim 2, wherein the electrolysis device (100) comprises a plurality of electrolyzers (10), wherein the electrolyzers (10) are arranged in a series circuit (101), wherein the series circuit (101) is electrically connected to the power converter (3) of the energy supply device (1).
  4. 4. Electrolysis device (100) according to one of claims 2 or 3, wherein the electrolysis device (100) is arranged to generate hydrogen.
  5. 5. Method for controlling a power supply device (1) according to claim 1 or an electrolysis device (100) according to one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the power converter (3) is operated with one of the voltage levels generated by the input circuit, wherein to change the voltage level at least one conductor (6) of the power supply device (1) is manually reconnected from a first contact of the contacts (5) to a second contact of the contacts (5).
  6. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein in a first step, when the voltage level changes, an energy transfer from the input circuit (2) to the power converter (3) is interrupted, wherein in a second step the conductor (6) of the energy supply device (1) is manually reconnected, wherein in a third step the energy transfer from the input circuit (2) to the power converter (3) is restored.
  7. 7. Method according to one of claims 5 or 6, wherein the method is started when the output voltage of the power converter (3) exceeds a predetermined limit value.
  8. 8. Use of an energy supply device (1) according to claim 1 or an electrolysis device (100) according to one of claims 2 to 4 for producing hydrogen by means of electrolysis.

Description

Description ENERGY SUPPLY DEVICE FOR AN ELECTROLYSER, ELECTROLYSIS DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE ENERGY SUPPLY DEVICE The invention relates to a power supply device for an electrolyzer, wherein the power supply device has an input circuit and a power converter, wherein the input circuit is designed to be connected to a power source or a power supply network. Furthermore, the invention relates to an electrolysis device with such a power supply device and an electrolyzer. The invention further relates to a method for controlling such a power supply device or such an electrolysis device and a use of such a power supply device or such an electrolysis device for the production of hydrogen. With the help of an electrolyzer, a material conversion can be brought about as a chemical reaction. This involves electrolysis. The electrolyzer is supplied with electrical energy from an energy source. An alternating voltage from the energy source is converted into a direct voltage for the electrolyzer by means of a power converter. This power converter is therefore also referred to as a rectifier. Mains-commutated power converters such as diode rectifiers or thyristor power converters, also known as thyristor-controlled power converters, are used as power converters. Alternatively or in combination with this, self-commutated power converters, for example those based on IGBTs, are used. These self-commutated power converters are also referred to as pulse power converters due to their pulsed operation. A transformer is often used to adjust the different voltage levels of the energy source and the electrolyzer. Insert which is arranged between the energy source and the electrolyzer . In the following, the term voltage level refers to a voltage level. A measure of the voltage level is, for example, the amplitude of a sinusoidal voltage curve or the effective value of a periodic voltage curve. In the future, electrolysis will become increasingly important in the economical and environmentally friendly production of hydrogen, for example as a synthetic fuel. Hydrogen is produced using an electrolyzer or a corresponding electrolysis device. This hydrogen-based fuel can make a significant contribution to reducing climate-damaging CO2 emissions. The invention is based on the object of improving the energy supply for an electrolyzer and for an electrolysis device. This object is achieved by a power supply device for an electrolyzer, wherein the power supply device has an input circuit and a power converter, wherein the input circuit is designed to be connected to an energy source or a power supply network and to provide at least two different electrical potentials at contacts, wherein the input circuit comprises a transformer (7) for adjusting the voltage level, wherein on the power converter side the transformer (7) is connected to an autotransformer (8), wherein the autotransformer has at least two contacts for providing different electrical potentials, wherein the power converter is electrically connected on the input side by means of a respective conductor to at least one of the contacts, wherein the power supply device is designed such that a change of the contact connected to the power converter can be carried out by a manual Re-clamping of at least one conductor of the energy supply device takes place. This object is further achieved by an electrolysis device having such an energy supply device and an electrolyzer, wherein the power converter is electrically connected to the electrolyzer on the output side. This object is further achieved by a method for controlling such an energy supply device or such an electrolysis device, wherein the power converter is operated with one of the voltage levels generated by the input circuit, wherein in order to change the voltage level at least one conductor of the energy supply device is manually re-clamped from a first contact of the contacts to a second contact of the contacts. Furthermore, this object is achieved by the use of such an energy supply device or such an electrolysis device for producing hydrogen by means of electrolysis. Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims. The invention is based, inter alia, on the finding that the operation of an electrolyzer can be significantly improved by the proposed structure of the energy supply device for the electrolyzer and by an electrolysis device with a corresponding energy supply device if the effect of ageing due to the operation of the electrolyzer is taken into account. Electrolysers are subject to aging during operation. It can be observed that the performance of the electrolyser, in particular the amount of the desired electrolysis product such as hydrogen produced per unit of time, decreases over time. To counteract this effect, it has proven advantageous to increase the direct voltage on the electrolyser over time in order to generate the same current flow, which leads to an