Method for ensuring and monitoring electrolyzer safety and performances

• Main Authors: LADEMANN, HELMUT, VEILLETTE, MICHEL, BERRIAH, SAID, TREMBLAY, GILLES, SIMARD, GEORGES
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 04.07.2012
• Subjects: APPARATUS THEREFOR; BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CHEMISTRY; CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION ORPROCESSING OF GOODS; CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; CONTROLLING; ELECTRICITY; ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES FOR THE PRODUCTIONOF COMPOUNDS OR NON-METALS; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; METALLURGY; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS ORELEMENTS; PHYSICS; PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSIONOF CHEMICAL INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY; REGULATING; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE

The invention relates to a method for ensuring and monitoring electrolyzer (1) safety and performances in a manufacturing process which uses at least one electrolyzing cell (2) containing at least one cathode (5) and at least one anode (3), comprising the steps of: A) Determining a safe single voltage operation range depending of the current and corresponding to the normally working electrolyzing cell (2); B) Determining a reference voltage deviation depending on the time derivation of the current; C) Measuring the voltage over time at the terminals (303, 305) of the electrolyzing cell (2); D) Determining the measured voltage deviation by calculating the time derivative of the measured voltage; E) Comparing the measured voltage to the safe single voltage operation range and the measured voltage deviation to the reference voltage deviation over time; F) Stopping the manufacturing process when the measured voltage is outside the safe single voltage operation range or the difference between the measured voltage deviation and the reference voltage deviation is outside a predetermined range or a single voltage behavior is different than the average of a group of reference cells. The invention also relates to a system (201) for implementing this method, a computer program product as well as a computer readable medium.