Multi-physics CFD Modeling of Alkaline Electrolyzers: from Numerical Development to Industrial Applications

The PhD thesis tries to bridge literature gaps proposing a multi-physics CFD model, of progressive complexity, validated towards a simplified electrochemical cell from the literature. The model is applied to two different industrial cells with different purposes: first, a cathodic half-cell of a zero-gap configuration electrolyzer is employed to present possible key performance metrics, for a more detailed fluid-dynamics optimization of the cell geometry; second, a complete traditional cell is modeled, accounting for the diaphragm characterization and thermal analysis, identifying critical areas of the geometry leading to gas accumulation or hot spots.