Coordinated Control Strategy for Electrolytic Hydrogen Production Based on AEL and PEMEL

Electrolysis-based hydrogen production plays a crucial role in achieving the efficient conversion and flexible consumption of green energy. The control strategy implemented in electrolysis systems significantly influences key factors such as energy efficiency and system costs. In this research, we propose a photovoltaic (PV) hydrogen production system featuring the coordinated operation of multiple electrolyzers. This system incorporates both alkaline electrolyzers (AEL) and proton exchange membrane electrolyzers (PEMEL), taking into account their distinct dynamic operating characteristics. Within this system, two-layer control strategies of the multi-type electrolysis system are designed, and a comprehensive simulation system is developed, encompassing PV power generation, DC/DC converters, and models for both types of electrolyzers. The simulation results verify the effectiveness and stability of the proposed control strategy. In addition, a comparative analysis with alternative hydrogen production methods shows that this multi-electrolyzer hydrogen production solution can reduce PEMEL demand capacity by 22.7%, and has advantages in terms of capacity configuration costs.