Electrolysis cell systems and associated electrolysis systems and methods

Abstract

An electrolysis cell system includes one or more electrochemical cells configured to contain a base material. The base material defining a safe operating voltage of the one or more electrochemical cells. The system further includes a power source configured to supply a voltage to the electrochemical cell. The system also includes a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller between the power source and the one or more electrochemical cells. The PWM controller is configured to control the voltage supplied from the power source to the one or more electrochemical cells by pulsing the voltage between the safe operating voltage and a second voltage higher than the safe operating voltage.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electrolysis cell system comprising:
 one or more electrochemical cells configured to contain a base material, the base material defining a safe operating voltage of the one or more electrochemical cells;   a power source configured to supply a voltage to the one or more electrochemical cells; and   a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller between the power source and the one or more electrochemical cells, the PWM controller configured to control the voltage supplied from the power source to the one or more electrochemical cells by pulsing the voltage between the safe operating voltage and a second voltage higher than the safe operating voltage.   
     
     
         2 . The electrolysis cell system of  claim 1 , wherein the power source comprises a direct current (DC) power source. 
     
     
         3 . The electrolysis cell system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more electrochemical cells comprises a solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC). 
     
     
         4 . The electrolysis cell system of  claim 1 , wherein the safe operating voltage is defined as a voltage where the one or more electrochemical cells containing the base material is operated safely at a constant voltage for a long period of time with minimal degradation or damage of the one or more electrochemical cells. 
     
     
         5 . The electrolysis cell system of  claim 1 , wherein the PWM controller comprises a function generator and a current controller. 
     
     
         6 . The electrolysis cell system of  claim 5 , wherein the current controller comprises a relay configured to receive a signal from the function generator and control the voltage from the power source based on the signal from the function generator. 
     
     
         7 . The electrolysis cell system of  claim 6 , wherein the function generator is configured to generate an oscillating signal and the relay is configured to pass the voltage from the power source to the one or more electrochemical cells when the oscillating signal is above a threshold value and interrupt the voltage from the power supply when the oscillating signal is below the threshold value. 
     
     
         8 . The electrolysis cell system of  claim 5 , wherein the PWM controller further comprises a regulator configured to regulate a pulsed voltage across the one or more electrochemical cells. 
     
     
         9 . A method of operating an electrolysis cell system, the method comprising:
 applying a voltage across an electrochemical cell;   inducing a current through a base material in the electrochemical cell;   pulsing the voltage between a safe voltage and a relatively higher voltage than the safe voltage through a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller; and   separating at least one element from the base material through electrolysis.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein pulsing the voltage between the safe voltage and the relatively higher voltage comprises pulsing the voltage between the safe voltage and the relatively higher voltage wherein the relatively higher voltage has an over-potential in a range from about 0.1 Volts to about 1 Volts. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein pulsing the voltage between the safe voltage and the relatively higher voltage comprises pulsing the voltage at cycles having a rate ranging from about 0.1 Hz to about 1 kHz. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein pulsing the voltage between the safe voltage and the relatively higher voltage comprises pulsing the voltage to the relatively higher voltage in a range from about 1% of each cycle of the cycles to about 50% of each cycle of the cycle. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , comprising pulsing the voltage between the safe voltage and the relatively higher voltage, wherein the safe voltage is defined as a voltage where the electrochemical cell containing the base material is operated safely at a constant voltage for a long period of time with minimal degradation or damage of the electrochemical cell. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising collecting the at least one element in a material collection device. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 applying the voltage across a another electrochemical cell;   inducing another current through a another base material in the another electrochemical cell; and   pulsing the voltage between the safe voltage and the relatively higher voltage through the PWM controller,   wherein applying the voltage across the another electrochemical cell comprises offsetting pulses to the relatively higher voltage across the another electrochemical cell from the pulses to the relatively higher voltage across the electrochemical cell.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein
 applying the voltage across the electrochemical cell comprises applying the voltage across multiple electrochemical cells;   wherein applying the voltage across each of the multiple electrochemical cells comprises offsetting pulses to the relatively higher voltage across each of the multiple electrochemical cells such that at any given time during operation the pulses to the relatively higher voltage are applied across at least one of the multiple electrochemical cells.   
     
     
         17 . An electrolysis system comprising:
 at least two electrochemical cells configured to contain a base material;   a power source configured to supply a voltage to the at least two electrochemical cells; and   at least one pulse width modulation (PWM) controller between the power source and the at least two electrochemical cells, the at least one PWM controller configured to control the voltage supplied from the power source to the at least two electrochemical cells by pulsing the voltage between a safe voltage and a second voltage higher than the safe voltage.   
     
     
         18 . The electrolysis system of  claim 17 , wherein the safe voltage is defined as the voltage where the at least two electrochemical cells containing the base material are operated safely at a constant voltage for a long period of time with minimal degradation or damage to the at least two electrochemical cells. 
     
     
         19 . The electrolysis system of  claim 17 , wherein the at least one PWM controller is configured to pulse the voltage to the second voltage higher than the safe voltage to the at least two electrochemical cells at different times, such that the PWM controller is configured to provide the second voltage to a first electrochemical cell of the at least two electrochemical cells at a same time that the at least one PWM controller is configured to provide the safe voltage to a second electrochemical cell of the at least two electrochemical cells. 
     
     
         20 . The electrolysis system of  claim 17 , wherein the at least one PWM controller is configured to pulse the voltage to the second voltage higher than the safe voltage to the at least two electrochemical cells at different times, such that the at least one PWM controller is configured to provide the second voltage to each electrochemical cell of the at least two electrochemical cells at different times such that at any given time during operation at least one electrochemical cell of the at least two electrochemical cells is provided the second voltage.