Modeling and real-world application of green hydrogen production and storage technologies

Abstract

Green hydrogen production from seawater offers a sustainable pathway for large-scale hydrogen deployment; however, most existing studies treat electrochemical performance, storage behavior, and economic assessment as isolated components. This study presents an integrated modeling framework that quantitatively links MATLAB-based electrochemical modeling of AEM seawater electrolysis, CFD-based simulation of hydrogen storage thermal behavior, and a structured techno-economic analysis based on the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH). The electrochemical model evaluates voltage losses, temperature effects, and seawater-specific operating parameters to predict hydrogen production rates, which are subsequently used as dynamic boundary conditions in CFD simulations of the storage tank. The coupled modeling results are directly incorporated into the economic analysis to assess the impact of performance and thermal behavior on hydrogen production cost. Model validation against experimental and literature data demonstrates strong agreement, with deviations within acceptable limits. The integrated framework reveals measurable improvements in system efficiency and cost predictability, yielding a competitive hydrogen production cost of 3.35 USD/kg under defined operating conditions. The results highlight the importance of coupling production, storage, and economic modeling to support realistic and scalable green hydrogen deployment from seawater electrolysis.