Experimental investigation and machine learning-based estimation of oxyhydrogen (HHO) gas production using KOH electrolyte in a flat plate electrolyser

Abstract

Hydrogen gas has gained significant attention as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels offering a sustainable energy solution. This study explores the production efficiency of oxyhydrogen (HHO) gas using a flat plate electrolyser with potassium hydroxide (KOH) as the electrolyte. Machine learning regression models were employed to estimate hydrogen generation rates and system efficiency based on key operational parameters that includes voltage, current and electrolyte concentration. A set of gradient-boosting algorithms was evaluated utilizing raw experimental data to predict (i) hydrogen output in liters per minute (LPM) and (ii) system efficiency. The results indicate that Categorical Boosting (CatBoost) excelled in forecasting system efficiency (R² = 0.9748, RMSE = 1.6567 on testing data) and predicting HHO gas generation rate (R² = 0.9936, RMSE = 0.0090). The experimental results show that with the increase in KOH concentration there is increase in production of Hydrogen. Maximum efficiency was noted with 0.5 N of KOH with the peak efficiency of 99.8 % because of its optimal conductivity and power consumption. It can also be absorbed that higher concentration such 0.75 N and 1 N have shown significant improvement in hydrogen production. Experimental findings further revealed that moderate operating conditions maximize hydrogen production with efficiency varying as a function of applied current and electrolyte concentration. This study highlights the advantages of integrating machine learning models with electrolysis-based hydrogen production offering a scalable and data-driven approach to optimizing energy efficiency. The results underscore the potential of KOH-based electrolysis for sustainable hydrogen generation and reinforce the role of predictive modeling in enhancing system performance.