Optimization and analysis of a novel hydrogen liquefaction process for circulating hydrogen refrigeration

In industrial engineering, hydrogen is usually transported and stored after being liquefied, which is an energy-intensive process. Aiming to liquefy hydrogen with high efficiency and low consumption, a novel hydrogen liquefaction process based on dual-path hydrogen refrigeration is proposed innovatively and simulated by Aspen HYSYS to determine the key parameters. Taking the specific energy consumption (SEC) as the objective function for the optimization by genetic algorithm (GA), optimum parameters could be obtained. Meanwhile, the single variable method is conducted to analyze the impact of key parameters on process characteristics. Under the premise of complete liquefaction, the SEC, coefficient of performance (COP) and exergy efficiencies (EXE) of the proposed system are 7.041 kWh/kg _LH2, 0.1834, 0.5413, respectively. Compared with the other three hydrogen liquefaction systems simulated under the same conditions, they are decreased by 22.16% and increased by 33.58% and 42.37%, respectively. The results show that the proposed system shows better performance under lower consumption.     

Performance analysis and optimization of a hydrogen liquefaction system assisted by geothermal absorption precooling refrigeration cycle

The present paper deals with the hydrogen liquefaction with absorption precooling cycle assisted by geothermal water is modeled and analyzed. Uses geothermal heat in an absorption refrigeration process to precool the hydrogen gas is liquefied in a liquefaction cycle. High-temperature geothermal water using the absorption refrigeration cycle is used to decrease electricity work consumption in the gas liquefaction cycle. The thermoeconomic optimization procedure is applied using the genetic algorithm method to the hydrogen liquefaction system. The objective is to minimize the unit cost of hydrogen liquefaction of the composed system. Based on optimization calculations, hydrogen gas can be cooled down to ?30 °C in the precooling cycle. This allows the exergetic cost of hydrogen gas to be reduced to be 20.16 $/GJ (2.42 $/kg LH₂). The optimized exergetic cost of liquefied hydrogen is 4.905 $/GJ (1.349 $/kg LH₂), respectively.     

巨型水电站群短期联合调度双层并行优化方法及其应用

鉴于巨型水电站群短期联合调度计算的高精度和高时效要求,在多核PC机群环境下,设计了基于水电站群拓扑结构与优化算法寻优轨迹的双层并行优化方法,并采用MPI+OpenMP混合细粒度模型,实现了多进程与多线程的同步并行计算,并结合不同电站数和PC机群规模,对并行优化算法的性能进行了测试和对比分析。实例应用结果表明,该算法在确保精度的前提下可大幅缩减耗时,显著提高计算效率。     

某型气冷涡轮级的三维优化设计

1引言随着叶轮机械设计技术的不断进步,对叶片造型理论和设计方法提出了更高要求,叶片设计往往决定着效率、压比、重量等诸多性能参数,涉及到来源于不同准则的许多目标和约束。与叶轮机械设计相关联的优化问题通常涉及到许多约束和大量参数,一般导致目标函数有许多极值点。目前     

Analysis and assessment of an advanced hydrogen liquefaction system

In the present work, an advanced hydrogen liquefaction system with catalyst infused heat exchangers is proposed, analyzed and assessed energetically and exergetically. The analysis starts with exergetic considerations on hydrogen liquefaction using different alternatives of pre-cooling including the conversion from normal to parahydrogen. It further explains the fundamentals of a proposed liquefaction process. The goal is then to assess the proposed system, make modifications and improve the system. The present system covers all of these portions of a hydrogen liquefaction system with an ultimate goal of achieving a sustainable and environmentally harmless system. The proposed hydrogen liquefaction system is simulated in the Aspen Plus and the performance of the system is measured through energy and exergy efficiencies. The resulting energy efficiency of the system is calculated to be 15.4%, and the exergy efficiency of the system is found to be 11.5%.     

Synergistic planning of an integrated energy system containing hydrogen storage with the coupled use of electric-thermal energy

Regional integrated energy systems (RIES) can economically and efficiently use regional renewable energy resources, of which energy storage is an important means to solve the uncertainty of renewable energy output, but traditional electrochemical energy storage is only single electrical energy storage, and the energy efficiency level is low. Hydrogen energy storage has the advantages of large energy storage capacity, long storage time, clean and pollution-free, and can realize the synergistic and efficient utilization of electricity and thermal power. Based on this, this paper proposes a synergistic planning method for an integrated energy system with hydrogen storage taking into account the coupled use of electric-thermal energy, which effectively reduces the system carbon emission and improves the comprehensive energy efficiency level. Firstly, this paper constructs an electric-thermal coupling model of the hydrogen energy storage unit and proposes an optimization strategy for the integrated energy system containing hydrogen storage taking into account the utilization of electricity and thermal power. Secondly, a planning optimization model with the lowest economy and carbon emission and the highest comprehensive energy efficiency was constructed. Third, the CSPO-GE optimization algorithm is proposed for solving the problem, which significantly improves the solution efficiency. Finally, a planning optimization simulation of RIES for a residential community W in northern China verifies the effectiveness of the model and method proposed in this paper. The comparative analysis of the three schemes shows that compared with the integrated energy system with conventional electrochemical energy storage and heat storage tank as the main form of energy storage and the integrated energy system with only hydrogen storage, the integrated energy system with hydrogen storage and heat storage tank can reduce carbon emissions by 43.8% and 7.61%, respectively, and improve the integrated energy efficiency level by 337.14% and 14.44%.     

Optimization and comparison of two improved very high temperature gas-cooled reactor-based hydrogen and electricity cogeneration systems using iodine-sulfur cycle

To enrich the existing research methods and content, two improved very high temperature gas-cooled reactor and iodine-sulfur (I–S) cycle-based nuclear hydrogen and steam and helium gas turbines electricity cogeneration systems, including the series connection system (SCS) and the parallel connection system (PCS), are proposed and studied. The energy and exergy analysis methods are used to model these two systems, and Aspen Plus is adopted to build the I–S hydrogen production system. The energy consumption and thermal efficiency of the I–S system are analyzed in detail, and the parametric optimization of two improved systems is performed using particle-swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. Lastly, the performance comparison of the two systems under different operating conditions is conducted. The simulation results show that more than 99% of the energy consumption of the I–S system is occupied by H₂SO₄ section and HIx section, and the system's thermal efficiency is estimated to be in the range of 17.7%–43.3%. After using an internal heat exchange network, a conservative thermal efficiency of 23.7% is achieved. The optimization results show that under zero hydrogen production load, the proposed PCS and SCS can respectively achieve the net electrical power outputs of 172.8 MW and 125.7 MW, the global thermal efficiencies of 49.36% and 35.91%, and the global exergy efficiencies of 51.94% and 37.79%. With the increase of hydrogen production load, the global efficiencies of both systems decrease significantly, but the decreasing rate of PCS is faster than that of SCS. In addition, the performance comparison results indicate that when the hydrogen production load is small or the intermediate heat exchanger's primary side helium outlet temperature is close to the reactor inlet temperature, the PCS would be a better option than the SCS.     

Conceptual design and optimization of a novel hydrogen liquefaction process based on helium expansion cycle integrating with mixed refrigerant pre-cooling

Due to the safety of operation and the development of high-efficiency helium refrigerators, the development of helium refrigeration cycles in hydrogen liquefaction is continuously promoted. To reduce the energy consumption and exergy loss of this energy-intensive process, a novel hydrogen liquefaction process integrating with mixed refrigerant (MR) pre-cooling is simulated by Aspen HYSYS and optimized by genetic algorithm (GA) to improve performance under the premise of safe production and multi-faceted analyzed based on the helium expansion refrigeration cycle. A new MR with reasonable composition and ratio is used in the pre-cooling cycle to improve the matching of heat transfer curves. Energy, exergy and economic analyses are applied to evaluate the liquefaction process, and horizontal comparison is also used to evaluate the rationality and superiority of the process design. The output of 5 t/d of liquid hydrogen (21.7 K, 1.5 bar) can be achieved and the overall specific energy consumption (SEC), exergy efficiency (EXE) and coefficient of performance (COP) are 9.703 kWh/kg _LH2, 39.1%, and 0.1333, respectively. Compared with similar processes, the proposed process shows better performance and potential development prospects.     

改进遗传算法在电力系统无功优化中的应用

根据电力系统无功优化问题的特点。提出了一种基于近似最优个体、学习算子和浑沌算子的改进遗传算法。传统遗传算法应用于电力系统无功优化问题,虽然收到了比较好的效果,但并没有充分利用电力系统本身的特点。而本研究所提的改进遗传算法,可以充分利用已有的信息和运行经验,从而达到在保证解的全局最优性的同时大大加快计算的速度。具体的算例表明了所提算法的正确性和有效性。     

The performance assessment of a combined organic Rankine-vapor compression refrigeration cycle aided hydrogen liquefaction

In this study, the performance of the combined cooling cycle with the Organic Rankine power cycle, which provides cooling of the hydrogen at the compressor inlet which compresses the constant temperature in the Claude cycle used for hydrogen liquefaction, on the system is examined. The Organic Rankine combined cooling cycle was considered to be using a geothermal source with a flow rate of 120 kg/s at a temperature of 200 °C. The first and second law performance evaluations of the whole system were made depending on the heat energy at different levels taken from the geothermal source. The thermodynamic analysis of the equipment making up the system has been done in detail. The temperature values at which the hydrogen can be effectively cooled were determined in the presented combined system. The efficiency coefficient of the total system was calculated based on varying pre-cooling values. As a result of the study, it was determined that cold entry of hydrogen into the Claude cycle reduced the energy consumption required for liquefaction. Amount of hydrogen cooled to specified temperature increase by increase in mass flow of geothermal water and its temperature. Liquefaction cost is calculated to be 0.995 $/kg H₂ and electricity produced by itself is calculated to be 0.025 $/kWh by the new model of liquefaction system. Cost of the liquefaction in the proposed system is about 39.7% lower than direct value of hydrogen liquefaction of 1.650 $/kg given in the literature.     

A thermal performance evaluation of a new integrated gas turbine-based multigeneration plant with hydrogen and ammonia production

In this study, a new combined system driving a gas turbine cycle has been proposed for seven useful outputs of power, hydrogen, ammonia, heating-cooling, drying and hot water. The proposed integrated plant mainly consists of the gas turbine cycle, Rankine cycle, two organic Rankine cycles, ejector-based cooling, hydrogen production and liquefaction, ammonia production and storage, drying and hot water generation sub-systems. In order to demonstrate that the designed system is an efficient and environmentally plant, the performance analysis was performed by using a software package. Before performing the performance assessment of the plant, the mathematical model of the integrated plant is prepared in accordance with thermodynamic equations. Basic equilibrium equations are used for the thermodynamic equations used. Obtaining multiple useful outputs from the system also have the positive effect on the system effectiveness. The energetic effectiveness of integrated plant for multigeneration with hydrogen and ammonia production is computed to be 62.18% and exergetic efficiency is 58.37%. In addition, the energetic and exergetic effectiveness of hydrogen production and liquefaction process are 57.92% and 54.23%, respectively.     

Multi-objective optimized operation of integrated energy system with hydrogen storage

In this paper, an integrated energy system (IES) consisting of wind turbine unit, photovoltaic cell unit, electrolytic hydrogen unit, fuel cell unit, and hydrogen storage unit is proposed, and the construction of multi objectives for day-ahead power dispatching of the IES considering both operation and environment cost is discussed. By adopting piecewise linearization method, the optimization variables are divided into 24 periods, and the day-ahead power dispatching optimization problem is transformed into a 24-h piecewise optimization problem. On the basis, a complete non-linear mixed integer dynamic scheduling optimization model is established. An improved non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is applied to solving the model. In optimization process, an interactive strategy is adopted to solve the coordination between discretization of variables and restriction of switching times of electrolyzer. Optimization results show that, compared with the single objective of minimizing operating costs, the multi-objective optimization scheme can reduce carbon emissions by 3.5% with 2.8% increase of operating cost. Compared with the single objective of minimizing environmental, the multi-objective optimization scheme can reduce operating cost carbon by 5.12% with 2.6% increase of environmental cost.     

低雷诺数翼型的气动外形优化设计

在雷诺数Re=3×10^5条件下,利用遗传算法对翼型S826进行了气动外形优化设计。优化过程中,为了防止尾缘厚度太小,缩小了影响尾缘厚度参数的变化范围,降低了局部的优化幅度。结果显示,优化后的翼型,最佳升阻比提升了约9.9%,气动性有了明显的改善,且优化翼型尾缘厚度基本没有变薄,保证了工程的实用性,说明了利用遗传算法进行低雷诺数翼型气动外形优化的可行性。     

Optimization of cycloidal water turbine and the performance improvement by individual blade control

This paper investigates an advanced vertical axis turbine to enhance power generation from water energy. The turbine, known as a cycloidal water turbine, is a straight-bladed type adopting a cycloidal blade system that actively controls the rotor blades for improved turbine efficiency, according to the operating conditions. These characteristics enable the turbine to self-start and produce high electric power at a low flow speed, or under complex flow conditions. A parametric study has been carried out by CFD analysis, with various characteristics including different number of blades, chord length variations, variety of tip speed ratios, various hydrofoil shapes, and changing pitch and phase angles. Optimal parameters have been determined, and the performance of the turbine has achieved approximately 70% better performance than that of a fixed pitch turbine. An experimental study has also been carried out which shows that the results correlate quite well with the theoretical predictions although the power output was reduced due to the drag forces of the mechanical devices. Another numerical optimization was carried out to improve the rotor performance by adopting an individual blade control method. Controllable pitch angles were employed to maximize the rotor performance at various operating conditions. The optimized result obtained using genetic algorithm and parallel computing, shows an improvement in performance of around 25% compared with the cycloidal motion.     

Analysis and performance assessment of a combined geothermal power-based hydrogen production and liquefaction system

In this paper, the thermodynamic study of a combined geothermal power-based hydrogen generation and liquefaction system is investigated for performance assessment. Because hydrogen is the energy of future, the purpose of this study is to produce hydrogen in a clear way. The results of study can be helpful for decision makers in terms of the integrated system efficiency. The presented integrated hydrogen production and liquefaction system consists of a combined geothermal power system, a PEM electrolyzer, and a hydrogen liquefaction and storage system. The exergy destruction rates, exergy destruction ratios and exergetic performance values of presented integrated system and its subsystems are determined by using the balance equations for mass, energy, entropy, energy and exergy and evaluated their performances by means of energetic and exergetic efficiencies. In this regard, the impact of some design parameters and operating conditions on the hydrogen production and liquefaction and its exergy destruction rates and exergetic performances are investigated parametrically. According to these parametric analysis results, the most influential parameter affecting system exergy efficiency is found to be geothermal source temperature in such a way that as geothermal fluid temperature increases from 130 °C to 200 °C which results in an increase of exergy efficiency from 38% to 64%. Results also show that, PEM electrolyzer temperature is more effective than reference temperature. As PEM electrolyzer temperature increases from 60 °C to 85 °C, the hydrogen production efficiency increases from nearly 39% to 44%.     

Simulation and multi-objective optimization of an integrated process for hydrogen production from refinery off-gas

Hydrogen production from internal refinery sources such as refinery off-gas (ROG) is one of the most cost-effective solutions to a refinery's hydrogen supply. To maximize the value of such resource, this paper proposes an integrated hydrogen production process based on coupled feed of ROG and natural gas. A rigorous process model is developed and simulated using the commercial process simulator Aspen Plus. To simultaneously maximize hydrogen and steam production, a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) is employed to solve the constrained multi-objective optimization problem. A modular framework of the process simulator and multi-objective genetic algorithm is also developed to obtain sets of Pareto-optimal operating conditions, making it easier to optimize the integrated hydrogen production process. The optimization results reveal that the performance of the integrated process can be significantly improved.     

Weight optimization of hydrogen storage vessels for quadcopter UAV using genetic algorithm

Multicopter is relatively easy to control and is used in various fields. Typical multicopter drones use batteries as a power source, but it has limitations in flight time. The aim of this study is to contribute to the increase of flight time through the use of hydrogen fuel cells and weight reduction of drones. In this study, the weight of hydrogen storage vessel is optimized using a genetic algorithm and a numerical analysis based on the Tsai-Wu failure theory. As a result, the vessel weight was reduced by more than 23.79% compared to the initial weight in the algorithm iteration. To confirm that the weight optimization and using hydrogen fuel cell improved flight time, the hovering times are calculated. Consequently, the hovering time when using the hydrogen fuel cell is increased by 37.85% than using the batteries. And the hovering time increased by 17.73% with optimized vessel weight.     

燃气轮机叶片内部直通道的肋片结构优化

提出了一种新型燃机透平叶片带肋直通道结构优化策略,采用ANSYS Workbench优化设计平台,应用Kriging代理模型和遗传算法对燃机叶片内宽高比为4、肋片角度为45°的带肋直通道进行了优化计算。结果表明:在带肋直通道切除部分肋片效率为负的肋片的新型结构可实现强化换热且降低流阻;优化后的肋片通道较未优化的通道,换热性能因子提升2. 9%,摩擦因子比降低可达3. 8%;通过寻优计算,获得了宽高比为4,肋片倾斜角度45°燃机叶片内带肋直通道最优结构参数。     

Process optimization for large-scale hydrogen liquefaction

The investment in the hydrogen infrastructure for hydrogen mobility has lately seen a significant acceleration. The demand for energy and cost efficient hydrogen liquefaction processes has also increased steadily. A significant scale-up in liquid hydrogen (LH₂) production capacity from today's typical 5–10 metric tons per day (tpd) LH₂ is predicted for the next decade. For hydrogen liquefaction, the future target for the specific energy consumption is set to 6 kWh per kg LH₂ and requires a reduction of up to 40% compared to conventional 5 tpd LH₂ liquefiers. Efficiency improvements, however, are limited by the required plant capital costs, technological risks and process complexity. The aim of this paper is the reduction of the specific costs for hydrogen liquefaction, including plant capital and operating expenses, through process optimization. The paper outlines a novel approach to process development for large-scale hydrogen liquefaction. The presented liquefier simulation and cost estimation model is coupled to a process optimizer with specific energy consumption and specific liquefaction costs as objective functions. A design optimization is undertaken for newly developed hydrogen liquefaction concepts, for plant capacities between 25 tpd and 100 tpd LH₂ with different precooling configurations and a sensitivity in the electricity costs. Compared to a 5 tpd LH₂ plant, the optimized specific liquefaction costs for a 25 tpd LH₂ liquefier are reduced by about 50%. The high-pressure hydrogen cycle with a mixed-refrigerant precooling cycle is selected as preferred liquefaction process for a cost-optimized 100 tpd LH₂ plant design. A specific energy consumption below 6 kWh per kg LH₂ can be achieved while reducing the specific liquefaction costs by 67% compared to 5 tpd LH₂ plants. The cost targets for hydrogen refuelling and mobility can be reached with a liquid hydrogen distribution and the herewith presented cost-optimized large-scale liquefaction plant concepts.     

Design,modeling and optimization of a renewable-based system for power generation and hydrogen production

Due to the environmental concerns caused by fossil fuels, renewable energy systems came into consideration. In this study, a renewable hybrid system based on ocean thermal, solar and wind energy sources were designed for power generation and hydrogen production. To analyze the system, a techno-economic model was exerted in order to calculate the exergy efficiency as well as the cost rate and the hydrogen production. The main parameters that affect the system performance were identified, and the impact of each parameter on the main outputs of the system was analyzed as well. The thermo-economic analysis showed that the most effective parameters on the exergy efficiency and total cost rate are the wind speed and solar collector area, respectively. To reach the optimum performance of the system, multi-objective optimization, by using genetic algorithm, was applied. The optimization was divided into two separate case studies; in case A, the cost rate and the exergy efficiency were considered as two objective functions; and in case B, the cost rate and the hydrogen production were assigned as two other objective functions. The optimization results of the case A showed that for the total cost rate of 30.5 $/h, the exergy efficiency could achieve 35.57%. While, the optimization of the case B showed that for the total cost rate of 28.06 $/h, the hydrogen production rate could reach 5.104 kg/h. Furthermore, after optimizing, an improvement in exergy efficiency was obtained, approximately 19%.