Economic competitiveness of compact steam methane reforming technology for on-site hydrogen supply: A Foshan case study

On-site hydrogen production through steam-methane reforming (SMR) from city gas or natural gas is believed to be a cost-effective way for hydrogen-based infrastructure due to high cost of hydrogen transportation. In recent years, there have been a lot of on-site hydrogen fueling stations under design or construction in China. This study introduces current developments and technology prospects of skid-mounted SMR hydrogen generator. Also, technical solutions and economic analysis are discussed based on China's first on-site hydrogen fueling station project in Foshan. The cost of hydrogen product from skid-mounted SMR hydrogen generator is about 23 CNY/kg with 3.24 CNY/Nm³ natural gas. If hydrogen price is 60 CNY/kg, IRR of on-site hydrogen fueling station project reaches to 10.8%. While natural gas price fall to 2.3 CNY/Nm³, the hydrogen cost can be reduced to 18 CNY/kg, and IRR can be raised to 13.1%. The conclusion is that skid-mounted SMR technology has matured and is developing towards more compact and intelligent design, and will be a promising way for hydrogen fueling infrastructures in near future.     

Enhanced gaseous hydrogen solubility in ferritic and martensitic steels at low temperatures

Metals that are exposed to high pressure hydrogen gas may undergo detrimental failure by embrittlement. Understanding the mechanisms and driving forces of hydrogen absorption on the surface of metals is crucial for avoiding hydrogen embrittlement. In this study, the effect of stress-enhanced gaseous hydrogen uptake in bulk metals is investigated in detail. For that purpose, a generalized form of Sievert's law is derived from thermodynamic potentials considering the effect of microstructural trapping sites and multiaxial stresses. This new equation is parametrized and verified using experimental data for carbon steels, which were charged under gaseous hydrogen atmosphere at pressures up to 1000 bar. The role of microstructural trapping sites on the parameter identification is critically discussed. Finally, the parametrized equation is applied to calculate the stress-enhanced hydrogen solubility of thin-walled pipelines and thick-walled pressure vessels during service.     

Development of high pressure membraneless alkaline electrolyzer

A technology for cyclic generation of hydrogen and oxygen using electrodes made of variable valency material that does not need the use of separating ion-exchange membranes is presented. The technological solution enables to fabricate electrolyzers for uninterrupted producing high-pressure hydrogen with reduced energy intensity of the production. The total work for compressing 1 m³ of hydrogen and 0.5 m³ of oxygen has been estimated. Results of investigation of influence of discrete supply of DC current to the electrolysis cell, in order to improve the processes of gas evolution and to simplify the power systems of the electrolysis plant, have been considered. There is also considered an electrolysis installation equipped with a thermosorption compressor in which LaNi₅ is used as a hydride-forming compound. The comparative characteristics of the developed electrolyzer and the currently used hydrogen generators are given.     

Analysis of operating limits and combustion state regulation for low-calorific value gases in industrial burners

The effective and efficient utilization of low-calorific value (LCV) gases has gained increasing attention in scientific research and industrial fields. In this study, the combustion characteristics of three LCV gases in practical devices are analyzed by using a nonadiabatic perfectly stirred reactor model. The complete steady-state solution in the temperature-residence time parameter space is obtained with arc-length continuation. The stable operation region is quantified by the eigenvalue analysis. The transition of solution curves is quantified with heat loss coefficient. Five key system parameters are systematically investigated on their effects on stability limits. With the combustion performance being quantified by a combustion state index, a combustion state regulation method is proposed to find the optimal regulation path of system parameters. Active subspace method is further applied to shorten the regulation step by identifying the active direction. The proposed method and findings are useful for optimal regulation of burning LCV gases in industrial burners.     

Noncentrosymmetric Tetrel Pnictides RuSi4P4 and IrSi3P3: Nonlinear Optical Materials with Outstanding Laser Damage Threshold

Noncentrosymmetric (NCS) tetrel pnictides have recently generated interest as nonlinear optical (NLO) materials due to their second harmonic generation (SHG) activity and large laser damage threshold (LDT). Herein nonmetal-rich silicon phosphides RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ are synthesized and characterized. Their crystal structures are reinvestigated using single crystal X-ray diffraction and ²⁹Si and ³¹P magic angle spinning NMR. In agreement with previous report RuSi₄P₄ crystallizes in NCS space group P1, while IrSi₃P₃ is found to crystallize in NCS space group Cm, in contrast with the previously reported space group C2. A combination of DFT calculations and diffuse reflectance measurements reveals RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ to be wide bandgap (E_g) semiconductors, E_g = 1.9 and 1.8 eV, respectively. RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ outperform the current state-of-the-art infrared SHG material, AgGaS₂, both in SHG activity and laser inducer damage threshold. Due to the combination of high thermal stabilities (up to 1373 K), wide bandgaps (≈2 eV), NCS crystal structures, strong SHG responses, and large LDT values, RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ are promising candidates for longer wavelength NLO materials.     

基于推理注意力机制的二阶段网络图像修复

现有的图像修复方法在处理大面积缺失或高度纹理化的图像时，通常会产生扭曲的结构或与周围区域不一致的模糊纹理，无法重建合理的图像结构。为此，提出了一种基于推理注意力机制的二阶段网络图像修复方法。首先通过边缘生成网络生成合理的幻觉边缘信息，然后在图像补全网络完成图像的重建工作。为了进一步生成视觉效果更逼真的图像，提高图像修复的精确度，在图像补全网络采用推理注意力机制，有效控制了生成特征的不一致性，从而生成更有效的信息。所提方法在多个数据集上进行了实验验证，结果表明该图像修复方法的结构相似性指数达到了88.9%，峰值信噪比达到了25.56 dB，与现有的图像修复方法相比，该方法具有更高的图像修复精确度，生成的图像更逼真。     

Effect of wind condition on unintended hydrogen release in a hydrogen refueling station

Ambient condition, especially the wind condition, is an important factor to determine the behavior of hydrogen diffusion during hydrogen release. However, only few studies aim at the quantitative study of the hydrogen diffusion in a wind-exist condition. And very little researches aiming at the variable wind condition have been done. In this paper, the hydrogen diffusion in different wind condition which including the constant wind velocity and the variable wind velocity is investigated numerically. When considering the variable wind velocity, the UDF (user defined function) is compiled. Characteristics of the FGC (flammable gas cloud) and the HMF (hydrogen mass fraction) are analyzed in different wind condition and comparisons are made with the no-wind condition. Results indicate that the constant wind velocity and the variable wind velocity have totally different effect for the determination of hydrogen diffusion. Comparisons between the constant wind velocity and the variable wind velocity indicate that the variable wind velocity may cause a more dangerous situation since there has a larger FGC volume. More importantly, the wind condition has a non-negligible effect when considering the HMF along the radial direction. As the wind velocity increases, the distribution of the HMF along the radial direction is not Gaussian anymore when the distance between the release hole and the observation line exceeds to a critical value. This work can be a supplement of the research on the hydrogen release and diffusion and a valuable reference for the researchers.     

Modeling unaccounted-for gas among residential natural gas consumers using a comprehensive fuzzy cognitive map

Residential natural gas consumption depends on several factors. Available tools and methods to identify, categorize, and validate effective factors have some limitations, making consumption modeling more complex. Once a comprehensive model of effective consumption factors is developed for residential gas consumers, it can predict consumption. In addition, such a model could be used to verify the accuracy of measuring devices in order to reduce unaccounted for gas (UFG). The key factors affecting residential gas consumption were identified based on previous studies and their mutual effects were analyzed using a fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) method. The most significant factors and their effects on natural gas consumption in the residential sector were determined. In this study, for the first time, the expected consumption for each consumer was estimated using a consumption index. Generally, if the estimated consumption is significantly different from the amount recorded by the meter, it could suggest a potential source of UFG. The proposed method was applied to the data collected from the residential gas consumers of a small region in Iran (Dasht-e Arjan region, Fars province), and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

A new signal processing-based islanding detection method using pyramidal algorithm with undecimated wavelet transform for distributed generators of hydrogen energy

Machine learning-based fault detection methods are frequently combined with wavelet transform (WT) to detect an unintentional islanding condition. In contrast to this condition, these methods have long detection and computation time. Thus, selecting a useful signal processing-based approach is required for reliable islanding detection, especially in real-time applications. This paper presents a new modified signal processing-based islanding detection method (IDM) for real-time applications of hydrogen energy-based distributed generators. In the study, a new IDM using a modified pyramidal algorithm approach with an undecimated wavelet transform (UWT) is presented. The proposed method is performed with different grid conditions with the presence of electric noise in real-time. Experimental results show that oscillations in the acquired signal can be reduced by the UWT, and noise sensitivity is lower than other WT-based methods. The non-detection zone is zero and the maximum detection and computational time is also 75 ms at a close power match.