Optimization and Control Strategy of Hydrogen Liquefaction Process on Offshore Platform

Hydrogen liquefaction is one of the effective storage and transportation means for hydrogen production from offshore solar energy. However, the volatility of wind energy significantly impacts the stability, liquefaction capacity, and efficiency of hydrogen liquefaction systems. To address these challenges, this paper proposes an enhanced offshore platform-specific hydrogen liquefaction process by incorporating a buffer device and corresponding control strategy into the existing helium precooling-based liquefaction process. The performance of the liquefaction system was simulated using Aspen HYSYS software and optimized accordingly. The results indicate that even with fluctuations in hydrogen flow ranging from 31.25 to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$72.9 ~\text{kg} / \mathrm{h}$</tex>, the system's specific energy consumption (SEC) can be maintained at a consistently high level of 6.87 to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$7.62 \text{kWh} / \text{kgLH} 2$</tex> and its figure of merit (FOM) can remain elevated at a range of 0.55 to 0.6.