Efficient Solution\nStrategy for Hydrogen Network Synthesis\nConsidering the Group Cascade Layout of Compressors

Hydrogen is an important raw material for fuel and other\nchemical\nproducts in refineries. Hydrogen consumption can be reduced through\na hydrogen recovery system known as a hydrogen network (HN). Optimizing\nthe HN, particularly concerning compressor arrangements, has been\nconsistently been challenging. To achieve a simultaneous solution,\ntraditional research often necessitates structural simplifications\nin modeling, which excludes many alternative compressor layouts and\npotentially results in suboptimal solutions. To address this problem,\nthis work proposes a HN model considering the group cascade layout\nof compressors, which accounts for a wide array of potential scenarios\ninvolving up to three compressors connected in series. A new optimization-based\ntwo-stage solution strategy is correspondingly introduced to assist\nthe simultaneous HN synthesis, which also makes the issues with uncertain\npressures solvable. The performance of this method has been demonstrated\nto be exceptional across all three studied cases. The optimal results\nof the first two cases exhibit a compressor cost saving of 2%–3%\nand the shortest solution time compared with recent studies. The final\ncase illustrates that this model is capable of addressing the issues\ninvolving the process unit pressure optimization.