Pascal Tromeur

Methodology for the design of industrial hydrogen networks and the optimal placement of purification units using multi-objective optimisation techniques

Abstract The optimal design of hydrogen networks aims at minimising the consumption of fresh hydrogen by improving recycling and reuse of process hydrogen. To solve this problem, a new graphical representation has been developed to characterize the minimum hydrogen requirement, and make a preliminary selection of the compatible purification units. From this preliminary analysis, a multi-objective optimisation method is applied in order to define the best hydrogen network and the proper integration of purification units. The proposed method decomposes the problem into two sub-problems: a mixed integer linear programming for network design at the lower level and an evolutionary algorithm strategy to solve the optimal design of the purification units at the upper level.