The objective of the CH2P project is the cogeneration of hydrogen (H2), heat and power using a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system fueled by a methane rich gas. The CH2P plant consists of natural gas sulfur removal, fuel pre-reforming, steam generation, SOFC stacks, H2 separation (through a combination of water-gas shift – WGS reactors and pressure swing adsorption – PSA) and the heat exchanger network (HEN). The plant will be the main production technology for a hydrogen refueling station (HRS), providing the daily demand of H2 and producing electricity for both self-consumption and other uses, for example, for grid balancing and fast charging of electric vehicles. Different usage scenarios are defined for the cogeneration of H2 and power in the CH2P plant. It is therefore crucial to know the characteristics of each period: H2 demand, electricity needed and generated, minimum and maximum loads and temperature conditions. An appropriate design of the HEN has to satisfy the different operating periods. In order to optimize the CH2P plant operating conditions and provide the best HEN configuration capable to fulfill the requested outputs for all periods, the proposed methodology follows a systematic approach for multi-objective and multi-period optimization. The solving strategy combines process flow modelling, pinch analysis and superstructure based mathematical modelling. The methodology is applied to the CH2P project to generate solutions at maximum efficiency and minimum number of heat exchanger matches. The results show that the plant can reach a daily weighted efficiency exceeding 60 %.
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