PTQ Gas 2022 Issue

Hydrogen Economy: Key Digital Solutions To advance the h ydrogen e conomy, i nnovation, r apid s cale-up and a dvanced o perating s trategies are needed

Accelerate Hydrogen Production Innovation (Process Mode l ling & Eco n o m ics) Accelerate research-to-construction pipeline Improve conversion processes Exhaustively evaluate alternatives

Blue Hydrogen and Ammonia Asset Optimi s ation (Digital Twin, Energy Model l ing, APC)

Optimi s e energy use Optimi s e production Carbon capture

Improve fuel cell economics De-risk storage and transport

De-risk and Optimi s e the Hydrogen Value Chain (Systems Risk Mode l ling, Planning and Scheduling) Buil d the right value chain Optimi s e integration with natural gas networks

Rapid Repeatable Design and Operation (Process M ode l ling, Collaborative FEED) Need to scale Operate complex plants with minimum sta

Figure 1 The hydrogen economy: Key digital solutions

Other innovative hydrogen syn- thesis approaches and hydrogen liq- uefaction can be represented. These approaches incorporate the selection of carrier fluids and pipeline trans - port, accelerating commercialisation and improving access to capital. Several specific digital technology opportunities to accelerate innova- tion include: • Hybrid models incorporating arti- ficial intelligence (AI), together with first-principles models for new pro - cesses, including membrane technol- ogy, combining reforming, carbon capture, and novel processes • AI also facilitates the ability for advanced warning of any potential breakdowns and find root causes to design reliability risks out of future plants and assets • Rate based simulation modelling for carbon capture and advanced reservoir modelling to identify most economic carbon capture projects • Powerful, rigorous models to han - dle electrochemistry • High-performance computing for evaluating thousands of alternatives in an optioneering context • Integrated economics to rapidly screen techno-economic alternatives during concept design and pilot plant testing. When integrating collaborative engineering workflow, cross-func - tional teams (with and across organ - isations) will be able to rapidly select concepts, scale-up designs, execute projects, and use modular design to accelerate industrial implementation. This can drive down project timeta - bles by more than 50%.

tions provides the visibility, analy- sis, and insight needed to accelerate innovation to achieve sustainability targets. In the case of the hydrogen economy, digital technology will be a major accelerator for driving down the cost of hydrogen, evalu - ating and optimising many value chain alternatives and removing constraints to scale the value chain safely. Success in using digital solutions begins with harnessing the vast volumes of data available from the first generation of hydrogen syn - thesis plants and end-use fuel cells, learning from those, and driving the economics further. Drilling down further, here is how today’s digital technologies can expedite the tran- sition to hydrogen, impacting key functional areas: • Employing advanced methods for innovation and optioneering while driving down costs • Integrating collaborative engineer - ing workflows • Facilitating advanced, integrated supply chain planning • Automating processes to create the self-optimising plant paradigm • Optimising the value chain with risk and availability modelling. Advanced methods Advanced methods for innovation and optioneering can be employed while also driving down costs. This involves rigorous process simulation software (incorporating both chemis - try and electricity) that can represent hydrogen electrolysis and hydrogen reformer processes.

several challenges, especially con- cerning safety and infrastructure challenges of storage, transport, cost of electrolysis generation, sources and availability of renewable elec - tricity for electrolysis, cost and effi - ciency of carbon capture (in the case of blue hydrogen) and end-use safety. Despite these challenges, the hydrogen economy is seeing strong momentum, reflected in a continuing wave of announced capital projects that aim to deliver hydrogen gen- eration and storage at scale. In fact, several regions are investigating the feasibility of a hydrogen economy as a significant zero-carbon alternative. Digital technology will be an essential component in delivering the hydrogen economy, accelerating and de-risking innovation, de-risk- ing adoption, and enabling faster and better scale-up and optimisa - tion of the hydrogen value chain. It will require significant investment in new infrastructure to scale up this technology, and a concerted effort by governments and the private sector to support the process. Nevertheless, digital technology will ultimately be fundamental in overcoming many value chain obstacles, maximising commercialisation, design and sup- ply chains, and boosting production and economics. Digital technology Simply put, software technology will be a strategic asset as the indus - try seeks to navigate the energy transition successfully. The new generation of emerging digital solu-

18 Gas 2022