Method and apparatus for managing industrial gas production

1. A method of controlling an industrial gas production facility comprising one or more industrial gas plants powered by a power network including one or more renewable power sources, the method being executed by at least one hardware processor, the method comprising:

receiving time-dependent power data representative of one or more operational parameters of the power network;

receiving time-dependent operational characteristic data representative of operational parameters of the one or more industrial gas plants, the operational parameters of the one or more industrial gas plants including:

at least one hydrogen production operational characteristic variable, at least one hydrogen storage variable, at least one air separation unit (ASU) variable for nitrogen production and/or nitrogen storage, and at least one ammonia loop predictor variable for ammonia production;

defining one or more power constraints for the operational parameters of the power network;

defining one or more process constraints for the operational parameters of each industrial gas plant;

generating, based on the power data, the operational characteristic data, the one or more power constraints and the one or more process constraints, control set point values for the one or more industrial gas plants to achieve a pre-determined production parameter for the industrial gas production facility, the generating of the control set point values including:

a master controller implementing a pre-defined model predictive control (PMC) to generate control variables based on at least some of the received time-dependent operational characteristic data representative of the operational parameters of the one or more industrial gas plants, the control variables including electrolyzer hydrogen produced and/or ammonia output; and

sending the control set point values to a control system to control the one or more industrial gas plants by adjusting one or more control set points of the industrial gas plants to achieve the pre-determined production parameter for the industrial gas production facility.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the control variables also include pressure of a hydrogen storage system, nitrogen output volume and/or nitrogen output rate, and wherein the ammonia output is an ammonia output flow rate or an ammonia output volume.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein:

the at least one hydrogen production operational characteristic variable comprises: electrolyzer power consumed, demineralized water flow, and/or current flowing through electrodes;

the at least one hydrogen storage variable comprises: hydrogen storage pressure and/or hydrogen storage temperature;

the at least one ASU variable for nitrogen production and/or nitrogen storage comprises: air flow to an ASU, nitrogen storage volume, nitrogen discharge rate, and/or nitrogen recovery;

the at least one ammonia loop predictor variable for ammonia production comprises: power consumed by an ammonia loop, ammonia loop pressure, ammonia loop temperature, a nitrogen feed flow rate fed to the ammonia loop, a feed flow rate of hydrogen fed to the ammonia loop, and/or ammonia plant compressor pressure.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the master controller uses one or more computational models representative of each of the one or more industrial gas plants and the power network for generation of the control set point values.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the step of generating further comprises:

generating a set of manipulated variables for the one or more computational models; and

generating, from the set of manipulated variables, the control set point values.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the industrial gas production facility further comprises one or more energy storage resources, and wherein the step of receiving time-dependent power data further comprises receiving time-dependent operational characteristic data representative of one or more operational parameters of the energy storage resources.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the step of generating further comprises generating control set point values for the one or more energy storage resources.

8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the one or more energy storage resources comprise one or more of: a battery energy storage system; a compressed air energy storage system; and a liquid air energy storage system.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the industrial gas production facility further comprises one or more industrial gas storage resources, and wherein the step of receiving time-dependent operational characteristic data further comprises receiving time-dependent operational characteristic data representative of operational parameters of the industrial gas storage resources.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the step of generating further comprises generating control set point values for the one or more industrial gas storage resources.

11. A system for controlling an industrial gas production facility comprising one or more industrial gas plants powered by a power network including one or more renewable power sources, the system comprising:

at least one hardware processor operable to perform the steps of:

receiving time-dependent power data representative of one or more operational parameters of the power network;

receiving time-dependent operational characteristic data representative of operational parameters of the one or more industrial gas plants, the operational parameters of the one or more industrial gas plants including:

at least one hydrogen production operational characteristic variable, at least one hydrogen storage variable, at least one air separation unit (ASU) variable for nitrogen production and/or nitrogen storage, and at least one ammonia loop predictor variable for ammonia production;

defining one or more power constraints for the operational parameters of the power network;

defining one or more process constraints for the operational parameters of each industrial gas plant;

generating, based on the power data, the operational characteristic data, the one or more power constraints and the one or more process constraints, control set point values for the one or more industrial gas plants to achieve a pre-determined production parameter for the industrial gas production facility, the generating of the control set point values including:

a master controller implementing a pre-defined model predictive control (PMC) to generate control variables based on at least some of the received time-dependent operational characteristic data representative of the operational parameters of the one or more industrial gas plants, the control variables including electrolyzer hydrogen produced and/or ammonia output; and

sending the control set point values to a control system to control the one or more industrial gas plants by adjusting one or more control set points of the industrial gas plants to achieve the pre-determined production parameter for the industrial gas production facility.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control variables also include pressure of a hydrogen storage system, nitrogen output volume and/or nitrogen output rate, and wherein the ammonia output is an ammonia output flow rate or an ammonia output volume.

13. The system according to claim 12 , wherein:

the at least one hydrogen production operational characteristic variable comprises: electrolyzer power consumed, demineralized water flow, and/or current flowing through electrodes;

the at least one hydrogen storage variable comprises: hydrogen storage pressure and/or hydrogen storage temperature;

the at least one ASU variable for nitrogen production and/or nitrogen storage comprises: air flow to an ASU, nitrogen storage volume, nitrogen discharge rate, and/or nitrogen recovery;

the at least one ammonia loop predictor variable for ammonia production comprises: power consumed by an ammonia loop, ammonia loop pressure, ammonia loop temperature, a nitrogen feed flow rate fed to the ammonia loop, a feed flow rate of hydrogen fed to the ammonia loop, and/or ammonia plant compressor pressure.

14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the master controller is configured to utilize one or more computational models representative of each of the one or more industrial gas plants and the power network for generation of the control set point values.

15. The system according to claim 14 , wherein the step of generating further comprises:

generating a set of manipulated variables for the one or more computational models; and

generating, from the set of manipulated variables, the control set point values.

16. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the industrial gas production facility further comprises one or more energy storage resources, and wherein the step of receiving time-dependent power data further comprises receiving time-dependent operational characteristic data representative of one or more operational parameters of the energy storage resources.

17. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the step of generating further comprises generating control set point values for the one or more energy storage resources.

18. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the one or more energy storage resources comprise one or more of: a battery energy storage system; a compressed air energy storage system; and a liquid air energy storage system.

19. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the industrial gas production facility further comprises one or more industrial gas storage resources, and wherein the step of receiving time-dependent operational characteristic data further comprises receiving time-dependent operational characteristic data representative of operational parameters of the industrial gas storage resources.

20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform a method of controlling an industrial gas production facility comprising one or more industrial gas plants powered by a power network including one or more renewable power sources, the method being executed by at least one hardware processor, the method comprising:

receiving time-dependent power data representative of operational parameters of the power network;

receiving time-dependent operational characteristic data representative of operational parameters of the one or more industrial gas plants, the operational parameters of the one or more industrial gas plants including:

at least one hydrogen production operational characteristic variable, at least one hydrogen storage variable, at least one air separation unit (ASU) variable for nitrogen production and/or nitrogen storage, and at least one ammonia loop predictor variable for ammonia production;

defining one or more power constraints for the operational parameters of the power network;

defining one or more process constraints for the operational parameters of each industrial gas plant;

generating, based on the power data, the operational characteristic data, the one or more power constraints and the one or more process constraints, control set point values for the one or more industrial gas plants to achieve a pre-determined production parameter for the industrial gas production facility, the generating of the control set point values including:

a master controller implementing a pre-defined model predictive control (PMC) to generate control variables based on at least some of the received time-dependent operational characteristic data representative of the operational parameters of the one or more industrial gas plants, the control variables including electrolyzer hydrogen produced and/or ammonia output; and

sending the control set point values to a control system to control the one or more industrial gas plants by adjusting one or more control set points of the industrial gas plants to achieve the pre-determined production parameter for the industrial gas production facility.