Electrolysers in H2 Gas Networks - Developing a Power Minimization Algorithm and Performing a Sensitivity Analysis for Optimal Placement Decisions

Abstract

Gas networks are a pivotal contributor to the energy supply. A future replacement of the greenhouse gas emitting natural gas could be the energy carrier hydrogen. In order to design a reasoned transition from one network to the other, a prior simulative optimization is imperative. Therefore, the study of such gas networks and the optimization of them with respect to the flow of hydrogen is investigated in this thesis. The introduced methods show that the network pressure of a hydrogen grid is favorable to be set to the technological output threshold of the electrolysers in the grid. Furthermore, the system's power demand is found to be sensitive to the ratio between the number of electrolysers and consumers. Lastly, this thesis introduces a method of determining the radius that an electrolyser is impacting around itself. This method can be used to estimate the natural borders around such a hydrogen source and, additionally, could yield information about the impact of a failing electrolyser.