An optimization method for the refinery hydrogen network and its application

The requirement of hydrogen in oil refineries is increasing as market forces and environmental legislation, so the management and optimization of hydrogen system in refineries is becoming increasingly more important. In this paper, an improved approach for the optimization of hydrogen network is proposed. The method decomposes the optimization problem into two sub-problems, the optimization of feed routes of purification system and hydrogen network. By establishing a superstructure model, all possible placements of existing compressors and purifiers are incorporated in the proposed NLP model. The approach in this paper makes best use of resources and can provide significant environmental and economic benefits. A real case study is introduced to illustrate the applicability of the presented approach.