Process and apparatus for compressing hydrogen gas in a hybrid compression system
AssigneeAir Products and Chemicals, Inc.
InventorsGregory W. Henzler, Nicolas John Haryett, Ghassan Altimany, Patrick J. Smith
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Abstract
A stable discharge pressure of compressed hydrogen gas generated from the electrolysis of water is achieved and maintained at the outlet of a “hybrid” multistage compression system comprising at least a first section comprising at least one centrifugal compressor powered at least in part by electricity generated from at least one renewable energy source and a further section downstream of the first section, wherein the further section comprises at least one reciprocating compressor.
Claims19
A process for supplying hydrogen for consumption in at least one downstream process, said process comprising:
- producing hydrogen gas by electrolysis of water;
- compressing said hydrogen gas in a multistage compression system comprising a first section and a further section downstream of said first section to produce compressed hydrogen gas;
- and
- feeding said compressed hydrogen gas produced via the multistage compression system to said downstream process(es),
- wherein said first section of said multistage compression system comprises at least one centrifugal compressor powered by electricity generated at least in part from at least one renewable energy source, a cooler to cool the hydrogen gas compressed via the centrifugal compressor and a phase separator to remove liquid from the hydrogen gas compressed via the centrifugal compressor, each centrifugal compressor being driven by a dedicated variable frequency drive to adjust a frequency that the variable frequency drive supplies to a motor of the centrifugal compressor to prevent a drop in discharge pressure at an outlet of the first section, and
- wherein said further section of said multistage compression system comprises at least one reciprocating compressor to maintain a discharge pressure at an outlet of the further section during changes in electrical frequency.
An apparatus for supplying hydrogen gas for consumption in at least one downstream process, said apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of electrolysers for producing hydrogen gas;
- an electricity generation system for generating electricity from at least one renewable energy source;
- a multistage compression system for compressing hydrogen gas, said multistage compression system comprising a feed end, a first section, a further section downstream of said first section and an outlet end, said feed end being in fluid flow communication with said plurality of electrolysers;
- at least one downstream processing unit for consuming compressed hydrogen gas output from the outlet end of the multistage compression system, said downstream processing unit(s) being in fluid flow communication with said outlet end of said multistage compression system;
- wherein said multistage compression system is a hybrid system in which said first section comprises at least one centrifugal compressor, a cooler to cool the hydrogen gas compressed via the at least one centrifugal compressor and a phase separator to remove liquid from the hydrogen gas compressed via the at least one centrifugal compressor, and said further section comprises at least one reciprocating compressor to maintain a discharge pressure at the outlet end of said multistage compression system during changes in electrical frequency, and
- wherein each centrifugal compressor is powered at least in part by electricity from said electricity generation system and is driven by a dedicated variable frequency drive configured to adjust a frequency that the variable frequency drive supplies to a motor of the centrifugal compressor to prevent a drop in discharge pressure at an outlet of the first section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.