Special Focus: Digital Technologies

K. FINNAN, Yokogawa, Hartford, Connecticut

While other industries are undergoing digital transformations, the hydrogen (H₂) ecosystem is a greenfield that can begin operations with transformative technologies in place. These technologies empower people, optimize processes and automate systems to enhance business performance across the enterprise. 

A H₂ hub can start up with digital, real-time management using contemporary technologies such as advanced analytics, advanced process control (APC), artificial intelligence (AI), the Cloud, connected workforce, digital twins, Edge devices, 5G communications, the Internet of Things (IoT), machine-learning (ML), robotics and virtual reality (VR). Digital twins can begin even earlier at the inception of the facility design process and sustain themselves through operation and maintenance. Any brownfield assets will be included only if the H₂ ecosystem extends to existing resources on the grid. Of course, the brownfields would be ripe for digital transformations. 

The completely digital environment uses an enterprise-wide, collaborative information platform. Based in the Cloud, on-premises or a combination of the two, this environment enables centralized management and allows rapid decision-making by integrating the handling of large amounts of data from the various types of equipment and process units in use throughout the ecosystem. Broad scalability enables expansion within the H₂ hub, consumer base and grid assets. 

The following examples describe how some transformative technologies can make H₂ optimized, integrated, autonomous and sustainable (FIG. 1).

DIGITAL TWIN EXAMPLE: A GAS TURBINE USING H₂-ENRICHED FUEL

A greenfield operation such as a H₂ hub will incorporate various digital twins that optimize assets, operations and safety. According to a subsidiary of the author’s company, leaders in the power generation industry consider gas turbines the turbomachinery of choice. Using natural gas instead of other fossil fuels has been shown to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 20%. Using H₂ in gas-fueled turbines has proven to be a promising solution to reduce CO₂emissions even further. 

However, switching to H₂-natural gas fuel blends has some drawbacks due to differences in the heating efficiency between H₂ and natural gas. Additionally, the CO₂ intensity reductions with an increase of H₂ are constrained by the size of existing facilities. Finally, H₂ in the gas turbine fuel gas lowers the exhaust temperature, which could impact the performance of the combined-cycle systems. By deploying a digital twin, leading gas turbine manufacturers can manage these issues to significantly curb CO₂ emissions while most effectively integrating H₂ into the fuel mixture. 

Optimizing steam methane reformers (SMRs) and other fired assets. The operation of combustion assets (e.g., SMRs) is expected to continue through 2050, focusing on minimizing emissions and optimizing operations. Keeping emissions as low as possible simplifies the carbon capture processes required for net zero. 

A benefit of a modern process control system is its support for APC and holistic methods targeted to specific assets. Holistic methodologies have already been proven to optimize the operations of assets such as SMRs. These optimizations include improving safety, increasing asset and catalyst lifespans, fuel efficiency and productivity, minimizing downtime and reducing nitrous oxide (NO_x) and CO₂ emissions. 

Overall energy management. Digital greenfields such as H₂ hubs can also immediately exploit energy management technologies that other operations have implemented in response to the energy transition. A single energy management system includes integrated monitoring, scheduling and real-time optimization technology for energy systems. It provides insights for minimal emissions and cost-effective energy production, distribution, scheduling and trading. 

The energy management system combines first principles digital twins and multi-period optimization to proactively schedule and operate at the lowest emissions and economic cost, enabling real-time actions in an open- or closed-loop system to deliver fast and accurate operational decisions. It scales from site-wide to area-wide under a virtual power plant scope spanning several geographically distributed assets. These capabilities maintain the license to operate for the emerging H₂ ecosystem enterprise. 

Managing distributed energy resources (DERs) on the grid. Unlike H₂ hubs, electrical power generation and distribution assets often combine greenfields and brownfields, the latter of which would need measurement and control system updates and digital transformations. Today, many operators manage multiple power generation technologies, often over widely distributed geographical areas. It is not unusual for an enterprise to use intermittent sources (e.g., wind, solar) and traditional fossil fuel-powered generation. Managing the distributed resources quickly becomes complex for an enterprise that combines a H₂ hub with existing power generation and grid assets. 

Operators of traditional power generation find the management of renewable intermittencies throughout the grid to be a new, unfamiliar issue. Those managing solar generation along with wind note that there could be a sudden significant loss of output, affecting energy regionally and power quality locally. A solar photovoltaic (PV) system can transition from full power to 30% output in a matter of seconds. 

The key emerging technologies to optimally manage such resources include distributed energy resource management systems (DERMSs), microgrid control and renewable power plant control. A DERMS manages renewable energy assets, coordinating distributed resources such as power generation and storage alongside traditional grid components. The microgrid controller locally manages renewable energy assets and coordinates with traditional grid components. The renewable power plant controller can maximize the efficiency and production of any combination of small-scale and utility-scale renewable energy assets, such as those in a H₂ hub. 

A DERMS helps utilities control the expansion of renewable energy assets, including those throughout a H₂ hub, plus batteries and electric vehicles. Operators can balance simultaneous resource, load, demand and network constraints while enabling a 100% renewable grid. A DERMS can remotely communicate with and control a combination of DERs quickly and securely. It compensates for load changes by coordinating utility-owned and customer-owned assets, such as solar panels, across the grid.  

The DERMS mitigates intermittency and coordination challenges by optimizing the energy mix of all DERs under its purview. It also perceives the system as a whole. It identifies opportunities to shape, shift and balance power across the whole system rather than solely at the point of generation or demand. 

Today’s microgrid controller is a hardware-agnostic software application that works with existing assets to improve equipment efficiency, thus reducing or eliminating the need for expensive infrastructure upgrades. Its primary task is to maintain reliable, renewable power during any type of grid event—expected or unexpected—without sacrificing power quality or consistency. 

The renewable power plant controller maximizes return on investment (ROI) by unifying solar, wind and energy storage assets under a single platform. It independently controls real and reactive power as measured at the point of interconnection to support participation in energy markets and ancillary service products. It also integrates and autonomously adjusts to demand response program and peak-load energy shifting parameters. 

Today’s DERMSs are scalable and allow for physically and financially phased integration, simplifying the integration of new assets such as H₂ hubs. Ultimately, they support the energy transition to fully sustainable power generation. 

THE H₂ ECOSYSTEM AS AN AUTONOMOUS, SUSTAINABLE OPERATION

Today’s new technologies enable unprecedented levels of automation, including remote and unmanned operations. A facility might entirely automate its operations, maintenance and incident management to keep personnel safe. Similar to greenfields, H₂ hubs are perfectly positioned for autonomous operations from their inception. 

An autonomous operation (industrial autonomy) is where plant assets and operations possess learning and adaptive capabilities that enable responses with minimal human interaction, empowering operators to perform higher-level optimization tasks. 

An autonomous H₂ ecosystem employs sensing and digital infrastructure that spans the entire operation and integrates data, smart devices at the Edge, and robust hardware and software that deliver the necessary flexibility, adaptability and resilience levels. The autonomous H₂ enterprise is optimized from the start and can learn and adapt to changing market conditions. 

A system of systems. A system of systems is an emerging concept representing the ultimate destination for the autonomous operations journey. The H₂ ecosystem illustrates a future symbiosis between industry and society in which all entities function autonomously yet in a coordinated manner. 

In a system of systems, formerly disparate components will benefit from autonomous compatibility in terms of data, networking and protocols. Using technologies such as AI and digital twins, individual systems can learn from each other without human intervention and rapidly adapt to market dynamics and disruptions. This will allow them to advance continuously, making them inherently sustainable. 

According to the system of systems concept, multiple, independently operating and managed systems coordinate to achieve a purpose that extends well beyond the capabilities of any single system. The H₂ hubs, grids and consumer applications that comprise the H₂ ecosystem can be part of a world in which entire societies function as systems of systems. 

Takeaways. The H₂ ecosystem is arriving on the scene at a favorable time regarding available technologies. For many companies, digital transformation empowers people, optimizes processes and automates systems to enhance business performance. While other industries are undertaking digital transformations, H₂ hubs are greenfields that can begin operations with transformative technologies in place. 

Additionally, transformative technologies provide the benefit of scalability. Enterprises can think big but start small with infrastructure components and scale up to span entire ecosystems, making H₂ sustainable, optimized, integrated and autonomous. Autonomous operations will eventually enable entire societies to operate as system of systems, where multiple, formerly independently operating and managed systems coordinate to achieve a purpose that extends well beyond the capabilities of any single system.H₂T

About the author

KEVIN FINNAN is a Market Intelligence and Strategy Advisor at Yokogawa. He was previously an independent consultant, Vice President of Marketing for CSE-Semaphore and Director of Marketing at Bristol Babcock. Finnan has more than 30 yr of experience in various vertical markets and has launched more than 40 products in automation and measurement technologies.