Hydrogen Production

Design & simulation solutions for hydrogen production.

The design and operation of hydrogen production systems encompass a variety of challenges, including efficiency optimisation, safety considerations and cost effectiveness. Addressing these key design issues is critical for developing efficient, safe, and economically viable hydrogen production technologies.

Simulation can help overcome these challenges by addressing key issues, such as thermal management, gas flow analysis, material selection, durability and more.

Pyrolysis (Biomass/Methane)

The optimisation of the pyrolysis process to maximise syngas production (H₂, CO mixture) is an ongoing challenge, as is the general improvement of overall plant efficiency. Efficient separation of particles in fuel vapor is vital to achieve clean/complete combustion.

High-fidelity fluids simulations involving multiphase flow, detailed chemical reactions, discrete element method (DEM, including truly non-spherical particle shapes) and heat transfer on large and complex applications can be solved quickly using widely scalable high-performance computing (HPC). Integrating these simulation tools in a single environment enables easy optimisation studies and coupled physics analysis.

Simulation solutions can optimise performance of reactor, separator and associated component designs, reduce costs of physical testing, R&D and maintenance and help to reduce emissions by determining the best carbon control technology for the system. Membranes can be included in CFD models with their design parameters implemented to determine how well the system works.

CFD Coupling with Ansys Rocky

Steam Methane Reforming

Improvements to the steam methane reforming process often involve the scale-up of facilities, achieving higher yield efficiency, improving heat efficiency through better thermal management and reducing the carbon footprint (‘Gray’ to ‘Blue’ H₂).

Ansys provides validated solutions for steam reforming components, such as combustors, desulfurisation units, separators, condensers, and more. The comprehensive suite of simulation tools includes multiphysics analysis for designing and troubleshooting, 1D-3D physics coupling for process improvement, and reduced-order models (ROMs) and digital twins for predictive maintenance and operational optimisation.

The insights gained through simulation helps to design a cleaner, more efficient and more reliable system.

Simulation also helps to reduce time to market and costs of physical testing, R&D (ability to test multiple feedstock), and maintenance (efficient maintenance management and reduced downtime in retrofitting and revamping).

Water Electrolysis

A highly efficient electrolyser design is key to effective water electrolysis processes, with system designers constantly striving to ensure better partial load behaviour and increase the power density of the stacks. It is also crucial to ensure sufficient electrical conduction to the reaction points and to dissipate the heat generated during the electrolysis.

Ansys’ high-fidelity simulation tools can help to achieve these goals by providing intuitive, flexible, and robust meshing capabilities for complex electrolyser geometries.

Ansys fluids simulation tools allow for multiphase/electrochemistry integration for alkaline electrolysis and porous electrodes in high temperature PEM electrolysers, solved fast using scalable HPC solvers.

These tools help to predict polarisation curve and gas flow characteristics, understand thermal behaviour of the stack and optimise bipolar plate design and flow channels. They also allow the investigation of novel concepts which are not at the stage of forming a commercial device but are being actively researched and optimised.

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