Journal of Control Engineering and Applied Informatics
Optimal Control Of Brine Electrolysis In Ion Exchange Membrane Reactors. Electric Power Consumption Cost Minimalization
Abstract
It is well known that the electrochemical processes are high energy consuming processes. The brine electrolysis is one of the highest energy consuming industrial electrochemical process, especially electric energy.
In many countries are different electric energy costs between day and night to compensate the different consumption demanding in the electric network system. For the electrolysis industry it is important to use this situation in its one advantage. How is this possible? There are two main ways to do this:
-by a different current load of the reactors between day/night time period;
-by using a different number of reactors in the day/night time period.
Each variant has positive and negative aspects.
In this paper, based on stimulation using mathematical model of the IEM reactor, the optimization and optimal control of an brine electrolysis plant is presented, taking into account both possibilities.
For this purpose, an earlier presented mathematical model of the IEM reactor was further developed to simulate an entire plant. The scope function of the optimization was to minimize the electric current costs used in the electrochemical reactors and, in the same time to preserve the level of daily capacity of products (chlorine, caustic soda and hydrogen). It is possible to estimate that the electric energy cost saving obtained by this way can by between 5 to 20 %, depending by the ratio between day/night energy costs and the ratio between the current daily production and the nominal daily capacity of the plant.
By simulation, it is proved that model predictive control of the electrochemical reactors can be used to apply the results obtained by the optimization algorithm.
In many countries are different electric energy costs between day and night to compensate the different consumption demanding in the electric network system. For the electrolysis industry it is important to use this situation in its one advantage. How is this possible? There are two main ways to do this:
-by a different current load of the reactors between day/night time period;
-by using a different number of reactors in the day/night time period.
Each variant has positive and negative aspects.
In this paper, based on stimulation using mathematical model of the IEM reactor, the optimization and optimal control of an brine electrolysis plant is presented, taking into account both possibilities.
For this purpose, an earlier presented mathematical model of the IEM reactor was further developed to simulate an entire plant. The scope function of the optimization was to minimize the electric current costs used in the electrochemical reactors and, in the same time to preserve the level of daily capacity of products (chlorine, caustic soda and hydrogen). It is possible to estimate that the electric energy cost saving obtained by this way can by between 5 to 20 %, depending by the ratio between day/night energy costs and the ratio between the current daily production and the nominal daily capacity of the plant.
By simulation, it is proved that model predictive control of the electrochemical reactors can be used to apply the results obtained by the optimization algorithm.