Purification processes are widely used in hydrogen networks of refineries to increase hydrogen reuse. In refineries, hydrogen purification techniques include hydrocarbon, hydrogen sulfide and CO removal units. In addition, light hydrocarbon recovery from the hydrogen source streams can also result in hydrogen purification. In order to simplify the superstructure and mathematical model of hydrogen network integration, the models of different purification processes are unified in this paper, including mass balance and the expressions for hydrogen recovery and impurity removal ratios, which are given for all the purification units in refineries. Based on the proposed unified model, a superstructure of hydrogen networks with purification processes is constructed.
Introducing purifiers into hydrogen network can enhance the recovery and reuse of hydrogen in refineries, further reducing the consumption of fresh hydrogen. Based on previous graphical methods, this work proposes a simple and unified graphical method for integration of hydrogen networks with purification processes. Scenarios with different hydrogen concentrations of purified product can be analyzed by the unified procedure. As a result, the maximum hydrogen saved by purification reuse can he identified and the corresponding purification process can be optimized, The proposed method is easy and non-iterative, and it is valid to purification processes with any feed concentration. A conventional hydrogen network is analyzed to test the effectiveness of the proposed method.
