Optimal Day-ahead Management of a Hydrogen-based Energy Hub Considering Different Electrolyzer Technologies

In this work, optimal day-ahead management of an energy hub (EH) that serves hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, battery electric vehicle, and heat demands, has been proposed. Electricity is supplied to the EH primarily by renewable resources. To improve the EH versatility, grid interconnection and a battery are also included. In addition, the utilization of natural gas extends to energizing both a combined heat and power (CHP) module and a furnace. The hydrogen system within the EH consists of an electrolyzer, fuel cell, and hydrogen storage. Two different electrolyzer technologies, namely solid oxide (SOEC) and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, are considered to study the effect of each electrolyzer technology on the EH performance. The results show that SOEC consumes more gas to compensate for the internal heat dissipation whereas PEM electrolyzer uses more electricity to make up for its low efficiency. The EH management problem is posed as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP), whose objective is to minimize the EH day-ahead operating cost while meeting the hydrogen, electricity, and heat demands.