Control device for hydrogen production facility, hydrogen production facility, method for controlling hydrogen production facility, and control program for hydrogen production facility

Abstract

This control device is for a hydrogen production facility and comprises: a plurality of electrolysis cells for electrolyzing water or steam; and a plurality of rectifiers for supplying DC power to each of the plurality of electrolysis cells. The control device is provided with: a degradation coefficient acquisition unit configured to acquire a plurality of degradation coefficients indicating the degrees of deterioration of the respective electrolysis cells, an individual necessary current calculation unit configured to calculate, on the basis of a total necessary current corresponding to a hydrogen generation volume required for the hydrogen production facility and the plurality of degradation coefficients, a plurality of individual necessary currents indicating necessary currents required for the electrolysis cells; and a control unit configured to control the respective rectifiers on the basis of the plurality of individual necessary currents.

1 . A control device for a hydrogen production facility including a plurality of electrolysis cells for electrolyzing water or steam, and a plurality of rectifiers for respectively supplying DC power to the plurality of electrolysis cells, the control device comprising:
 a degradation coefficient acquisition unit configured to acquire a plurality of degradation coefficients respectively indicating degrees of deterioration of the plurality of electrolysis cells;   an individual necessary current calculation unit configured to calculate, on the basis of a total necessary current corresponding to a hydrogen generation volume required for the hydrogen production facility and the plurality of degradation coefficients, a plurality of individual necessary currents respectively indicating necessary currents required for the plurality of electrolysis cells; and   a control unit configured to respectively control the plurality of rectifiers on the basis of the plurality of individual necessary currents, wherein   the degradation coefficient acquisition unit is configured to acquire, for each of the plurality of electrolysis cells, the corresponding one of the plurality of degradation coefficients on the basis of a first correlation indicating a correlation between an applied voltage to an electrolysis cell among the plurality of electrolysis cells and a current flowing through a circuit including the electrolysis cell at a beginning of life of the electrolysis cell and a second correlation indicating the correlation at an end of life of the electrolysis cell.   
     
     
         2 . The control device for a hydrogen production facility according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the degradation coefficient acquisition unit is configured to acquire, for each of the plurality of electrolysis cells, the corresponding one of the plurality of degradation coefficients on the basis of an applied voltage to the electrolysis cell necessary at present to cause a current of a specific value to flow through a circuit including the electrolysis cell, a voltage value corresponding to the current of the specific value determined from the first correlation, and a voltage value corresponding to the current of the specific value determined from the second correlation.   
     
     
         3 . The control device for a hydrogen production facility according to  claim 1 , comprising
 a first correlation acquisition unit configured to calculate, for each of the plurality of electrolysis cells using at least two pieces of data of an applied voltage to the electrolysis cell and a current flowing through a circuit including the electrolysis cell at a beginning of life of the electrolysis cell, an approximate curve indicating a relationship between the applied voltage and the current at the beginning of life of the electrolysis cell as the first correlation.   
     
     
         4 . The control device for a hydrogen production facility according to  claim 1 , comprising
 a second correlation acquisition unit configured to calculate, for each of the plurality of electrolysis cells using at least two pieces of data of an applied voltage to the electrolysis cell and a current flowing through a circuit including the electrolysis cell at an end of life of the electrolysis cell, an approximate curve indicating a relationship between the applied voltage and the current at the end of life of the electrolysis cell as the second correlation.   
     
     
         5 . The control device for a hydrogen production facility according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the individual necessary current calculation unit is configured to calculate the plurality of individual necessary currents corresponding to the plurality of electrolysis cells using a ratio of a degradation coefficient of each of the plurality of electrolysis cells to an average of the degradation coefficients of the plurality of electrolysis cells.   
     
     
         6 . A hydrogen production facility comprising:
 a plurality of electrolysis cells for electrolyzing water or steam;   a plurality of rectifiers for respectively supplying DC power to the plurality of electrolysis cells; and   the control device according to  claim 1  configured to adjust an output voltage or an output current of each of the plurality of rectifiers.   
     
     
         7 . A control method for controlling a hydrogen production facility including a plurality of electrolysis cells for electrolyzing water or steam, and a plurality of rectifiers for respectively supplying DC power to the plurality of electrolysis cells, the control method comprising:
 acquiring a plurality of degradation coefficients respectively indicating degrees of deterioration of the plurality of electrolysis cells;   calculating, on the basis of a total necessary current corresponding to a hydrogen generation volume required for the hydrogen production facility and the plurality of degradation coefficients, a plurality of individual necessary currents respectively indicating necessary currents required for the plurality of electrolysis cells; and   respectively controlling the plurality of rectifiers on the basis of the plurality of individual necessary currents, wherein   the acquiring the plurality of degradation coefficients acquires, for each of the plurality of electrolysis cells, the corresponding one of the plurality of degradation coefficients on the basis of a first correlation indicating a correlation between an applied voltage to an electrolysis cell among the plurality of electrolysis cells and a current flowing through a circuit including the electrolysis cell at a beginning of life of the electrolysis cell and a second correlation indicating the correlation at an end of life of the electrolysis cell.   
     
     
         8 . A control program for controlling a hydrogen production facility including a plurality of electrolysis cells for electrolyzing water or steam, and a plurality of rectifiers for respectively supplying DC power to the plurality of electrolysis cells, the control program configured to cause a computer to execute:
 acquiring a plurality of degradation coefficients respectively indicating degrees of deterioration of the plurality of electrolysis cells;   calculating, on the basis of a total necessary current corresponding to a hydrogen generation volume required for the hydrogen production facility and the plurality of degradation coefficients, a plurality of individual necessary currents respectively indicating necessary currents required for the plurality of electrolysis cells; and   respectively controlling the plurality of rectifiers on the basis of the plurality of individual necessary currents, wherein   the acquiring the plurality of degradation coefficients acquires, for each of the plurality of electrolysis cells, the corresponding one of the plurality of degradation coefficients on the basis of a first correlation indicating a correlation between an applied voltage to an electrolysis cell among the plurality of electrolysis cells and a current flowing through a circuit including the electrolysis cell at a beginning of life of the electrolysis cell and a second correlation indicating the correlation at an end of life of the electrolysis cell.