Novel multi-objective optimisation strategies for enhanced efficiencies and agility in hydrogen gas supply

With the transition to alternative fuels, there is an increase in demand for new sources. Considering hydrogen, current production and supply strategies need to adjust to continue to service the needs of its expanding customer base. This PhD will be conducted in collaboration with BOC, working closely with the Remote Operating Centre who operate and optimise all their H2 plants, bulk distribution and the supply chain.

This CDT studentship will focus on researching new optimisation strategies to meet supply and demand, improving efficiencies in transportation, reducing costs and CO2 emissions. The operational constraints, including production and supply of hydrogen gas from multiple sites, alongside various production rates and efficiency levels need to be considered.

Supply is affected by several factors, including but not limited to, volumes available, plant production rate, trailer demand, maintenance schedules, driver availability, customer location and customer specifications/requirements. Delivery schedules are dynamic and must be continually updated to account for variations, yielding a complex optimisation / scheduling problem requiring solution.

The outputs of this research will be:

1. Identifying the optimisation complexities spanning the production and supply of hydrogen from multiple sites, varying demand profiles, maintenance management strategies, resource and scheduling constraints, capacity restrictions, efficiency measurement and key performance indicators.

2. Develop multi-objective optimisation models that map to the complexities of the industrial collaborator challenge identified.

3. Analysis of the proposed methodology on business service levels under varying scenarios, with predictions for future supply and demand predictions.