US 12,348,039 B2
Method for on-demand closed-loop control of an electrochemical plant
Christos Tsiklios, Essen (DE); Corneila Buerkin, Dortmund (DE); Gregor Damian Polcyn, Dortmund (DE); Lukas Lueke, Dortmund (DE); Peter Toros, Essen (DE); and Fulvio Federico, Piacenza (IT)
Assigned to thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA, Dortmund (DE)
Appl. No. 18/010,285
Filed by THYSSENKRUPP NUCERA AG & CO. KGAA, Dortmund (DE)
PCT Filed Jun. 2, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/064727
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 14, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/254774, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 23, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2020 115 711.8 (DE), filed on Jun. 15, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0246445 A1, Aug. 3, 2023
Int. Cl. H02J 3/28 (2006.01); C25B 15/02 (2021.01); H02J 3/38 (2006.01); H02J 15/00 (2006.01)
CPC H02J 3/28 (2013.01) [C25B 15/02 (2013.01); H02J 3/381 (2013.01); H02J 15/008 (2020.01); H02J 2300/28 (2020.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for demand-based closed-loop control of an electrochemical plant that comprises modules and a control unit, each module being individually controlled by the control unit and supplied with a module-specific electric operating current, wherein for each of the modules to generate a separate product flow, the product flows of the individual modules, which are connected in parallel with regard to their product flows, are merged to form a total product flow of the plant, wherein the following steps are performed by the control unit when a start condition is satisfied:
recording a current total product flow demand;
recording a current efficiency of the modules depending on a ratio of the respective operating current and product flow;
determining operationally ready modules;
determining module-specific target operating currents for the operationally ready modules to cover the current total product flow demand from a range of permissible module-specific target operating currents as a function of the efficiency of the modules and the current total product flow demand, wherein to determine the module-specific target operating currents, the respective modules are sorted according to a module-specific life-cycle parameter and are raised or lowered according to that order until the current total product flow demand is met; and
setting the operating currents of the operationally ready modules to the module-specific target operating currents that have been determined,
wherein the life-cycle parameter is calculated from the current efficiency of the modules and a correction term that accounts for maintenance costs of the electrochemical plant, wherein the correction term generates a deviation from a currently most efficient operating point of the plant, which allows non-uniform aging of the modules in terms of their efficiency.