Build a refinery-wide hydrogen balance that identifies net producers, net consumers and recoverable purge streams.
Oil, Gas & Energy
Refinery Hydrogen Network Optimisation Using Pinch Analysis
Teaches refinery process engineers to apply hydrogen pinch analysis to map sources and sinks, cut fresh hydrogen demand and design purification and recovery retrofits.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Hydrogen is one of the more expensive utilities in a modern refinery, yet many networks still run with sources and sinks matched by habit rather than by design. This course introduces hydrogen pinch analysis as the method for finding that gap: building the refinery-wide hydrogen balance, constructing surplus and deficit composite curves, and identifying the pinch point that sets the theoretical minimum fresh hydrogen and purification requirement. From there, participants translate pinch targets into a practical network design, weighing additional compression against purification investment and reconciling the result with real piping and layout constraints. A dedicated module compares pressure swing adsorption, membrane and cryogenic purification technologies for recovering hydrogen from purge streams, and works through the retrofit sequencing needed to bring recovered hydrogen into service without extending a turnaround. The course closes by placing network optimisation in the wider context of hydrogen strategy, covering steam methane reforming expansion, carbon capture retrofit and low-carbon supply options, so participants can plan investment that keeps the network efficient as hydrogen demand continues to rise.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Construct hydrogen surplus and deficit composite curves and identify the network's pinch point.
Translate pinch analysis targets into a practical hydrogen distribution and compression network design.
Select and size purification technology, including pressure swing adsorption and membrane separation, for a purge stream.
Sequence hydrogen network retrofit work with turnaround planning to minimise disruption to unit availability.
Evaluate steam methane reforming expansion, carbon capture retrofit and low-carbon hydrogen supply options.
Establish a hydrogen management system that tracks network performance against pinch-optimised targets.
Who Should Attend
Refinery process engineers responsible for hydrogen balance and network performance.
Utilities and energy optimisation engineers evaluating hydrogen purification and recovery projects.
Process design engineers scoping hydrogen network retrofits ahead of a turnaround.
Hydrotreating and hydrocracking unit engineers managing hydrogen consumption and purity constraints.
Energy transition teams assessing low-carbon hydrogen supply options for an existing refinery.
Technical managers building the investment case for hydrogen network optimisation projects.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Refinery Hydrogen Balance and Network Fundamentals
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Mapping Hydrogen Sources, Sinks and Purity
- Build a refinery-wide hydrogen balance that identifies net producers, such as catalytic reformers, and net consumers, such as hydrotreaters and hydrocrackers.
- Tabulate hydrogen source and sink flow rates, purities and pressures as the foundation data set for network analysis.
- Distinguish high-purity make-up hydrogen requirements from lower-purity uses that can accept recycled or off-gas streams.
- Identify purge and vent streams currently flared or used as fuel gas that contain recoverable hydrogen value.
Session 2Current Network Constraints and Improvement Potential
- Map existing header pressures and compressor capacity to identify where pressure mismatches force unnecessary make-up hydrogen use.
- Benchmark current hydrogen consumption per unit of throughput against comparable configurations to size the improvement opportunity.
- Identify operational practices, such as excessive purging, that increase hydrogen demand beyond the underlying process requirement.
- Prioritise units for detailed pinch analysis based on hydrogen consumption, purity requirements and proximity to other network streams.
02Pinch Analysis Methodology for Hydrogen Networks
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Constructing Hydrogen Surplus and Deficit Curves
- Construct hydrogen source and sink composite curves plotting purity against cumulative flow to visualise surplus and deficit across the network.
- Identify the hydrogen pinch point that sets the theoretical minimum fresh hydrogen and purification requirement for the network.
- Interpret the composite curve to identify which sources can be reallocated to sinks without violating minimum purity requirements.
- Test the sensitivity of the pinch solution to changes in feed quality and catalyst cycle length across the hydrotreating units.
Session 2Translating Pinch Targets into Network Design
- Design a hydrogen distribution network that matches sources to sinks according to the targets identified by the pinch analysis.
- Evaluate the trade-off between additional compression and purification investment to achieve the pinch-identified minimum utility target.
- Reconcile pinch-based targets with practical piping, layout and control system constraints in an operating refinery.
- Present the gap between current and pinch-target hydrogen consumption in terms that support an investment case for network changes.
03Purification, Recovery and Network Retrofit Design
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Selecting Hydrogen Purification Technology
- Compare pressure swing adsorption, membrane separation and cryogenic separation technologies for recovering hydrogen from low-purity purge streams.
- Size a pressure swing adsorption unit against feed composition, pressure and required product purity for a specific purge stream.
- Assess membrane separation as a lower-capital option where moderate purity uplift is sufficient to meet a sink's requirement.
- Evaluate combined purification trains where a single technology cannot economically reach the target recovery and purity.
Session 2Retrofitting the Network for Recovered Hydrogen
- Design piping and compression modifications that route recovered hydrogen from a new purification unit to the sinks identified by the pinch study.
- Sequence network retrofit work with turnaround planning to minimise disruption to hydrotreating and hydrocracking unit availability.
- Update the refinery hydrogen balance and control philosophy to reflect new purification and recycle streams once commissioned.
- Verify post-retrofit hydrogen consumption and purity against the pinch analysis targets using operating data over a representative period.
04Hydrogen Strategy, Low-Carbon Supply and Governance
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Hydrogen Production and Low-Carbon Supply Options
- Evaluate steam methane reforming capacity expansion against network efficiency improvements as alternative routes to meeting rising hydrogen demand.
- Assess carbon capture retrofit options for existing steam methane reformers as a pathway towards lower-carbon hydrogen supply.
- Compare imported low-carbon hydrogen and on-site production on a delivered cost and reliability basis for a specific refinery configuration.
- Screen electrolysis-based hydrogen production against refinery-scale demand and renewable power availability at the site.
Session 2Hydrogen Management Governance and Continuous Optimisation
- Establish a hydrogen management system that tracks balance, purity and cost data across the network on an ongoing basis.
- Set operating targets and alarms that flag when actual hydrogen consumption drifts from the pinch-optimised network design.
- Review hydrogen network performance whenever catalyst changes, feedstock shifts or new units alter the source and sink balance.
- Build a rolling investment plan that sequences further purification, compression or production projects as refinery configuration evolves.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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