The Design of By-product Hydrogen Supply Chain Considering Large-scale Storage and Chemical Plants: A Game Theory Perspective

Abstract: Hydrogen, an essential resource in the decarbonized economy, is commonly produced as a by-product of chemical plants. To promote the use of by-product hydrogen, this paper proposes a supply chain model among chemical plants, hydrogen-storage salt caverns, and end users, considering time-of-use (TOU) hydrogen price, coalition strategies of suppliers, and road transportation of liquefied and compressed hydrogen. The transport route planning problem among multiple chemical plants is modeled through a cooperative game, while the hydrogen market among the salt cavern and chemical plants is modeled through a Stackelberg game. The equilibrium of the supply chain model gives the transportation and trading strategies of individual stakeholders. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can provide useful insights on by-product hydrogen market design and analysis.