Siemens says it will support companies in the hydrogen industry with generative AI-based software to help simplify the design, engineering, and automation of hydrogen production plants.
The company’s new Hydrogen Plant Configurator is an intelligent chatbot with generative AI capabilities. The configurator is given the desired design characteristics of a proposed production plant, before creating diagrams of precise layouts of system units and connections, as well as predicting power consumption and heat generation figures.
This can then be transferred to engineering and simulation software, such as Siemens Comos, which is also getting a boost in the form of an AI-based engineering assistant. Comos AI, Siemens notes, can create equipment specifications and diagrams based on natural language descriptions, as well as turn information from images, scans, or PDFs into diagrams and models.
SFC Generation, meanwhile, is targeted specifically at the Simatic PCS (process control system) with a specific integration which helps create sequential function charts (SFCs). This is aimed at simplifying the automation of processes in hydrogen plants, allowing easier management of complex workflows with a visual representation of process logic.
Siemens has been active in the space in recent months. Last month the technology firm signed a memorandum of understanding with Metacon, a Swedish supplier of technology which converts biogas into hydrogen, to manufacture systems for green hydrogen production. Spin-off company Siemens Energy has its own slew of partnerships; with HH2E in February for high voltage systems in the latter’s green hydrogen production units, and with GeoPura in the same month for a hydrogen apprenticeship scheme.
Read more: Hydrogen power: Hype or hope?
Hydrogen as a source of clean energy is not without its drawbacks. The various types of hydrogen production – sometimes called the hydrogen rainbow – differ in their cleanliness. Green hydrogen, for example, splits water into its component molecules with no emissions of greenhouse gases, while blue hydrogen captures and stores the carbon dioxide emissions produced.
While green hydrogen is the optimal production method, some examples of greenwashing have been pointed out – the UK government coining the term ‘low-carbon hydrogen’, which some argue is a ‘fig leaf for blue hydrogen’ – as well as concerns over a lack of global standardisation.
Siemens argues that green hydrogen is ‘critical’ to achieving sustainability targets in the industrial sector. “It will be a scarce commodity for the foreseeable future,” said Axel Lorenz, CEO process automation at Siemens in a statement. “This makes it even more important to accelerate the ramp-up of production capacities.
“Generative artificial intelligence can provide support in the crucial phases of hydrogen production to save considerable time and costs,” added Lorenz.
The tools will be unveiled at the Achema trade fair in Frankfurt, from June 10 to June 14. The Hydrogen Plant Configurator is planned to be available from the end of the year, while Comos AI and SFC Generation are pencilled in from early 2025.
