Auction Mechanisms for Management of Steam Generated by High Temperature Reactors

Steam networks in existing chemical facilities are typically highly centralized and operate on long-term contracts. It results in energy systems with overcapacity of production, exceeding the demand several times. Facilities which remain idle or utilize fuel sub-optimally create unnecessary costs and possess high carbon footprint. To optimize fuel consumption, increase profits and lower emissions, we propose to decentralize and trade steam distribution with energy producers, chemical facilities and energy storage constituting autonomous agents. In this paper we describe a model of short-term trading of steam through multi-stage auction mechanisms. The goal of this model is to sell all produced steam every timestep while meeting the demand and including both smaller and larger parties in the negotiations fairly.