The Efficiency Of Industrial Processes

It is universally recognized that the end of the current and the beginning of the next century will be characterized by a radical change in the existing trends in the economic development of all countries and a transition to new principles of economic management on the basis of a resource and energy conservation policy. Thus there is an urgent necessity to study methods, technical aids and economic consequences of this change, and particularly, to determine the possible amounts of energy resources which could be conserved (energy "reserves") in different spheres of the national economy. An increased interest towards energy conservation in industry, one of the largest energy consumers, is quite natural and is manifested by the large num ber of publications on this topic. But the majority of publications are devoted to the solution of narrowly defined problems, determination of energy reserves in specific processes and plants, efficiency estimation of individual energy conserva tion measures, etc. However, it is necessary to develop a general methodological approach to the solution of such problems and create a scientific and methodical base for realizing an energy conservation policy. Such an effort is made in this book, which is concerned with methods for studying energy use efficiency in technological processes and estimation of the theoretical and actual energy reserves in a given process, technology, or industrial sector on the basis of their complete energy balances.

Hardbound. The subject of this book is the exergy analysis of the efficiency of processes involving energy and matter transformations. Efficiency is one of the most important criteria used in evaluating the performance of all types of processing plants; in particular those of the energy and chemical industries. The beauty of the exergetic approach to thermodynamic analysis is that it permits a universally applicable definition of efficiency and is free of contradictions in its treatment of numerous and diverse systems. The book provides the reader with the quantitative methods and calculations of efficiency considered to be applicable to different systems and their components. Methods, procedures and instructions for using the efficiency analysis in optimizing the performance of thermal, chemical and other industrial plants are also given. Numerous examples are used in the book to aid the reader in understanding the concepts of efficiency, exergy and thei

Provides a unique overview of energy management for the process industries Provides an overall approach to energy management and places the technical issues that drive energy efficiency in context Combines the perspectives of freewheeling consultants and corporate insiders In two sections, the book provides the organizational framework (Section 1) within which the technical aspects of energy management, described in Section 2, can be most effectively executed Includes success stories from three very different companies that have achieved excellence in their energy management efforts Covers energy management, including the role of the energy manager, designing and implementing energy management programs, energy benchmarking, reporting, and energy management systems Technical topics cover efficiency improvement opportunities in a wide range of utility systems and process equipment types, as well as techniques to improve process design and operation

It is universally recognized that the end of the current and the beginning of the next century will be characterized by a radical change in the existing trends in the economic development of all countries and a transition to new principles of economic management on the basis of a resource and energy conservation policy. Thus there is an urgent necessity to study methods, technical aids and economic consequences of this change, and particularly, to determine the possible amounts of energy resources which could be conserved (energy "reserves") in different spheres of the national economy. An increased interest towards energy conservation in industry, one of the largest energy consumers, is quite natural and is manifested by the large num ber of publications on this topic. But the majority of publications are devoted to the solution of narrowly defined problems, determination of energy reserves in specific processes and plants, efficiency estimation of individual energy conserva tion measures, etc. However, it is necessary to develop a general methodological approach to the solution of such problems and create a scientific and methodical base for realizing an energy conservation policy. Such an effort is made in this book, which is concerned with methods for studying energy use efficiency in technological processes and estimation of the theoretical and actual energy reserves in a given process, technology, or industrial sector on the basis of their complete energy balances.

We need to know what opportunities there are and what limits exist to the improvement of energy efficiency, since this is the most cost-effective way to abate greenhouse gas emissions. This book presents a method whereby promising technologies can be identified and characterised that can contribute to an improvement of energy efficiency in the long term. An objective measurement of maximum improvement is provided by an analysis of the theoretical minimum specific energy demand. A descriptive inventory is then given of new and conceivable technologies that can improve efficiency, extending beyond the standard lists found in the literature. The method is applied to three main energy consuming branches of industry: paper and board, iron and steel, and nitrogen fertilizer. Each of the studies provides an in-depth analysis of the industry and an extensive survey of options for its improvement.

This book does not give a prediction of what the efficiency will be of the energy use of industrial processes in the future. However, it does give an exploration of limits to the efficiency of current processes and an indication of what might be achieved if new technologies can be developed. At the Department of Science, Technology and Society of Utrecht University research had been done to the opportunities for improvement of the energy efficiency in the short term since the 1980's. This had resulted in a comprehensive database on energy efficient measures. This database and a possible application are described in Chapter 3 of this book. The use of the database induced new research themes around efficiency improvement, e.g. concerning barriers for implementation of measures. It was around 1993 that I did a preliminary study to the potential for efficiency improvement in the long term. Historical analysis had shown us that the short term potential stayed constant over the years. It seemed to be replenished by the introduction of new technologies. This lead to the question whether there are limits to the efficiency, taking into account both thermodynamic considerations and ideas on the development and dissemination of new technologies.

Proceedings of a workshop organized by the Commission of the European Communities, Directorate-General for Energy, Berlin, Germany, 19-20 October 1987.