Energy intensity and environmental impact metrics of the back-end separation of ethylene plant by thermodynamic analysis

This study presents metrics of energy intensity and environmental impact of the back-end separation of ethylene plant consisting three interacting distillation columns by thermodynamic analysis. The objective is to explore the scope of reducing the energy for utilities and CO2 emissions. Thermodynamic analysis is carried out using the column targeting tool (CTT) to address the sustainability metrics of ‘Energy Intensity.’ CTT is based on the ‘Practical Near-Minimum Thermodynamic Condition’ representing a close to practical reversible column operation. Environmental impact metrics are estimated from the carbon tracking options. The carbon tracking are estimated by the CO2 emission data source of US-EPA-Rule-E9-5711 using natural gas as the primary fuel. The results show that the total reductions in energy loss and the total hot and cold utility are around 44 and 10 %, respectively; the total reductions in carbon dioxide are around 14 %. These improvements lead to considerable reductions in the operating costs. Thermodynamic analysis helps estimating and improving the energy and environmental sustainability metrics and hence can lead to a more sustainable separation by distillation columns. Keywords Ethylene plan

Energy intensity and environmental impact metrics of the back-end separation of ethylene plant by thermodynamic analysis

This study presents metrics of energy intensity and environmental impact of the back-end separation of ethylene plant consisting three interacting distillation columns by thermodynamic analysis. The objective is to explore the scope of reducing the energy for utilities and CO2 emissions. Thermodynamic analysis is carried out using the column targeting tool (CTT) to address the sustainability metrics of ‘Energy Intensity.’ CTT is based on the ‘Practical Near-Minimum Thermodynamic Condition’ representing a close to practical reversible column operation. Environmental impact metrics are estimated from the carbon tracking options. The carbon tracking are estimated by the CO2 emission data source of US-EPA-Rule-E9-5711 using natural gas as the primary fuel. The results show that the total reductions in energy loss and the total hot and cold utility are around 44 and 10 %, respectively; the total reductions in carbon dioxide are around 14 %. These improvements lead to considerable reductions in the operating costs. Thermodynamic analysis helps estimating and improving the energy and environmental sustainability metrics and hence can lead to a more sustainable separation by distillation columns. Keywords Ethylene plan

Process Sustainability Evaluation for Manufacturing of a Component with the 6R Application

Sustainability in manufacturing can be evaluated at product, process and system levels. The 6R methodology for sustainability enhancement in manufacturing processes includes: reduced use of materials, energy, water and other resources; reusing of products/components; recovery and recycling of materials/components; remanufacturing of products; and redesigning of products to utilize recovered materials/resources. Although manufacturing processes can be evaluated by their productivity, quality and cost, process sustainability assessment makes it a complete evaluation. This paper presents a 6R-based evaluation method for sustainable manufacturing in terms of specific metrics within six major metrics clusters: environmental impact, energy consumption, waste management, cost, resource utilization and society/personnel health/operational safety. Manufacturing processes such as casting, welding, turning, milling, drilling, grinding, etc., can be evaluated using this methodology. A case study for machining processes is presented as an example based on the proposed metrics

Metal casting energy efficient metrics for material selection of automotive parts

The automotive sector is one of the main end-use markets for metal casting worldwide. The strong competitive pressure typical of this industry have been influenced in the recent years by sustainability as a new factor promoted by legislation, increased societal awareness of relevant instances and resource scarcity. Energy efficiency, although only a part of sustainability, is important for the metal casting practice because of its nature of large consumer of energy per unit product. Therefore, the effective use of appropriate energy efficient metrics in foundries is of great interest. In this work, a set of indicators developed by the authors (and derived by traditional metrics) to analyse the energy performance of foundries will be used to compare high pressure die casting processes producing car transfer cases with different suitable materials. On the basis of this analysis, it will be shown that the most energy efficient material can be identified whereas the traditional metrics cannot detect such opportunity

Legitimating power: Solar energy rollout, sustainability metrics and transition politics

Increasing recognition of the irrefutable urgency to address the global climate challenge is driving mitigation efforts to decarbonise. Countries are setting targets, technological innovation is making renewable energy sources competitive and fossil fuel actors are leveraging their incumbent privilege and political reach to modulate energy transitions. As techno-economic competitiveness is rapidly reconfigured in favour of sources such as solar energy, governance puzzles dominate the research frontier. Who makes key decisions about decarbonisation based on what metrics, and how are consequent benefits and burdens allocated? This article takes its point of departure in ambitious sustainability metrics for solar rollout that Portugal embraced in the late 2010s. This southwestern European country leads on hydro and wind power, and recently emerged from austerity politics after the 2008–2015 recession. Despite Europe’s best solar irradiation, its big solar push only kicked off in late 2018. In explaining how this arose and unfolded until mid-2020 and why, the article investigates what key issues ambitious rapid decarbonisation plans must address to enhance social equity. It combines attention to accountability and legitimacy to offer an analytical framework geared at generating actionable knowledge to advance an accountable energy transition. Drawing on empirical study of the contingencies that determine the implementation of sustainability metrics, the article traces how discrete acts legitimate specific trajectories of territorialisation by solar photovoltaics through discursive, bureaucratic, technocratic and financial practices. Combining empirics and perspectives from political ecology and energy geographies, it probes the politics of just energy transitions to more low-carbon and equitable societal futures.publishedVersio

Legitimating power: Solar energy rollout, sustainability metrics and transition politics

Increasing recognition of the irrefutable urgency to address the global climate challenge is driving mitigation efforts to decarbonise. Countries are setting targets, technological innovation is making renewable energy sources competitive and fossil fuel actors are leveraging their incumbent privilege and political reach to modulate energy transitions. As techno-economic competitiveness is rapidly reconfigured in favour of sources such as solar energy, governance puzzles dominate the research frontier. Who makes key decisions about decarbonisation based on what metrics, and how are consequent benefits and burdens allocated? This article takes its point of departure in ambitious sustainability metrics for solar rollout that Portugal embraced in the late 2010s. This southwestern European country leads on hydro and wind power, and recently emerged from austerity politics after the 2008–2015 recession. Despite Europe’s best solar irradiation, its big solar push only kicked off in late 2018. In explaining how this arose and unfolded until mid-2020 and why, the article investigates what key issues ambitious rapid decarbonisation plans must address to enhance social equity. It combines attention to accountability and legitimacy to offer an analytical framework geared at generating actionable knowledge to advance an accountable energy transition. Drawing on empirical study of the contingencies that determine the implementation of sustainability metrics, the article traces how discrete acts legitimate specific trajectories of territorialisation by solar photovoltaics through discursive, bureaucratic, technocratic and financial practices. Combining empirics and perspectives from political ecology and energy geographies, it probes the politics of just energy transitions to more low-carbon and equitable societal futures.publishedVersio

Sustainability Assessment for Energy Systems and Chemical Process Industries

Sustainability has become an important factor in the chemical process and energy industries with a strong drive for process improvements towards more environmentally conscious solutions. However, there are many ways of defining sustainability and even more ways of trying to determine how sustainable a process is. This work looks into applying a conjunction of tools including; process simulation, multi-criteria decision matrices and life-cycle assessment to more quantitatively determine sustainability metrics. We have applied these tools for the production of electricity, methanol and dimethyl ether. A novel method of electricity production, in chemical looping combustion (CLC), was used that inherently involves carbon dioxide capture. Experimental work was conducted for two different oxygen carriers, CaSO4 and CuO, using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Process simulations were developed for both coal and natural gas (NG) feedstocks to produce power and heat. Sustainability metrics were developed based on simulated data showing electricity prices of 23.7 ¢/kWhr (NG) and 7.8 ¢/kWhr (coal) while reducing CO2 emissions 0.38 (NG) and 3.38 (coal) metric ton/MWhr electricity. Renewable methanol production was also simulated in Aspen Plus. This process used wind based electrolytic hydrogen and captured CO2 as feedstocks. This work presents a multi-criteria decision matrix for the inclusion of sustainability metrics alongside economic indicators in feasibility analysis. A comparison of renewable methanol to NG based methanol using this matrix shows that the renewable process is feasible. We continued this work to conduct a full (cradle-to-grave) life-cycle assessment of alternative fuels based on this renewable methanol and its conversion to dimethyl ether. Using renewable methanol as a fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions 86% and fossil fuel use by 91% compared to conventional gasoline. Using dimethyl ether reduces greenhouse gas emissions 80% and fossil fuel use 81% when compared to ultra-low sulfur diesel. This whole work focuses on developing sustainability metrics helps identify a quantified measure of sustainability that can be used along economic indicators in a multi-criteria decision matrix for a better and comprehensive feasibility evaluation of energy systems and chemical processes. Advisor: Yaşar Demire

Energy Benchmarking of Manufacturing Processes in Foundation Industries

Benchmarking energy consumption and utilisation has become a crucial tool for the manufacturing sector in the drive towards sustainability. However, incorporating industrial perspectives into benchmarking efforts is necessary to identify effective and relevant metrics. This study aims to evaluate the metrics for benchmarking energy utilisation within the foundation industries by deploying two surveys while incorporating the views of industry and subject matter experts. The study also involved conducting interviews with metal foundries to investigate the energy consumption of their processes and their metrics utilisation. The findings indicate the need for an accurate and reliable method to extract values for energy benchmarking of manufacturing processes. Proper procedures must be in place to ensure the data is collected consistently and uniformly across different processes and organisations. The deployment of effective and relevant metrics through industrial prospection will help ensure the benchmarking process is meaningful, actionable and supports the goal of a more sustainable future

The Consequences of Mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting

We examine the effect of mandatory corporate sustainability reporting (MCSR) on several measures of social responsibility using both country and firm-level data. Using data for 58 countries, we show that after the adoption of MCSR laws and regulations, the social responsibility of business leaders increases and both sustainable development and employee training become a higher priority for companies. Moreover, for companies in countries with MCSR, corporate governance improves and on average, companies implement more ethical practices, bribery and corruption decrease, and managerial credibility increases. These effects are larger for countries with stronger law enforcement and more widespread assurance of sustainability reports. We complement the country-level analysis using environmental, social and governance metrics at the firm-level in conjunction with a differences-in-differences research design and we find that for the treatment group, energy as well as waste and water consumption significantly decline, while investments in employee training significantly increase after the adoption of MCSR laws and regulations.sustainability reporting, mandatory reporting, corporate sustainability, corporate social responsibility