Electrification in Process Industry - The Role of Process Integration and Future Energy Market Conditions

Electrification of industrial processes is a frequently discussed strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy-intensive process industries and is highlighted in many roadmap studies. Electricity is a versatile energy carrier that enables a broad variety of options in which existing process unit operations are replaced with electricity-driven alternatives. However, the implications in terms of greenhouse gas emission reduction potential and cost when integrating such new electrification technologies are not obvious due to often complex interactions between energy flows in existing industrial plants. Understanding these implications and interactions is not only important in order to assess electrification in comparison with current process configurations, but also to allow a comparison with other greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies.In this thesis, a bottom-up framework to assess opportunities for electrification of energy-intensive industrial processes in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and costs was developed. One particular novelty is that the framework includes heat integration studies with pinch analysis tools to analyse how potential changes in heat surpluses or demands associated with the replacement of a fuel- or heat-driven unit operation by a new electricity-driven process affect the heat recovery potentials and utility demands of the overall site. Furthermore, energy flows between the process site and the background energy system are considered and the use of scenarios is introduced in order to assess the impact of electrification options under different possible future energy market conditions. The framework was tested and validated in three case studies for different industrial processes. In these case studies, different parts of the existing processes-related systems (e.g. the reactor system or utility system) were assumed to be electrified, highlighting different aspects of the proposed assessment framework.The results emphasise that electrification may significantly change the heat flows through a process site and that detailed heat integration studies are required to capture these effects. Another finding is that the underlying assumptions for future energy market scenarios have a strong impact on greenhouse gas emission reduction potentials and cost. The framework can be used to compare electrification with other process greenhouse gas emission reduction measures and to support policy and industrial decision making

Bottom–Up Assessment Framework for Electrification Options in Energy-Intensive Process Industries

Electrification of industrial processes is one of the frequently discussed options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy-intensive industries. This paper presents a bottom–up framework to assess process electrification options for energy-intensive industrial process plants in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs. The framework is based upon pinch analysis energy targetting methods, and accounts for site-specific conditions, including the effects on heat recovery potential and overall mass and energy balances. Furthermore, interactions between the process site and the background energy system are considered and scenarios are introduced in order to assess the impact of electrification options under different possible future energy market conditions. The framework is illustrated by a case study for an existing chemical plant for which there is a broad variety of electrification options that affect the process in different ways. The option of replacing the natural gas based syngas production unit with electrified syngas and steam production is analysed in detail. The results indicate natural gas savings of 173 MW whereas the electricity demand increases by 267 MW, leading to a strong increase in energy costs but also avoided greenhouse gas emissions of 333 kt/a. For two selected energy market scenarios for 2030 and 2040, the energy costs increase by 59 and 50 M€/a, respectively. The framework can be used to compare electrification with other process greenhouse gas emission reduction measures and to support policy and industrial decision making

Potential for Negative Emissions by Carbon Capture and Storage From a Novel Electric Plasma Calcination Process for Pulp and Paper Mills

The pulp and paper industry has a high potential to contribute to negative emissions through carbon capture and storage (CCS) applied to existing processes. However, there is a need to investigate how CCS solutions also can be combined with implementation of other emerging technologies in pulp and paper mills. This paper investigates the integration of a novel calcination process in two kraft mills and evaluates its potential combination with capture and storage of CO2\ua0from the calcination plant. The alternative calcination process uses electric gas-plasma technology combined with steam slaking and allows replacing the conventional fuel-driven lime kilns with a process driven by electricity. The novel calcination process generates a pure, biogenic, CO2\ua0stream, which provides an opportunity to achieve negative emissions at relatively lower costs. The potential reduction of greenhouse gas emissions when replacing the lime kiln with the plasma calcination concept depends strongly on the emissions intensity of grid electricity, and on whether fossil fuel or biomass was used as a fuel in the lime kiln. If fossil fuel is replaced and electricity is associated with very low emissions, avoided CO2\ua0emissions reach ~50 kt/a for the smaller mill investigated in the paper (ca 400 kt pulp per year) and almost 100 kt/a for the larger mill (ca 700 kt pulp per year). Further emission reductions could then be achieved through CCS from the electrified calcination process, with capture potentials for the two mills of 95 and 164 kt/a, respectively, and capture and storage costs estimated to 36–60 EUR/tCO2

Effective Differentiation Utilizing Technology in the Elementary Mathematics Classroom

The achievement gap between high-achieving and low-performing students has long been documented in the United States. Little, if any, efforts have proven effective in narrowing this gap. The goal of this research analysis was to identify whether technology can be used to effectively differentiate math content for students and increase achievement, thereby closing the achievement gap in American schools. The results of the studies investigated were clear that technology can be an effective method for math differentiation and can help lower-performing students accelerate their learning, in some cases even surpassing their higher-achieving peers. Technology, when used correctly to differentiate in elementary classrooms, can be used to assist in narrowing the achievement gap. Further research studies must be done to clarify which apps provide the best differentiation and highest achievement gains for students

Utilization of Intense Pulsed Light for the Microbial Decontamination of Low-Moisture Foods

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. December 2019. Major: Food Science. Advisor: David Baumler. 1 computer file (PDF); xi, 171 pages.This work aimed to develop a continuous intense pulsed light (IPL) system for the nonthermal pasteurization of low-moisture foods (LMFs). In the last few years, LMFs have been implicated in multiple foodborne outbreaks and caused severe illness in thousands of people. This system should aid in the reduction of food recalls and to assist the food industry to meet the rising consumer demands for safe, minimally processed foods. The approach included evaluating various inoculation methodologies to understand how each one impacts the desiccation tolerance and homogeneity of bacteria following sample equilibration, identifying various treatment parameters and how they affect the efficacy of IPL to eliminate pathogenic bacteria in LMFs, and finally to test the treatment parameters from powdered foods and apply them to a larger, more irregularly shaped food matrix. The results show that IPL can be used to rapidly decontaminate different types of LMFs. Treatment times of less than 30 seconds resulted in ~3-log reduction of Cronobacter sakazakii in nonfat dry milk, and treatment times of 120 seconds resulted in at least a 1.5-log reduction on most microorganisms in hard red wheat (HRW). Results indicate that, especially in HRW, treatment times can be extended without negatively impacting functional properties

Nature’s Best: An Analysis of a Lactation Education Needs Assessment

This thesis explores the perceptions of nurses regarding the importance of breastfeeding, the need for lactation education, and the barriers that may be preventing nurses from obtaining lactation education. Nurses working in Minnesota, North Dakota, or South Dakota were the focus. Secondary data from a lactation education needs assessment was used to explore the perceptions and barriers in these states. It was determined that 290 surveys were useable. The Health Belief Model was used to explore the relationship between the nurse's characteristics, perceived breastfeeding importance, perceived need for lactation education, likelihood to take action to obtain lactation education, and perceived barriers to lactation education. Findings from this study indicate that several characteristics of nurses were significantly related to nurses' perceptions of breastfeeding and the need for lactation education. Among several findings, work setting and the level of nursing education were significantly related to nurses' perceptions of the importance of breastfeeding

Evaluation of Hybrid Electric Steam Generation for a Chemical Plant under Future Energy Market Scenarios

1. IntroductionIndustrial processes currently account for 25–35% of the world’s total energy demand and related emissions. During recent years, the amount of low-carbon electricity from renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar) has increased continuously while the corresponding electricity generation cost has fallen. This leads to an increasing interest in process electrification to reach long-term goals for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. One option to reduce CO2 emissions from the utility system of chemical plants is to implement hybrid electric steam generation concepts in which electric and gas boilers are coupled. It is assumed that the gas boiler can switch freely between natural gas and bio-methane fuels.The objective of this study was to evaluate hybrid electric steam generation for a specific chemical plant in terms of CO2 emissions and cost under future energy price and policy conditions.2. MethodsIn the first step, an optimization model was used to identify the optimal boiler capacities to reach the lowest total annualized cost for a hybrid system. The model takes into account the specific characteristics of the steam demand and the steam generation technologies. It was applied to a refence scenario with current Swedish energy market conditions, as well as two sets of future energy market scenarios from the ENPAC model [1]. ENPAC is a tool to generate consistent scenarios for energy prices and marginal CO2 emissions associated with the use of energy for large-volume industrial customers based on forecasted prices for fossil fuels on the commodity market and costs associated with emitting CO2. The scenarios used in this work were generated based primarily on output from the “New policies” and “Sustainable development” scenarios from the IEA’s World Energy Outlook [2]. For these scenarios, power grid capacity additions are assumed to generate electric power from renewable sources with no CO2 emissions with wind power as marginal electricity production technology. The scenarios also include data for costs for biomass fuel as well as CO2 emissions related to increased use of biomass, under the assumption that biomass is a limited resource. In both scenarios, the significant increase over time of the charge for emitting fossil CO2 leads to a major increase of the market price of natural gas, but it also leads indirectly to a significant increase of the cost of the biomass feedstock for production of bio-methane.In this work, steam generation capacities were fixed to values corresponding to the average optimal values resulting from the “New policies” scenarios for the period 2025-2040 in order to simulate an investment decision. The boiler system performance was then evaluated by a what-if analysis in terms of CO2 emissions and cost for the “New policies” and the “Sustainable Development” scenarios for 2025, 2030 and 2040. Additional runs were performed in which the system was forced to follow an emission reduction path at the lowest cost, allowing the gas boiler to switch from natural gas to biomethane if necessary. The emission reduction was in line with the Swedish target of net zero emission of greenhouse gases by 2045.3. Results and discussionResults from the first step show that hybrid steam generation concepts can be economically feasible even under today’s energy price conditions. In the “New policies” scenario, the optimal capacity for the electric boiler for the energy market conditions in 2030 and 2040 are only slightly higher than the one in 2025. In contrast, the optimal electric boiler capacity for 2030 and 2040 in the “Sustainable Development” scenario is equal to the maximum steam demand, meaning that there would be no investment in a gas boiler.The what-if analysis with fixed capacities reveals for the “New policies” scenario that there is only a slight increase in total annualized cost when emission constraints that are in line with the Swedish emission reduction goals need to be respected. Under these conditions, there is a shift of boiler load from the gas to the electric boiler. In 2040, the electric boiler even replaces the gas boiler as baseload technology. For the “Sustainable Development” scenario, there is no change in total annualized cost when adding the emission constraint. This is due to the higher cost associated with natural gas. For both scenarios, the choice of biomethane to reduce CO2 emissions would be much more expensive than replacing natural gas by electric boiler.This study takes only yearly values for the electricity price, the natural gas price and cost associated with CO2 emissions into account. An assessment on an hourly basis would allow a more detailed assessment and would enable a correspondent operational scheduling of the technologies.4. ConclusionsElectric and hybrid steam generation can reduce emissions of the utility system and can be economically feasible even today. The emission reduction and cost-benefits of the electric steam generation is amplified when taking assumed future energy market conditions into account. From a cost perspective, electricity as fuel to produce steam is more attractive than biomethane

Evaluation of hybrid electric/gas steam generation for a chemical plant under future energy market scenarios

Hybrid electric/gas steam generation is a suitable concept to reduce CO2 emissions from existing industrial plants while at the same time being able to benefit from shifting between different varying energy carrier markets. In this study, hybrid steam generation was assessed in terms of total annualised cost for a case study chemical plant under current and future en-ergy market conditions using a linear optimisation model. The methodology accounts for hourly steam demand fluctuations as well as hourly variations of energy carrier prices. Consistent future energy market scenarios (energy carrier prices and CO2 charges) were used to assess the long-term benefits of different investment options. The optimal capacities in terms of total annualised cost of steam production for different energy market conditions were calculated by the model and used as base for three investment decisions that were further assessed in terms of running cost. The assessment considers the impact of on-site CO2 and electric grid capacity limitations. The results show that flexible hybrid steam generation is an economically robust option compared to investment in a stand-alone gas boiler. This characteristic makes hybrid steam generation a promising technology for the transition from current natural gas-based steam production to steam production from electricity and bio-methane

Industrial electrification and access to electricity at competitive prices : Review of climate and energy policy influence on electricity prices for industry and future implications for industrial electrification

The electrification of industry is driven by the rapidly decreasing price of renewable electricity, together with the need for deep decarbonisation. Electricity can replace fossil fuels in most industrial processes. An important aspect of making electricity attractive to industry is the price, and several of the recently formulated industrial road maps identify access to competitive priced electricity as a key component in a future industrial climate policy. First, w e present an analysis of the electricity prices paid by European industries, and the way in which they have been affected by climate and energy policy during the past 10 years. After that, we also discuss the possible interplay between a future electricity system dominated by renewables and industry and the need for infrastructure development. The combined effect of policy interventions over the past 10 years has reduced the cost of electricity for energy-intensive industries and helped to maintain the electricity cost at an internationally comparable level. The cost of the transition to renewables has been borne by smaller electricity consumers. In the future, industry can play a major and more active role on the electricity market through demand response, sector coupling and storage options. This can be enabled by a concerted effort to repurpose old and develop new infrastructures. The way in which policy is designed will have considerable influence on who bears the cost of this development, and thus on the development of industrial electricity demand and integration