Investigating the Potential for Increased Energy Utilisation and Reduced CO2 Emissions at Mo Industrial Park

Torbjørn Pettersen,Olaf Trygve Berglihn,Per Anders Eidem,Emil Dæhlin

doi:10.3390/en13184627

Abstract

The potential for increased energy utilisation and reduced carbon footprint has been investigated for the industrial park Mo Industri Park (MIP), located at Mo i Rana, Norway. Process data has been gathered to quantify the energy flows between industrial clients. The energy flows have been visualised quantitatively in Sankey diagrams, while the quality of the available energy is presented in the form of a grand composite curve. High temperature flue gas from ferrosilicon (FeSi) production at Elkem Rana represent the largest heat source available for utilisation. A theoretical assessment of potential applications for this energy is presented and includes: (1) electricity production; (2) local biocarbon production, where surplus heat is utilised for drying of wood chips; (3) post combustion carbon capture, where surplus heat is utilised for solvent regeneration. The results indicate that increasing the current energy recovery from 400 GWh to >640 GWh is realistic. The increase in energy recovery can be used for reducing the carbon footprint of the industrial park. Investment in a common utility network for surplus heat may lower the threshold for establishing other energy clients at MIP. These are possibilities which may be investigated in more detail in future work.

Highlights

The industry sector is directly emitting 24% (8.5 Gt) of total global CO2 emissions and is accountable for 37% (156 EJ) of the global energy use [1]
Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions [2]. Such interactions are often seen within the scope of the circular economy and are usually divided into three levels: the micro level, meso level and macro level [3]
Several recent studies have highlighted how an energy-intensive industry located in industrial parks can gain increased energy and material efficiency as well as CO2 -reduced emissions through such symbiosis [5,6,7,8,9]

Summary

Introduction

The industry sector is directly emitting 24% (8.5 Gt) of total global CO2 emissions and is accountable for 37% (156 EJ) of the global energy use [1]. Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions [2]. Such interactions are often seen within the scope of the circular economy and are usually divided into three levels: the micro level (products, companies, consumers), meso level (eco-industrial parks) and macro level (city, region, nation and beyond) [3]. At the meso-level, eco-industrial parks have gained increased attention in the last decades, and this is labelled industrial symbiosis [4]. Several recent studies have highlighted how an energy-intensive industry located in industrial parks can gain increased energy and material efficiency as well as CO2 -reduced emissions through such symbiosis [5,6,7,8,9]

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion