Decarbonisation of industrial process heating – electric heaters
Electricity is a potential carbon-free solution to process heating, but since not all heat sources are created equal, electrical heating equipment must be uniquely designed
Brian Stubenbort Armstrong Chemtec Group
I ndustrial titans are racing to decarbonise their facilities to meet government, investor, and public demands alike. The unavoidable fact is that most manufacturing processes require heating. As seen in Figure 1 , process heating makes up approximately 70% of all process energy input. Furthermore, 95% of the heating energy is derived from either steam or fuels, which contribute to carbon emissions. Sustainability and EHS managers across all sectors have correctly identified the third energy source, electricity, as a potential carbon-free
solution to process heating. The electrification revolution has inspired the application of electricity in areas of process heating previously unconsidered. Further environmental benefits are gained when electrical generation for process heating is provided by a renewable power source. Using renewable power for electric heaters eliminates both Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. If the solution to decarbonise process heating is so obvious, why has there been a delay in implementing electric process heating? The
Process energy (TBtu), 2014
Process heating
2,353
4,961
7,517
Applied energy
Steam
4,796
2,556
3,080
97
6,371
Process cooling & refrigeration
346
368
228
31
118
Electricity
219
Machine drive
753
360
2,438
2,122
1,369
214
Process end use losses
Fuel
Electro-chemical
122
234
234
112
4,450
5,303
307
Other process uses
69 271
602
295
262
Fuel
Steam
Electricity
Applied energy
End use losses
Figure 1 Static Sankey diagram of process energy in US manufacturing sector (2014 MECS), 2019 Source: US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
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