A systematic technique for cost-effective CO2 emission reduction in process plants

Abstract

There has been growing interests to reduce the environmental impact caused by greenhouse gas emissions from process plants through various energy conservation strategies. CO 2 emissions are closely linked to energy generation, conversion, transmission and utilisation. Various studies on the design of energy-efficient processes, optimal mix of renewable energy and hybrid power system are driven to reduce reliance on fossil fuel as well as CO 2 emissions reduction. This paper presents a systematic technique in the form of graphical visualisation tool for cost-effective CO 2 emission reduction strategies in industry. The methodology is performed in four steps. The first step involves calculating the energy consumption of a process plant. This is followed by identification of potential strategies to reduce CO 2 emissions using the CO 2 management hierarchy as a guide. In the third step, the development of ‘‘Investment’’ versus ‘‘CO 2 Reduction’’ (ICO 2 )plotisconstructed to measure the optimal CO 2 emission reductions achieved from the implementation of possible CO 2 reduction strategies. The Systematic Hierarchical Approach for Resilient Process Screening (Wan Alwi and Manan in AIChE J 11:3981–3988, 2006 ) method is used in the fourth step via substitution or partial implementation of the various CO 2 reduction options in order to meet the cost-effective emission reduction within the desired investment limit or payback period (PP). An illustrative case study on a palm oil refinery plant has been used to demonstrate the implementation of the method in reduction of CO 2 emissions. The developed graphical tool provides an insight-based approach for systematic CO 2 emission reduction in the palm oil refinery considering both heat and power energy sources. Result shows that 31.2 % reduction in CO 2 emissions can be achieved with an investment of USD 38,212 and PP of 10 months based on the present energy prices in Malaysia.