ChemE Dept. Seminar: Advances, Challenges and Opportunities in Process Electrification
Building 66, 25 AMES ST, Cambridge, MA
Speaker: Michael Baldea, Claire and Peter Buenz Endowed Chair and Kenneth A. Kobe Professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin Electrification aims to change the way energy is supplied and used in chemical and manufacturing processes. Electrifying process heat is especially important because heating accounts for a large share of industrial energy use and emissions. At the level of individual units, electric technologies can operate more efficiently, start up much faster, and offer better control than conventional fired equipment. These features enable new opportunities for process integration and more flexible plant operation. Beyond the plant, electrification also affects the power grid. As more industrial processes rely on electricity, their operating patterns influence overall electricity demand and its variability. This presentation reviews recent results that probe these effects. We quantify efficiency gains at the unit level, introduce new processing architectures with fast startup /shut down cycles, discuss the impact of electrification on heat integration at the plant level, and study new electricity market mechanisms…