Multicriteria Analysis for Retrofitting of Natural Gas Melting and Heating Furnaces for Sustainable Manufacturing and Industry 4.0

Abstract

Different retrofitting measures can be implemented at different levels of the industrial furnace, such as refractory layers, energy recovery solutions, new burners and fuel types, and monitoring and control systems. However, there is a high level of uncertainty about the possible implications of integrating new technologies, not only in the furnace but also on the upstream and downstream processes. In this regard, there is a lack of holistic approaches to design the optimal system configurations under a multicriteria perspective, especially when innovative technologies and multi-sectorial processes are involved. The present work proposes a holistic approach to natural gas melting and heating furnaces in energy-intensive industries. A multicriteria analysis, based on criteria and subcriteria, is applied to select the most profitable retrofitting solution using the analytic hierarchy process and stakeholder expertise. The methodology is based on technical indicators, i.e., life cycle assessment, life cycle cost, and thermoeconomic analysis, for evaluating the current state of existing natural gas furnaces. Once the current state is characterized, the methodology determines the potential of efficiency improvement, environmental impact reduction, and cost-savings caused mainly by the implementation of new retrofitting solutions including new refractories, new burner concepts (co-firing), and innovative energy recovery solutions based on phase change materials. Therefore, this methodology can be considered as the first stage that guarantees technical, environmental, and economic feasibility in evaluating the effects of new technologies on the overall system performance.

Environmental Sustainability of Digitalization in Manufacturing: A Review

“…[58] CPS P, T +++ [68] Big Data P ++ + [69] Industry 4.0 P +++ [70] Cloud P ++ ++ [71] Big Data P ++ [72] CPS P +++ +++ [73] CPS P ++ ++ [74] Big Data T ++ ++ [75] Cloud, CPS, IoT P +++ ++ [76] Big Data P ++ [77] IAI, Big Data P ++ + [78] CPS P +++ ++ [79] CPS, VR, AR, IoT P ++ ++ [80] CPS P ++ [81] CPS P ++ [82] AM T [83] Industry 4.0 P ++ + [17] Big Data T + [84] Industry Big Data P ++ + [69] Industry 4.0 P +++ [70] Cloud P ++ ++ [71] Big Data P ++ [72] CPS P +++ +++ [73] CPS P ++ ++ [74] Big Data T ++ ++ [75] Cloud, CPS, IoT P +++ ++ [76] Big Data P ++ [77] IAI, Big Data P ++ + [78] CPS P +++ ++ [79] CPS, VR, AR, IoT P ++ ++ [80] CPS P ++ [ [68] Big Data P ++ + [69] Industry 4.0 P +++ [70] Cloud P ++ ++ [71] Big Data P ++ [72] CPS P +++ +++ [73] CPS P ++ ++ [74] Big Data T ++ ++ [75] Cloud, CPS, IoT P +++ ++ [76] Big Data P ++ [77] IAI, Big Data P ++ + [78] CPS P +++ ++ [79] CPS, VR, AR, IoT P ++ ++…”

Retrofitting-Based Development of Brownfield Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 Solutions

“…There are several approaches to define the retrofitting objectives to cope with that consideration, from an economic aspect, such as the life cycle cost (LCC) [177], or with maintenance and operational cost [178], [179], or life cycle assessment (LCA) in combination with the sustainable efficiency of a product process [147]. A variety of technical indicators, LCA, LCC, and the thermo-economic analysis, are studied in [180], to address the different effects of technologies that will be fused into the legacy system during the retrofitting work.…”

“…A comprehensive multi-criteria analysis takes into consideration different priorities from the technical domain (i.e., saving Not Good (NG) product, increasing overall efficiency), environmental domain (i.e., reducing CO2 and NOx emission), economic domain (i.e., reducing operating and maintenance cost) is studied in Ref. [180]. The AHP method is applied to consider different retrofitting solutions for an aluminum furnace.…”

A multi-criteria approach to evaluate the sustainability: a case study of the Navarrese wine sector

“…This KPI system, apart from the previously mentioned, will permit to give the assessment result in a global indicator that will be provided to the vineyard exploitation and/or wineries, to help them to make their sustainable efforts more visible to the market. The latter has been achieved by a multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM) which facilitates the assessment of the three dimensions of sustainability in several industrial sectors [25,26]. This method is based on applying a multivariable complex decision process that results into the prioritisation of alternatives from the point of view of sustainability issues.…”