Towards Efficient and Clean Process Integration: Utilisation of Renewable Resources and Energy-Saving Technologies

Abstract

The strong demand for sustainable energy supplies had escalated the discovery, and intensive research into cleaner energy sources, as well as efficient energy management practices. In the context of the circular economy, the efforts target not only the optimisation of resource utilisation at various stages, but the products’ eco-design is also emphasized to extend their life spans. Based on the concept of comprehensive circular integration, this review discusses the roles of Process Integration approaches, renewable energy sources utilisation and design modifications in addressing the process of energy and exergy efficiency improvement. The primary focus is to enhance the economic and environmental performance through process analysis, modelling and optimisation. The paper is categorised into sections to show the contribution of each aspect clearly, namely: (a) Design and numerical study for innovative energy-efficient technologies; (b) Process Integration—heat and power; (c) Process energy efficiency or emissions analysis; (d) Optimisation of renewable energy resources supply chain. Each section is assessed based on the latest contribution of this journal’s Special Issue from the 21st conference on Process Integration, Modelling and Optimisation for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction (PRES 2018). The key results are highlighted and summarised within the broader context of the state of the art development.

Internet of Things (IoT): Opportunities, issues and challenges towards a smart and sustainable future

“…The efficiency of specific production processes ( Giama et al., 2020 ), is also vital and certainly needs to be carefully investigated and analysed, to reduce energy intensity and provide a circular economy concept in specific application areas, ( Xu et al., 2020 ). The main research efforts should be directed towards the upgrade of energy saving technologies followed with the increasing utilization of renewable energy sources, ( Klemeš et al., 2019 ). Recent technological progress in the field of IoT technologies has enabled different opportunities for the possible application of IoT concepts in the energy sector and environmental protection to secure a sustainable development.…”

Thermodynamics-Based Process Sustainability Evaluation

“…Equations (2) and (3) can be applied to various contours, including specific process systems, supply chains or complete life cycles. They can be used to evaluate downstream and/or upstream impacts.…”

“…The efficient use of energy is of utmost importance for process sustainability and emission reduction [1]. This is an area of increasing research and practical interest that has persisted to this day [2]. All major economic sectors are under investigation, including industry [3], transportation [4] and agriculture [5].…”

Method of Predicting the Location of Water Cresting for Horizontal Wells in a Water-Drive Reservoir for Early Prevention

“…Despite increasing advances in green energy such as wind, solar, and biomass, 1 fossil fuel is still forecasted to provide up to 78% of the world’s energy needs until 2040. 2 As conventional oil and gas resources dwindle, exploitation of unconventional resources such as tight oil and shale 3 is taking their place enabled by technologies such as horizontal wells, geosteering, and multistage fracturing. 4 − 8 With application of horizontal wells becoming widespread and matured in unconventional reservoirs, its usage is being broadened out to boost productivity in conventional and marginal thin-reservoirs alike.…”