Exergy Publications

Exergy and network analysis of chemical sites

Exergy and network analysis of chemical sites

Chemicals production is responsible for 10% of global energy consumption and 7% of greenhouse gas emissions. Material and energy efficiency are the focus of industrial and policy decision-makers but are often pursued as separate strategies. In addition, the solutions investigated are often localised without exploring the dynamics and efficiency relationships between different areas of a chemical site.

This paper uses an integrated energy and materials metric to study an ammonia site and a steam methane reforming (SMR) plant in detail. Exergy flow maps are constructed using Sankey diagrams to illustrate the resource (material and energy) flows around the site and the principal sources of exergy loss and destruction.

Read the full paper published in the journal of Sustainable Production and Consumption here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352550919300934