Intensified energy-saving technologies developed in EU-funded research: a review

The competitiveness of the European process industry depends on its ability to achieve the required production, in terms of purity, quantity, conditions, etc., at minimum operational cost. The key factor in the minimization of the operational costs, is energy, which translates to lower operational costs for the process. To that perspective, technologies for the intensification of energy saving (Intensified Energy Saving Technologies—IESTs) have been in the focus of European research in the process industry sector, especially since the beginning of the 90s. The main advantage of the IESTs is that after proper sizing, they can be integrated in existing plants, offering high energy savings (estimated at 10–17% for the entire process) and also result in a more compact process. The results of the research performed on IESTs are very promising, and the potential of applying IESTs in new or existing plants is continuously being proved. However, a remaining problem, is the optimal insertion of IESTs in a given process. In this paper, a review of the IESTs developed in EU-funded research programs (such as JOULE, THERMIE and BRITE-EURAM) that is partly supported by the European Commission in the project EXSYS II, is presented. Moreover, a Genetic-Algorithm based optimization tool applied in the cogeneration system of a refinery is also presented, showing that the problem of optimal insertion of IESTs in a process can be addressed successfully.