Page 24 - Sustainability in the Process Industry Integration and Optimization

CHAPTER 1

Introduction and

Definition of

the Field

1.1 Introduction

In recent years there has been increased interest in the development
of renewable, non-carbon-based energy sources in order to combat
the increasing threat of carbon dioxide (CO ) emissions and subsequent
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climatic change. More recently, the fluctuations and often large
increases in the prices of oil and gas have further increased interest
in employing alternative, lower-carbon or non-carbon-based energy
sources. These cost and environmental concerns have led to increases
in the industrial sector’s efficiency of energy use, although the use of
renewable energy sources in major industry has been sporadic at
best. In contrast, domestic energy supply has moved more positively
toward the integration of renewable energy sources; this movement
includes solar heating, heat pumps, and wind turbines. However,
there have been only limited and ad hoc attempts to design a
combined energy system that includes both industrial and residential
buildings, and few systematic design techniques have been marshaled
toward the end of producing a symbiotic system.
This book provides an overview of the Process Integration and
optimization methodologies and its application to improving the
energy efficiency of not only industrial but also nonindustrial energy
users. An additional aim is to evaluate how these methodologies can
be adapted to include the integration of waste and renewable energy
sources.
Industrial production requires a considerable and continuous
supply of energy delivered from natural resources—principally in
the form of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. The increase
in our planet’s human population and its growing nutritional

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