Industrial Energetic Districts: Impact Analysis on the Global Energy Efficiency and Business Competitiveness

Abstract

Process industries located in emerging economies have relative low levels of production to similar ones located in developed countries, this fact influences the implementation feasibility of cogeneration and/or tri-generation systems that allow a substantial increase in the plant global energy efficiency. In this paper, an energy and economic analysis of several alternatives of cogeneration was done for a company located in Barranquilla (Colombia, South America) that produces vegetable oils and derivatives and its energy matrix is approximately 90% thermal and 10% electric. In this investigation two type of analysis were done, both supported by process simulation software, these are: 1) Taking the plant as the control volume and evaluating the entire electrical demand supply with natural gas engine and turbine – generator, plus exhaust gases heat recovery for refrigeration and/or preheating of thermal oil or water in boilers. 2) As an energy-industrial district, where the company takes advantage of the residual heat of a gas turbine and sells the excess of electrical power to nearby plants, a concept introduced by the authors as Sustainable Energetic Industrial District in Emerging Economies (SEIDEE). The input variable considered for this analysis was electric demand which restricts the technology implementation. It was found that the investment return period is notably lengthy when the thermal machine supplies the electric power demanded by the industrial plant. This period is considerably reduced when the SEIDEE concept is implemented, this period reduction is between 57% and 65%.