In order to limit the devastating effects of global warming and climate change, the UK has legally committed to reaching net zero by 2050, meaning that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will be equal to the emissions removed from the atmosphere. Etienne Fourie, technical sales manager, Babcock Wanson discusses.
Babcock Wanson
Industry is responsible for 13.7% of GHG emissions in the UK and, whilst strides have been made to reduce emissions, with 50% of industrial energy consumption still provided by fossil fuels, there’s a long way to go. The UK government’s Review of Energy Policy 2024 acknowledges that a comprehensive industrial strategy needs to be developed, with a strong focus on decarbonisation.
The decarbonisation pillars
So how do we decarbonise industry?
There are six pillars at the heart of decarbonisation:
- Circular economy
- Renewables
- Grid infrastructure
- Energy efficiency
- Sustainable mobility
- Energy communities
To decarbonise across all these pillars, we have to move from fossil fuels to electric primarily, with biofuel and hydrogen forming part of the mix. We also need to invest in carbon capture, utilisation, and storage, especially for mitigating emissions in sectors with limited alternatives (e.g. cement production), and we need to digitise our processes. The latter will enable us to enhance data processing for efficiency gains, faster problem-solving, predictive maintenance, and even virtual testing of solutions.
Energy transition solutions for industry
Babcock Wanson
As a major international supplier of boiler rooms and associated equipment, operating in more than 13 countries, Babcock Wanson Group has become a major player when it comes to energy transition, offering increasingly carbon-free heat production solutions for industry. Our ambition is to enable customers to reduce their fossil fuel consumption and achieve their targets for reducing their environmental footprint. We have identified four major energy transition opportunities available now for industry to consider in its drive to improved sustainability:
1. Decarbonisation
Alternative solutions to the use of fossil fuels in steam and hot water production are readily available.
Electrification is by far the most popular and practical means of decarbonising, with heat pumps, electric resistance heaters and electrode boilers offering an efficient means for both direct and indirect heating. Babcock Wanson has developed a full range of energy-efficient low and high voltage electric boilers that provide precise temperature control.
However, in the UK electricity costs and infrastructure are the main stumbling blocks in achieving electrification. Hybrid solutions that allow customers to use the best available energy source at any given time could be one way forward here.
Combustion solutions based on renewable energy such as hydrogen, biogas and oxycombustion are also on the table for consideration. However, the cost to transition from natural gas to hydrogen is considerable, and it has an increased tendency to form harmful NOx gases. Biofuels, on the other hand, are largely compatible with existing infrastructure but there is limited scope for increasing the scale of biomass production.
2. Energy performance
Where low carbon solutions are not a practical option, focus on maximising the energy performance of existing boilers. There are several ways this can be achieved.
Firstly, ensure you have a modern energy efficient burner that is seamlessly matched with the heated vessel. Our Modulo+ gas burners, for example, are designed with digital micro-modulation control and specially developed combustion head for a high turndown of 12:1 for improved efficiency and lower overall losses due to a reduction in the number of purge cycles. The key to a good burner is its ability to provide very accurate control of excess air over the entire operating range, resulting in an excellent combustion efficiency no matter what the process load, and the lowest practicable operating costs.
Secondly, adapt water treatment to the quality of the water available by ensuring the correct water treatment chemicals are used for the process at hand. Consider the use of ion exchange softening, thermal degassing (deaeration), and demineralisation by reverse osmosis or by resin exchange.
Thirdly, consider remote monitoring of heating systems. Our Navinergy digital platform provides 24/7 boiler room performance monitoring alerting users to deviations in equipment operation and water quality enabling them to take action where required.
Combined, these actions reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, reducing NOx and CO2 emissions in the process.
3. Reduction of polluting emissions
In addition to the actions listed above, polluting emissions can be reduced further through the adoption of equipment specifically designed to capture and eliminate air pollutants generated by industrial installations. Thermal oxidation solutions, including regenerative, recuperative and deodorising options, are highly effective at treating VOCs and odours. Pollutant gases are heated to a high temperature in a combustion chamber and are fully oxidised before being discharged as a harmless gas. Modern oxidisers incorporating adsorption technology concentration techniques can bring even the largest air volumes with low solvent loadings within reach of economic operation.
4. Recovery and re-use
Look at best practice in managing natural resources.
When it comes to water management, consider implementing solutions to recover and reintegrate part of the water discharged, thereby reducing water consumption.
Waste heat recovery through the use of flue gas and condensing economisers is also ideal and can allow for considerable savings to be made. Economisers are essentially heat exchange devices that extract the residual heat from the exhaust gas generated by the combustion process. That recovered heat is usually fed back into the process, typically to the boiler feed water thereby optimising the overall efficiency of the plant in the most compact and cost-effective manner. Different types of economisers are available to meet a wide variety of processes and site needs. Our R-Eco solution, for example, is a combustion air preheater that recovers heat from the combustion fumes and uses a Flue Gas Recirculation system, which increases the overall efficiency of the boiler up to 98%.
Solvent recovery systems should also be considered to both help reduce your carbon foot print and meet increasingly stringent emission limits for solvents and VOCs. A major player in the field, DCT solvent recovery systems’ distillation technology allows for a very high level of purity – frequently exceeding international standards - for the recovered solvents to then be reused in production, making for a rapid return on investment.
The road to decarbonisation
People often refer to the road to decarbonisation, but the reality is there are multiple forks in the road and decisions to be made on which route to take. Each application has its own set of challenges, but options are available to help improve sustainability and get you one step closer to the net zero destination.