Session: 01-01: Decarbonizing Industrial Processes

Paper Number: 169906

169906 - Decarbonizing Industrial Processes With Electrified Thermal Energy Storage: Recent Trends 

Abstract: 

Industries are transitioning away from fossil fuels towards cleaner energy sources, and as a result many new technologies are being adopted to make their processes greener by eliminating their reliance on fossil fuels. Industries including mining and metals, district energy systems, oil and gas, and the power sector are exploring electrified solutions for their heating demands and process steam. Electrified thermal energy storage (ETES) technologies are emerging as a leading solution that can enable this transition to clean energy. ETES is a technology that uses electricity purchased during off-peak periods from the grid or from an intermittent source of renewable power to heat a storage medium. Thermal energy is stored in the medium for later use by the industrial process when it is needed. Most commercially available technologies boast hours to multi-day thermal energy storage durations by utilizing the sensible heat of materials such as sand, concrete and rock. Thermal energy storage utilizing the latent heat of phase change materials is also rapidly approaching commercial readiness, with some technologies in the pilot phase. In many designs, heat is transferred from the storage medium to a heat transfer fluid which can be used to produce steam or for other applications requiring heat. These typically include district energy heating, industrial process heat, or power generation when used with a turbine.

Application temperature ranges include low temperatures (< 250°C), medium temperatures (250°C-1000°C), and high temperatures (>1000°C). A niche appears to exist in the medium temperature range where high pressure steam is produced for industrial processes, such as alumina refineries. The low temperature ETES solutions can service district heating or low-pressure steam for industrial processes but must compete with electrical boilers. High temperature solutions required by processes such as calciners are also of interest, however these technologies are in earlier phases of development.

The business case for ETES depends on many local factors such as the cost of electricity and fuel, carbon pricing, access to favorable time-of-use tariffs or intermittent renewable power, and any other local government incentives such as subsidies. During the technology selection process, end-users will typically consider factors such as cost, technology maturity, modularity, scalability, charging flexibility, safety and simplicity. Technologies that integrate equipment, components, and processes that are standard and used in a conventional way are also preferred, as well as design concepts that are well suited to a variety of industrial needs with minimal customization. Furthermore, end-users will often seek a scope of supply that includes auxiliary systems such as boilers and E-Houses. The complexity and cost of electrical integration is also often an overlooked technical challenge which can create unforeseen cost overruns and design challenges.

In this presentation, Hatch will discuss lessons learned from our projects, leveraging knowledge from working with ETES developers and potential end-users, and literature research to present up-to-date analysis on the field. Our presentation defines the current state of ETES technologies, their scalability and typical integration challenges in brownfield applications, and high-level economics around the topics above.

Presenting Author: Melanie Tetreault-Friend Hatch Ltd.

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Tétreault-Friend holds a Masters and Doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is currently a senior thermal engineering in Thermal Power at Hatch. She has over a decade of experience developing state-of-the-art thermal energy technologies (TES), including thermal energy storage, Gen IV nuclear reactors, and concentrated solar power (CSP). She is an internationally recognized energy systems expert and has been an invited expert on CBC and Radio-Canada, as well as an invited speaker at the annual Applied Energy Symposium.

Before joining Hatch, Dr. Tétreault-Friend was an Assistant Professor in McGill University’s department of Mechanical Engineering, where she founded McGill's Thermal Energy Lab. She continues to maintain her affiliation to McGill University and the Thermal Energy Lab as an Adjunct Professor.