Profit optimization of sustainable low-to-medium temperature waste heat recovering management
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-04-2017-0148 |
| Date | 12 March 2018 |
| Published date | 12 March 2018 |
| Pages | 330-348 |
| Author | Chun-Wei R. Lin,Yuh-Jiuan Melody Parng,Yu-Lin Chen |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
Profit optimization of sustainable
low-to-medium temperature waste
heat recovering management
Chun-Wei R. Lin
Institute of Innovation and Circular Economy, Asia University,
Taichung, Taiwan and
Department of Business Administration, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan
Yuh-Jiuan Melody Parng
Accounting and Information System, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan, and
Yu-Lin Chen
AU Optronics, Taichung, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose –Responding to natural resource depletion and carbon dioxide (CO
2
) emission problems, and also
the stricter government’s energy regulations, the purpose of this paper is to develop a sustainable waste heat
recovery optimal-profit-oriented management model especially targeting on the easily forgotten low- and
medium-temperature waste heat in the industry. In the paper, a system is constructed to facilitate converting
the low- and medium-grade waste heat in factories into electricity, and yields optimal profit.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper integratesan efficient Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC)system
from both sustainable energy reservationand cost effectiveness approaches with anoptimization model that
adopts particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to determine proper installation locations and feasible
generator sets. The system is constructed to facilitate converting the low- and medium-grade waste heat in
factoriesinto electricity, and yieldsoptimal profit. The model considersthe environmental factors:temperature,
heat amount, equipmentconfiguration of the number of ORC sets, and detailedinvestment cost constraints.
Findings –The results show that annual investment return rate, annual increase in electricity, power
generation efficiency, and annual CO
2
emission reduction are all highly improved, and investment recovery
period is shortened. Also, the larger scale of the waste heat emission, the better the performance is achieved.
Finally, the study also completes a sensitivity test under dynamic conditions of electricity price, generator
sales price and factory budget constraints, and the results are consistently robust. More valuably, this paper
demonstrates applications on two different manufacturing industries with various waste heat emission scales
to prove the accountability.
Originality/value –The main contributions are in three aspects. First, it proves that applying PSO to a
nonlinear mathematical model can help determine the optimal number and style configuration of generators
for waste heat sources. Second, different from the prior research works focusing on power generation, this
paper also deliberates the cost factors, cost of generators, costs of numerous peripheral components and
future maintenance costs to ensure the factories not conflict with the financial limitations. Third, it is not only
successfully applied in two industries with different scales, but also robust with various economic tests,
electricity price change, generator sales price change, and investment budget adjustments.
Keywords Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system, Particle swarm optimization (PSO), Waste heat recovery
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Booming development among industries has necessitated consuming large amounts of
energy and fuel during manufacturing processes. In the wake of natural resource
destruction and depletion, and also the carbon dioxide (CO
2
) emission problems, the rise of
environmental consciousness has become a hot issue. In order to save more energy, waste
heat recovery is crucial in sustainable energy consumption. Unfortunately, in both of the
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 118 No. 2, 2018
pp. 330-348
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-04-2017-0148
Received 12 April 2017
Revised 3 October 2017
Accepted 7 October 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
This work was supported by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C., under the Grant No.
MOST 103-2221-E-468-031.
330
IMDS
118,2
current industrial practices and research works, little focus is put on the low-to-medium
temperature heat recovery which accounts for 81.10 percent of waste heat in average
(Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2011a, b, c). The reason why this low
recovery rate problem exists is not because of the technological issue but the lack of
economical implementation strategy of the low-to-medium waste heat recovery system.
The contribution of this paper is to provide solutions to close the gap between industrial
practices and the need of profit optimization decision-making procedure to implement the
low- and medium-heat recovery systems.
From the technological point of view, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system is selected
as the industry application target in this research because of its emerging popularity in
terms of comparatively low cost and easy to install. The detailed review of industrial ORC
system is provided in the literature review section. From the theoretical point of view, the
mathematical modeling as well the associated solution procedures in order to solve the
optimal implementation problem will also be depicted in the literature review section.
General speaking, as in Taiwan, due to limited energy production, more than 99 percent
of petrochemical energy is imported. The domestic industrial sector consumes 38.56 percent
of all energy and is blamed to be responsible for half of the total carbon dioxide emissions
(Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2011a, b, c). The energy is primarily used
to generate thermal energy, which accounts for over 90 percent of all energy consumption.
Only 40 percent of thermal energy is converted to be renewable in thermal processes or
mechanical, chemical, or electrical power. The other 50 percent of thermal energy is released
into the atmosphere as waste heat, causing energy waste and environmental pollution
(Kuo and Lo, 2012). In order to assure a sustainable future, reducing CO
2
emission and
improving industrial process to improve the energy efficiency are critical means. For the
past decades, Taiwan Government has implemented several sustainable energy policies
such as Energy Management Act, Electricity Act, Petroleum Administration Act,
Regulations Governing Administration of Gas Utilities, Renewable Energy Development
Act, and other energy-related regulations. In 2011, New Energy Conference held by
Executive Yuan has announced to dismiss nuclear power plants 1 and 2 in 2023; thus, how
to explore sustainable energy has become industries’important mission.
Due to increasing cost of energy, power generation systems have drawn more and more
attentions. Among the renewable energy, waste heat recovery is considered an economic
and efficient energy, and can be applied in a great scope to various industries (Butcher and
Reddy, 2007). According to Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories (2008),
in order to designan economically beneficial wasteheat recovering system, waste heatshould
be recognizedas both high continuity and steadinessof the flow and the sources can be either
directly or indirectly emitted. The gas from the flue emissionsof various types of equipment
such as incinerators, vapor boilers, thermal coal boilers, furnaces, cement kilns or electric arc
furnaces is an example of direct source. However, some waste is indirectly incurred through
the indirect removal of excess heat in order to meet the follow-up manufacturing process.
So as to identify the industry type that is suitable to invest implementing the waste heat
recovering system, waste heat temperature is an evaluation to assess the waste amount.
According to preliminary energy statistics, the industrial sector consumes the most
energy but produces the largest waste heat at the same time. Large energy consumption in
the Taiwan industrial sector produces waste heat approximately equal to 3.2 million kl. of
oil, and yield waste heat temperatures ranging from 130°C to 650°C. Waste heat
temperatures less than 250°C, which are considered low temperature, are equivalent to two
million kl. of oil, accounting for 62.72 percent of all waste heat. Medium temperature waste
heat (251°C-650°C) accounts for 19.08 percent of waste heat and high-temperature waste
heat (W650°C) accounts for 18.20 percent of waste heat ( Bureau of Energy, Ministry of
Economic Affairs, 2011a, b, c). Thus, waste heat emitted with low- and medium-waste heat
331
Temperature
waste heat
recovering
management
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