2024 Capability Portfolio Digital | Page 147

Clean Energy Capability Portfolio | Energy Markets

Flexible Operation

of Energy-Intensive
Processes for Industrial
Scale Demand-side
Power Management

Many industrial processes such as aluminium smelting are highly energy intensive . Australian aluminium smelters use more than 12 percent of total electricity generated in Australia . One effective way to reduce their environmental footprint is to power them with renewable energy . However , the challenge with renewable energy is intermittency . An industrial scale demandside power management approach acts as a virtual energy storage technique to help stabilise the grid with significant penetration of renewable energy generation .

Competitive Advantage

• Developed capability of flexible operation of industrial processes ( power modulation ) – can be implemented to dynamically adjust the production rate with the time-varying availability and cost of electricity
• Advanced process control techniques based on contraction theory
• Advanced smelting cell real-time monitoring and control techniques enabling power modulation
• Sophisticated dynamic models for cell operations and control developed from industrial data and experiments using production cells
• Know-how and intellectual property in power modulation

Impact

• Significant improvements in flow battery systems
• Greater flexibility in battery operation for optimised charging and discharging with time-varying input / output power for integration with renewable power sources
• Improved voltage stability and power
• Helps reduce manufacturing costs

Capabilities and Facilities

• Smart sensing systems for online monitoring of aluminium smelting cells ( patent granted )
• Advanced soft sensing techniques for aluminium smelting cells ( patent granted )
• Optimal cell control techniques that take advantage of thermal capacity of smelting cells for maximised operational economy and flexibility

Our Collaborators

• Emirates Global Aluminium ( UAE )
• TRIMET ( Germany )

More Information

Professor Jie Bao
School of Chemical Engineering
T : + 61 2 9385 6755 E : j . bao @ unsw . edu . au
Professor . Maria Skyllas-Kazacos
School of Chemical Engineering
T : + 61 2 9385 6755

Successful Applications

E : m . skyllas-kazacos @ unsw . edu . au
• Power modulation operations at Emirates Global Aluminium ( UAE ) and TRIMET ( Germany )

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