INDUSTRIES-OF-THE-FUTURE

Products

Industries-of-the-Future

Papers:

Process Management

Distributed/Approximate
     Reasoning

Energy Systems

     What has been missing in most strategies addressing global warming is recognition that climate change is not an isolated issue.   Climate change is closely linked to other national concerns.  For example, answers to climate change (the environment) go hand-in-hand with answers to poor productivity (competitiveness), and there are opportunities to address productivity while addressing climate change.  The solution is based on automation of energy intensive industrial processes using advanced information technologies and computers.

     In simple terms, a large part of the solution to both problems (climate change and poor productivity) rests with improving the operations and processes in business and industry.  For example, increased productivity (reduced waste) will result in an indirect reduction of energy use per unit of product made and vice versa.  REDUCT studies for Natural Resources Canada showed that in   over  30   percent   of cases where industry implemented advanced information processing and process automation technologies to improve productivity, there were also gains in energy efficiency.    Advanced information and automation technologies foster development of Industries of the Future (IOF) - industries which have higher productivity and higher energy efficiency.

     Advanced information technology systems can improve productivity and reduce energy use in energy intensive operations through better control and scheduling of production and through reduction of work disruptions.   We analyzed over 300 applications of advanced IT in heavy industry and identified many potential energy efficiency measures such  reducing energy waste by  stabilizing  combustion processes, optimizing energy use by better responding to operating changes, reducing  peak and average processing temperatures,  controlling heat more consistently,   and reducing  peak demand  for electricity.

     These findings were confirmed by a US Department of Energy special study which showed that if energy-intensive American industries were to adopt advances in automation, industrial controls, information processing and robotic technologies, they could realize an energy saving of up to 10 percent.  In USA this represents 1.7 to 2.0 quadrillion BTUs of energy saved every year.   

     For Canadian heavy industry, the application of advanced automation and information (IOF) technologies would represent a reduction in energy use of over 70 trillion BTUs, which is equivalent to a CO₂ reduction of 15 to 20 mega tonnes per year or equivalent to shutting down six 500 MW coal power plants.  If you include the energy and power generation sectors, the total reduction in CO₂ emissions would be equivalent to over 1/10 of all greenhouse gases reduction required.    And you get a bonus: higher productivity and a higher standard of living for all Canadians. 

     Our field demonstrations of advanced information systems in the pulp and paper, power generation and other industrial sectors showed that it is possible to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at a cost of less than $10 per tonne, and when you factor in productivity gains, the cost comes to just a few dollars per tonne.   A few dollars per ton is much less than the $25 to $30 cost per ton of purchasing CO₂ emission credits or the $30+ cost per ton to capture and dispose of carbon dioxide emissions.

     Applications of advanced automation and information technologies are not restricted to any one industry or business sector and, therefore, the benefits can be expected to be broad.  For most application areas, the Industries of the Future technologies are here today ready to offer practical and attractive solutions to climate change and productivity.  What is needed is an equal treatment of the IOF technologies vis-à-vis other green power and alternative fuels projects.  

      REDUCT has technologies to provide heavy industry and manufacturing with Industry-of-the-Future solutions.  We have over 39 documented applications in Pulp and Paper sector, 94 applications in Iron and Steel, 69 in Cement, 34 in Petroleum, and 67 in Mining and Metallurgysector.  The applications include automated fault detection and diagnosis, process control and optimization, and production scheduling as they related to productivity, product quality and energy efficiency improvement.  To explore applications in your area please contact us at (306) 586-9400 and ask for Industry-of-the-Future solutions.

REDUCT & Lobbe Technologies Inc.
P.O. Box 800,  186 - 8120 No.2 Road., Richmond, BC,  Canada  V7C 5J8
ph: (604) 275-3711   fax: (604) 275-3715  email: dispatch@reduct.com