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Boosting new Approaches for flexibility Management By Optimizing process Off-gas and waste use

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - BAMBOO (Boosting new Approaches for flexibility Management By Optimizing process Off-gas and waste use)

Reporting period: 2021-09-01 to 2023-02-28

The energy transition towards a secure, competitive and decarbonised energy system constitutes a challenge for the EU resource and energy intensive industries (REII), since they must adapt their current consumption and production patterns to a higher share of fluctuating renewable energy supply. In this new scenario, energy saving and managing demand have been set as a responsibility for all and therefore, industrial demand response has gained importance over the last few years. However, in order to take advantage of its untapped potential, EU plants need access to better information enabling them to integrate variable and non-programmable energy sources instead of just reacting to network congestions. In addition, new technologies are required to enable higher flexibility on electricity supply while decreasing the consumption and dependence on fossil fuels.
BAMBOO project will tackle these needs through the development of a demand management concept dealing with waste streams that are usually neglected at the REII sectors. The overall concept will be governed by a flexibility management tool able to get information and forecasts from the energy market and interact with the power grid, enabling industries to take advantage of their potential on electrical flexibility for the provision of grid services and the integration of renewable energy generation. Moreover, BAMBOO will rely on the development and integration of technologies which are based on three main innovation pillars: waste heat recovery, electrical flexibility and waste streams valorisation. These technologies include industrial heat pumps, Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC), combustion monitoring and control devices, improved burners and hybrid processes using energy from different carriers (waste heat, steam and electricity) and for upgrading solid biofuels.
The overall objective of BAMBOO is to demonstrate innovative technologies for waste heat recovery, electrical flexibility and waste streams valorisation in previous mentioned REIIs integrated in a cross-sectorial energy and raw materials flexibility management tool.
During the last 18 months of the project, the tasks associated with the characterization of the demo-sites processes and the development of the technologies have allowed the implementation of the demo-sites and we have achieved the expected results.
Regarding the management and coordination of the project, during these 18 months, an effective management has been developed to ensure the success of the project execution. There has been continuous communication between the partners and with the European Commission, with all the follow-up and information meetings having been held.
During the 18 months, the implementation of the ORC has not been possible due to the implementation deadlines of the solution. Instead, an analysis and lessons learned of the problems encountered and an analysis of the extension of this technology to other energy intensive sectors have been carried out.

High Temperature Heat Pump (HTHP), during this period it has been built and tested in a laboratory and a semi-industrial facility.During these months, new strategies for combustion monitoring and fuel flexibility were developed. Experimental trials were performed at laboratory level. The trials for the industrial demo site have also started and the model is being adapted from laboratory to industrial case. As complement to the experimental tests, a batch of CFD simulations have been performed under the same tested conditions.
CFDs were also used to assess the working conditions and emissions reduction for the case of the mineral sector. Afterwards, the commissioning and manufacturing of the new low NOx burner was finished. The first trials on the real kiln showed promising NOx reductions which should be confirmed in the trials of the third period.
Regarding flexibility of the industries, the methodology and evaluation of the potential for the different demos was performed with the development of flexibility tools for the real and virtual demos and with the analysis and forecasting of the electricity German market, which will be used as input for the virtual battery case.
This virtual battery case in the paper sector, with the analysis of the different cases for the virtual battery by the partners who are finalized of analysis of the integration of the photovoltaic surpluses and the study of the renewable energy generation capacities for the different cases.
During these months, the tasks associated to the business plans and exploitation have finished. It has also carried out the business and replication models for the technologies developed.
Finally, the communication and dissemination strategy and activities were settled and the project identity was completed. The dissemination plan has been updated according to the new activities and strategy. There have been carried out two main tasks regarding the dissemination of BAMBOO project in online channels. The dissemination has finalized with the release of some articles, newsletters and scientific publications, together with the participation in the events.
Finally, the activity of the training programs was performed.
Expected results are:
-High temperature heat pump: a HTHP was manufactured and tested in a steel transformation plant for steam production, validating its application for industrial standards.
-ORC Heat Exchanger: An ORC has been designed and replicability studies have been carried out in other sectors analyzing heat sources of different quality, maximizing waste heat recovery.
-Flame monitoring&diagnosis: BAMBOO has validated diagnostic models based on neural networks in a real furnace in the steel industry, detecting failures by flame characteristics and improving combustion quality.
-Electrical Flexibility: Analysing the use of a paper plant as a “virtual battery” in a regional power grid
-Multifuel low NOx emission burner: a burner was modified to achieve an accurate flame control and reduce peak temperatures, limiting thermal NOx emissions.
-Flexibility for REIIs: novel systems and methodologies was deployed to bring new flexibility options to REIIs and to manage them optimally to maximise the economic and environmental benefits.
Concerning project overall impact of the integrated solution, it is composed by the contribution of 4 individual measures aiming at optimising the valorisation of waste streams: their management by a decision support tool, their use as fuels to partially replace fossil fuels, the recovery of their waste heat using high temperature heat pumps and the generation of electrical power by using ORC. Consequently, the integration of BAMBOO solutions combined will result in energy savings, cost reductions and CO2-eq emission saved.
BAMBOO demo case 2: mineral sector
BAMBOO demo case 3: paper&pulp sector
BAMBOO overall concept
BAMBOO demo case 4: petrochemical sector
BAMBOO demo case 1: steel sector