May 4, 2005 Materials for Separation Technologies: Energy and Emission Reduction Opportunities BCS, Incorporated Oak Ridge National 5550 Sterrett Place, Laboratory Suite 306 Oak Ridge, TN 37830 Columbia, MD 21044 Prepared for: Industrial Technologies Program Acknowledgments We gratefully acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Industrial Technologies Program. This study was carried out by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), which is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC for the Department of Energy (DOE) under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725, and BCS, Incorporated under contract with DOE. This document represents the valuable input of many individuals and organizations. We especially want to thank Sharon Robinson and Robert Jubin at ORNL, and Bill Choate of BCS, Incorporated for their work. We would also like to thank all those who contributed to this report including: Peter Angelini, Tim Armstrong, Robert Counce, William Griffith, Thomas Klasson, G. Muralidharan, Chaitanya Narula, and Vinod Sikka from ORNL, and the industrial experts working under subcontracts with ORNL: Gerard Closset, George Keller, and Jack Watson. Disclaimer This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an Agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any Agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any Agency thereof. The views and opinions expressed by the authors herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any Agency thereof. Contents Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... i 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 2. Separation Technologies ................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Distillation ......................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Evaporation ........................................................................................................ 5 2.3 Drying ................................................................................................................ 5 2.4 Solvent Extraction .............................................................................................. 6 2.5 Absorption ......................................................................................................... 7 2.6 Adsorption ......................................................................................................... 7 2.7 Membranes ......................................................................................................... 7 2.8 Pervaporation ..................................................................................................... 10 2.9 Crystallization .................................................................................................... 11 2.10 Hybrid Separation Systems ................................................................................ 11 3. Separation-Intensive U.S. Manufacturing Industries ........................................................ 12 3.1 Chemicals ........................................................................................................... 12 3.2 Petroleum Refining ............................................................................................ 13 3.3 Forest Products .................................................................................................. 15 3.4 Mining ................................................................................................................ 16 4. Energy Use and Emissions Evaluation ............................................................................. 20 4.1 Energy Evaluation Methodology ....................................................................... 20 4.2 Emissions Evaluation ......................................................................................... 21 4.3 Industrial Applications Selected for Energy Use Evaluations ........................... 21 5. Opportunities for Improving Energy Efficiency and Reducing Emissions ...................... 23 6. Replacing High-Energy Separation Processes with Low-Energy Separation Processes .................................................................................... 28 6.1 Alternatives to Distillation ................................................................................. 29 6.2 Alternatives to Evaporation ............................................................................... 35 6.3 Improved Gas Separations ................................................................................. 36 References ......................................................................................................................... 38 Glossary ............................................................................................................................ 41 Appendix A: Energy Data and Calcuations ............................................................................... 45 Appendix B: Energy Consumption Evaluation Process and Calculations ............................... 49 Appendix C: Opportunities for Novel Separation Systems in the Forest Products Industry ..... 69 Appendix D: High-Priority Separation Materials R&D Needs in the Chemicals and Petrochemicals Industries ............................................................ 87 Appendix E: High-Priority Materials R&D Needs Identified by the Chemicals Industries ...... 99 List of Tables Table A: Applications with Large Energy Savings Potential from Replacements with Low-Energy Separations .......................................................... vi Table 2.1: Industrial Mass Transfer Separation Technologies .................................................. 3 Table 2.2: Barriers to Devlopment of Membrane Materials for Industrial Applications ......... 10 Table 3.1: Separation Technologies Used in the Mining Industry ........................................... 17 Table 5.1: Industrial Applications with Potential for Alternative Low-Energy Intensity Separation Technologies ...................................................... 24 Table 5.2: Energy Requirements and Potential Savings from Replacement of Baseline Technologies with Low-Energy Alternative Technologies ....................... 26 Table 5.3: Energy Savings from Addition of Separation Technologies to Baseline Flowsheets ...................................................................... 27 Table 6.1: Breakdown of Total Distillation Energy Consumption (2,400 Tbtu/yr) .................. 28 Table 6.2: High-Energy Distillations Considered for Replacement ......................................... 29 Table 6.3: Potential Applications for Hybrid Technologies Involving Membranes and Distillation .................................................................... 34 Table A.1: A Breakdown of Total Energy Consumed by U.S. Industries (2001) ...................... 45 Table A.2: Energy-Intensive Industries’ Separation Energy and Total Energy Consumption ................................................................................ 46 Table A.3: Separation Energy Distribution for Energy-Intensive Industries ............................. 47 Table B.1: Process Energy Requirements for Ethylene Production .......................................... 50 Table B.2: Energy Utilization by Process Operation for Ethylene Production ......................... 51 Table D.1 High-Energy Distillation Processes with Potential for Replacement with Lower-Energy Alternatives ........................................................ 89 Table D.2 Proposed Emphasis Areas for Separation Technology R&D and Their Potential Impact on Energy Use .............................................................. 95 Table E.1 High Priority Materials R&D Needs Identified by the Chemical Industry ............. 99 List of Figures Figure A: Relative Energy Use by Various Separation Technologies ..................................... i Figure B: In-plant and Separation Energy Use for Energy-Intensive Industries .................... iv Figure 1.1: U.S. Industrial Energy Distribution ........................................................................ 1 Figure 2.1: Membrane Configurations ...................................................................................... 9 Figure 3.1: Distillation Columns at a Petroleum Refinery ........................................................ 14 Figure 6.1: Zeolite Membrane: Crystallization of a Thin Zeolite Layer on Ceramic Support .. 32 Figure B.1: Petroleum Refining ................................................................................................. 53 Figure B.2: Ethylene Production ................................................................................................54 Figure B.3: Methanol Production