It’s time to pull together!

Die Spannung steigt

kstabel — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 15:29:12 +0000

An electrifying market llang Mon, 18.07.2022 - 11:33

Technology+Innovation

An electrifying market

Electromobility is an indispensable building block of the energy transition. So it’s no surprise that the lithium-ion battery market is booming. But with this come myriad challenges all along the value chain.

Text: Frank Jablonski

Graphics: 3st

With electromobility booming across Europe, Asia and America, it’s not just battery manufacturers and automobile companies looking to seize an opportunity. Companies including BASF, Umicore and Johnson Matthey are also striving for market share while investing billions in battery manufacturing. Analysts predict that electromobility could be one of the biggest growth drivers for the chemical industry in the coming years.

As this change plays out, global markets are also on the move. Government subsidies, Asian investors and fast-growing startups are right now laying the foundation for activities that could help Europe establish itself as the world’s number two manufacturing region for batteries in less than 10 years. Nevertheless, old and new players alike face major challenges. Compliance with environmental, social and corporate governance standards is a key factor for industry to pave the way for tomorrow’s mobility.

150

million e-vehicles are expected globally by 2030.

EFFICIENT RAW MATERIALS EXTRACTION

Lithium compounds are at present extracted from high-yield brine lakes or a seldom-occurring pyroxene mineral called spodumene (lithium aluminum inosilicate), primarily in South America, Australia and China. Sufficient quantities of this key battery element can still be found today: estimated lithium resources stand at around 40 million tonnes, which equates to more than 210 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent. Experts nevertheless anticipate a shortage no later than 2025, considering the complexity and high cost of extracting this raw material. With brine lake groundwater, for example, the lithium-rich brine has to be pumped into evaporation basins, concentrated and then cleaned. The evaporation process increases the lithium concentration from 2,000 ppm or so to as much as 6 percent in the end brine. It’s then processed further at chemical plants into lithium carbonate with 99.9 percent purity. “Advanced process solutions for flow, level, pressure and temperature measurement help at every step to efficiently extract battery-grade raw material,” says Andrew Reese, Global Mining, Minerals & Metals Industry Manager at Endress+Hauser.

QUALITY IN THE RIGHT MIXTURE

Raw material purity and composition are critical in battery manufacturing. The main requirement for the cathode and anode material is to be as free from water as possible. With the other constituents the requirements vary, because different lithium compounds impart different characteristics to the end product. In the tradeoff between power density, energy density, safety and service life, as well as availability and costs, there are compounds with strengths in certain departments but weaknesses elsewhere. This is why the industry utilizes so-called NMC mixed oxides – blends of nickel, manganese and cobalt oxides – which count among the top materials used to store electricity in lithium-ion batteries for e-bikes and e-vehicles.

For a battery to have particular properties, the NMC composition must be precisely known. Then there is the fact that the materials pass through numerous process steps on their journey from extraction to end product. Every transfer requires checks on the state of the material. “It takes advanced analysis instruments to satisfactorily resolve these challenges,” says Philipp Conen, Global Industry Manager for Chemicals at Endress+Hauser. Raman analyzers supply all of the real-time, inline measurements needed to guarantee the properties and quality of lithium-ion batteries.

CLOSING THE LOOP

The accelerating proliferation of e-vehicles will also rapidly grow the stockpile of exhausted batteries. So companies will increasingly turn to recycling as a way of recovering raw materials from battery cells
to address growing demand, conserve resources and make e-mobility more sustainable.

There are currently two primary recycling methods. One is cryogenic cleavage, which involves cooling the aged cells to minus 196 degrees Celsius with liquid nitrogen and then crushing them. Following that, a reaction with sodium hydroxide releases hydrogen that is burned off in a controlled manner. Plastics, metals and lithium salts can then be separated out for further processing. Hydrometallurgical methods employ wet chemical processes to separate out the metals. “Endress+Hauser instruments ensure safe battery recycling processes and help make them sustainable. Our analysis measurement technology is also at work here treating the wastewater,” says Philipp Conen.

It’s time to pull together! Sustainability Energy transition

3 Fragen an Arjan van Ginkel

kstabel — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 13:00:54 +0000

3 questions for Arjan van Ginkel llang Mon, 18.07.2022 - 11:28

Technology+Innovation

3 questions for Arjan van Ginkel

The industry manager for oil, gas and chemicals Arjan van Ginkel in the Netherlands is an expert in the capture, utilization and storage of carbon dioxide.

What is the role of carbon capture, utilization and storage – CCUS for short – in attaining worldwide climate objectives?

It plays a major role, because CCUS can be used in the short term and at a relatively low cost to prevent large quantities of CO₂ from entering the atmosphere in the first place. The process involves capturing carbon dioxide from exhaust streams, for example. This is an option for heavy industry in particular – with its hard-to-avoid emissions – especially since existing plants can be retrofitted. Or you remove the CO₂ from hydrogen production with steam reforming. This helps to rapidly expand the production of so-called blue hydrogen, which is low emission. It’s also possible to remove CO₂ directly from the air.

What kind of experience does Endress+Hauser bring to the table with this technology?

This is not uncharted territory for us. CCUS has been around for more than 40 years. Back then, CO₂ was captured for the first time in the US in order to stimulate natural gas and crude oil fields. We have since implemented commercial CCUS projects in many industries and we also supply our instruments for research and pilot projects. This topic is gaining momentum like never before. More than 100 new CCUS facilities have been announced in 2021 alone.

What benefits does Endress+Hauser offer customers?

We use our industry know-how and extensive portfolio to support customers along the entire CCUS chain. As a main supplier of the measurement technology, we cover all instrumentation needs, including gas analysis. Our instruments are employed in the separation of CO₂from gas mixtures, in skids for measuring CO₂ gas flows, for compression and leakage detection in pipelines, and in storage units. We also cover all applications when it comes to CO₂ utilization in industry. And with our engineering tools and services such as remote commissioning, plants can be brought online much faster!

The industry manager for oil, gas and chemicals in the Netherlands is an expert in the capture, utilization and storage of carbon dioxide. 4 minutes 3 questions for Arjan van Ginkel

It’s time to pull together! Sustainability #416447 #bad8a7

Gemeinsam wachsen

kstabel — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 10:36:01 +0000

Growing together kstabel Fri, 15.07.2022 - 14:46

Technology+Innovation

Growing together

The systems of Swiss company Climeworks remove carbon dioxide from the air. They are becoming more powerful and cost-effective thanks to highly precise process data.

Text: Christine Böhringer

Photography: Benjamin Hardman, Climeworks

It was clear to Katrín Jakobsdóttir: “This is a milestone in the fight against climate change.” In the fall of 2021, Jakobsdóttir, the Prime Minister of Iceland, opened what is currently the world’s largest direct air capture and CO₂ storage plant. Called Orca, it’s situated in Hellisheiði, a plateau east of Reykjavík.

Both the plant and its underlying direct air capture technology were developed by Swiss company Climeworks. The system consists of stackable, shipping container-sized collector units equipped with fans to draw in the surrounding air. Filter material inside the collectors captures CO₂ on its surface. When the filters are saturated, they are heated to about 100 degrees Celsius to release the CO₂ molecules, which are then removed from the collectors under negative pressure. The green energy used for the process comes from a geothermal plant in the vicinity. Local Icelandic company Carbfix mixes the greenhouse gas with water and pumps it some 1,000 meters underground, where it mineralizes in less than two years.

The Hellisheiði geothermal plant supplies the green energy needed for the capture process.

Orca, the direct air capture plant from Climeworks, captures up to 4,000 tonnes of CO₂ from the air annually.

Carbfix mixes the CO₂ with water and pumps it underground, where it mineralizes.

Orca captures up to 4,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually, an extremely small amount when compared with the 35 billion tonnes being emitted into the atmosphere worldwide. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change nevertheless says that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees is possible only through negative emissions; in other words, constantly removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. “The climate objectives cannot be achieved without capturing, utilizing and storing this gas,” emphasizes Arjan van Ginkel, Industry Manager for Oil, Gas and Chemicals at Endress+Hauser Netherlands.

Instruments for every requirement

Climeworks has quickly enhanced its technology over recent years. The first large-scale plant, which has been operating in Switzerland since 2017, captures only 900 tonnes a year. One reason the company has been able to refine the process so rapidly is Endress+Hauser. “Our technology is installed not only in Climeworks’ 15 worldwide direct air capture plants but in the test facilities as well,” says Francesco Cali, sales engineer at Endress+Hauser. Climeworks benefits from Endress+Hauser’s extensive portfolio. “Gaining a better understanding of the processes and increasing effectiveness calls for extremely precise measurements. And in the plants themselves, it’s essential to have robust instruments that can also withstand extreme and heavily fluctuating weather conditions. We can meet any customer requirement with our products and grow together,” says Francesco Cali.

Rapidly scalable

Climeworks is planning the next large-scale project with support from Endress+Hauser once again. The company also wants to significantly reduce the price per tonne of CO2 captured. That price is still relatively high because the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is much smaller than in flue gases, for example. Hence the capture process is more costly and energy intensive. Climeworks is still optimistic though. The price per tonne is expected to be between 100 and 200 US dollars by the year 2040. And companies such as Boston Consulting Group, Square and Microsoft are already relying on agreements with Climeworks to achieve their climate objectives in future.

The systems of Swiss company Climeworks remove carbon dioxide from the air. They are becoming more powerful and cost-effective thanks to highly precise process data. 7 minutes Growing together

It’s time to pull together! Innovation Sustainability Energy transition

Zukunft: Läuft!

kstabel — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 14:57:16 +0000

The future – we have lift-off! kstabel Fri, 15.07.2022 - 14:41

Technology+Innovation

The future – we have lift-off!

The energy transition raises countless questions, which in turn are catalyzing an abundance of bright ideas. Wherever you look, there are companies creating solutions with the ‘eureka effect’ – like these ones…

Text: Christine Böhringer

Graphic: 3st

Microorganisms chow down on CO₂

The cement industry faces significant challenges because of the energy transition. This sector is responsible for
8 percent of CO₂ emissions worldwide. Two-thirds of those are process related and hence unavoidable, just like in the lime industry. That’s why these industries are currently exploring numerous avenues for capturing CO₂, which in turn raises the obvious question of what to do with the resulting huge quantities of this greenhouse gas. One novel solution uses bioreactors, inside which rapid-acting microorganisms convert the CO₂ mixed with green hydrogen into biomethane for feeding directly into the natural gas grid. The advantage is that the CO₂ does not require pre-treatment: the bugs do a great job on impure gas as well. The technology was recently tested in a research project in Switzerland. Endress+Hauser participated by supplying pressure and temperature instrumentation, in addition to flowmeters for the hydrogen and biomethane. The technology will now be scaled up to commercial plant operation, with a pilot project at a lime manufacturer in Belgium scheduled to launch soon. The goal is to recycle up to 90,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and supply the biomethane product to as many as 15,000 households.

More power for the tower

Solar tower plants comprise hundreds of mirrors that reflect sunlight to a receiver at the top of a tower, where heat from the concentrated rays is transferred to a carrier medium – usually liquid sodium and potassium nitrate, which can absorb especially high temperatures. Energy in this form can be cost-effectively stored in tanks and piped to a steam generator to produce electricity, even when the sun is not shining. To date, the operating temperature of such power plants has maxed out at 565 degrees Celsius, but the Institute for Solar Research at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) wants to change that. In a project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, a consortium of industry and research partners led by the DLR developed a receiver that enables temperatures of up to 600 degrees Celsius. The next step is to adapt power plant circulatory systems to such temperatures. “The challenges with this application are density fluctuations in the liquid salts, the chemical resistance of materials employed for containment and the extremely high temperatures,” says Markus Schmitz, initiator of the project at Endress+Hauser. For precise flow monitoring between the two storage tanks, Endress+Hauser recommended the use of differential pressure measurement technology. The sensors are now undergoing tests in circulating liquid salts. “If the diaphragm seals meet those demanding requirements, then we have found the solution for this difficult new application,” adds Markus Schmitz.

Sleep well with carbon dioxide technology

Covestro is one of the world’s largest polymer manufacturers. As a pioneer in the plastics industry, the company has fully committed itself to the circular economy; its endeavors include replacing raw materials such as crude oil with alternative sources. CO₂ plays a central role in the strategy because it too contains that essential element, carbon. Covestro collaborated with partners to develop a groundbreaking process in which up to 20 percent CO₂ is integrated into a chemical building block for plastics, thus conserving a corresponding amount of crude oil. To date the product has been used mainly to manufacture soft foam materials, such as for mattresses. What sounds simple is in fact complicated. “Carbon by itself does not readily bond with chemical compounds,” explains Jörn Matthies, Global Strategic Account Manager at Endress+Hauser. “But special catalyzers from Covestro and the Catalytic Center in Aachen are helping to make this difficult reaction possible at last.” Covestro manufactures its novel material in Dormagen. The requisite CO₂ comes from exhaust outflows of nearby chemical plants. Instruments from Endress+Hauser monitor the process. Covestro relies on its instrumentation partner’s know-how at other locations as well. “We’re the primary global supplier of flow, level, temperature and analysis instrumentation,” explains Jörn Matthies.

It’s time to pull together! Innovation Energy transition #bad8a7 #000000

Mit Energie dabei

kstabel — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 15:26:31 +0000

Full of energy kstabel Fri, 15.07.2022 - 12:39

People+Culture

Full of energy

As a project manager at Endress+Hauser, Peter Gibas helps customers find better ways to generate energy and use it more efficiently. But in his private life too, every watt counts. Here he explains why.

As told to Christine Böhringer

Photography: Enno Kapitza

For me, energy is life. And my life continues to be shaped by energy. As an electrical engineer, I was responsible for energy supply systems at an automobile factory. I later went to work at a nuclear power plant, first as a reactor operator and then as a shift electrical foreman. I’ve been a field engineer at Endress+Hauser for 28 years, where among other things I manage energy projects. My current responsibilities mainly involve helping customers make green hydrogen marketable, or achieve higher turbine and engine efficiency – in other words, better utilization of energy.

This includes keeping an eye out for new technologies with the potential to make a real difference. I then work together with our partners to develop the measurement solutions needed to advance such technologies. The goal is to have reference systems so that people in the industry, including Endress+Hauser, can see that the technology works. My basic attitude is that if you want to change something, you have to set an example!

Energy shapes both the private and professional life of Endress+Hauser project manager Peter Gibas.

I follow this motto in my private life as well. Twenty-five years ago, when oil was still cheap and global warming was an issue that few were aware of, I installed a wood heating system with buffer storage in our home. The wood comes from my own patch of forest, which I keep reforesting – just recently we planted 640 trees. After that came a solar heating system that covers one-third of our heating needs. And three years ago, we put in a photovoltaic system for generating electricity.

Just like I do with my customers, at home I look to see how the energy is flowing, where it’s being wasted and how it can be better utilized. To cite a few examples: the house walls are especially thick so that very little heat escapes; the sunroom on the south side of the house is heated by solar power; our low-temperature underfloor heating system requires only minimal flow temperatures. We do our laundry when the sun is shining, to make immediate use of its converted electrical energy. And most recently, we stopped using energy guzzlers like halogen bulbs.

I’m pleased to see how, in recent years, energy has become the most important factor in industry. There is a lot of work being done on how best to convert energy and create less CO2. And green products are in demand. I hope this trend soon broadens across society as a whole. Because it’s important that we act now – and not just when we personally begin to feel the effects of atmospheric warming.

It’s time to pull together! Sustainability #416447 #ffffff

CO₂ kommt nur ins Glas

kstabel — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 10:05:55 +0000

CO₂ belongs only in the glass kstabel Fri, 15.07.2022 - 12:12

Technology+Innovation

CO₂ belongs only in the glass

Numerous actions taken by Hofbräu München have already resulted in a 70 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions per hectoliter of beer brewed. Now the plan
is to realize even more reduction potential with the help of a solution from Endress+Hauser: the most advanced energy monitoring system installed at any brewery worldwide.

Text: Christine Böhringer

Graphics: 3st

Drink Hofbräu München beer and you can be sure of one thing: every sip contains only water, malt, hops and yeast, exactly as stipulated by the German purity law. And, of course, carbon dioxide, which forms during fermentation. Dissolved in water, the CO₂ forms carbonic acid that gives the beer its tangy taste.

Outside the glass, though, Hofbräu makes sure that it discharges as little CO₂ as possible. “We began systematic environmental management as far back as 1998 with the main goal being climate protection,” explains Sebastian Utz, Environmental Officer and Deputy Technical Manager at the brewery.

There is an impressive outcome to show for the numerous actions taken to date: within 20 years, the brewery was able to reduce by 70 percent the CO₂ emissions per unit volume brewed, to 5.2 kilograms per hectoliter of beer. Major steps included the switch to green energy and LEDs, conversion of a steam boiler from oil to gas and a redesign of the brew house, where boiling the wort now requires less energy.

Energy monitoring in the brewery

Flowmeters and pressure and temperature sensors monitor the consumption of steam, compressed air and water in the brew house and in the steam boiler and water house.

Memograph M data managers collect the data via 4–20 mA or impulse signals.

Measurement values from the sensors are then forwarded via Profinet to the process control system. Heat quantities are directly calculated and sent
to a software platform across an Ethernet TCP/IP connection.

The Field Xpert industrial tablet provides WLAN or Bluetooth access to all Endress+Hauser instruments and thus to the current energy consumption levels.

“Now it’s time for the detailed work,” says Sebastian Utz. “Endress+Hauser has supplied us with the most advanced energy monitoring system ever installed at any brewery worldwide. Soon we want to track the energy efficiency of every process in the brew house.” More than 50 sensors have already been installed for monitoring the consumption of steam, compressed air and water in every area of the brewery. This information is forwarded to a platform
via a data manager. “Our aim is to use these results for honing processes, thus saving even more gas energy and hence reducing our CO₂ emissions,” explains Sebastian Utz.

The goal, however, is not zero CO₂ emissions but climate neutrality – by the year 2025. “Wherever we are unable to avoid or reduce emissions,
we will compensate for them,” says Sebastian Utz. Hofbräu goes all-out on transparency here as well by investing regionally in renaturation of moorland and accumulation of humus soils, both of which can potentially bind thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide over the long term.

It’s time to pull together! Sustainability

Der Zeit voraus

kstabel — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 09:25:23 +0000

Ahead of their time kstabel Fri, 15.07.2022 - 12:07

Technology+Innovation

Ahead of their time

Although gas-fired power plants are considered a bridge technology in the energy transition, they still have to be efficient, flexible and cost-effective. The plants operated by German regional energy provider KMW achieve this with innovative ideas, intelligent systems and advanced technology.

Text: Christine Böhringer

Photography: Christoph Papsch, KMW

The only reminder of the coal era at the Kraftwerke Mainz-Wiesbaden AG (KMW) facility is a wooden sculpture of Saint Barbara. The patron saint of coal miners stands in the control center of the German regional energy provider, watching over the machinery’s performance and the employees’ fates and fortunes. “The statuette is a remnant from the demolition of our three coal-fired plants,” says Thomas Zimmerer, who works on electrical and control technology in KMW’s engineering business area. Since switching to gas in the year 2000, the company has relied on highly efficient plants and flexibility to hold its own in an electricity market made increasingly volatile by renewable energy sources.

Patented hot standby method

Starting right at the fuel changeover, the focus was on cost-effectiveness and sustainability. At a single stroke, the then newly built 400-megawatt gas turbine combined cycle power plant (GTCC) reduced CO2 emissions by 1.4 million tonnes per year and even today remains one of the most efficient in the world. Net efficiency is 58.4 percent, which can be increased to 80 percent by decoupling the process steam and district heating. In addition, steam from the company’s adjacent waste incineration plant is used to generate electricity and keep the machinery warm. “That means the cogeneration plant can be ramped up within a half hour, even after two days of downtime,” reports Thomas Zimmer.

All of that notwithstanding, several years ago KMW was facing new challenges and once again instigated a power plant plan. For one thing, German gas power plants are putting in fewer operating hours because of the increase in renewable energy resources and declining commodity exchange prices for electricity. Second is rising demand for district heating in the region. “The issue is that the GTCC plant can only be operated in a reasonably economic manner when its operating hours track the electricity market, rather than district heating needs,” explains Thomas Zimmerer.

Quickly ramping up to full power

The solution was a €115 million cogeneration power plant (CPP), brought on line in 2021. Ten identical gas engines with electrical and thermal output totaling 100 and 90 megawatts respectively can be started up and shut down in 150 seconds. The engines make very efficient use of the natural gas energy – over 85 percent. “When there is less sun or wind, meaning that electricity prices are good, the CPP starts up quickly. The heat is decoupled and, in situations of low demand, temporarily held in three new heat storage units with a total capacity of 12,000 cubic meters,” says Thomas Zimmerer. Together they can buffer up to 750 megawatts of thermal power for later release.

The plant includes technology from Finnish general contractor Wärtsilä Energy Solutions – and know-how from Endress+Hauser, the main instrumentation supplier. More than 300 instruments monitor the processes for water used in cooling and heating, and the auxiliary systems. In addition, KMW directly commissioned Endress+Hauser to supply instrumentation for the heat storage systems: more than 120 temperature sensors record their heat profile; feed water is analyzed as well. At the input end of the CPP, Coriolis flowmeters measure the precise volume of incoming gas. Many of the measurement points are designed along the ‘two out of three’ principle: three sensors measure independently of each other so that should one malfunction, two values remain available.

The new cogeneration plant can start up or shut down in just 150 seconds.

Clamp-on ultrasound sensors are deployed all around the plant.

Endress+Hauser Cerabar S pressure transmitters monitor plant functioning.

KMW

KMW is a German municipal energy provider with more than 450 employees. The company generates electricity, steam and district heating from conventional systems at its location in Ingelheimer Aue. The portfolio also includes wind and solar farms, plus a power-to-heat and power-to-gas plant.

Non-contact measurements

It’s no coincidence that Endress+Hauser was awarded the contract. “We always rely on our experience with the measurement technology in question when making our buying decisions,” says Thomas Zimmerer. Among the things he values are the clamp-on ultrasonic sensors. “We’re highly satisfied with these products’ safety, measurement stability and precision.” Other plus factors for Zimmerer are the simple operation of all instruments, as well as Endress+Hauser’s capability to offer the complete installation, including pipework and commissioning. The people aspect is a good fit, too: “We enjoy working together with KMW,” says Endress+Hauser employee Horst Theobald, who handles field support for the company. “And that’s also because we can sense a lot of innovative spirit here!”

It’s time to pull together! Energy transition

It’s time to pull together!

Die Spannung steigt

Technology+Innovation

An ­electrifying market

3 Fragen an Arjan van Ginkel

Technology+Innovation

3 questions for Arjan van Ginkel

Gemeinsam wachsen

Technology+Innovation

Growing ­together

Instruments for every requirement

Rapidly scalable

Zukunft: Läuft!

Technology+Innovation

The future – we have lift-off!

Mit Energie dabei

People+Culture

Full of energy

CO₂ kommt nur ins Glas

Technology+Innovation

CO₂ belongs only in the glass

Der Zeit voraus

Technology+Innovation

Ahead of their time

An electrifying market

Growing together