Concepts for industrial parks
(August 3, 2015) Using
industrial waste heat rather than buying thermal heat, installing new lighting,
implementing more efficient processes: RUB engineers develop energy-saving
concepts for industrial parks. An online tool helps economic developers and
climate-protection managers to assess saving potentials.
If a company in an industrial park generates waste heat and
another one buys thermal heat, would it not be more sensible to agree on an
exchange to save costs and energy? It would, believes the "GET.Min"
project team headed by Prof Dr-Ing. Hermann-Josef Wagner, Chair of Energy
Systems and Energy Economics (fig. 1). Commissioned by the Federal Ministry for
the Environment, the researchers have developed and implemented an
energy-saving concept in four industrial parks, in collaboration with
"EnergieAgentur.NRW", the company "econius" and an
IT-company.
It had been a long process: first, the researchers had to
ascertain which industrial parks would make suitable examples. "A complete
list of industrial estates does not exist, but 'EnergieAgentur.NRW' keeps close
track of them and was able to assist us in our search and get us in touch with
the relevant people," explains Dominik Möllenbrink from the project team.
In their selection of the four parks, the researchers paid close attention that
all industrial estates were quite distinct. Accordingly, the chosen examples in
Waldbröl, Viersen, Siegen and Medebach vary strongly with regard to, for
example, their locations and the combination of different industrial segments
represented there (fig. 2). This is because the aim was to make the results
gathered in the course of the project applicable for as many other industrial
parks as possible.
More often than not, industrial estates house one to three
large corporations that are active in the global market, plus several smaller
ones. Fifty companies in total have come on board. Not all enterprises situated
in the selected industrial parks take part in the project. "We contacted
them via trade offices. The support which the offices provided to aid our
project varied strongly," explains team member Dominik Möllenbrink.
"Large enterprises often act as flagships, whereas it was more difficult
to get the smaller ones on board for the project. This is because their
employees don't have much time to spare for the issue of saving energy, as they
are busy handling other tasks, such as quality management or manufacturing, to
name a few. The day business takes priority of course.”