Challenges and Opportunities in Manufacturing Electrification

Michael Baldea is the Kenneth A. Kobe Professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, and a core faculty member in the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES) at The University of Texas at Austin. He serves as Chief Technology Officer for EPIXC, a DOE-sponsored Clean Energy Manufacturing Institute focused on process electrification and is the Editor in Chief of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, the oldest general chemical engineering journal in print. He obtained his Diploma and M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from "Babes-Bolyai" University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and a doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining The University of Texas, he held an industrial research position with Praxair (now Linde) Technology Center in Tonawanda, NY. He has received several research and service awards, including the AIChE Institute Award for Excellence in Industrial Gases Technology, the Outstanding Young Researcher Award from the Computing and Systems Technology Division of AIChE, the NSF CAREER award, the Moncrief Grand Challenges Award, the ACS Doctoral New Investigator award, and the Model-Based Innovation Prize from Process Systems Enterprise (twice). He was also recognized with referee awards by the Journal of Process Control and Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. His research interests include the dynamics, optimization and control of process and energy systems, areas in which he has published three books and over 200 peer-reviewed journal and conference articles. Dr. Baldea served on the advisory boards of several commercial and non-profit entities. 

Abstract:

Electrification aims to change how energy is supplied and used in chemical and manufacturing processes. Electrifying process heat is especially important because heating accounts for a large share of industrial energy use and emissions. At the level of individual units, electric technologies can operate more efficiently, start up much faster, and offer better control than conventional fired equipment. These features enable new opportunities for process integration and more flexible plant operation. Beyond the plant, electrification also affects the power grid. As more industrial processes rely on electricity, their operating patterns influence overall electricity demand and its variability. This presentation reviews recent results that probe these effects. We quantify efficiency gains at the unit level, introduce new processing architectures with fast startup/shutdown cycles, discuss the impact of electrification on heat integration at the plant level, and study new electricity market mechanisms such as demand bidding at the grid scale. Together, these results provide a clearer picture of how process electrification performs in practice, and what challenges lie ahead for broad adoption.