Evaluating Electrification of Fossil-Fuel-Fired Boilers for Decarbonization Using Discrete-Event Simulation

Nahian Ismail Chowdhury, Bhaskaran Gopalakrishnan (), Nishan Adhikari, Hailin Li and Zhichao Liu
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Nahian Ismail Chowdhury: Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
Bhaskaran Gopalakrishnan: Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
Nishan Adhikari: Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
Hailin Li: Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
Zhichao Liu: Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-23

Abstract: Decarbonizing fossil-fuel usage is crucial in mitigating the impacts of climate change. The burning of fossil fuels in boilers during industrial process heating is one of the major sources of CO 2 in the industry. Electrification is a promising solution for decarbonizing these boilers, as it enables renewable energy sources to generate electricity, which can then be used to power the electric boilers. This research develops a user-driven simulation model with realistic data and potential temperature data for a location to estimate boilers’ current energy and fuel usage and determine the equivalent electrical boiler capacity and energy usage. A simulation model is developed using the Visual Basic Application (VBA) ® and takes factors such as current boiler capacity, steam temperature and pressure, condensate, makeup water, blowdown, surface area, and flue gas information as input. Random numbers generate the hourly temperature variation for a year for discrete-event Monte Carlo Simulation. The simulation generates the hourly firing factor, energy usage, fuel usage, and CO 2 emissions of boilers for a whole year, and the result compares fossil-fuel and electrical boilers. The simulated data are validated using real system data, and sensitivity analysis of the model is performed by varying the input data.

Keywords: decarbonization; electrification; fossil-fuel boilers; Monte Carlo Simulation; energy transition; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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