On Friday, 17 October 2014, the Institute for Environmental Science at TU Clausthal held its Forum on Environmental and Energy Technology for the second time, under the title “Industrial Energy Efficiency Under Scrutiny”.
As the event had grown considerably since its first edition, the Aula Academica of TU Clausthal was chosen as the venue this time. The format of this course requires students to engage with a range of topics — in this case general approaches to energy efficiency as well as specific processes and improvement measures. The students presented the concepts they had developed at the closing session, with additional talks from representatives of academia and industry in each thematic block.
In the block on “Energy Efficiency in Drying Processes”, Dipl.-Ing. Olaf Neese introduced load-dependent volume flow adjustment (LAVA), enriching the discussion with practical industrial applications and concrete examples. In line with the question the students had been working on, particular emphasis was placed on comparing LAVA with the alternative approach of “lowering the thermal oxidiser temperature combined with downstream catalysts”. It is worth highlighting that lowering the temperature with a downstream catalyst offers only a static savings potential, and that such systems respond very sluggishly. LAVA, by contrast, adapts continuously to current requirements and therefore also unlocks the dynamic savings potential.
A book accompanying the event has been published and is available under ISBN 978-3-86948-367-2.
Forum on Environmental and Energy Technology 2014: Industrial Energy Efficiency Under Scrutiny
