The electrified chemical industry

Opportunities and automation

Abstract

The conversion of chemical plants for sustainable and climate-neutral production is a major challenge. However, today’s chemical industry is not only a part of the problem; due to its capabilities, it can also be a substantial part of the solution in the future. The transition from the current state to a future ideal state in which sustainable chemical plants are at the center of a climate-neutral circular economy will be a stepwise procedure. One of these intermediate steps is a production that operates in an energy- and material-efficient manner to minimize the emission of greenhouse gases as far as possible. One of the major cornerstones will be the electrification of existing and new plants. This contribution outlines possibilities for electrification and describes for one example its influence on the complexity of automation.