WWS Solutions for Industry

The industrial sector creates products made of metal, plastic, rubber, concrete, glass, and ceramics, among other materials. Energy is needed in industry for heating, cooling, drying, curing, melting, and electricity. Industrial heat ranges from low- to high-temperature heat. About half of industrial heat is high-temperature heat (above 400 degrees Celsius) and the other half, low- (30–200 degrees Celsius) and medium- (200–400 degrees Celsius) temperature heat. High-temperature heat is used for plastics and rubber manufacturing, casting, steel production, other metal production, glass production, lime calcining in cement manufacturing, metal heat-treating and reheating, ironmaking, and silicon extraction from sand. Low- and medium-temperature heat are used for drying and washing during food production, chemical manufacturing, distilling, cracking, pulp and paper manufacturing, and petroleum refining, among other processes. This chapter first discusses the current sources of energy used in industry and then discusses WWS alternatives to these sources. The chapter also includes methods of eliminating chemical emissions from steel, concrete, and silicon manufacturing.