Accelerating the Shift to an Electrified Future

With global CO2 emissions reaching nearly 37 billion tons in 2022 (a record high), we can leave no stone unturned on the quest to decarbonize. At the same time, industrial operators must be pragmatic when deciding what low-carbon technologies to deploy.  

While solutions that utilize hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) will play an integral role, particularly in decarbonizing hard to abate sectors, electrification remains the most realistic path forward for the majority of industry. And its potential will only grow as renewables become an increasing part of the overall energy mix.

 Electrifying Drives

 For many facilities across oil & gas and other process applications, the power required for compression represents a substantial portion of overall emissions. By utilizing electric motors in lieu of mechanical drives (e.g., gas/steam turbines, gas engines), significant carbon footprint reductions are possible.

 Within the Compression Products (CP) business unit of Siemens Energy, electrification of compression is an area that we are working closely on with our industrial customers.

One specific example is in the LNG industry.

Earlier this year, Siemens Energy was selected as the single-source provider of equipment for the electric driven main refrigerant compressor trains for Woodfibre eLNG project in Canada. The order includes the compressors, synchronous motors, VSDs, converter transformers, harmonic filters, and several e-houses.

 Woodfibre will be located at the site of a former pulp and paper operation. It will be sized for 2.1 MTPA and utilize clean, renewable hydroelectricity, reducing stationary combustion emissions by 14 times compared to a conventional LNG facility powered by natural gas.

Another example is the Northeast Energy Center (NEC) LNG project in Massachusetts, USA, where Siemens Energy installed a first-of-its-kind hybrid (i.e., gas-electric) integrally geared nitrogen refrigeration compression train.

 The hybrid drive provides the operator with the ability to meet refrigeration compression and onsite power requirements using a combination of grid electricity and mechanical power from an industrial gas turbine, which reduces fuel consumption and associated emissions.

 The electric motor portion of the train can also dually act as a generator, which enables the plant to become a net exporter of power to the local grid during seasonal periods when full LNG capacity is not required, or electric power is in high demand.

Brownfield Modernization Projects in Demand

 We are also working with many of our industrial customers on brownfield electrification projects.

 Some examples include at refineries in the U.S. and Europe, where we are converting steam turbine-driven compression trains to E-drives. We also have successfully completed conversions of gas turbines and reciprocating engines in the midstream sector.

 In the LNG industry, Siemens Energy has performed several feasibility studies focused on converting large-scale steam- and gas-turbine driven MRC trains to electric.  These projects can be very challenging from an execution standpoint. Often the limiting factor is not CAPEX, but the substantial plant downtime that is incurred.

Our experience has shown that in many cases, this risk can be mitigated – for example, by installing new packaged electric motor-driven compressor strings in proximity to the existing strings. In such cases, new cabling and associated piping can be built and routed to a convenient tie-off location for connection to existing upstream and downstream equipment – ideally when the plant is shutdown for planned maintenance.

This approach can present less execution risk than a direct driver swap and enables a large portion of the work scope to occur while the plant is up and running.

Solutions for Decarbonizing Process Heat

Electrification of heat is another area where we are focused.

Process heat makes up two-thirds of industrial energy demand and nearly one-fifth of global energy consumption. It also constitutes the majority of direct CO2 emissions from industry, as most heat and process steam are generated via fossil-fired boilers.

In certain facilities, boilers can be supplemented or entirely replaced with high-temperature heat pumps (HTHPs) or mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) cycles, which recover heat that would otherwise be wasted.

On their own, HTHPs can achieve temperature levels up to 150°C at pressures up to 5 bar (steam). Higher temperatures and pressures (~300°C at 60 bar steam) are possible by installing compressors downstream of the heat pumps. Electric superheaters can also be used if temperatures higher than 300°C are required.

Similar heat and pressure levels can be achieved with MVR cycles. The optimal solution for waste heat recovery (WHR) will ultimately be dictated by the boundary conditions of the plant and the operator’s priorities with respect to cost, footprint, maintenance, etc.

No Two Projects are Alike

In summary, mounting pressure to decarbonize will see more and more industrial operators seeking to electrify mechanical power and process heat.

But the journey will look different for every company and facility. No two applications are the same and the emissions reductions realized through electrification must be balanced with other key factors, including CAPEX, OPEX, and reliability. A technology that works well in one case may not be suited for another.

As always, close collaboration between the operator, OEM, and EPC from the earliest project phases is crucial to arriving at an optimized solution that delivers the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) over the life of the plant.