The future of the industrial energy sector lies with alternative fuels
The Metafrax Group delegation presented at the IX Seymartec Energy International Forum a preliminary assessment of the potential economic and environmental efficiency of alternative fuel sources, in particular, methanol.
On March 19-21, the IX International Seymartec Energy Forum was held in Chelyabinsk, the theme of which was "Energy supply and energy efficiency in mining, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, energy and oil and gas industry-2024". The business program was attended by 300 specialists and top managers from 140 companies in the industry. Metafrax Group was represented by Evgeny Gavrilov, Director of Strategy and Investments, Tatyana Artyushkova, Strategy Manager, Alexey Dolganov, Director of the Ammonia-Urea-Melamine (AUM) complex, and Dmitriy Kuryshev, Chief Power Engineer of Metafrax Chemicals JSC.
During the first section of the forum devoted to current trends in the development of the industrial energy sector, Yevgeny Gavrilov explained the potential of alternative energy sources in the context of reducing the carbon footprint.
"The problem of fossil fuels, which are now used everywhere in industry, lies not only in the limited quantity, but also in the emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere. Industrial companies have to find a balance between energy efficiency of production and compliance with the requirements of environmental legislation, which are steadily tightening. In these conditions, we see an increase in attention to alternative fuels that can provide a minimum carbon footprint and be sources of electric energy production. Prototypes and mass production are already being created using new types of fuels such as liquefied gas, hydrogen, ammonia, helium and methanol. Metafrax Group, being one of the largest producers of methanol in Russia, is interested in expanding the use of methanol as a fuel and organizes the interaction of the scientific community and industrial partners for the development of technologies", said Evgeny Gavrilov.
Dmitry Onishchenko, Professor at Bauman Moscow State Technical University, elaborated on this topic in his speech. The study he presented showed the comparative efficiency of synthetic fuel engines, including methanol and oxymethylene ether.
"According to preliminary estimates, methanol engines provide both environmental and economic benefits. Using the WtW analysis methodology from GOST, calculation of emissions for each type of fuel "from well to wheel", savings on greenhouse gases and cost reduction of up to 30% per 1 MWh were obtained. Our further task is to "adapt" these preliminary results on a specific type of equipment of our colleagues from the extractive industry and study the world experience in the infrastructure of the use of synthetic fuels in production sites," Evgeny Gavrilov commented on the results of the presented study.
On the sidelines of the forum, representatives of the Metafrax Group held substantive talks with representatives of the mining industry on the use of alternative fuel technology.
As a part of the second section of the forum "Ventilation and gas purification system. Measures to improve energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions", Alexey Dolganov presented the experience of Metafrax in creation and operation of a CO2 recovery plant from flue gases of methanol reformers based on the AUM complex.
"With the number of products produced by AUM, the commissioning of the recovery plant foreseen by design made it possible to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by 1200 tons per day and economically use the flow of carbon dioxide as a key raw material for the synthesis of urea and melamine," Alexey Dolganov emphasized.
On the second day of the forum, Yevgeny Gavrilov also moderated the discussion in sections devoted to the issues of generating own electricity at industrial enterprises and energy storage systems, where the emphasis was also maintained on the environmental agenda in energy and industry.