CIEE

Industrial energy use accounts for about one-third of total U.S. energy consumption. Due to mounting concerns about climate change as well as increasing energy costs, energy efficiency has emerged as a key issue to be considered by enterprises and the global research community. Based on U.S. Department of Energy statistics, 64.4% of energy consumed in the U.S. manufacturing sector is wasted. This suggests that there is a large opportunity to improve industrial energy efficiency through cooperative research between university faculty and industrial companies. This project seeks to establish a plan for a joint Industry-University Cooperative Research Center on Industrial Energy Efficiency between Case Western Reserve University and Purdue University. The vision for the center is to establish a national/international research hub dedicated to advancing the knowledge and techniques needed to improve industrial energy efficiency to enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing industry in the global economy and to mitigate the carbon emissions from the U.S. industrial sector. The center also seeks to develop an education program and train an energy savvy workforce while committing to the inclusion of students from underrepresented groups. This planning effort will generate significant potential impacts in terms of research and education at Purdue University.This IUCRC planning project will involve leading manufacturers, utility companies, and industrial organizations to pursue collaborative research with Purdue faculty members on industrial energy efficiency. Novel cooperative projects will be conducted through integrated mathematical modeling and experimental investigations. Specific research goals are: (1) Develop scientific modeling tools and experimental techniques for identifying in-depth energy saving opportunities in industrial operations. (2) Develop applicable control algorithms for effectively reducing the energy consumption in industrial systems. (3) Develop data analytics approaches and decision-support tools to support policy-making and strategic planning on industrial energy efficiency. These research projects can advance the knowledge base of current best practices by identifying substantial energy saving opportunities and developing effective control algorithms and tools integrated with big data analytics for improving the energy efficiency of industrial operations from a systems perspective. The research results produced from the center will lead to a set of novel measures and strategies to improve the energy efficiency of manufacturing systems, enhance the reliability of electric power supply and increase renewable enegy utilization through demand size management, expand the capabilities of the products/services of industrial control/automation products for energy efficiency improvement, and support public policy-making on industrial energy efficiency.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria., Industrial energy consumption is significant and accounts for approximately one-third of total U.S. energy consumptions. For the energy currently consumed in industry, about 64.4% is wasted, based on the U.S. Department of Energy's statistical data. There is a great potential to improve the energy efficiency of industrial operations to reduce the energy consumption, lower the utility cost and cut greenhouse gas emissions. This project is to plan for the establishment of an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center, by reaching out to potential manufacturing companies, utility companies and energy service companies which are interested in conducting collaborative research with CWRU faculty on industrial energy efficiency. The vision of the planned IUCRC is to establish a national/international research center dedicated to advancing the knowledge and techniques needed to improve industrial energy efficiency to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing industry in the global economy and to mitigate the carbon emissions from U.S. industrial sector. Simultaneously, the proposed IUCRC will develop advanced educational program to train a large cohort of engineering students. This planned IUCRC will generate significant impacts on the industrial operations and academic research on industrial energy efficiency, through joint efforts with Purdue University. The proposed IUCRC at CWRU will focus on improving energy efficiency of manufacturing companies, in collaborations with utility companies and energy service companies. The research objectives of this IUCRC are to: (1). Develop scientific modeling tools and experimental techniques for identifying the in-depth energy saving opportunities in industrial manufacturing systems. (2). Develop applicable control algorithms and tools for effectively reducing the energy consumption in industrial manufacturing systems. (3). Develop data analytics approaches and decision-support tools for supporting policy-making and strategy-planning on Industrial Energy Efficiency. (4). Develop educational programs for workforce training on Industrial Energy Efficiency. The planning project will leverage the expertise of CWRU faculty members in industrial energy efficiency, manufacturing system optimization, adaptive process control, and energy data analytics, to harness existing relationships of CWRU with industry to identify possible partners for the IUCRC and utilize an inclusive feedback process between researchers and potential members to determine the strategic direction of research projects to be conducted. The research results obtained from the center will provide novel insights into current industrial operations for in-depth energy savings, plant-wide implementations, and public policy support.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.