U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Industrial Technologies Program – Chemicals Industry of the Future

Other Chemicals Industry Partnerships

In addition to the vision, roadmaps, and Vision2020, ITP Chemicals participates in other partnerships with industry. These include:

Chemical Industry Innovative Energy Systems Challenge

To accelerate innovation and technology development in efficient energy systems, EERE and Vision2020 have established a three-year joint venture. This collaboration will support research, development, and demonstration projects to enhance the productivity of energy systems. Energy systems are integrated with chemical processing and energy supply systems within plant boundaries. Inefficient on- and off-site energy generation, transmission, conversion and distribution systems account for energy losses of more than 2.3 quads annually in the chemical industry. Innovative energy systems could achieve an estimated 30% reduction in energy losses by 2020, and result in savings of more than 700 million Btu and $2-3 billion dollars per year. The goal of the collaboration is to commercialize one or more innovative energy systems that will have widespread application and yield significant energy savings for the chemical industry.

ChemPlus

ITP's Chemicals Plus program provides Vision2020 access to experts at DOE National Laboratories and other facilities to conduct scoping studies and other research projects. The goal is to identify research areas for pre-competitive collaboration and, ultimately, to develop innovative technology with broad benefits for the U.S. chemical industry.

AIChE and DOE Develop Utility Mapping and Benchmarking tool

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers and ITP are developing a software tool. This tool will enable plant engineers to create a benchmark energy map that defines how much and where energy is used in individual facilities. The tool uses energy data developed through the chemical "energy footprint" as a starting point, and then allows users to input actual utility data and nameplate capacity to create a plant-specific energy map. A scorecard is ultimately created for each utility area that estimates energy losses as well as potential opportunities for energy and cost savings. Users are then directed to a possible suite of other tools or technologies that could be used to achieve energy savings. Three industrial partners recently completed a third version of the beta test software. The software will be available in late 2004.

DOE Supports American Chemistry Council's Pursuit of ClimateVISION

ITP continues to work in partnership with the U.S. chemical industry through the American Chemistry Council (ACC) to implement activities in support of ACC's ClimateVISION commitment. A ClimateVISION workplan is being developed that scopes out how ACC will collaborate with the Federal government on near-term energy efficiency activities, cross-sector projects, and R&D to develop and commercialize advanced technology (see ClimateVISION Web site).

Materials Technology Institute, Inc. (MTI) Collaboration

MTI's collaboration with ITP has led to industry partnerships that address priorities identified in the Process Equipment Materials Technology roadmap. Corrosion and other material failures cost the chemical industry billions of dollars each year. Advanced materials will yield significant payoffs in plant energy efficiency and overall plant safety. For more information, visit the Materials Technology Institute Web site.

Chemical Plants Participate in Plant-Wide Efficiency Assessments

Several U.S. chemical plants have taken advantage of the plant-wide assessments funded through ITP BestPractices Subprogram. The results are available as case studies to help other chemical plants. Most of the recommended activities and technologies are readily applicable to other plants seeking to achieve comparable cost and energy savings.

Examples of plant-wide assessments of chemical company facilities are listed below. The following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader

Allied Partners

Allied Partners to the Chemicals Sub-program are manufacturers, trade associations, industrial service and equipment providers, utilities, and other organizations that agree to help promote increased energy efficiency and productivity of industrial processes.

Allied Partners that actively support ITP Chemicals include:

How to Participate

Innovative technology is the key to long-term competitiveness in the business of chemistry, and by working in partnership, chemical companies are advancing innovation. In addition, individual companies are achieving near-term successes by taking steps to improve processes in the normal course of production.

If you would like to know more about partnering with ITP, contact us, or get involved by:

  • Taking advantage of a wide range of resources available through ITP. Learn how ITP facilitates industry partnerships and keeps you up-to-date on the latest technical information, industry-related news, and important solicitation announcements available on this Web site.
  • Saving energy, reducing costs, and improving environmental performance in your plant today by participating in ITP BestPractices.