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Municipal energy systems in the northern regions of Finland, Norway, and Sweden facemultiple challenges: large-scale industries, cold climate, and a high share of electric heatingcharacterize energy consumption and cause significant peak electricity demand. Local authoritiesare committed in contributing to national goals on CO2 emission reductions by improving energyefficiency and investing in local renewable electricity generation, while considering their ownobjectives for economic development, increased energy self-sufficiency, and affordable energy costs.This paper formulates a multi-objective optimization problem about these goals that is solved byinterfacing the energy systems simulation tool EnergyPLAN with a multi-objective evolutionaryalgorithm implemented in Matlab. A sensitivity analysis on some key economic parameters is alsoperformed. In this way, optimal alternatives are identified for the integrated electricity and heatingsectors and valuable insights are offered to decision-makers in local authorities. Piteå (Norrbotten,Sweden) is used as a case study that is representative of Nordic municipalities, and results showthat CO2 emissions can be reduced by 60% without a considerable increase in total costs and thatpeak electricity import can be reduced by a maximum of 38%. Validerad;2020;Nivå 2;2020-03-17 (svasva)

In Nordic environments the cold climate, large-scale industries, and a high share of electric heating drive energy consumption and create significant peak electricity demand in municipal energy systems. Prospects for decarbonizing the transport sector by electrification escalate these challenges, while availability and sustainability concerns limit biofuel use. Local authorities are committed to contributing to national climate goals, while considering local objectives for economic development, increased energy self-sufficiency and affordable energy costs. This research combines these goals into a multi-objective optimization problem (MOOP), and solves the MOOP by interfacing the energy systems simulation tool EnergyPLAN with a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) implemented in Matlab. In this way, the study generates optimal solutions for integrated electricity, heating and transport sectors and valuable insights are offered to decision makers in local authorities. Piteå (Norrbotten County, Sweden) is a typical Nordic municipality and serves as a case study for this research. Results show that CO2 emissions from the integrated system can be reduced up to 60% without a considerable increase of total annual costs, and that in the same range of emission reductions it is economically more convenient to invest in electric personal vehicles, light trucks and busses.

The main production of primary Iron from ore is now made by reduction using fossil reductants, either by producing hot metal in the blast furnace process or as directly reduced iron with natural gas as most common reductant. The climate gas impact would be improved if at least part of the reductants could be produced from Biomass. One possibility could be to use gasified Biomass to produce DRI (Directly Reduced Iron). This is studied in a cooperative project where LTU, MEFOS, ETC and five industries in the areas forestry & pulp, mining, iron and gas are involved. The investigation is made in four parts where the first one is on the supply of biomass. A large amount of Biomass has to be delivered into a single site to exchange a large amount of fossil reductant. Also, forestry by-products should be used as most of the round wood is reserved for other uses. Harvesting, logistics and economics are considered. The second part is on the gasification of the biomass, where the aim is to use to produce hot gas that can be used directly. Pilot experiments are carried out using oxygen in an entrained flow gasifier. The third part is on the metallurgical processes, where reduction tests are carried out with gas that can be produced in the gasifier. The limitations of the gas content are studied as well as the effect on DRI. Also the suitability of the DRI product is evaluated. The fourth part of the project uses process integration to model the whole process chain. The results from the other project parts are used to build the system model. It is then used for technical economic optimization the whole system harvesting-transport-gasifier-direct reduction-use of DRI. The first use of the system model has been to find the best supply road (harvesting, pretreatment and transport) for a chosen production case The simulations indicated that the supply of residuals is possible but will need material from a large part of the north Sweden wood area, and that a relatively large amount of gas recirculation is needed. The continuing work is focused on further development of the optimization tool and the use of it for more extensive studies of the trade-off between parameters of metallurgy, gasification and supply. The result can be important for evaluation of future industrial applications. It could also help in understanding the effect of governmental control instruments. The paper will mainly focus on the process integration study. Godkänd; 2015; 20150811 (cargri)

The possibility to produce DRI using gasified Biomass is studied in a cooperative project. LTU, MEFOS, ETC and five industries in the areas forestry & pulp, mining, iron and gas are involved. The production chain Biomass production and distribution -Gasification-DRI production-DRI use is investigated in four work packages:WP1: Biomass supply: A large amount of Biomass has to be delivered into a single site to exchange a large amount of fossil reductant. It is important to use forestry by- products as a major part of round wood is reserved for other uses. Harvesting, logistics and economics have to be considered. Available data were collected and used to make a system model on harvesting treatment and transport. The simulations indicated that the supply of residuals is possible but will need material from a large part of the north Sweden wood area. WP2: Gasification. The aim is to use to produce hot gas that can be used directly. Pilot experiments are carried out using oxygen in an entrained flow gasifier. WP3: Metallurgical processes. Reduction tests are carried out with gas that can be produced in the gasifier. The limitations of the gas content are studied as well as the effect on DRI. Also the suitability of the DRI product is evaluated WP4: Process integration. A system model is built using the results from work packages 1-3 and used for technical economic optimization the whole system harvesting-transport-gasifier-direct reduction- use of DRI. The process chain is technically possible; however there are problems to be solved, e.g., gas quality vs. demands from DRI process, Biomass supply and logistics. The result is important to evaluate for industrial application, but also to get information of the effect of different governmental control instruments. Godkänd; 2015; 20150811 (cargri)

A study on the application of an active condensation system to a typical Austrian heating plant fed with wood chips is presented. The heating plant consists of two biomass boilers (5MW+3MW). The flue gas of both boilers is mixed and directed to a condensing heat exchanger for heat recovery. The heat gained in the heat recovery system is used for preheating the reflux. A heat pump was integrated to enhance the heat recovery. In this paper the integration of the heat pump is discussed. All parts are modeled to calculate the potential energy gain which is obtained and to assess the usefulness of the application of a heat pump from a thermodynamic point of view. In addition, an economic analysis was carried out to evaluate the payback time for the heat pump using the typical Austrian heat and electricity prices. Finally first measurement results are discussed. Godkänd; 2013; 20140416 (babheb)

Godkänd; 2013; 20131213 (joakim)