Author: Ana Sofia Praxedes

RETROFEED IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT: A TRANSFORMATIVE JOURNEY 

After a challenging and rewarding four-year journey, the RETROFEED project hosted its final event in Brussels, Belgium, and online, on the 25th of October. 

The event was geared towards showcasing its final remarkable results and discussing future possibilities for their uptake by other companies, market players, and legislators. 

Thus, the event brought around 40 experts, stakeholders, and innovators together to discuss and celebrate the project’s transformative contributions. 

This project, financed by Horizon Europe, sets important standards in Europe’s journey toward the decarbonization of heavy industry. 

In this context, Lucia Fernandez Marcia, representing the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), highlighted, with a keynote speech, the project’s significance in the context of European industry and sustainability, and for the success of SPIRE Partnerships (Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency), as it contributes to driving forward long-term systemic changes required to create a cleaner, greener, fairer society. 

Looking at the ongoing programming period, Ms. Fernandez Marcia focused the attention on the new calls for the Processes4Planet partnership with a deadline of 7 February 2024. 

ENGAGING THE FIVE DEMOSITES INTO A TRANSVERSAL DISCUSSION 

Ludo Diels, an Advisory Board Member of A.SPIRE, moderated the session around the sector insights and challenges from the demo-sites in the sectors of ceramics, cement, aluminum, steel, and the agrochemical sector, focusing on what they can learn from their trials and each other. 

The second roundtable discussion, moderated by EEIP President Rod Janseen, explored the digitalization efforts aimed at enhancing competitiveness in European resource-intensive industries, and the market potential for the RETROFEED solution (see below).  

Following this, participants engaged in a quiz play session hosted by EEIP, adding an element of fun to the event and had the chance to win a solar-powered charger and a charger with a tea-cup warmer embedded. 

A PATHWAY TOWARDS COMMERCIALIZATION OF SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS 

The RETROFEED project has yielded results with versatile applications that extend far beyond its original scope. These outcomes are not confined to a single company but can seamlessly integrate into various aspects of industrial operations. Within the same company, the solutions of RETROFEED can apply across multiple fronts, affecting furnaces, kilns, electric arc furnaces (EAFs), burners, and more, all housed within the same facilities or operating under the same corporate umbrella. 

Furthermore, the reach of these advancements can be potentially replicated in other projects and industrial sectors. For instance, CIRCE’s Visual Camera for monitoring raw material melting rates inside the furnace, utilized in TORRECID, brings a new level of precision and insight to the steel and agrochemical sectors, bolstering their competitive edge. 

From a horizontal perspective, another key solution that can be easily replicated in similar sectors is the Digital Information System developed by OPTIT SRL, which supports business or organizational decision-making activities in complex processes leveraging data and algorithms. 

“Embracing a Decision Support System is not just an option; it’s the key to unlock data-driven insights, streamline processes, and ensure your business remains competitive in the market,” presented Luca Ferrari from OPTIT SRL. 

It is remarkable to highlight that some of these solutions have already reached TRL9 because of the relevant expertise of the industrial and engineering companies in the consortium, and a higher TRL upscaling and industrial-grade level is expected within 6-12 months after project closure. 

Some key takeaways from yesterday’s final event: 

Looking ahead and after the lifespan of the project, partners agreed that it is key to: 

• Keep the dialogue ongoing with other energy-intensive industries,  

• Combine different challenges across different sectors and subsectors, such as hydrogen production in an integrated way;  

Embrace DSS systems to unlock data-driven insights, streamline processes, and make them more efficient. From the beginning of the project, it is was evident how complex companies’ structures are and how difficult is to collect the data needed from the different database. We need to do much more on data planning on the backend. 

• Engage all stakeholders in the value chain and nurture the companies’ mindset to continue reducing CO2 emissions;  

• Seek support from regulators to harmonise legislations across countries and engage consumers to see the added value of less polluting products on the market. 

To sum up, the RETROFEED project’s special event in Brussels provided a comprehensive overview of the significant achievements and ongoing challenges in the journey towards decarbonization and digitalization in European resource-intensive industries. 

Beyond the collaboration, partners are committed to work further and accelerate the uptake of the technological and digital solutions. Each demo-site has very clear objectives and a clear set of actions they have to implement to achieve even more energy efficiency improvements. 

In our ever-evolving world of industry and technology, innovation plays a vital role in shaping the future. On Monday, 18th September 2023, from 11:30 to 13:00 CEST, we invite you to join us for an insightful event aimed at advancing innovation in the cement industry. This event brings together experts and thought leaders to explore the latest developments, tools, and achievements in the field.

We kick off the event with a warm welcome and an introduction to RETROFEED, the innovative project at the forefront of enhancing sustainability and efficiency in the cement industry. Our hosts for this session are Olga Lysenko from IVL and Roberto Arevalo from CIRCE, who set the stage for the exciting discussions to follow.

CIRCE’s Antonio Alcaide takes the stage to explore the digital transformation initiatives that are reshaping the cement industry. Discover how technology is driving positive changes and increasing the industry’s competitiveness.

Jorge Arroyo, also from CIRCE, discusses the innovative flame visualization monitoring tool. Learn how this tool provides valuable insights into the combustion process, a critical aspect of cement production.

AIMEN’s Francisco Rodriguez presents a state-of-the-art quality measurement monitoring system designed specifically for clinker production. Explore how this system contributes to enhanced product quality and efficiency.

Valter Tavares from SECIL will guide us through the main achievements on a cement demo site. Gain valuable insights into real-world applications of cutting-edge technology in cement manufacturing.

To foster engagement and address your inquiries, we’ve dedicated time for a question and answer session. This session will be hosted by Olga Lysenko from IVL and Diego Redondo from CIRCE. It’s your opportunity to interact with the experts and clarify any doubts.

Download the slides for more information.

How to transform the metal-making industry for greater circularity? 

Meeting the Green Deal target is an enormous challenge for the metal sector considering its energy intensity, and at the same time, metals are key enablers of the transition to a circular and climate neutral European economy, and essential to EU’s strategic autonomy and resilience.

At the invitation of three EU-funded projects, RETROFEED, REVaMP and INITIATE, 35 professionals gathered on 26 September to present and discuss showcases for retrofitting and circularity in the metal-making industry stemming from the projects’ experience with characterisation and intelligent use of metal scrap (REVaMP), decision support and retrofitting tools (RETROFEED), and Industrial symbiosis between the steel and ammonia sectors (INITIATE). A panel discussion with end-users (SIDENOR, ARCELORMITTAL and ASAS) further explored the challenges for uptake and replication of the solutions. Demand for “green” metals is growing, and with it the incentives for producers to invest in innovative technologies such as those developed through Horizon Europe research projects. 

Watch the session below or download the slides for more information. 

Many thanks to our speakers, Jean Théo Ghenda from EUROFER, Bernd Kleimt from REVaMP, Roberto Avalero Turnes and Luca Ferrari from RETROFEED, Eric van Dijk from INITIATE, Diana Meir from SIDENOR, Marian Flores Granobles from ARCELORMITTAL and Tutku Özen from ASAS for sharing their insights and expertise. 

As part of its mission to promote knowledge sharing, the RETROFEED project, in collaboration with its consortium partners, organized a series of workshops, with each session focused on a specific sector solution within the project.

On 13^th October, RETROFEED project organized an online technical workshop called “towards more efficient aluminium and steel industries” conducted by Olga Lysenko (IVL). First, Roberto Arevalo (CIRCE) provided an overview of the project. Then, Aleksandra Kiedrzyńska (IEN) and Andrea De Vito (CSM) explains the technical aspects of the digital twins developed for aluminium and steel industries, respectively. They explained  how they create the digital twins, taking into account the inputs and the outputs and also the models obtained, that are key for the Decision Support System (DSS) of RETROFEED. Then, Tutku Özen (ASAS) and Daniele Olivieri (FENO) show the retrofitting actions implemented in their demo sites with very good impacts such as a reduction of 75% of GHG emissions and an increase of resource energy of 57% in ASAS or a reduction of anthracite consumption of 20% using tire grains instead in FENO.

Watch or rewatch this session below: