Last week the Oilholic headed out for a rather unique site visit to the Brightlands Chemelot Campus - an innovation hub in Geleen, The Netherlands - where cleantech firm Coolbrook is running a pilot project premised on the idea of an 'electric factory.'
Yes indeed, you read that one correctly dear readers - an 'electric factory' concept that could in the fullness of time lead us to re-imagine the industrial complex and substantially lower the carbon footprint of heavy industries and petrochemical plants.
To make sense of it all, the company's CEO Joonas Rauramo kindly agreed to explain the process and take this blogger around. The idea is to substitute heat sources / furnaces in use at heavy industries currently running on fossil fuels with an electrical power source.
For that Rauramo and Coolbrook have come up with the company's patented RotoDynamic technology - which uses a rotating device powered by electricity to generate heat without burning anything. "So basically air or for that matter a large range of gaseous substances / inert gasses go in where a high-speed 0.8 MW electric motor accelerates them with mounted rotating blades. Subsequent deceleration leads to the generation of a shock wave that converts kinetic energy to thermal energy," Rauramo explained.
The heat generation is in milliseconds and is not transferred from outside through a surface, rather volumertically inside the gas. And we are talking temperatures of up to 1700 C. Now the Oilholic knows the questions on many of your lips - does it really work and did this blogger get to look under the hood of the machine? The firm answer to both questions is yes.
While photography was not permitted in certain areas of the project, The Oilholic was given full access to view and examine both the project set-up as well as its key components, and interview a range of personnel working onsite. It's doubtful a company would open its doors to your truly and provide this level of access if it had to something hide, or was still faking it till it made it.
Furthermore, the test pilot has already achieved temperatures of around 1000 C. Project research and development is constantly independently verified (and monitored both onsite and remotely), several universities including Cambridge, Oxford and Ghent are involved, while Swiss industrial giant ABB is the technical partner on the project. Finally, the commercial launch appears to be on the horizon early in 2025.
Now just re-imagine old versus the new industrial energy chain as illustrated by Coolbrook below (click to enlarge):
Makes you think about the immense possibilities it offers for lowering the global industrial complex's carbon footprint if the electricity that's powering the machine comes from renewable sources as well.
Coolbrook's RotoDynamic has two modes - one a heating only machine and the other a reactor aimed at the petrochemical industry wherein the technology can be deployed not just for heating but cracking hydrocarbons as well. The kit can be fitted on both greenfield as well as brownfield sites.
Coolbrook has identified over 40 uses cases but the most obvious ones would be cement, iron, steel, glass, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company's modeling points to a reduction of 2 billion tonnes in CO2 emissions annually if traditional heat sources are substituted by its technology.
Of course, the transition will not be easy and there are other low to zero carbon techniques being explored. Rauramo was quick to assert that what Coolbrook is attempting is "50% more efficient" than hydrogen predicated alternatives and is "cheaper too."
Total budget for Coolbrook's pilot project aimed at creating a "new industrial era" is in the region of $13.1 million. Should the commercial launch proceed as planned in 2025, that would be the result of 14 years of hard work since the company was founded in Finland in 2011.
Scaling up is the name of the game. In that respect, there has been considerable interest in Coolbrook's technology from the likes of ArcelorMittal, Shell, Ineos, Sabic, JSW, Linde, Braskem, Cemex and its longstanding partner ABB. The industrial heating market itself is estimated to be worth more that $1.1 trillion.
As for those in the industry looking at RotoDynamic from an outside-in perspective, The Oilholic observed quite a few tangible benefits.
Process efficiency is an obvious one and comes in many forms ranging from lower energy bills and a carbon footprint to potentially higher plant throughput. The compact size of Coolbrook's offering is also an attractive one. So, by this blogger's reckoning, for say a petrochemical plant, we're talking roughly one-tenth the space needed for the company's reactor kit versus a traditional reactor.
Capex and opex considerations matter hugely and the product is yet to hit the commercial world. But should the RotoDynamic technology meet its full potential, capex and opex will likely be competitive near-term, and could be way lower over the medium-term.
Once Coolbrook scales up as a company post-launch, the initial deployment costs for the industry would also likely be calibrated lower and long-term ROI much higher. All-in-all a very interesting company (and its operating sphere) to watch out for. With those final thoughts, it's time take your leave. More musings to follow later this month. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'!
© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photos: Gaurav Sharma with Joonas Rauramo, CEO of Coolbrook at the company's RotoDynamic Technology Test Pilot at Brightlands Chemelot Campus, Geleen, The Netherlands. Illustration: Coolbrook's demonstration of the 'old' versus 'new' energy chain for the global industrial complex. © Jenni Schumacher / Coolbrook, March 2024.
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