Using 60% less water in paper production

An EPFL researcher has developed a mathematical model for optimizing heat transfer in factories and dramatically reducing water and energy consumption. The model could, in theory, cut water use by 60% at a Canadian paper mill and allow the facility to produce as much as six times more power. Manufacturing consumer goods requires vast quantities of water, heat and electricity. The firms that make these items produce large amounts of CO₂ emissions and have a huge impact on the environment. At the COP21 climate conference in Paris, world leaders highlighted the prominent role that manufacturers could play in combating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Maziar Kermani, a researcher at EPFL's Industrial Process and Energy Systems Engineering (IPESE) group, which is headed by Professor François Maréchal, has come up with a pioneering mathematical model that could cut the amount of water and energy used in industrial processes. He has developed a way to recycle lost heat and energy and to employ biorefinery technologies - combining turbines and organic fluids - to boost power production. Kermani applied his model to a Canadian paper mill. He found that, in theory, it could cut the amount of water the firm used from 820 kg to 230-300 kg per second (a drop of around 60%). It could also allow the mill to produce more than six times as much electricity (from 3 MW to around 20 MW). His findings have been published in Energies . Continuous recycling of water and heat