Implications for control systems in highly volatile energy markets: Using a high purity distillation electrification case study

The transition to increasingly renewable electricity grids and the electrification of industrial processes are two recent developments promising to be potential solutions towards net zero in industrial production processes. Generally, grid electricity is perceived as a stable and reliable resource that can be accessed on demand. However, that is not always the case for large industrial users (100 MW+), and a key future challenge that must be overcome is the inherent uncertainty of the electricity supply by renewable sources, as well as in pricing. In methanol production, the concept of using electrolysis and CO2 capture is being explored as a way of replacing reforming to produce syngas for "green" methanol production. With the omission of the reforming process which supplies energy as steam for the process, there is now a need to electrify the affected downstream unit operations. Distillation is a key unit operation in chemical operations that consumes large amounts of energy for reboiler duty and holds the key to making on-specification AA-grade methanol, a precursor chemical. With the volatility of the electricity market, hence supply, these columns must be able to withstand a sudden large reboiler duty drop. This paper developed a novel process operations and control principle to allow for the flexible operation of a high-purity methanol distillation column in volatile energy markets. At its core is the concept of using a distillation column as a "process battery". Results obtained from a validated process simulation show that the novel "process battery" operations principle can withstand a supply-side change as great as 75% within a time span of 5 min without breaking complex quality and performance specifications of the column. This control philosophy is a major departure from the traditional process control and operating regimes that are focused on maintaining steady operations under all conditions.