Energy simulation in dynamic production networks (ESPRONET): Simulation for industrial symbiosis

Industrial symbiosis provides several positive aspects regarding energy and material efficiency, but it is also a challenging concept due to additional dependencies in a production cluster. As a consequence the risks inherent to these partnerships are high and thus the concept is not widely used. The project ESProNet supports the analysis and assessment of industrial symbiosis in a given cluster via simulation and research of altered scenarios. This paper contains the first steps in the project including the ontology to breakdown the complex problem as well as the modeling approach for the components in a new library based on material and energy balances. A proof of concept with the simulation of an industrial symbiosis cluster containing a server providing waste heat to an office building shows a great potential with up to 20 % less energy input for heat.