From Stationary to Flexible Plant Operation: Extension of a Co-Current Rotary Dryer Model for Energy Demand Flexibility

Industrial greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to meet the climate goals. One suitable measure is the electrification of industrial processes, which poses great challenges in conjunction with the necessary transition of the electrical grid towards renewable energy sources. In this context demand side flexibility of energy-intensive industrial processes is considered to take a key role, which requires suitable models that can predict the system behavior over a large operating range. For this reason, we developed in the past a new model of a co-current rotary dryer as an example of this energy-intensive process group with the focus on energy demand flexibility. In the present paper, this model is extended by the consideration of the dryer shell, which is usually neglected in modeling. By simulation it is shown that the shell has a small influence on the temperature and humidity profiles in a stationary state. However, transient simulations indicate that the heat capacity of the shell has a strong effect on the dynamic system response.