Abstract
The energy-utilization over a 10-year period (1994-2003) has been analysed for the South African industrial sector, which consumes more primary energy than any other sector of the economy. Four principal sub-sectors, namely iron and steel, chemical and petrochemical, mining and quarrying, and non-ferrous metals/non-metallic minerals were considered in this study. Primary-energy utilization data were used to calculate the weighted mean energy and exergy efficiencies for the sub-sectors and then overall values for the industrial sector were obtained. The results indicate that exergy efficiency is considerably lower than energy efficiency in all the sub-sectors, particularly in mining and quarrying processes, for which the values were approximately 83% and 16%, respectively. The performance of exergy utilization in the industrial sector can be improved by introducing various conservation strategies. Results from this study were compared with those for other countries.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1056-1067 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Applied Energy |
Volume | 84 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2007 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Energy
- Mechanical Engineering
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
- Building and Construction