Demand Response of Ceramic Tile Firing Roller Kiln : Microwave Plasma Torches as Part of Virtual Power Plants
Puhakka, Otto (2025)
2025
Ympäristö- ja energiatekniikan DI-ohjelma - Programme in Environmental and Energy Engineering
Tekniikan ja luonnontieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2025-11-26
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2025112510903
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2025112510903
Tiivistelmä
This thesis investigates the electrification of a ceramic tile firing roller kiln by replacing natural gas burners with microwave plasma torches (MPTs). The work evaluates whether such an electrified process could provide demand response and how great the resulting impact on process conditions would be. The study combines a literature review on industrial electrification and electricity market mechanisms with dynamic modeling of the kiln’s thermal behavior.
A dynamic heat and mass transfer model was developed in Simulink to simulate a simplified example case of an electrified roller kiln and to examine how the MPT power could be varied under different operating strategies. Several scenarios were simulated to estimate the effect of power reductions on process temperatures.
The example case simulations showed that the kiln’s electrical consumption could be reduced by approximately 0.3–1.6 MWh per event (equaling a 15.6–83.8% reduction relative to normal one-hour consumption), depending on the applied control strategy and the 15–60 minute interruption duration. The initial process temperatures in the firing zones were at most around 1185 °C, and the corresponding temperature changes during flexibility events ranged from about 80 °C to 470 °C. Recovery times were roughly 1.5–5 hours to return within ±5% of the initial temperature levels, given the MPT powers and controller tuning used in the example cases.
Moderate, zone-specific power adjustments provided a better balance between energy reduction and temperature stability than complete torch shutdowns. The kiln’s thermal inertia allows short power interruptions with limited impact on the process, suggesting that participation in reserve markets could be a potential application area.
Overall, the findings demonstrate that microwave-based electrification can transform a continuous high-temperature process from a fixed energy consumer into a controllable electrical load, enabling participation in future flexible energy systems either directly or as part of a virtual power plant.
A dynamic heat and mass transfer model was developed in Simulink to simulate a simplified example case of an electrified roller kiln and to examine how the MPT power could be varied under different operating strategies. Several scenarios were simulated to estimate the effect of power reductions on process temperatures.
The example case simulations showed that the kiln’s electrical consumption could be reduced by approximately 0.3–1.6 MWh per event (equaling a 15.6–83.8% reduction relative to normal one-hour consumption), depending on the applied control strategy and the 15–60 minute interruption duration. The initial process temperatures in the firing zones were at most around 1185 °C, and the corresponding temperature changes during flexibility events ranged from about 80 °C to 470 °C. Recovery times were roughly 1.5–5 hours to return within ±5% of the initial temperature levels, given the MPT powers and controller tuning used in the example cases.
Moderate, zone-specific power adjustments provided a better balance between energy reduction and temperature stability than complete torch shutdowns. The kiln’s thermal inertia allows short power interruptions with limited impact on the process, suggesting that participation in reserve markets could be a potential application area.
Overall, the findings demonstrate that microwave-based electrification can transform a continuous high-temperature process from a fixed energy consumer into a controllable electrical load, enabling participation in future flexible energy systems either directly or as part of a virtual power plant.