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The defossilization of the electricity and heat supply in the chemical industry poses a significant challenge. In particular, the intended feed-in of volatile renewable electricity into the chemical processes may conflict with the need for a constant, secure and affordable electricity and heat supply for chemical plants. Adapted concepts for the operation of the cogeneration plant, which is located at the chemical site, play a central role. The present work defines a so-called ideal-typical utility infrastructure (iUI). The iUI is a means to exemplarily investigate the operational behavior of utility infrastructures and furthermore to identify defossilization options for process steam and electricity supply at chemical sites.

Ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets and the currently surging energy prices pose significant challenges for the chemical industry. In this paper, the integration of molten salt thermal energy storage into the chemical site utility infrastructure is proposed to enable decarbonized and cost-effective electricity and process steam supply. The storage system is electrically charged and produces combined steam and electricity during discharge. A model of a utility infrastructure including all required input parameters was developed and implemented in the software Top-Energy® to perform operational optimizations and minimize operating costs. Simulation studies were carried out for different storage system configurations and the years 2020 to 2050. Attractive payback periods and net present values can be achieved with the described concept. Variable operating costs are largely reduced by the electrification of steam generation.