Energy Conservation in French Industry and At Rhone-Poulenc

Abstract

France imports 75% of its primary energy. In 1985 this dependence on imported energy will decrease but remain at 60%. Energy conservation and energy recovery are therefore of dramatic importance. Industry has always taken care of energy management in order to get the best production prices. But since 1973 with the help of various governmental procedures, great efforts have been made to use energy in the most efficient way. Examples are given to show: the most efficient way of energy sources management, the application of the process optimization method, the use of control equipment for process and heating. RHONE-POULENC, the biggest chemical group in France, ranked ninth in the world, is able to cope with the challenge of the most rational use of energy. RHONE-POULENC, which is the second largest industrial energy consumer in France, has worked for energy conservation in three directions: management, education and investment. The primary energies are transformed for thermal or mechanical purposes. This transformation has to be the most efficient: combined production of heat and electricity by means of steam or gas turbines is highly developed at RHONE-POULENC. The experience of a ten gas turbine plant with heat recovery boilers is described. But the coming of nuclear energy and the scarcity and rise of prices of fossil fuels reduce the interest in combined production. The optimum use of energy in the various production processes needs investments to improve the existing plants or to build new plants designed on an entire new process. Various examples are given.