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Industry is accountable for over one quarter of EU final energy consumption and one fifth of carbon emissions. To meet EU targets towards carbon neutrality, efforts need to take place in different industrial sectors, especially in energy intensive ones. Methodologies and tools aimed to support decision towards both cost and emission reduction targets are key to boost the adoption of cleaner production practices in industry. As an energy and resource intensive sector, the ceramic industry needs support at identifying and implementing solutions to lower its environmental impacts while being economically feasible. Thus, this work proposes a methodological approach to assess the environmental and economic life-cycle performance of alternative improvement scenarios for a ceramic sanitaryware manufacturing plant. By analyzing the actual process energy consumption and existing waste heat potential, three waste heat recovery scenarios are assessed and compared to the existing system to reduce natural gas consumption. Furthermore, aiming to lower the embodied emissions associated with electricity consumption, the installation of an on-site photovoltaic plant is also studied. The results show that, by applying heat recovery from flue gases to preheat combustion air, the industry may achieve a significant reduction of the environmental impact embodied in their products (−13% of CO 2 -eq emissions), while attaining notable economic savings with assumable payback period within the investment life-time. Results also show that despite the higher investment costs, the electricity self-production through photovoltaics strongly contributes to a greater reduction of several environmental impacts (up to −33% CO 2 -eq), with higher economic savings and payback time. The proposed methodological approach proves to be useful to compare the environmental and economic benefits of investment decisions and raise industrial confidence in strategies towards carbon neutrality. • A methodological approach based on LCC and LCA is proposed to support decision. • The approach was used to assess WHR and PV integration for a ceramic plant. • WHR and PV strategies are cost effective with a payback varying from 4 to 8 years. • LCA identifies natural gas and electricity as critical hotspots in a ceramic plant. • By coupling WHR and PV, 69.4 kt of CO 2 could be saved along 15-year production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal processes represent a considerable part of the total energy consumption in manufacturing industry, in sectors such as steel, aluminium, cement, ceramic and glass, among others. It can even be the predominant type of energy consumption in some sectors. High thermal energy processes are mostly associated to high thermal losses, (commonly denominated as waste heat), reinforcing the need for waste heat recovery (WHR) strategies. WHR has therefore been identified as a relevant solution to increase energy efficiency in industrial thermal applications, namely in energy intensive consumers. The ceramic sector is a clear example within the manufacturing industry mainly due to the fuel consumption required for the following processes: firing, drying and spray drying. This paper reviews studies on energy efficiency improvement measures including WHR practices applied to the ceramic sector. This focuses on technologies and strategies which have significant potential to promote energy savings and carbon emissions reduction. The measures have been grouped into three main categories: (i) equipment level; (ii) plant level; and (iii) outer plant level. Some examples include: (i) high efficiency burners; (ii) hot air recycling from kilns to other processes and installation of heat exchangers; and (iii) installation of gas turbine for combined heat and power (CHP). It is observed that energy efficiency solutions allow savings up to 50–60% in the case of high efficiency burners; 15% energy savings for hot air recycling solutions and 30% in the when gas turbines are considered for CHP. Limitations to the implementation of some measures have been identified such as the high investment costs associated, for instance, with certain heat exchangers as well as the corrosive nature of certain available exhaust heat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]