Industrial Symbiosis research at TU Delft - The next step in the contribution of the engineering sciences to the field of Industrial Ecology

Industrial Symbiosis is one of the domains within the scientific field of Industrial Ecology. It provides insights on how to integrate industrial operations of distinct companies and other surrounding activities for a better... [ view full abstract ]

Industrial Symbiosis is one of the domains within the scientific field of Industrial Ecology. It provides insights on how to integrate industrial operations of distinct companies and other surrounding activities for a better environmental performance. In this paper, an outline will be presented by which this industry-focussed domain is linked to the technical pillar of industrial ecology.

The sustainability of a single industrial operation is often difficult to define because the operation is mainly part of a larger value chain of actors and consumers that goes beyond the responsibilities of the individual plant management. From Industrial Ecology it can be learnt how actions and relations in a complex system of various industrial activities are interconnected and how resource efficiency and energy reduction can be obtained in such a cluster. The larger system perspective of Industrial Ecology places the engineering aspects besides other non-engineering issues and offers a structural insight with regards to the allocation and problem decomposition of those various issues. Traditionally, the field of Industrial Ecology is quite strong in the analytical part of studying the complex industrial systems that feed and run the metabolism of our society. However, the technical domain still needs more attention, in order to realize the design and engineering of complex and integrated industrial systems, as studied and proposed by Industrial Symbiosis.

The concept of Industrial Symbiosis links to the core of business making in terms of resource efficiency, exergy performance and environmental impacts. Industrial Symbiosis can also deal with aspects on higher company levels and links to corporate social responsibility and vision development. In the research agenda that will be presented at the conference, we will show how several key aspects determine the integrated design of industrial clusters. The research delivers a taxonomy and algorithms to come to an integrated socio-technical design method. It enables the designer and decision-maker to formulate proper system boundaries, to find alternatives in supply chain management, waste management and process design, and to assess those findings in a balanced way according to the triple bottom line of sustainability. The research at TU Delft is an integration of 1) new ways of modelling, using agent-based models combined with advanced data management, 2) the development of socio-technical design methodologies that combine building blocks from process intensification, supply chain management and environmental impact monitoring, 3) the study into the dynamics of industrial network evolution.

By several practical and industrial cases from the Netherlands (like Biopark Terneuzen, Zeeland Hydrogen Symbiosis, Gelderland Sustainable Business Parks) and other European countries (Denmark, United Kingdom, Austria), it will be shown that the ongoing research supports the network designers to come to innovative solutions for sustainable industrial clusters. This multi-disciplinary approach supports designers and policy makers in finding opportunities beyond the scope of regular engineering design, but also supports the translations of those opportunities back again into innovative engineering solutions.