ThyssenKrupp Develops Framework to Generate Fuels and Fertilizers Powered by Renewable Energies

“Simulink is well-suited for flowchart-based simulations. This is very similar to the way plant engineers describe their processes and therefore easily translates.”

Key Outcomes

  • Integration of existing models from various sources
  • Easy adaptation and extension for diverse tasks through modularity and libraries
  • Connectivity to discipline-specific simulation tools from different fields
  • Confidentiality through black-box simulations to protect proprietary know-how

ThyssenKrupp’s Carbon2Chem project aims to enable carbon capture and utilization (CCU) by using steel mill gases as raw material in cross-industrially coupled production sites. Nearby chemical plants can use these gases to generate fuels and fertilizers powered by renewable energies. The key challenge is the enormous complexity of the numerous processes, plants, and sites involved, and distributed cosimulation can be the solution to tackle it.

Using MATLAB® and Simulink® enables ThyssenKrupp’s framework to integrate diverse process and state models; material, data, and control flows; and standardized interfaces and web-based, secure data exchange. ThyssenKrupp is designing this framework as a client/server network, with each plant forming one client simulation model and the server cosimulating all of them together.