Planning IUCRC at Purdue University: Center for Industrial Energy Efficiency (CIEE)

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Industrial energy use accounts for about one-third of total U.S. energy consumption. Due to mounting concerns about climate change as well as increasing energy costs, energy efficiency has emerged as a key issue to be considered by enterprises and the global research community. Based on U.S. Department of Energy statistics, 64.4% of energy consumed in the U.S. manufacturing sector is wasted. This suggests that there is a large opportunity to improve industrial energy efficiency through cooperative research between university faculty and industrial companies. This project seeks to establish a plan for a joint Industry-University Cooperative Research Center on Industrial Energy Efficiency between Case Western Reserve University and Purdue University. The vision for the center is to establish a national/international research hub dedicated to advancing the knowledge and techniques needed to improve industrial energy efficiency to enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing industry in the global economy and to mitigate the carbon emissions from the U.S. industrial sector. The center also seeks to develop an education program and train an energy savvy workforce while committing to the inclusion of students from underrepresented groups. This planning effort will generate significant potential impacts in terms of research and education at Purdue University.This IUCRC planning project will involve leading manufacturers, utility companies, and industrial organizations to pursue collaborative research with Purdue faculty members on industrial energy efficiency. Novel cooperative projects will be conducted through integrated mathematical modeling and experimental investigations. Specific research goals are: (1) Develop scientific modeling tools and experimental techniques for identifying in-depth energy saving opportunities in industrial operations. (2) Develop applicable control algorithms for effectively reducing the energy consumption in industrial systems. (3) Develop data analytics approaches and decision-support tools to support policy-making and strategic planning on industrial energy efficiency. These research projects can advance the knowledge base of current best practices by identifying substantial energy saving opportunities and developing effective control algorithms and tools integrated with big data analytics for improving the energy efficiency of industrial operations from a systems perspective. The research results produced from the center will lead to a set of novel measures and strategies to improve the energy efficiency of manufacturing systems, enhance the reliability of electric power supply and increase renewable enegy utilization through demand size management, expand the capabilities of the products/services of industrial control/automation products for energy efficiency improvement, and support public policy-making on industrial energy efficiency.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.