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CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS
VOL. 66, 2018
A publication of
The Italian Association
of Chemical Engineering
Online at www.aidic.it/cet
Guest Editors: Songying Zhao, Yougang Sun, Ye Zhou
Copyright © 2018, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.
ISBN 978-88-95608-63-1; ISSN 2283-9216
The Research on Energy-saving Reconstruction of Ceramic
Kiln Based on Engineering System Theory
Bin Song
Pingdingshan University, Henan 467000, China
binsong59304@21cn.com
In order to optimize the energy-saving benefit of ceramic kiln, the paper discussed energy-saving
reconstruction of ceramic kiln based on the method of Engineering System Theory and made a corresponding
evaluation. Delphi method and Analytic Hierarchy Process are adopted to determine the weight of each index.
Finally, the comprehensive result of the evaluation system is approached by Multi-index Comprehensive
Evaluation Method. The benefit of energy-saving reconstruction of ceramic kiln is revealed and its reliability is
confirmed; Engineering System Theory is qualified for the evaluation of energy-saving reconstruction of
ceramic kiln.
1. Introduction
Since ancient time, ceramics has always been one of the most important cultural features of China. Ceramics
production is deemed as a traditional artistry in our country. The traditional production of ceramic must adopt
kiln whereas problems including high-energy consumption and high pollution exists for a long time in the
process of using primitive kiln, which causes huge economic losses. Therefore, in order to improve the
situation, energy-saving reconstruction of ceramic kiln has been actively advocated by modern society.
Theoretically, the thought of energy-saving reconstruction of ceramic kiln could lead to tangible results with
respect to environment. As far as the status quo is concerned, there exist a number of ways regarding energy-
saving reconstruction of ceramic kiln without a common technical system. Thus, in order to push the energy-
saving reconstruction of ceramic kiln to a more unified, efficient and standardized way, researches should be
conducted based on Engineering System Theory.
Based on the Engineering System Theory, the interrelations among energy-saving, economy, environment,
management and policy in the energy-saving reconstruction program of ceramic kiln are analyzed. During the
process, the appraisal requirement of applying for national fiscal incentives regarding energy-saving technical
reconstruction is well-considered. Delphi method, Analytic Hierarchy Process and Multi-index Comprehensive
Evaluation Method are adopted to establish a comprehensive evaluation system of energy-saving
reconstruction of ceramic kiln.
2. Literature review
Since ancient times, China has a superb construction technology and exquisite ceramic firing skills. Until
eighteenth Century, Europe began to produce some ceramics imitating Chinese style, and Japan did not
master the technology of coal firing until sixteenth Century. However, in the past two centuries, the pace of
development in China has been slow, and the ceramic production technology in western countries has
developed rapidly and comes from behind. Especially in Japan, Italy, Germany and other countries, the
ceramic industry has made rapid progress and is ahead of China with its advanced kiln and firing technology.
The modern ceramic kiln has experienced the development process from the flag kiln to the shuttle kiln, the
tunnel kiln and the roller kiln, gradually moving towards the "energy saving, light, automation and cleaning"
direction. At present, the development of ceramic kilns in the world has entered the era of full automation
control of roller kiln and shuttle kiln. With the gradual improvement of technical equipment, great improvement
has been made in firing rate, energy consumption and production efficiency of ceramic products.
DOI: 10.3303/CET1866101
Please cite this article as: Song B., 2018, The research on energy-saving reconstruction of ceramic kiln based on engineering system theory,
Chemical Engineering Transactions, 66, 601-606 DOI:10.3303/CET1866101
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At present, there are some studies on the comprehensive evaluation of the system both at home and abroad.
These studies are mainly concentrated in the construction and industrial enterprises, and there is not a unified
standard or system in the comprehensive evaluation of the ceramic industry energy-saving technology
transformation. In China's ceramic industry, energy-saving ideas have been gradually deeply rooted in the
hearts of the people. Energy-saving measures are emerging, but the evaluation of energy conservation reform
has no clear and unified standard. For the ceramic industry, energy consumption is mainly evaluated by
energy audit. The three parts of energy saving, economy and environmental protection are the main criteria to
evaluate the feasibility of the project, and the evaluation index is not comprehensive. The evaluation of the
scheme is a single independent evaluation, and there is no multi-system and comprehensive evaluation
system. However, the research methods and research ideas of the comprehensive evaluation of the system
have a certain reference value for the research and application of the comprehensive evaluation system of
ceramic kiln technical transformation. The research on system energy-saving evaluation is relatively early in
foreign countries. Although China's system energy-saving evaluation research started late, it has also made
some progress.
In the field of traffic, Azizi put forward the method of integrating the system, that is to consider the relationship
between each subsystem, analyze all the factors that affect the evaluation of the energy consumption of the
rail traffic, and thus achieve the purpose of evaluating and optimizing the energy consumption of the whole rail
traffic (Azizi et al., 2017). In the field of architectural evaluation, the British Architecture Institute proposed the
first green building assessment method in the world. The BREEAM-Building Research Establishment
Environmental Assessment Method established a best practice for the design of green buildings and widely
used it in Canada and New Jersey, Norway and other places. On the basis of BREEAM, the United States
Green Building Commission developed a green building classification evaluation system named LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Aslanoglu established the evaluation index system for the
design of rural residential energy conservation. The system comprehensively considered the climate
characteristics of the region, the living habits of the residents, the utilization of resources in the rural areas and
the supply of resources and so on. At the same time, the information entropy and the unknown measure
theory were integrated into the evaluation system. The results indicate that the evaluation system is of a
certain degree of adaptability and operability (Aslanoglu et al., 2017). Lei analysed the unreasonable of the
economic evaluation method and the energy evaluation method of building energy saving, and pointed out
that the evaluation of the efficiency of building energy saving needs to be considered from the whole system
and link the system theory with the building energy conservation, and he put forward the system energy-
saving evaluation method according to the viewpoint of the system theory (Lei et al., 2017).
In terms of energy-saving evaluation of power plant, Liu constructed a set of more perfect energy-saving
evaluation index system for thermal power plant in view of the current energy consumption status and
characteristics of domestic thermal power plants. The design of this system conforms to the design principle of
the index system, and finally determines the evaluation standard of the index, which has practical value in the
comprehensive evaluation of energy conservation in thermal power plants (Liu et al., 2018). Padhi used the
theory of matter element analysis when constructing the energy-saving comprehensive evaluation index
system of thermal power plants. Combined with the energy-saving status, utilization and characteristics of
thermal power plants, they used this system to make a comprehensive evaluation of thermal power plants
(Padhi et al., 2017).
In the energy-saving evaluation of automobile industry, Quaglione thought that the energy saving evaluation of
automobile industry needs to be measured from two aspects of "technology" and "management". And based
on the whole life cycle theory, they considered "technology" and "management", and put forward the idea of
automobile energy saving evaluation system (Quaglione et al., 2017).
In the energy-saving evaluation of oil field enterprises, Rozik pointed out entropy weight analysis method to
determine the index weight ratio objective. The analytic hierarchy process can consider the subjective
experience of experts. The two methods of empowerment can be combined to establish the comprehensive
energy saving evaluation model of oil field enterprises. In addition, an effective method for solving the problem
of multi index energy saving evaluation is put forward, and the reliability of the method is proved (Rozik et al.,
2017).
In addition, Wu put forward that there are some limitations in the current enterprise energy-saving evaluation,
without considering the integration of the whole system. Therefore, all factors affecting the energy saving of
enterprises are analyzed and studied comprehensively. Based on the system theory, the effect of reducing the
pollutant emission reduction is analyzed, and the method of the enterprise energy-saving evaluation is
optimized (Wu et al., 2017).
To sum up, in the evaluation process of energy-saving renovation projects of the kiln, there are some
problems such as whether the energy-saving transformation of the kiln is feasible, whether the project is
economically significant, whether it can meet the requirements of environmental protection, and whether it
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meets the national energy-saving policy. The research of comprehensive evaluation index system of kiln
renovation is proposed. The purpose is to carry out an exploratory research and practice on the overall
evaluation of the transformation effect of the ceramic kiln according to the situation of the energy-saving
transformation of the kiln and the comprehensive analysis of the evaluation system. The evaluation system of
kiln renovation can provide a unified standard and basis for the comprehensive evaluation of relevant
industries.
3. Methodology
3.1 Overview of comprehensive evaluation system
Evaluation, as a cognitive activity, is widely used in human activities. The Index is often applied as the basis
for evaluation. The index that exerts influences on evaluation could be complex. Adopting single index as the
only measure of the evaluation could lead to lack of legitimacy. Thus, when carrying out solid evaluation,
multiple indexes or contributory factors reflecting evaluation object should be gathered together to form a
comprehensive index system, so as to evaluate the overall situation of the object more comprehensively. Such
evaluation method is called Multi-index Comprehensive Evaluation Method.
The two main features of Multi-index Comprehensive Evaluation are as follows: Evaluation method includes a
number of indexes, describing the different attributes of the evaluation object; The final evaluation should be
able to make a holistic evaluation of the object by adopting a aggregate index to describe the general level of
the object As the scale of the evaluation object becomes larger, more contributory factors needed to be
considered, leading to higher requirements for the evaluation work. The evaluation should not be affected by
one-sideness, subjectivity and it should be normative and scientific. Moreover, only quantitative and structural
factors fails to met the current high requirement of evaluation work. A large number of unstructured, semi-
structured, gray and fuzzy factors should also be included in the process with corresponding solutions.
Researchers have already proposed many well-focused comprehensive evaluation methods with various
features.
There are many specific methods of comprehensive evaluation, but the overall line of thought is identical.
Generally, steps from getting familiar with the evaluation object, establishing the evaluation index system, to
determining the weight of each index, to establishing the mathematical model of evaluation, analyzing the
evaluation results are all involved. Among them, index system establishment, weight-determination of index
and mathematical model building are the key points of the comprehensive evaluation.
3.2 Delphi method
Put forward the specific problems of evaluation Identify the members of the expert group Make the first
round of the score and send it to the member of the expert group Collect the first round of the score, collect
and analyze According to the results of the first round of scoring, the second round of scoring forms will be
formulated and sent to the members of the expert group. Collect and analyze the second rounds of the
score. According to the conclusion of the second round of scoring, the third round of scoring form is
formulated and sent to the members of the expert group. Reclaim the third round of the score and carry out a
summary analysis. Prepare the final result
3.3 Judgment matrix establishment
Hierarchical structure reflects the relationships among the factors, but each criteria of the criterion layer does
not necessarily share the same weight in the measurement of the evaluation object. In the eyes of different
decision makers, factors are of different weight.
Assuming to compare the influence of factor X = {𝑥1, ⋯ , 𝑥𝑛 } on factor Z, the pairwise comparison of the two
factors could be expressed by pairwise comparison matrix. Each time taking out two factors, 𝑥𝑖 and 𝑥𝑗 , and
using 𝑎𝑖𝑗 as the 𝑥𝑖 and 𝑥𝑗 influence ratio to Z. All the comparison results could be defined in matrix A =
(𝑎𝑖𝑗 )𝑛𝑥𝑛
, namely the judgement matrix of A in interval Z-X.It is easy to perceive that the 𝑥𝑖 influence ratio to Z
is 𝑎𝑗𝑖 =
1
𝑎𝑖𝑗
, as 𝑎𝑖𝑗 stands for 𝑥𝑖 and 𝑥𝑗 influence ratio to Z. Table 1 is scale meaning table.
As for the selection of scale, the paper solicited opinions of experts adopting the Delphi method introduced in
Chapter 3.2, the finals of which would be the basis for the judgment matrix. Figure 2 is energy-saving
reconstruction model of ceramic kiln and analysis.
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Table 1: scale meaning table
Scaling Definition
1 The I index is more important than the j index
2 The I index is slightly more important than the j index
3 The I index is significantly more important than the j index
4 The I index is more important than the j index
Figure 2: energy-saving transformation model of ceramic kiln
3.4 composition of the evaluation system
Every part of criterion layer would affect the evaluation of the reconstruction of ceramic kiln window, the
factors of which are correlated with each other to various extent. For example, changes on the first part itself
could have a positive or negative impact on the evaluation system and on other parts, while the outcome of
the first part could also be influenced by one or several inner factors. The premise to conduct a solid
comprehensive evaluation is to conduct a detailed assessment of each small part of it. Due to the complexity
of the reconstruction system of ceramic kiln window, meticulous analysis of each part of it should be carried
out to find out the influence each factor has on other factors and on the whole system. Only in this way could a
solid comprehensive evaluation be accomplished. The thinking of whole evaluation system should be
comprehensive. The chosen parts or contributory factors should be well-focused. The analyzing process
should be feasible and the evaluation criteria should be objective.
3.5 Energy-saving evaluation
As shown in Figure 3, the specific evaluation of construction of ceramic kiln with respect to energy-saving is
divided into three parts.
Figure 3: Energy saving evaluation index
3.6 Feasibility evaluation
Compare the calculated return on investment (hereinafter referred to as ROI) to the average ROI of the
industry or standard ROI of the industry. If the calculated ROI is greater than or equal to the average or
standard ROI, the project is deemed to be feasible, otherwise is not. Figure 4 is Economic Part Evaluation
Index.
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Figure 4: Economic part evaluation index
Accordingly, the four above parts should be accounted in evaluating economic benefits of a program. The four
concrete economic indexes are: 1. net present value of finance, the performance of the profitability; 2. financial
internal rate of return, the utilization of the funds; 3. the investment payback period, the cost-recovery period;
4. return on investment, investment profit level against the industry.
3.7 Environmental evaluation index determination
Based on the promulgation of the "Emission Standards for Ceramic Industrial Pollutants" (GB25464-2010) in
2010, the model is analyzed as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: emission standards for industrial pollutants (GB25464-2010)
Contaminants Company The secret of the stick, the secret of the road, Suo Shifen
SO2 mg/m3 500
NOX (NO2) mg/m3 600
particulate matter mg/m3 100
To be specific, exhaust gas emission, dust particles emission and thermal pollution emission are selected as
environmental indexes in the evaluation of the reconstruction of ceramic kiln.
4. Results analysis
At the beginning, the paper introduced the basic principle and application steps of Delphi method, Analytic
Hierarchy Process and Weighted Average Comprehensive Evaluation method, paving the road for case-based
calculation of a comprehensive evaluation system in the next step. Evaluation index system was established
through Analytic Hierarchy Process. The weight of each index in the evaluation index system was determined
based on Delphi method and Analytic Hierarchy Process. The comprehensive evaluation value of the
evaluation index system was obtained using Delphi method and Weighted Average Comprehensive
Evaluation. Next, comprehensive energy-saving evaluation model was established in combination with the
features of energy-saving technical reconstruction of ceramic kiln. It provided ideas and basis of evaluation for
the case-based analysis later. Then, the judgment matrix formed by evaluation index system, which gathered
experts opinions based on Delphi method, was applied. Finally, the weight of each index was calculated upon
the principles and methods of Analytic Hierarchy Process and thus obtain the weight of the comprehensive
index the of the model.
5. Conclusion
Based on comprehensive evaluation theory, the paper proposed that the comprehensive evaluation of the
reconstruction of sealing furnace should include five parts, which are energy-saving, economy, environment,
management and policies. The comprehensive evaluation index system of reconstruction of channeling
furnace is established. The exploratory assessment of the reconstruction program of S kiln of the ceramic
company has been conducted. The concrete work are listed as follows:
Firstly, indexes of the five parts that influence the comprehensive evaluation outcome of the reconstruction of
ceramic kiln are analyzed. Energy-saving part has three impact indexes. Economy part has four impact
indexes. Environment part has three impact indexes. Management part has three impact indexes and policy
part has two impact indexes.
Secondly, based on the impact index of the reconstruction of channeling furnace, a comprehensive evaluation
model suitable for the reconstruction of ceramic kiln is primarily built. The analytic hierarchy model is set up
adopting the method of Analytic Hierarchy Process. The model has three layers with five criterion layers and
15 index layers below.
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Thirdly, the weights of individual part and the weights of index of the evaluation system are calculated with the
process of experts scoring and Analytic Hierarchy Process Method. Among them, the weight of each index of
the criterion layer, the top index layer of the index system, are 0.43 in energy-saving, 0.26 in economy, 0.15 in
environment, 0.11 in management, 0.25 in policy respectively. By calculating, the significance of each index
upon comprehensive evaluation system could be revealed.
When expert scoring is involved in the evaluation process, subjectivity, leading to different scores from
different judges, is unavoidable. Further improvement of this step is expected, while objective value replacing
subjective value with correspondence in between could be suggested. Based on that, objective value could be
obtained and translated to subjective value to realize the evaluation outcome.
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