In this exclusive conversation with Claus from Food Infotech, Carina Resare, Head of Research and Development for gasketed plate heat exchangers at Alfa Laval discusses about the company’s recent collaboration with SSAB, a global steel company with a leading position in high-strength steels and related services, which is aimed at making available carbon-neutral heat exchangers that can offer benefits for both the industry and the society, including mentioning about the benefits that would accrue to food manufacturers from using fossil-free heat exchangers offered by them and a lot more.
Could you tell us a little on the recent collaboration entered into by Alfa Laval with SSAB? What do you aim to achieve through this partnership?
We need to accelerate the ongoing energy transition. One way of doing it is by partnering up with other companies, with the same vision and with complementary expertise. With SSAB, a global steel company with a leading position in high-strength steels and related services, we share the vision and values and complement each other’s expertise. We need their fossil-free steel to make our carbon neutral heat exchangers and by that, SSAB’s fossil-free steel will be implemented in different industrial processes all over the world. It is beneficial for both the industry and our society.
Tell us more on Alfa Laval’s role in achieving carbon neutrality.
Alfa Laval will use fossil-free steel in its heat exchangers – and the steel will be produced by SSAB with HYBRIT technology.
Alfa Laval has the target to become carbon neutral by 2030 across the value chain. To do so, we need to reduce emissions from the value chain; from raw material extraction, material manufacture, product manufacture and end of life. Most of our heat exchangers are made of steel and steel production accounts for 7 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions. To be able to use fossil-free steel in our heat exchangers will therefore have an impact on both us as well as the society’s target of reducing carbon emissions.
Please share with us a bit on the benefits that would accrue to food manufacturers in their operations from opting to use heat exchangers offered by your company that would come in built with HYBRIT technology.
The material we use in our heat exchangers not only have an impact on our targets for becoming carbon neutral. It also affects our customers’ carbon footprint. In addition, our heat exchangers are up to 50 percent more efficient than traditional heat exchanger technology (shell-and-tube).
Saving energy by using efficient heat exchangers is also saving carbon emissions. The less energy you burn in various processes, the less carbon emissions you emit. So, fossil-free energy efficient heat exchangers will have an impact on our customers’ carbon neutral ambitions.
Any new segments that you’ve planned to target with your recently launched solution in the coming days?
Our solutions are very versatile and benefit many industries. We are therefore working with leading players in each industry to create market demand for fossil-free solution and lead the way towards net zero. We are already in close dialogue with some key customers that have shown big interest in our prototype.
Are you working on any other solution in 2022? A bit about the same.
We have many interesting projects ongoing, for instance in the areas of energy storage, hydrogen and power-to-X to mention a few. Several of them are in collaboration with other companies. We believe that collaboration and strong, lasting partnerships is the key to accelerate the ongoing energy transition and develop tomorrow’s sustainable solutions. In 2021 alone, we initiated 10 new partnerships. With one of the later; SSAB, we join forces to enable the first ever fossil-free heat exchangers to be installed in industrial processes.
