Adopting energy flow charts for the economic analysis of process innovations

In many industries, process innovations play a major role in securing long term profitability. Corresponding research and development resources must be used effectively, which requires comprehensive insight into both technological and managerial aspects of the processes concerned. This paper introduces so-called economic flow charts that combine technical and economic approaches and thus provide a means of overcoming communication barriers between engineers and managers. The flow charts illustrate the economic implications of an investment by adopting the widely accepted energy flow charts and by doing so, provide a clear picture of the profitability associated with a process and facilitate the identification of optimization potentials, respectively. An example from the field of biomass-based heat and power production is used to illustrate the economic flow charts’ applicability to practical problems.