The purpose with the study is to provide a basis for an implementable, improved returns management process. This will help to obtain an empirical result for Lager 157 and to fill any scientific knowledge gap. The study has been divided into two research questions that are of a hierarchical nature. The authors first want to map the return process in order to then make suggestions for improvements using collected data along with collected theory. Method – A single case study has been conducted because the authors are studying a process and want a more in-depth knowledge. The study is carried out on Lager 157, who is active in fashion retailing and has a pronounced strategy for omnichannels, where they use both stores and e-commerce. Because the study only is made on one company, the external validity will be low. But the authors will compare collected theory with the empirics, which will increase the external validity. The literature has been collected through different sources, such as; databases, snowballing and recommendations from teachers and fellow students. The methods for collecting data has been; interviews, observations and document studies. Triangulation of data has ensured that the collected data is correct. Findings – The authors have, together with data and theory, provided a basis on how the study company could improve their returns management. The basis stated is that a web-based return registration should be implemented early in the process but also that the stores should use the same ERP as they do in the e-commerce department. These suggestions are based on that the study company should highlight activities such as gatekeeping and return avoidance, which leads to an improved returns management. Because of these changes, the company can increase their process speed but also improve their process integration and take a step towards fully integrated omni channels. Implications –The study has provided with both empirical and scientific implications. The study company has, from the results, got an overview of their returns management but also been provided with suggestions that can lead to an improved returns management in the future. In the results, the study company can also see which effects these suggestions could have and see how the new returns management could look like compared to have it looked before. During the literature study, the authors found that research connected to omni channels and the focused area were missing. Based on this the authors have created a model which illustrates what the companies should prioritize. Because the study only is made on one single company, the authors thinks that there is room for further research where the model could be evaluated and evolved to fit a greater number of companies. Limitations – Because of a time limit of the study, a single case study was considered to be of high relevance. It gave the authors the opportunity to use different methods to collect data in order to strengthen the results obtained. The external validity would have been higher if an multi case study would have been conducted with a quantitative approach. The interviews where following a semi-structured structure because the authors wanted to gather a large amount of information and leave space for follow-up questions. The observations were unstructured in order to make sure that the observation object where acting naturally. On the other hand, a structured observation would have shown differences and deviations in the activities. The document studies were only used to find out which type of data that the study company did collect. This could have been more extensive in a quantitative focus on the study. / Syfte – Syftet med studien är att ta fram underlag för en implementerbar, förbättrad returprocess. Detta skall bidra till att få fram ett empiriskt resultat åt Lager 157 samt att fylla igen eventuella vetenskapliga kunskapsgap. Studien har delats in i två forskningsfrågor av en hierarkisk karaktär. Författarna vill först kartlägga returprocessen för att i sedan ta fram underlag för förbättringar med hjälp av insamlade data tillsammans med insamlad teori. Metod – En enfallsstudie har genomförts då författarna ämnar studera en process och vill ha en mer djupgående kunskap. Studien är genomförd på Lager 157 som är verksamma inom mode och har en uttalad strategi för omnihandel, där de använder sig av både butiker och e-handel. Då studien enbart är genomförd på ett fallföretag så kommer den externa validiteten vara låg. Däremot ämnar författarna jämföra insamlad teori med empirin, vilket stärker den externa validiteten. Författarna har samlat in litteratur genom olika tillvägagångssätt, såsom; databassökningar, snöbollsmetoden samt rekommendationer ifrån handledare och medstudenter. De metoder som har använts för att samla in data är; intervjuer, observationer och dokumentstudier. Triangulering av data har säkerställt att den insamlade data är korrekt. Resultat – Tillsammans med insamlade data och teori har författarna tagit fram underlag för hur fallföretaget skulle kunna förbättra sin process. Det underlag som tagits fram är dels att en webbaserad returregistrering bör implementeras tidigt i flödet samt att butikerna och e- handeln bör använda sig av samma affärssystem. Detta underlag har sin grund i att fallföretaget bör lyfta fram aktiviteter så som gatekeeping och return avoidance, vilket leder till en förbättrad returprocess. Effekterna anses bidra till att fallföretaget kan öka sin bearbetningshastighet men också förhöja sin processintegration och ta ett steg mot en fullt integrerad omnihandel. Implikationer – Studien har både tagit fram empiriska och vetenskapliga implikationer. Dels har fallföretaget utifrån studiens resultat fått en överblick i hur returprocessen ser ut men också fått ett underlag med åtgärdsförslag som kan leda till en förbättrad returprocess i framtiden. I studiens resultat kan fallföretaget se vilka effekter detta kan mynna ut i men också hur det nya flödet skulle komma att se ut i de båda kanalerna. Då forskning inom omnihandel kopplat till det studerade området ansågs saknas så har författarna tagit fram en modell som illustrerar vad företag bör prioritera. På grund av att studien enbart är genomförd på ett företag anser forskarna att det finns ett tillfälle för vidare forskning, där modellen kan utvärderas och utvecklas för att passa ett större antal företag. Begränsningar – Då författarna har en tidsbegränsning kopplat till arbetet ansåg författarna att en enfallstudie var av högst relevans. Detta gav även möjligheten för författarna att ta användning av olika datainsamlingstekniker för att stärka de resultat som tagits fram. Om en flerfallstudie hade genomförts med mer kvantitativ datainsamling hade det gett en mer överblickande bild, vilket skulle kunna stärka den externa validiteten. De intervjuer som genomfördes följde en semistrukturerad struktur då författarna ämnade att samla in en stor mängd information och där utrymme fanns för följdfrågor. De observationer som genomfördes var ostrukturerade för att säkerställa att observationsobjekten betedde sig naturligt. Däremot hade en strukturerad observation visat på skillnader och avvikelser i aktiviteterna. Dokumentstudierna användes enbart för att säkerställa vilken typ av data som samlades in i dagsläget och kunde ha varit mer omfattande vid en kvantitativ inriktning på studien.

Dans un contexte de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) et de forte volatilité du prix des énergies, les investissements en efficacité énergétique des sites industriels résultent souvent d'un processus de décision complexe. L'industriel doit pouvoir disposer d'outils lui permettant d'élaborer les solutions d'efficacité énergétique envisageables sur son site. Outre la recherche des sources d'énergie alternatives, que sont les énergies renouvelables, qui n'atteindront leur maturité technologique que sur le long terme, une solution à court terme consiste plutôt à favoriser une utilisation plus rationnelle de l'énergie. Pour relever ce défi, l'analyse exergétique apparaît comme un outil très efficace, car elle permet d'identifier précisément les sources d'inefficacité d'un procédé donné et de proposer des solutions technologiques visant à y remédier. Malheureusement, contrairement au concept d'enthalpie traditionnellement utilisé pour réaliser des bilans énergétiques sur un procédé, ce concept demeure assez difficile à appréhender et n'est que très rarement implémenté dans les simulateurs de procédés. Les travaux présentés dans ce document visent d'abordà rendre l'analyse exergétique plus accessible en l'intégrant dans un simulateur de procédés, puis à démontrer la pertinence d'une telle analyse pour l'amélioration de l'efficacité des procédés et des utilités associées. Dans un premier temps, une formulation générique et indépendante du choix du modèle thermodynamique pour l'évaluation de l'exergie des flux de matière est introduite. Une méthode de calcul des différentes contributions de l'exergie (contributions thermique, mécanique et chimique) est développée et un nouveau concept visant à évaluer les potentiels de récupérations thermique et mécanique maximales est introduit. Par la suite, la notion de bilan exergétique sur un système donné (opération unitaire ou procédé complet) est introduite. Pour l'évaluation des exergies des flux de travail et de chaleur, deux cas de figure sont étudiés : le cas de l'amélioration de procédés existants (« retrofitting ») et le cas de la conception de nouveaux procédés (« design»). Dans le cas de l'amélioration de procédés existants et afin d'aider au diagnostic énergétique de ces systèmes, des tableaux synthétiques proposant des solutions technologiques visant à réduire les irréversibilités ou les pertes exergétiques externes du procédé sont proposés. Par ailleurs, après une analyse comparative des différentes formulations d'efficacité exergétiques existant dans la littérature, la notion d'efficacité intrinsèque est retenue comme le critère le plus adapté pour une optimisation de l'efficacité exergétique d'un procédé complexe. Enfin, une nouvelle méthodologie structurée dédiée à l'analyse exergétique et permettant de pallier les lacunes des méthodologies existantes est présentée. L'ensemble de ces concepts est implémenté dans un premier prototype logiciel écrit en langage VBScript et intégré au simulateur de procédés ProSimPlus. Enfin, l'efficacité de la procédure est démontrée à travers une étude de cas portant sur la production de gaz naturel. / Energy issue is becoming increasingly crucial for industrial sector that consumes large quantities of utilities. Although the scientific world should continue to look for alternate sources of energy, a short-term solution would rather rely on a more rational use of energy. To face this challenge, exergy analysis appears a very efficient tool as it would enable to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact of industrial processes. Unfortunately, contrary to enthalpy, this concept is rather difficult to handle and exergy analysis is rarely implemented in process simulators. In this context, the major objective of the study presented in this dissertation is to make exergy analysis more understandable by coupling it with the use of a process simulator and also to demonstrate the value of this approach for analysis of energy efficiency of processes and utilities. This dissertation presents a generic formulation for exergy of material streams that does not depend on the thermodynamic model, so that it could be easily implemented in a process simulator. The different contributions of exergy (thermal, mechanical and chemical) have been developed and new concept such as the maximal thermal and mechanical recovery potential has been introduced in order to pave the way for exergy analysis. The formulations of exergy balances on a real process are presented. For that purpose, the formulation of exergy for heat and work flux is developed. The formulation of exergy balances has been introduced for both design and retrofit situations and then a set of hints for the interpretation of this exergy balance has been given. Synthetic tables providing solutions to reduce irreversibilities and external losses have been introduced. Moreover, different kinds of exergy efficiency have been defined to provide a new criterion for the optimization of the process. A new structured methodology for exergy analysis is developed to overcome the limitations of existing methodologies. To make exergy analysis easier for any engineer, a first prototype has been developed to implement the calculation of exergy for the material streams in a process flowsheet modeled in ProSimPlus. Thanks to this prototype, exergy of each material stream appears in a synthesis table next to the traditional thermodynamic values such as the enthalpy. Finally, a case study on Natural Gas Liquids recovery process is presented to demonstrate the benefit of the exergy analysis for the improvement of existing processes. First, the exergy analysis permits to make an energy diagnosis of the process: it pinpoints the inefficiencies of the process which relies not only on irreversibilities but also on external exergy losses. Then, based upon respective values of internal and external losses and also thanks to the breaking down of exergy into it thermal, mechanical and chemical contributions, some technological solutions are suggested to propose a retrofit process. Finally, the exergy efficiency criteria enable to optimize the operating parameters of the process in order to improve its energy efficiency.

Fossila bränslen har sedan de upptäcktes konkurrerat ut biomassa som den huvudsakliga energikällan. Framförallt i trafiksektorn har drivmedel som härstammar från fossil olja varit dominerande. Främst på grund av deras fördelar mot biomassan såsom tillgänglighet, pris, energidensitet och enkelhet att användas i en förbränningsmotor. Men dessa drivmedel innehåller kolatomer som inte längre är en del av det naturliga kretsloppet och vid förbränning leder detta till nettotillskott av koldioxid till atmosfären. Utsläpp av koldioxid utgör den största antropogena inverkan på den accelererande växthuseffekt världen upplever vilket kommer att medföra förödande klimatändringar. Det är mot den bakgrunden nödvändigt att istället framställa drivmedel från en förnybar källa, som innebär en koldioxidneutral förbränning, nämligen biomassa. Samtidigt måste även hänsyn tas till vilken typ av biomassa som används, produktion av biodrivmedel får inte konkurrera med livsmedelproduktion. Därför är det viktigt att ”träaktigt” biomassa används som råvara vilket inte utgör någon konkurrens. Ett lovande sätt att omvandla biomassa till drivmedel är via förgasning där biomassa upphettas tills dess att en gas erhålls, bland annat bestående av kolmonoxid, vätgas, metan och diverse spårämnen. Denna gas genomgår sedan rening och bearbetning där partiklar, tjäror, alkalimetaller och spårämnen renas till dess att gasen endast består av kolmonoxid och vätgas, kallat syntesgas (ofta förkortat som syngas). Syngasen kan sedan i en process omvandlas till en rad olika bränslen, såsom bensin och metan. När gasen renas och bearbetas uppstår stora mängder termisk överskottsenergi. Om anläggningen är fristående kan överskottsenergi inte nyttjas vilket innebär relativ låga verkningsgrader. Men om anläggningen integreras mot till exempel ett massa- och pappersbruk kan överskottsenergi komma väl till pass och på så vis erhålls högre verkningsgrader. I arbetet presenteras en sammanställning av renings- och bearbetningsmetoder. Utifrån denna sammanställning har åtta processlösningar simulerats i processmodellerings-programmet CHEMCAD. De åtta fallen som ingår i studien är för produktion av bensin, diesel, metanol och metan, samtliga med rening vid relativ låga temperaturer (kall gasrening) respektive vid relativ höga temperaturer (het gasrening). Utifrån simuleringsresultateten har det varit möjligt att genomföra en så kallad Pinch-analys där det är möjligt att grafiskt avläsa potential för värmeintegration mot ett typiskt massa- och pappersbruk. Slutligen har en utvärdering av samtliga fall gjorts utifrån olika verkningsgradsberäkningar. Klart står att möjligheterna till värmeintegration är stora, på användbara temperaturnivåer, och uppgår i vissa fall till nästan 40 MW för en 100 MWth–anläggning. Verkningsgraderna är definierade på fyra olika sätt vilket möjliggör djupare tolkning och utvärdering av resultaten men samtidigt kräver det en viss försiktighet från läsaren. Dock framgår det tydligt ur resultaten från verkningsgradsberäkningar att totala effektiviteten för processen kan öka med 10-tals procentenheter om värmeöverskotten tillvaratas.   Resultaten framhåller vikten av värmeintegration och indikerar samtidigt möjligheten till effektivare produktion av bio-drivmedel. Detta innebär med stor sannolikhet också ett ekonomiskt sundare alternativ som i sin tur ökar intresset för investeringar på förnybara bränslen. Investeringar av denna typ är en absolut nödvändighet för en hållbar drivmedelskonsumtion i framtiden. / Fossil fuels have since their discovery replaced biomass as the main source of energy. Especially in the transportation sector, fuels derived from fossil oil have been the dominant source of energy, mainly due to their advantages compared to biomass such as availability, price, energy density and easiness of use in an internal combustion engine. Unfortunately these fuels contain carbon atoms that no longer are part of the natural cycle and combustion leads to net addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide has the largest anthropogenic impact on the accelerated greenhouse effect that the world is experiencing, which will lead to devastating climate changes. In this context it is necessary to instead produce fuel from a renewable source, which means a carbon neutral combustion, namely biomass. At the same time it is necessary to also take into account the type of biomass used, the production of biofuels should not compete with food production. Therefore it is important that “woody” biomass is being used as the raw material, which poses no competition. A promising way to convert biomass into fuels is with gasification where biomass is heated until a gas is obtained, mainly consisting of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, methane and various trace elements. This gas then undergoes purification and processing, where particles, tars, alkali metals and trace elements are purged until only a gas consisting of carbon monoxide and hydrogen remains, called syngas (synthesis gas). The syngas can then be converted into a variety of fuels such as petrol and methane. When the gas is being purified and processed large amounts of excess thermal energy are released. If it is a stand-alone plant, excess energy cannot be utilized, which leads to relatively low efficiencies. But if the plant is integrated with, for example, a pulp and paper mill, the excess energy can be utilized, thus resulting in higher overall efficiencies. This work presents a compilation of purification and processing methods. This compilation was used as the basis for the modelling of eight process solutions that were simulated in the flow-sheeting program CHEMCAD. The eight cases included in the study aim to produce gasoline, diesel, methanol and methane, all with purification at relatively low temperatures (cold gas cleaning) or at relative high temperatures (hot gas cleaning). Based on simulation results, a so-called Pinch analysis has been carried out where it is possible to graphically read off the potential for heat integration with a typical pulp and paper mill. Finally, overall assessments of the eight cases have been made based on different efficiency calculations. The results clearly show that the potential for process integration is great, with useful temperature levels, and amounts in up to almost 40 MW when the biomass input is 100 MWth. The efficiencies are defined in four different ways allowing for deeper interpretation and evaluation of the results, but require a certain amount of caution from the reader. However, it is evident from the results of efficiency calculations that overall efficiency of the process can be increased by 10's of percentage points if surplus heat is utilized. The results emphasize the importance of heat integration and simultaneously indicate the possibility of increased efficiency in production of biofuels. Which most likely also means a more economically sound alternative, which in turn increases the interest from investors in renewable fuels. Investments of this type are an absolute necessity for sustainable fuel consumption in the future.

Aus der Einleitung: "Bedingt durch eine geforderte, lokale Präsenz eines global agierenden Unternehmens gegenüber weltweiten Kunden sowie durch global verteiltes Engineering, Produktion und Service sind Unternehmen zunehmend in der Pflicht, sich global zu positionieren. Auch die Verlagerung von Engineeringaufgaben zu externen Zulieferern und Partnern erfordern organisatorische sowie prozesstechnische Maßnahmen, die durch eine entsprechende informationstechnische Unterstützung flankiert werden müssen. Für diese Unterstützung können sogenannte PLM-Systemumgebungen genutzt werden, die sich auf PDM-Systemen abstützen."

The replacement of fossil resources through renewable alternatives is one way to mitigate global climate change. Biomass is the only renewable source of carbon available for replacing oil as a refining feedstock. Therefore, it needs to be utilized not just as a fuel but for both biochemical and thermochemical conversion through biorefining. Optimizing and combining various conversion processes using a system perspective to maximize the valorization, biomass usage, and environmental benefits is of importance. This thesis work has evaluated the integration opportunities for various thermochemical conversion processes within a biorefinery system. The aim for all evaluated concepts were syngas production through gasification or reforming. Two potential residue streams from an existing biorefinery were evaluated as gasification feedstocks, thereby combining biochemical and thermochemical conversion. Torrefaction as a biomass pretreatment for gasification end-use was evaluated based on improved feedstock characteristics, process benefits, and integration aspects. A system concept, “Bio2Fuels”, was suggested and evaluated for low-temperature slow pyrolysis as a way to achieve simultaneous biomass refinement and transport driven CO2 negativity. Syngas was identified as a very suitable intermediate product for residue streams from biochemical conversion. Resulting syngas composition and quality showed hydrolysis residue as suitable gasification feedstock, providing some adjustments in the feedstock preparation. Gasification combined with torrefaction pretreatment demonstrated reduced syngas tar content. The co-gasification of biogas and wood in a FBG was successfully demonstrated with increased syngas H2/CO ratio compared to wood gasification, however high temperatures (≥1000°C) were required for efficient CH4 conversion. The demonstrated improved feedstock characteristics for torrefied biomass may facilitate gasification of biomass residue feedstocks in a biorefinery. Also, integration of a torrefaction unit on-site at the biorefinery or off-site with other industries could make use of excess low-value heat for the drying step with improved overall thermal efficiency. The Bio2Fuels concept provides a new application for slow pyrolysis. The experimental evaluation demonstrated significant hydrogen and carbon separation, and no significant volatilization of ash-forming elements (S and Cl excluded)  in low-temperature (<400°C) pyrolysis. The initial reforming test showed high syngas CH4 content, indicating the need for catalytic reforming. The collective results from the present work indicate that the application of thermochemical conversion processes into a biorefinery system, making use of by-products from biochemical conversion and biomass residues as feedstocks, has significant potential for energy integration, increased product output, and climate change mitigation.

The master’s thesis is focused on familiarization with modern techniques and procedures of process system engineering for identification of energy savings. In this case, process system engineering is applied to the issue of heat exchanger networks and in order to save energy, their retrofit is solved here. The current network pinch method, which uses mathematical programming options, is described for the retrofit of the heat exchanger networks. The method is presented in comparison to older development methods, mainly with the PDM. In addition, the calculation procedure is also developed by this method and in the Maple software environment it is applied to the case of heat exchanger network retrofit in the process of hydrogenation refining of oil. Part of the thesis is an evaluation of the results obtained, including a discussion of the properties of the method used.

Aus der Einleitung: "Bedingt durch eine geforderte, lokale Präsenz eines global agierenden Unternehmens gegenüber weltweiten Kunden sowie durch global verteiltes Engineering, Produktion und Service sind Unternehmen zunehmend in der Pflicht, sich global zu positionieren. Auch die Verlagerung von Engineeringaufgaben zu externen Zulieferern und Partnern erfordern organisatorische sowie prozesstechnische Maßnahmen, die durch eine entsprechende informationstechnische Unterstützung flankiert werden müssen. Für diese Unterstützung können sogenannte PLM-Systemumgebungen genutzt werden, die sich auf PDM-Systemen abstützen."

This dissertation is a complete unifying approach to the fundamentals, industrial applications and software implementation of an important branch of process-engineering principles and practice, called process integration. The latter refers to the system-oriented, thermodynamically-based and integrated approaches to the analysis, synthesis and retrofit of process plants, focusing on integrating the use of materials and energy, and minimizing the generation of emissions and wastes. This work extends process integration to include applications for industrial water reuse and wastewater minimization and presents previous developments in a unified manner. The basic ideas of process integration are: (1) to consider first the big picture by looking at the entire manufacturing process as an integrated system; (2) to apply process-engineering principles to key process steps to establish a priori targets for the use of materials and energy, and for the generation of emissions and wastes; and (3) to finalize the details of the process design and retrofit later to support the integrated view, particularly in meeting the established targets. Pinch technology is a set of primarily graphical tools for analyzing a process plant's potential for energy conservation, emission reduction and waste minimization. Here, we identify targets for the minimum consumption of heating and cooling utilities, mass-separating agents, freshwater consumption, wastewater generation and effluent treatment and propose economical grassroots designs and retrofit projects to meet these goals. An emerging alternative approach to pinch technology, especially when analyzing complex water-using operations and effluent-treatment systems, is mathematical optimization. We solve nonlinear programming problems for simple water-using operations through readily available commercial software. However, more complex, nonconvex problems require sophisticated reformulation techniques to guarantee optimality and are the subject of continuing academic and commercial development. This work develops the principles and practice of an environmentally significant breakthrough of process integration, called water-pinch technology. The new technology enables the practicing engineers to maximize water reuse, reduce wastewater generation, and minimize effluent treatment through pinch technology and mathematical optimization. It applies the technology in an industrial water-reuse demonstration project in a petrochemical complex in Taiwan, increasing the average water reuse (and thus reducing the wastewater treatment) in the five manufacturing facilities from 18.6% to 37%. This dissertation presents complete conceptual and software developments to unify the known branches of process integration, such as heat and mass integration, and wastewater minimization, and explores new frontiers of applications to greatly simplify the tools of process integration for practicing engineers. / Ph. D.

Without a doubt, there is a consensus around the international community which suggests that our current way of life is unsustainable for a healthy planet, society and economy. One focal point that should be taken deeply into consideration is the steel industry as, globally, it accounts for 8% of global emissions. Thus, there is a dire need to incorporate drastic measures, if one wishes to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, in accordance with the Paris Agreement of 2015. Electric Arc Furnaces are seeing a rapid implementation in the steel industry. However, at 0.5 tonnes of CO2 emitted per tonne of liquid steel produced, this emissions rating is still significant considering the amount of steel being produced annually. Additionally, these furnaces emit off-gases which must be treated from the dust. This leaves operators with a conundrum as the dust content compromises the use of waste heat recovery boilers for energy recovery, due to constant breakdowns. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the feasibility of using bioenergy and carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) concepts to capitalise on the high off-gas energy and emissions content to remedy the dust issue, whilst producing higher value products. The proposed concept evaluates the effectiveness of using the off-gas as the energy carrier and feed-stock for a biogasificaiton unit. Three different cases based on different EAF off-gas compositions have been investigated. Case 1 suggested that the off-gas composition is very CO2-heavy, whichled to investigating the option of adopting a CO2 biogasification concept to directly use the CO2. Case 1 performed the best in terms of CO2 utilisation efficiency; being 0.293. The system energy utilisation also noted that 49.3% of the inlet streams energy was transferred to the desired product. On a broader picture, this means that around 11% of the total energy coming out of the EAF would be utilised in producing a value-added product in the form of syngas. This contrasts with allowing around 33% of the energy in the EAF either being completely dissipated to the environment or converting it into electricity via waste heat recovery. The following two cases, Case 2 and 3, indicate EAF off-gas composition containing 72% and 40% nitrogen respectively. For Cases 2 and 3, a steam biogasification process was integrated which did not yield positive results for CO2 utilisation, since is a more promising gasifying agent. In addition, significant energy from EAF off-gas is used in raising the temperature of steam to the design temperature of the gasifier. However, although the CO2 was not directly used in this part of the process, it allows for other opportunities of process integration, for example the reverse water-gas shift step.

對企業而言，Internet和電子商務的興起提供了一個全新的商業交易方式。許多企業企圖融合新的資訊科技與企業流程，讓他們可以跨越企業間的藩籬進而互相分享價值鏈中的決策、工作流與資訊。然而，當企業嘗試著以其內部的資訊系統與交易夥伴溝通時，卻發現到處都是問題。雖然XML 提供了一個多功能的且健全的資料交換格式，但仍然不夠，必須有一個流程整合的標準來進行企業間交易流程的塑模(modeling)、部署(deploying)、執行(executing)以及管理(managing)。在本篇研究中，將探討企業對企業間協同流程的整合，並且發展一個以ebXML為基礎的協同商務企業流程模式。基於UN/CEFACT Modeling Methodology (UMM)此一致性的塑模方法論，本研究以邏輯化且系統化的方式來發現並詳細表達出國際物流業的跨企業交易流程，並以ebXML流程分析表格(ebXML Business Process Analysis Worksheets)為流程塑模輔助工具，進行國際物流業流程分析結果的記錄與表達。 基於此一ebXML為基礎之流程模式，本研究開發了一個企業間流程整合的雛形系統，藉以證明此企業流程模式是可行的，同時提出一個即時有效率的企業間電子商務可行方案。 / Internet technology and electronic commerce (EC) have brought up a complete overhaul on the information and communication technology infrastructure to do business in a new manner where companies try to leverage new technologies to enable a set of complex cross-enterprise business processes allowing entire value chains to share decision-making, workflow, capabilities, and information with each other. However, companies often have problems in making their internal information technology (IT) systems communicate with their partners. Although eXtensible Markup Language (XML) represents the most versatile and robust format for exchanging business information, there is also a need for process integration standard that enables processes to be modeled, deployed, executed, and managed. In this research, business-to-business collaboration process integration issues have been studied and an ebXML-based Collaborative Commerce Business Process Model is developed. According to a consistent modeling methodology, UN/CEFACT Modeling Methodology (UMM), we identify and specify the inter-enterprise business processes of the global logistics industry in a logical and systematical way. The ebXML Business Process Analysis Worksheets is used as modeling aids to record and represent analysis results of global logistics industry. Based on the ebXML-based business process model, we develop a B2B process integration prototype system which shows that the business process model is feasible and suggests a possible solution for real-time and efficient B2B electronic commerce.