Award Name: Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (CESMII) RFP4

Award Amount: $1 Million

Description

On May 10, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in partnership with CESMII, announced it would provide $1 million in funding for seven projects through CESMII RFP4 to help manufacturers adopt smart manufacturing technologies and processes that will increase productivity, save energy, and boost industrial competitiveness.

These selected projects will identify new applications of existing smart manufacturing technologies. Projects will also demonstrate energy productivity and/or operational efficiencies of smart manufacturing technologies within energy-intensive industries, including cement, chemicals, food, and steel.

Selected Projects

Award and cost share amounts are subject to change pending negotiations.

A Sustainability Product Life Cycle Management Framework Integrated with Smart Manufacturing Technologies for Improving Energy P

Lead Institution: Purdue University

Partners: BCI Solutions

Description: Purdue University and BCI Solutions will develop an ontology framework connected with the CESMII Smart Manufacturing Innovation Platform to create a decision support system for optimizing the foundry lifecycle process, demonstrated at BCI Solutions, an SMM. The projected impact is 1,260MWh energy savings, 7,100 MT of CO2 reduction, and 4% improvement in yield for the manufacturer.

Innovation & Technology for Business Impact at Scale in CT

Lead Institution: FullBore

Partners: The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology

Description: Fullbore and the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology will build and demonstrate a transformative framework using Smart Manufacturing Innovation Platform (SMIP), Smart Manufacturing Profiles, and Smart Manufacturing Apps to improve productivity for SMMs. A suite of Smart Manufacturing Apps will be created for SMM applications and made available through the Smart Manufacturing Marketplace. The projected impact is 5-12% improvement in productivity at selected SMMs.

Towards Broad Implementations of Date-Driven Soft Sensors in Industrial Manufacturing

Lead Institution: Auburn University

Partners: Rayonier Advanced Materials

Description: Auburn University will extend the implementation of a Machine Learning based soft sensor for measurement of entrained air content in brownstock washing for the paper industry to additional sites at Rayonier, International Paper, and Georgia Pacific. The project has demonstrated a 72% reduction in defoamer usage and a 5% reduction in water usage and energy at the first implementation at Rayonier.  Similar impact is projected for other facilities. The project will provide a new application for existing CESMII supported smart manufacturing technologies for energy intensive industries. 

A Smart Manufacturing Implementation and Workforce Development Framework for Underserved Small Medium Manufacturers

Lead Institution: The University of Texas at El Paso

Partners: Select SMMs

Description: The University of Texas at El Paso will enhance its Smart Manufacturing lab and engineering courses, developed in a prior CESMII funded project, to emulate real-world industry operations, create industry-relevant short courses and micro-credentialing programs, and facilitate Smart Manufacturing implementations at selected regional SMMs in an underserved region using CESMII’s SMIP technologies. Outcomes will include 800 training hours involving 10 SMMs, 4 new courses, and two Smart Manufacturing implementations at regional SMMs. 

Smart Manufacturing of Cement Part 2

Lead Institution: University of Louisville

Partners: Argos

Description: The University of Louisville and Argos will extend their existing solution for optimizing cement kilns by incorporating the upstream calcination process, for an expected additional 5% impact on energy consumption and improvement in clinker quality. Predictive models will be upgraded to provide optimized set points for the combined process. Models and information models will be made available for CESMII.

Upskilling SMMs to the SMIP in under 6 months

Lead Institution: G-W Process Optimization

Partners: NUMPE, TMAC, MMTC, MassMEP, MCMEP

Description: G-W Process Optimization Inc will implement Smart Manufacturing solutions for 3 SMMs using low-cost sensing, CESMII’s SMIP for connectivity, data acquisition and analysis, and predictive algorithms combined with remote coaching and assistance. The project will demonstrate a 10% improvement in productivity, a 10% reduction in energy, and a 10% reduction in waste. The methodology and Smart Manufacturing Profiles will be reusable for additional SMMs.

Development and Application of a BorgConnect®Template for Implementation at Scale (BTFIS) in Small & Medium Manufacturers

Lead Institution: 5G Technologies USA Ltd

Partners: None

Description: 5G Technologies will combine their BorgConnect solution with SMIP, Smart Manufacturing Profiles, and Smart Manufacturing Apps to create integrated solutions, assessment and training packages for 30 SMMs in machine shop, die casting, and stamping SMM facilities. The project is expected to improve productivity by 5-10% for the selected SMMs and demonstrate a significant reduction in Smart Manufacturing implementation costs through reusable, templatized solutions.