Energy Sankey Diagram for Nickel Production

The below diagram is shown in a short paper ‘A Sankey Diagram for Nickel Production’ by M. Levesque (School of Engineering, Laurentailn University, Sudbury, ON, Canada) and D. Millar (MINARCO, Sudbury, ON, Canada). The paper was presented at the ‘1000 Island Energy Research Forum (TIERF) 2011. It also appears on a poster on the same topic available on the MIRARCO website (large PDF!).

The diagram shows energy production, transformation and consumption in the Nickel production. This not only includes dryers, kilns and furnaces, but also supporting activities such as port handling and transportation.

No absolute values given in the diagram, and even the fuels are not specified (although you can identify what is probably hard coal, lignite, natural gas). Most likely a question of confidentiality. A left-to-right orientation of the diagram is presumed, and no arrow heads are shown. This could lead to an interpretation issue for the green band that leaves the power stations PS1 and PS2 vertically.

The paper concludes “The Sankey diagram highlights the areas in the process where focus is required for subsequent energy management effort.”