Overcoming the barriers to planning and implementing industrial energy savings

Practically every production operation can reduce the power, heat, cooling, steam, water and related environmental control and waste used to produce the same output. The approach seems straightforward.

• Get a clear picture of the use of power and energy within your process, plant or site.
• Target inefficiencies.
• Implement high ROI projects.
• Save money and improve production capabilities along the way.
• Earn praise and promotion.

Reality is more muddled. Even with recent increases in supply costs, the internal barriers to improving industrial energy efficiency can remain significant. What if one department pays to implement a project while the savings are attributed to another? What if no one is responsible for energy efficiency? What if six or 12 months is considered too long-term?

We can’t change your organization. But we can help you access the tools, information and resources you need to present a compelling case for energy efficiency programs within your operations. We can help you identify potential projects and calculate costs and ROI. and we partner with our clients to assess, engineer and implement everything from steam generation and chilled water systems controls to company-wide energy management systems and programs.

Begin with an accurate plant energy assessment

In many plants, power and energy consumption is measured only at the outside meters. Rather than guess where it all goes from there, arm yourself with an accurate information on how and where natural gas, petroleum, electricity and coal are used within your facility. Get an energy efficiency assessment.

Federal, state and province governments sometimes provide free energy assessments. Your plant might also qualify for government tax credits, low-interest loans and grants for your projects.

Using the findings, you can estimate the cost and benefits of energy reduction projects to discover which ones fit your budget, timeframe and plant needs. You can also see the savings to be gained annually from a five, 10 or 30 percent or larger reduction in individual areas as well as from smaller percentage savings applied across your entire plant.

Some savings are straightforward

Industrial Energy efficiency is often tied to production efficiency. Gaining those savings can require understanding and modifying your energy-related and overall automation processes, equipment, controls and systems. Nonetheless, some energy efficiency steps are straightforward and inexpensive, if not free. For instance, keeping your combustion equipment well maintained and optimized and be sure to plug leaks and insulate pipes.

Beyond these, next look for modest upgrades and repairs that reduce energy consumption and extend the life of your industrial heating and chilled water systems. Or you might benefit from adding efficiency add-ons like condensate return, feedwater and air heating, water polishing and more.

Sometimes only replacement gets you more

If you are working with outdated controls equipment like single loop, pneumatic or fixed-mixture jackshaft controls, there is only so much you can do. Modern controls allow industrial furnaces, steam generation and chilled water systems with you to operate at higher temperatures while consuming less fuel and producing fewer emissions. They also can efficiently accommodate even rapid and wide load fluctuations. Such capabilities cannot be tacked on to older systems.

Where you have to spend to save, payback can be within 12 months for some upgrades and replacements such as combustion and boiler controls. Here again, government industrial energy programs can provide tax credits, low-interest loans and even grants to improve your ROI.

Industrial energy management and load balancing

In addition to improving individual operations, you can also take steps to monitor and manage energy consumption within your plant or site. Monitoring allows you to track changes in consumption or inefficiency. Management, or load leveling or balancing enables you to match steam, heat, chilled water and power production or availability to planned and changing demand,. The more often you make only what you need, the more you save. Load balancing systems can serve processes, plants or multiple-building sites and campuses with unpredictable consumption patterns.