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Home Resources Case Studies & Solutions 5 simple steps to reduce energy
consumption in process systems


5 SIMPLE STEPS TO REDUCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN PROCESS SYSTEMS

Using sustainability and innovation for energy savings

by Elementale Enterprises

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NOTE: The sponsor of this content may contact you with more information on this
topic. Click here to opt-out from sharing your email address with this sponsor.
(This link will not unsubscribe you from any other BIC email list).

As applications for new and innovative products are continually expanding,
manufacturing is faced with added environmental regulations, as well as
compressed margins to meet demand.

Thus, plants must constantly drive to improve their competitiveness by
streamlining operations and reducing costs wherever possible. When industrial
processes are designed with energy savings in mind, production, safety and cost
efficiencies are all increased to create higher profits and better competitive
positioning. Here are five things to consider in order to achieve greater
profitability.

1. Focus on the large energy costs:



Use the 80/20 rule; 80% of energy is consumed by 20% of the processes. What is
the most costly operation in your manufacturing process? How much energy is
consumed? How can that energy be minimized? The greatest energy consumers in
manufacturing are the heating and cooling units.

Since transporting and treating water requires energy, saving water saves
energy. Additionally, the efficient use of water can also lead to a more
reliable water supply and improved water quality. 

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The numbers represent the BTU values of each unit.

Cooling towers can consume a significant portion of a site’s total water
consumption and can also offer the best opportunities for water and energy
savings. General objectives in cooling tower energy management include proper
management of the recirculation of water. By optimizing the variable process
heating load, the tower can be properly sized for proper functioning and
eliminate wasting energy.   

Other objectives for efficient management of cooling water is to avoid over
treating with chemicals and investigating alternate sources of make-up water.
Specific areas of focus to meet these objectives include pumping energy, flow,
evaporation rates, drift, blow down, basin leaks, water chemistry, and cycles of
concentration.

Another major contributor to energy loss is process heating equipment.

There are numerous types of process heating equipment in the plants that can be
better managed for energy efficiency.  Process heating equipment is defined as
an enclosed device using controlled flame whose primary purpose is to transfer
heat indirectly to a process material (liquid, gas or solid) or to a heat
transfer material (i.e. glycol or a mixture of glycol & water) for use in a
process heater.1

2. Review process heating equipment:

The higher the operating temperature, the more costly the fuel/energy will be.
What advanced combustion equipment do you use? At what temperatures do they
operate? What fuel is used? How can this be optimized?

In many instances, the process heating equipment has several operational
variables that must be considered.

>  * What is the composition of the process stream?
>  * What temperature or range of temperatures are experienced?
>  * Are heated products corrosive in nature?
>  * Are these units subjected to high temperature cycling (i.e. start-up and
>    shut down)?

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By understanding these variables, processes can be managed and controlled to
optimize properties and right size heating units and/or maximize product
throughput.

As an example, an incinerator or Thermal Oxidizer, can operate up to 1200 deg F,
with concentrations not exceeding 25% lower flammability limit (LFL), unless a
flammable monitoring system is installed that can easily shut down the system at
50% LFL.

3. Investigate the use of flexible gases and solvents:

Using gases and solvents is necessary in many industrial processes. What are the
cost implications of burning solvents, SYNGAS and other combustibles versus
traditional fuels? What are the safety impacts to the plant?

Waste heat is a major contribution of losses incurred. Significant cost savings
can be realized through advanced heat recovery systems. This can be by using
technologies to capture low-temperature heat or to cost-effectively capture
high-temperature exhaust heat.

Another way to repurpose waste gas is to use it to produce electricity and/or
steam within a facility to create added savings.

 4. Know your Environmental Regulations:

In many cases, the volatile organic compounds (VOC) abatement control technology
is the limiting factor in manufacturing operations. Can the VOCs be reduced,
reused, or recycled? What opportunities can you achieve if your VOC abatement
equipment is optimized or minimized?

In flares, there are many EPA-regulated opportunities to reuse waste gas to
minimize the use of natural assist-gas while allowing for 98%+ destruction
efficiency of the waste.

In oxidizers there are opportunities to increase the input load safely to run
more product through, while minimizing emissions.

When the process stream that is going into the VOC abatement equipment is
variable, proper online measurement and control is needed to eke out the best
scenario for production efficiency and emission output.

5. Measure and control:

In order to efficiently manage these processes, it is critical to perform the
proper measurements and take the necessary action quickly for real-time process
control. Innovative sensor and control technologies that provide accurate
measurements of physical properties and data collection are available to enhance
these systems and aide in energy reduction. These systems can also capture the
data for evaluation and continuous improvement year-on-year.

Elementale Enterprises Inc. offers clients value-added sustainability – and safe
– engineering solutions in both industrial and commercial areas to ensure energy
reduction.  If varying physical components can be measured and precisely
controlled within a process, production units do not need to be oversized which
will result in substantial savings.

To learn more about Elementale products and services that can support your ESG
goals, please feel free to contact us at: www.elementale-ent.com

“If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t
understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve
it.” – H. James Harrington

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by Elementale Enterprises

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