85 Energy Efficiency Measures
Energy-optimised pump selection
- Category: Cross-Cutting
- Area: Processes
- Sub Area: Pumps
- Implementation Effort :
- Saving Potential :
Pumps have specific points of operation where they work very energy-efficiently. Yet in practice, pumps are often larger than required and tend to operate outside these optimal conditions. Energy is therefore wasted as these pumps will move more fluid than actually required. Replacing oversized pumps by models that best meet the actual pumping requirements and operate close to their optimal point of operation will help to minimize their energy demand. Other options such as modifying the impeller or using variable speed drives can also be considered as an option to reduce the consumption of oversized pumps.
Use of pump control systems
- Category: Cross-Cutting
- Area: Processes
- Sub Area: Pumps
- Implementation Effort :
- Saving Potential :
Pumps may have to cover varying demands and several pumps may operate together. Control system can help to minimize energy demand by modifying the speed of variable speed pumps, by shutting down pumps that are temporarily not required and by choosing the optimal combination of pumps to ensure the required pressure in the system.
Regular pump maintenance
- Category: Cross-Cutting
- Area: Processes
- Sub Area: Pumps
- Implementation Effort :
- Saving Potential :
With increasing operating time, pump components wear and clearances grow. This will lead to internal leakages and the performance of pumps will decrease. For maintaining the same output, they will in turn require more energy. Regular tests can help to identify excessive deteriorations and to take countermeasures such as replacing impellers or restoring original clearances.
Low-losses pipework
- Category: Cross-Cutting
- Area: Processes
- Sub Area: Pumps
- Implementation Effort :
- Saving Potential :
The diameter, shape and length of the piping network and additional components such as valves determine pressure drops in a piping network. These losses will have to be compensated by additional power to the pump(s). Minimizing bottlenecks and tight bends and choosing a reasonable number of efficient valves can therefore contribute to reduce energy consumption.
Reduction of harmonics
- Category: Cross-Cutting
- Area: Supply side
- Sub Area: Electric power supply
- Implementation Effort :
- Saving Potential :
Harmonics are additional frequency components that distort the basic frequency of the electrical supply power. They can be caused by electrical equipment such as electric lighting, computers or rectifiers. Next to causing operation problems, harmonics can also lead to power losses. Using electrical filters helps to minimize or eliminate harmonic distortions.
Optimization of transformers
- Category: Cross-Cutting
- Area: Supply side
- Sub Area: Electric power supply
- Implementation Effort :
- Saving Potential :
Transformer are used to change voltage levels to meet the usually lower voltage requirements of industrial equipment as compared to the higher voltage levels from the power grid. For reasons of redundancy, there is often more than one transformer. Transformers have transformation losses which depend on their load. When replacing or updating transformers, the use of low loss transformers can help to reduce input power. Furthermore, by balancing the load between transformers, their load can be moved to a configuration that is as close as possible to their individual optimal point of operation. Both strategies can thus help to reduce losses in transformers.
Optimization of power supply
- Category: Cross-Cutting
- Area: Supply side
- Sub Area: Electric power supply
- Implementation Effort :
- Saving Potential :
Resistive losses in power cables increase with larger currents and cable length. Equipment with high power demand should therefore be located close to transformers and cables should be sufficiently dimensioned to avoid unnecessary resistive losses.
Implementation of certified energy management system
- Category: Management
- Area: Organization
- Sub Area: Management
- Implementation Effort :
- Saving Potential :
As compared to energy audits, certified energy management systems are comprehensive structured approaches to review the energy utilization in companies. Energy management systems go beyond the technological perspective and aim at implementing an organizational management structure that allows to regularly deal with energy-related issues. Based on this process, energy saving potentials can be identified and realized.