The industrial sector accounts for approximately one-third of America's total energy consumption. Many large industrial facilities use fossil fuels to heat industrial processes, generate steam or hot water for process heating, or produce electricity. Therefore, the cost of energy is one of the largest expense items for these facilities.
An energy appraisal can be a valuable tool for addressing energy concerns. An appraisal is designed to identify deficiencies in the installed insulation and/or poor insulation design concepts that result in Btus escaping.
The appraisal process includes collecting data on insulated piping and equipment, calculating the cost of deficiencies and providing solutions to correct the deficiencies. With input from the facility on such items as cost of fuel, boiler efficiency and hours of operation coupled with weather data, a dollar value can be placed on the Btus or energy savings. When compared to the cost of the insulation repair and access costs, these savings provide a payback or return on investment (ROI).
A certified energy appraiser can thoroughly evaluate a facility's insulation systems through visual inspection, interviews, calculations and analysis. Utilizing infrared cameras to identify sources of heat loss/gain, the appraiser can compare the thermal performance of insulated piping and equipment to any uninsulated or under-insulated piping and equipment in the facility. Based on the analysis, the appraiser can document the Btus, dollars or emissions that users are saving or losing with the current system, as well as the potential savings and reduced emissions an insulation upgrade, replacement or maintenance program could provide.
Figure 1: A digital, interactive dashboard of appraisal findings and data.
An appraisal performed in a water treatment facility uncovered substantial savings from replacing or, in some cases, merely tightening the removable covers (blankets) that were improperly installed or weathered to the point of providing little to no value. There was a total of 80 items identified as energy appraisal items. For these items, the Btu losses "as is" and "after repair" were both calculated, and the subsequent delta provided estimated Btu and emission savings. The savings amounted to just over $67,000 per year for an overall payback period of just under two years.
An energy appraisal can also help justify insulation design changes. For example, an appraisal was recently performed on the steam distribution system for the tire presses in a tire manufacturing facility. Appraisers used infrared technology to gather data and estimate the cost of insulation installations and the savings in Btus and dollars per year after repairs. The customer proceeded with the recommended repairs to 16 presses and installed steam-flow meters on selected presses to better measure the success of the insulation design change. Steam flow was measured before and after the installation, which resulted in nearly $4,000 of annual savings and an ROI of less than 10 months. To date, a total of 52 tire presses have undergone the insulation design changes, resulting in energy savings of nearly $600,000 per year.
A customized final report should identify recommendations for insulation optimization and calculate the potential ROI. Beyond a written report, customers find great value in a digital, interactive dashboard of appraisal findings and data, as shown in Figure 1. Access to the data, using business intelligence software, provides customers with the ability to apply calculations to determine project costs and projected ROI.
Ultimately, an energy appraisal provides another tool to help facilities evaluate their current systems or plans for expansion, while also increasing their bottom lines and decreasing their carbon footprints.
For more information, visit www.brockgroup.com or call (281) 807-8200.