Save energy now … and into the future

Citation

(2011), "Save energy now … and into the future", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 60 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2011.07960bab.003

Save energy now … and into the future

Article Type: News From: International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Volume 60, Issue 2

A US Department of Energy-sponsored (DOE) “Save energy now” assessment was performed a few years ago at Kaiser Aluminium’s aluminium extrusion plant in Sherman, Texas. Using DOE’s Process Heating Assessment and Survey Tool (PHAST) software, DOE energy expert Richard Bennett of the Janus Technology Group worked with plant employees to analyze the plant’s process heating systems. The assessment identified opportunities that would result in significant energy savings in some of the melting furnaces. By implementing these opportunities, plant personnel were able to achieve significant natural gas savings.

Employees at the Sherman adjusted burner controls on one of the main reverberatory melting furnaces to lower excess oxygen levels. They also made some repairs to the furnace’s door sill and jamb to prevent cold air from seeping into it. By implementing these measures, the plant achieved annual energy savings of approximately 45,000 MMBtu and improved the furnace’s energy intensity by 11.1 percent. With project costs of approximately $28,000 and energy cost savings of $360,000, the simple payback was under 1 month. In addition, Kaiser Aluminium adopted the PHAST as the corporate tool for assessing process heating applications. To date, the company has used the tool to evaluate furnace efficiency at five other plants with casting operations.